WIREDGOV

Councils must make radical changes to the way they govern and manage their websites and adopt a new model for future development, says a new briefing from Socitm Insight.

The world is moving relentlessly towards digital delivery, says Better connected 2012, a briefing for the top management team, and the council’s website has become critical to it’s ability to deliver services effectively at lower cost. Consequently, the role and performance of the council website has become an issue for the top team.

Too many council websites – specifically, the 58% achieving two stars or less in Socitm’s comprehensive Better connected assessment of all council sites published earlier this month - are not up to the job, says the briefing.

The remaining 42% of councils must also take a hard look at how they should improve their sites to keep up with rising expectations of intuitive online services such as Amazon and Facebook, as well as increasing mobile access and use of social media.

Council websites need to enable a high degree of self-service in order to support sustainable programmes of channel shift and deliver significant savings from reduction in the provision of face-to-face and phone services. But relatively few local authorities have reached this point, says the briefing. Websites are improving, but not nearly fast enough.

The clutter and confusion of the worst council websites reflect lack of clarity about the purpose of the website, and reveal the compromises that web teams have to make in order to balance competing interests.

The briefing says that council leaders and managers must accept that the main purpose of the website is to deliver services. News about the council and its activities, and communication of policies and plans, have a place on the website, but must not get in the way of the primary task of delivering services.

The scale of change needed requires a new model of website management that must be driven by the top management team.

Strong corporate direction of the website must replace what is sometimes a battle of interests over control and management of key space on the website. Channel shift to the web must be regarded as essential, rather than optional. Top tasks, which need to be featured prominently throughout the website, must be selected on the basis of hard evidence of customer needs, rather than managers’ judgement. The size of the website must be rigorously controlled as should website content. Improvement should be continuous and detailed, rather than something that happens periodically, through ‘big bang’, technology-led projects.

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council website is featured in the briefing (and in the full Better connected 2012 report) as an example of this new model of website management.

During 2011, the council re-designed its website focusing on top tasks. Using extensive analysis of customer data, research with customer groups, and consultation with their customer services team, they identified 250 top questions or ‘tasks’ to bring to the fore on their website. From this research, the council created a new website navigation and a series of top tasks to feature throughout their website.

The Better connected reviewer who assessed the site is quoted in the briefing:

‘A great deal of work has gone into redesigning this site and it shows. It has a very strong focus on actions and enabling citizens to get tasks done quickly. This starts with the home page, which takes the radical step of being news-free, uncluttered with minimal use of graphics and a list of top tasks.... The site offers a wide range of online forms, which are just two clicks away from the home page.....it makes widespread use of postcode search and maps.’

Better connected 2012: a briefing for the top management team is available now to Socitm Insight subscribers to download free of charge from the Socitm website www.socitm.net.

Printed copies will be available shortly and can be ordered from the Socitm website at the following prices: Socitm Insight subscriber (additional copies): £20; Socitm members who are not Insight subscribers: £50; other non-Insight subscribers:  £75

Further information: 

Vicky Sargent                        07726 601 139
Socitm Press Office               vicky.sargent@socitm.net