According to the survey by the Society of IT Management, the number of transactions available through UK local authority Web sites has increased by more than 50 percent since 2002, but just 10 out of 467 Web sites managed by local authorities are offering e-payment services such as paying for a driving licence over the Internet.
All local authorities have a Web site, noted the report, with 20 percent having a promotional site, 49 percent having content sites, and close to 30 percent having "content plus" sites. The latter were defined as sites having sophisticated information and some interaction with features such as A-Z service listings and search facilities, as well as on-line feedback available.
The survey also revealed that local authorities in the UK have become more responsive to e-mail queries in the last year. Nearly 80 percent responded within 10 days, which was up from 41 percent in 2002, and 67 percent within three days, compared to 34 percent a year ago.
Although these findings would seem to indicate slow progress by local authorities in meeting the 2005 deadline set by the UK government for them to become e-government enabled, the Society of IT Management said there was grounds for optimism from the report.
"These results show that local authority Web sites have improved steadily since 2002. For instance, more than one in three has moved up a place in our ranking system. This indicates that Web sites are continuing to improve their ability to answer questions and perform typical functions users require," said the Society in a statement.
Martin Greenwood of the Society said the findings might appear to show that many local authorities in England might not meet the deadline, but this may not necessarily be the case because they do not have to use their public Web sites to deliver services.
"Services can be available on-line under the official definition without being made available on the Web site (e.g. business conducted via a call-centre with staff using Intranets). Also, a site with transactions on it (and therefore appearing to fulfil the 2005 criteria) is not necessarily what we would deem a transactional site, i.e. one that is truly focused on customer needs," commented Greenwood.
He added that what the report did show was the "striking" correlation between good Web site performance and excellent management systems. Among the top ten sites were Camden, Birmingham City, Sunderland and Wrexham. No Northern Ireland local authority featured in the top 20.
The survey also found that around 20 percent of UK Internet users visited a local authority site in the last year, compared, for instance, with the 13 percent who accessed the NHS's on-line service, and those using such sites for the first time tended to be "significantly impressed" with what was on offer.
The Society of IT Management said that every local authority Web site was reviewed and assessed against relevant e-government and good practice criteria for its survey, which is in its fifth year.
Quelle: electricnews
