For the past few years, councils have been scrambling to achieve the government's 2005 e-government targets. But concerns have surfaced that local authorities are not delivering services in the most effective way.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has announced it intends to ensure that money is being well spent on the introduction of new online channels. There are mounting concerns that councils are not marketing their electronic services effectively and are not researching demand for them. A national project is being drawn up, which could have far-reaching consequences for councils who have rushed to put services online without considering if they are easy to use or actually deliver value for money.
The news of the project has been warmly received by private e-government software suppliers, who believe that councils need to become more business-like in their approach to web-based strategies. "Putting a service on the web is all well and good if it's easily found and usable. But that involves thinking about the process from the consumers' point of view," says Paul Simpson, managing director of Civica Systems. "Councils have introduced online services without necessarily thinking if they were services people needed or wanted."
Simpson argues that putting council tax payments online is not essential, as most people pay by direct debit. Another complaint is that councils have tended to publish an A-Z list of their services without checking if the headings are understandable to the public.
"We all did rush out and transpose telephone directories on to our web sites," admits Karen Lewis, senior e-government project manager for Liverpool City Council, but she insists that the customer is at the heart of the council's e-government services. "If the customer doesn't want to use our online services, we've wasted taxpayers' money. We have to make them user-friendly."
Lewis points out that Liverpool has created a secure web site for children, designed with their help. In January, a citizen and business portal will be launched, designed to offer personalised information such as news on a local ward, councillor or recycling in the area. "We monitor the types of calls we get and we target the online services to fit those calls," she explains. Liverpool is also using focus groups to ensure its electronic services are relevant.
Not all councils can boast Liverpool's record, however. Shirley Brown, a consultant for Ovum, says the national picture is mixed. "Some councils are more forward-looking than others." Councils need to investigate which access channels are most applicable to their audiences. "It's no good if services are provided through PCs if people are using mobiles and TVs more."
She believes the government's 2005 target for getting all local council services online is optimistic, and points out that technology often takes longer to adopt than people imagine. Marketing could help, especially to build trust in e-government services, and she says this is an area councils are neglecting.
Essex County Council has recently overhauled its web site. "The new web site is much more focused on the information the customer might want," says Councillor Stephen Castle. It offers clearly labelled sections on health and caring, learning and business. The council has also invested in a new content management system to ensure there are regular updates, and user testing sessions involving disabled groups have provided feedback.
An issue for councils is how far e-government is going to develop. "E-government is not going to be the same in 18 months' time," says Castle. "Technology changes. In five years' time we will not be using desktop PCs, we will be using PDAs. What we want from e-government will change."
John Thornton, director of e-government for the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), says: "E-government is not just an add-on. It's about fundamentally restructuring how we deliver services and engage with the community. I think we are going to see increasing use of technology by councils. This is about how we modernise and improve our services - and we must do it."
