Councils not doing enough on website take-up - Socitm

Local authorities are not doing enough to encourage take-up of their websites despite the benefits being well known, Socitm Insight has claimed this week. Recent statistics from the organisation’s website take-up service, which features every type of UK council site, show that despite a high level of user satisfaction on the websites, local authorities are doing little to promote the availability of information and e-services to the wider public.

Less than one in five visitors arrive at council websites as a direct result of promotional activity, with the majority coming in via Google (29.4%), guessing the correct URL (18.5%) or because they work for the local authority in question.

A case study provided to a Socitm Insight workshop by Warwickshire County Council showed that increased website take-up for self-serve e-services saved nearly 54,000 employee hours, amounting to a financial saving of more than £700,000.

“We know from the e-citizen national project that there is a whole population out there ready to use council websites, and that getting them to do so will bring tangible benefits in terms of efficiency gains and increased satisfaction with the council.

However, it seems that councils have to date invested little in promotion, concentrating perhaps on getting the website right as a facility to offer. Now is the time to change priorities,” commented Martin Greenwood, Programme Manager for Socitm Insight.

Wakefield and District Housing selects ICT partner

Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) has announced IBS OPENSystems as its new long term ICT partner, following the successful implementation of its software earlier in the year.

WDH undertook a review of technology to facilitate the replacement of its legacy software, deciding on IBS after a selection process.

Lee Sugden, Director of Corporate Resources at Wakefield and District Housing commented; “While the benefits of an integrated platform were appealing, it was more important to us to have the best-of-breed solution in each area. But as IBS has proved to be the ideal choice for all of our housing management and financials requirements, we’ll be getting the best point solution in one joined-up package.”

Created in March 2005 after taking control of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council’s housing stock, WDH is the largest single housing association set up through a transfer from a local authority, with 32,000 homes under its management. The group is set to invest over £700m into the area’s homes, services and communities over the next ten years.

“The new systems are already improving our processes, and we’re confident that additions such as mobile technology will have a direct impact on increasing efficiency, reducing errors and delivering a superior service to our customers,” added Mr. Sugden.

e-Government modernisation for East Dunbartonshire

East Dunbartonshire Council has moved to improve e-Government services at its new contact centre by employing Lagan’s Frontline CRM solution, the local authority has announced this week.

Along with Housing Repairs, the purpose-built contact centre now covers various services including human resources, service payments, general enquiries and waste disposal. Services such as online job applications and the council’s transactional e-payment system, for areas including tax and housing rent are now handled by Frontline.

The improvements will aim to deliver efficiency savings in line with the ‘Efficient Government’ targets, while boosting the council’s overall online performance.

"Previously only the Housing Repairs Service had a customer-facing telephone call centre. This is what we wanted to change - we wanted all our services to become more customer-friendly,” said Council Leader John Morrison. “Introducing a multi-service contact centre was a very new concept for us, but it was becoming increasingly important as we moved towards a more efficient delivery of council services. We wanted our citizens to have easier access to our various services, which in turn would help us to improve our relationship with the public."

West Yorkshire Police unveils VIPER plan

West Yorkshire Police has announced Glasshouse Technologies as partner for its electronic police line-up system – VIPER (Video Identification Parade Electronically Recorded), as the force looks to improve the programme’s back-up capabilities.

The system increases efficiency of the identification parade process, which previously could take between six and ten weeks to organize, costing up to £1250. Using VIPER, West Yorkshire Police has carried out more than 18,000 electronic line-ups in the last three years.

Under the contract, Glasshouse will deliver a two-phased project, managing the increasing demand for VIPER and facilitating reliable data storage, retention and recoverability.

“The project was groundbreaking stuff for the police service and the support of a company experienced in complex storage and backup networks was crucial to its success and continuity. The achievement of a national level IT system across the country in a matter of a few months is no mean feat and has been a fine example of a public service outfit and private sector companies working together,” said West Yorkshire Police Detective Superintendent and Head of Scientific Support Michael Fickling.

ECGD deal for Pakistan’s mobile network

A $50m (USD) contract partly underwritten by the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) will see Motorola working on Pakistan’s emerging mobile phone network. Mobile equipment sourced from Motorola’s Swindon factory will be provided to Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (PMCL), expanding the mobile coverage across the country under its Mobilink brand name.

Mobile penetration in Pakistan is currently around 8%, with forecasts of up to 15% by the end of next year.

UK Trade Minister Ian Pearson said; "Telecoms is one of the fastest growing sectors in Pakistan. This deal, involving a UK exporter with crucial backing from ECGD, will help to sustain that growth."

"Mobilink's subscriber base has grown eight times in the last two years and, as we prepare to double network capacity again, we welcome the support of ECGD and other Export Credit Agencies in this growth phase," commented Mobilink's Chief Executive Officer Zouhair Khaliq.

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