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Better Connected programme update – 13 April 2018

Vicky Sargent
Fri 13 Apr 2018

27 June in London: Local Government and the digital citizen: catch up with peers and experts to take stock of where development of council websites and the digital services they present – ie the bit of councils that most citizens actually interact with – is headed. In a series of sessions we will review the quality of the citizen experience overall and drill down into provision by key sectors like waste and recycling, social care, planning, and housing. We will look at cross cutting issues like customer accounts, identity and registration, the role of open data, new accessibility requirements on public sector sites starting from September, and the implications of Whitehall-delivered applications for services traditionally provided locally, like voter registration and blue badges. Places will be strictly limited (event organisers always say that, but we mean it!), so look out for a mailing very soon about how to book.

Better Connected programme update – 15 March 2018

Vicky Sargent
Fri 16 Mar 2018

Case study: how Swindon redesigned and automated their garden waste service Our Better Connected survey shows that three quarters of councils tested have introduced charges for garden waste services. Given that these services involve high volumes, payments, bin deliveries, frequent collections, service signups, cancellations AND annual renewals, getting the right customer enquiry/management arrangements in place, integrated with waste management systems, is key. This case study describes how Swindon redesigned their existing garden waste subscription service and implemented Jadu’s Continuum CXM, a customer portal that enables people to be kept up to date in real-time with requests and enquiries. It automates enquiry management and is able to integrate with existing back office systems using Jadu’s Integration Hub.

Better Connected programme update – 26 February 2018

Vicky Sargent
Mon 26 Feb 2018

Waste and recycling – council tip results are out! On 22 February we published the results the first of three surveys on waste and recycling, [find out how to] Take rubbish to the tip. The survey covers English counties only, 63% of which scored three or four stars. NB other councils that run tips, as this is likely to be one coming you way next year. We concluded that councils should be more upfront on their websites about growing restrictions on public use of council tips in order to avoid turning people away and creating the sort of frustration that can lead to confrontation. You can find the ‘all council’ report on tips here.

Incorporating Better Connected into your ongoing website improvement programme

Vicky Sargent
Wed 24 Jan 2018

Its striking how differently different councils use Better Connected. For all the web managers that tell us they use it to: ‘…change culture, help establish and meet standards, put processes in place, remain customer and task focussed, maintain/improve reputation and more…’ or to ‘work with services to plan improvement in a structured way’ we know there are still some who just check the headline results on publication, smile or shrug, and move on.

Better Connected programme update – 5 January 2018

Vicky Sargent
Fri 05 Jan 2018

Accessibility stage 1 results (60% pass) – action required for stage 2: 60% of Socitm subscribing councils tested have passed stage one accessibility (testing access for people with disabiliites and other impairments) and will progress automatically to stage two, providing they are paid up with their Socitm subscription for 2018.

Better Connected programme update – 15 December 2017

Vicky Sargent
Sat 16 Dec 2017

DON’T LOSE YOUR BETTER CONNECTED ACCESS ! For those of you that do not manage payment of the Socitm subscription that delivers access to the Better Connected service, please check that payment has been made for 2018 or that it is in hand. Subscriptions are due by 31 December. Non-payers will have access to https://betterconnected.socitm.net/ login in removed from 31 January 2018, and will not be put forward for stage two accessibility testing.

Better Connected programme update - 30 October 2017

Vicky Sargent
Tue 31 Oct 2017

We have published the timetable for surveys in 2017-18 and will be starting in November. Please note that the timetable is for guidance only and may change according to reviewer availability and other factors.

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