News

It's official! boroughofpoole.com, the Council's website, has made it into the Top 20 of all 467 local authority websites. It is also just one of 23 sites that were classified as 'transactional' which is the highest level of classification available.

The 'Better Connected' survey was carried out by the Society of Information Technology Managers (SOCITM) and was the sixth annual survey of its kind. The survey is regarded by the government and councils as the definitive survey because of its rigorous assessment of many aspects of council websites.

Poole's success is largely attributed to the boroughofpoole.com re-launch in May 2003. The new status means that the site is viewed as 'accessible, complete, thoughtful and coherent with many examples of online interaction for easy use'. The website was also tested to see how it could respond to a range of typical council customers such as teachers, businesses, and concerned neighbours who are looking for a variety of information; from jobs and planning applications; to benefits and community safety. boroughofpoole.com is picked out for its best practise in providing 'news value' and 'useful content'.

Councillor Neil Sorton, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Resources, Borough of Poole, said: "This news shows that the work we have done and continue to do, is improving residents' access to our services 24 hours a day seven days a week. It is a real step forward to getting our services online for the end of 2005 and shows that the Council's website is being recognised as a successful means of communication.

Christine Banfield, E-Communications Manager, Borough of Poole, said: "As a relatively small unitary authority being judged so highly against London Boroughs, County Councils and Metropolitans, this is a great achievement for Poole. We are incredibly proud of the site and now that we have enabled over 90 staff to contribute 'live' content to the site, the ratings reflect on fabulous teamwork within the Council."

boroughofpoole.com offers online facilities for payments such as Council Tax and housing rent. Library books can be reserved and renewed and agendas, reports and minutes for Council meetings can be accessed. Since the website's re-launch last year, it has also benefited from improvements to the 'Report It' and 'Apply For It' functions, allowing residents to report anything from fly-tipping to abandoned vehicles and to apply for job vacancies, planning application forms and many others. The council also plan to add an online planning application search facility and additional 'pay for it' services.

Look out for more additions to the Council's website and if you have any comments, email them to webmaster@boroughofpoole.com.

Notes

The 'Better Connected' survey provides a definitive snapshot of local government performance on the web. Every UK local authority website is reviewed and assessed against relevant e-government and good practice criteria and then ranked as - in descending order of desirability - a transactional, content plus, content, or promotional site.

This year's results show that one third of sites have moved up a rank in status, that 23 sites are now transactional (up from ten in 2003), and that there has been an increase of 46% in the number of self-service 'transactions' (eg paying council tax or reporting a faulty street light) available through local authority websites since 2002.

This year's 'Better Connected' survey was carried out between 15 November and 23 December 2003 and involved a team of reviewers visiting all websites managed by 467 councils throughout the UK. Using a structured questionnaire the team explored the ability of websites to respond to the sort of needs a range of typical local authority customers might have, and to test performance in the areas of joined-up government; interactive applications; currency of information; usability; and responsiveness to e-mail.

Using the research findings, the team then classified the websites as 'promotional'; 'content'; 'content plus' or 'transactional'. 'Transactional' means significantly interactive and is seen as the goal to which all local authority websites should be aspiring in order to meet the requirements of e-government.

Using this rating, this year's survey shows that:

• 56 local authorities have promotional sites, (12%) \n
• 209 have content sites (45%) \n
• 177 have content plus sites (38%) \n
• 23 have transactional sites (5%)

'Andrew has recently opened a café in the high street and has a number of other business ventures underway in the town.'

Socitm Insight has developed a rating system for local authority websites. This rating reflects the potential for local authority websites to pay a major role in the delivery of e-government. On this basis, all local authority websites should be aspiring to achieve 'transactional' status as soon as possible, with the steps along the way being the achievement first of promotional, then content, and then content plus status.

Transactional sites are accessible, complete, thoughtful and coherent. They have developed more than one type of online interaction (eg payment, applications, consultation, bookings) and also offer examples of customer recognition (eg ability to check outstanding Council Tax balance). They also provide specific email contacts for different service enquiries and make widespread use of databases, downloadable forms and online form filling (eg for service requests, appointments). They routinely utilise the potential of the Internet for joined-up government (eg OFSTED reports listed alongside schools listings) and offer unique examples of the application of the medium in a local government context.