vicky sargent: better connected live 2016

betterconnected.socitm.net

@btrconnectedbetterconnected.socitm.net @btrconnected

Director, Better Connected programme

Vicky Sargent

Local digital: trends and developments


@btrconnected

Today’s presentation

• About Better Connected• Wider digital context:- Shift to mobile- Growth of customer accounts- Social media, engagement, communities- Digital exclusion


@btrconnected

About Better Connected• Been going since 1999

• Surveys all UK council websites every year

• Tests tasks: 'pay council tax, find out 'how to apply for social housing'

• Team of professional reviewers use structured questionnaire

• Also test access from mobiles, navigation, search and A-Z, and accessibility

• Sites ranked from 1-4 stars on aggregation of survey results

• Headline results and all service reports free-to-view

Betterconnected.socitm.net


@btrconnected

Service reports• We no longer assess 'the

council website', but principally a set of services

• Services now get star ratings and their own report

• Web managers say this has stimulated better conversations about improvement

• Services teams specify and procure the software that customers use online

• Service teams largely determine the customer journey and quality of information that is provided


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Council web pages

• Every council has its own web pages for results

• Pages also provide digital context: population, deprivation, digital exclusion

• We’ve just linked to the digital exclusion heatmap

• We provide information about web visits and Twitter followers

• We are keen to add more relevant open data

• Headline results are free to anyone to view

• Employees of Socitm subscribing organisations can see detailed results and commentary from reviewers


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Results page: renew library book task

• Scores for every question asked are provided

• Scoring system is clear and transparent

• All reviewer comments during and after survey are fed back

• There is a right to reply via comment box


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Service area Task 3&4 starsRubbish & recycling Find out opening times for council tip 78%Schools/youth Apply for secondary school place 78%Leisure Find out about keeping fit 72%Parking Pay parking fine 71%Council tax Pay council tax 62%Housing Find out how to apply for housing 58%Transport & buses Apply for older person's bus pass 48%Libraries Renew a library book 45%Rubbish & recycling Report missed bin 41%Schools/youth Apply for primary school place 41%Planning Object to a planning application 34%Business Register food business 22%

Performance of different services BC2015-16


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Wider digital context: shift to mobile

Access from mobiles

• 80% have websites purposed for mobile

• Up from 26% in 2014

• 68% of sites provide a good or very good experience

• Sites not purposed for mobile lost a star rank


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Wider digital context: growth of customer accounts• Better Connected Digital Management survey in 2015

found:

• 34% of councils with a corporate ‘my account’• 36% planning to introduce one• 30% without one

• We will be repeating the survey this year

• Only 11 councils responding to our 2015 survey had takeup by households > 10%

• In 2015-16 we find evidence of councils ‘forcing’ take up

• How will customer accounts be affected by GDS initiatives like Verify?

• Do customers want a ‘single view’ of their dealings with the council?


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Wider digital context: social media, engagement, communities

2015 report concludes:

• If an organisation’s leaders support social media, this gives the rest of the staff the confidence to embrace it

• There is scope to diversify the range of social media platforms councils are using – to embrace newer platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram –these are platforms their citizens are engaging with


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Wider digital context: social media, engagement, communities• Better connected has covered social media since our well known

report ‘Twitter Gritters’

• Back then, the issue was anxiety about bandwidth and inappropriate use

• Better Connected digital engagement survey looks at social media activity as well as more direct engagement through email alert sign ups at corporate and service level

• We will repeat this survey this year

• Links to wider initiatives to support/encourage digitally-enabled and networked communities within individual service like libraries and social care


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Wider digital context: digital exclusion

• Exclusion must be a big part of the conversation about local digital

• See links to Digital Exclusion Heatmap from betterconnected.socitm.net

• Hence the involvement of Tinder Foundation and Doteveryone in Better Connected Live

• What proportion of users of of this services are digitally excluded?

• What are key digital opportunities for users of this service?

vicky sargent: better connected live 2016

Government & Nonprofit