Senior decision-makers in local authorities are being advised that one of the ways they can respond successfully to pressures to cut costs arising from the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07) will be to shift a greater proportion of the service delivery burden to websites.

The advice comes in Channel management, take-up and efficiency: a pre-CSR07 briefing for elected members, chief executives and senior managers published by Socitm Insight at the beginning of August. 

The 20pp briefing draws together findings from four recent pieces of research undertaken by Socitm Insight and comes to the conclusion that the potential now exists for councils (and other public service organisations) to achieve significant efficiency gains by shifting the public away from the more costly phone and face-to-face channels traditionally used to interact with ‘government’ towards the low-cost, self-service, website channel.

However, according to the briefing, Socitm Insight’s research findings also suggest that this
opportunity may be lost because of lack of corporate engagement with this vital area. It is not clear, says Socitm, whether this lack of corporate engagement is occurring because decision-makers have not yet got the message about channel management, take-up, and efficiency, or because they have got the message, but do not know how to take it forward.

This briefing highlights the opportunities available for local authorities and others in the public sector from exploiting the considerable investments that they have made over the last few years in delivering information and services through their websites, and challenges decision-makers with three key questions about their readiness to exploit these opportunities:

• What is the quality of information and services available through your website?
• How willing is the public to use your website?
• How determined is your organisation to get your customers to make the switch?

The research that underpins the briefing is available in full in the following reports published in the last six months by Socitm Insight:

Better connected 2007: the ninth annual survey of all local authority websites that provides a snapshot of their state of development (and by implication their readiness to deliver information and services traditionally provided through phone and face-to-face channels).

Better answered: a snapshot of local authority telephone responses: a survey that sheds considerable light on the degree to which channel management is currently being practised in local authorities across phone and web channels.

Building usage of council websites: analysis of information and statistics from the Website take-up service that records visitor numbers and feedback from visits to council websites. The figures show the extent and growth of usage of council websites by local residents and others, providing evidence about the public’s willingness to use council websites for information and services.

Better marketed: achieving success with online services: a report that includes a series of case studies from councils that have achieved very high take-up of a range of online services. These case studies demonstrate the potential to convert council service users to the web channel in substantial numbers and provides some valuable insights into how this can be achieved.

Channel management, take-up and efficiency: a pre-CSR07 briefing for elected members, chief executives and senior managers runs to 20 pages and is published in printed and ‘pdf’ versions in August.  The report is free to Socitm Insight subscribers and the charge per
copy to non-subscribers is £50 (£40 to Socitm members). It can be purchased from www.socitm.gov.uk.

Further information:

Vicky Sargent or Peter Coates, Socitm Press Office  
Tel: 0845 094 5641 email:  vicky.sargent@socitm.gov.uk or peter.coates@socitm.gov.uk

Martin Greenwood, Socitm Insight Programme Manager
Tel: 01926 498703 email: martin.greenwood@socitm.gov.uk