This section provides the national picture of the state of development and performance of local authority websites. We present overall rankings using the Better connected star system (one to the top ranking four stars).
44% of all UK councils have a good website rated 3 or 4 stars
KEY CC = County Council, SD = Shire district, LB = London borough, MD = Metropolitan district, EU = English unitary, WU = Welsh unitary, SU = Scottish unitary, NI = Northern Ireland district
| All councils * | CC | SD | MD | EU | SU | WU | LB | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 star | 2015 | 35 (9%) |
6 (22%) |
9 (5%) |
3 (8%) |
7 (13%) |
5 (16%) |
1 (5%) |
4 (12%) |
| 2014 | 32 (8%) |
5 (19%) |
13 (7%) |
3 (8%) |
3 (5%) |
7 (22%) |
0 (0%) |
1 (3%) |
|
| 3 star | 2015 | 149 (37%) |
12 (44%) |
78 (39%) |
15 (42%) |
17 (30%) |
11 (34%) |
5 (23%) |
11 (33%) |
| 2014 | 156 (38%) |
13 (48%) |
73 (37%) |
19 (53%) |
24 (43%) |
9 (28%) |
9 (41%) |
8 (24%) |
|
| 2 star | 2015 | 109 (27%) |
9 (33%) |
45 (23%) |
11 (31%) |
17 (30%) |
8 (25%) |
5 (23%) |
14 (42%) |
| 2014 | 134 (33%) |
8 (30%) |
60 (30%) |
11 (31%) |
23 (41%) |
9 (28%) |
6 (27%) |
17 (52%) |
|
| 1 star | 2015 | 114 (28%) |
0 (0%) |
68 (34%) |
7 (19%) |
15 (27%) |
8 (25%) |
11 (50%) |
4 (12%) |
| 2014 | 85 (21%) |
1 (4%) |
54 (27%) |
3 (8%) |
6 (11%) |
7 (22%) |
7 (32%) |
7 (21%) |
* 407 councils were tested in 2015. Because of local government reorganisation effective from 1 April 2015, Belfast City, which is largely unchanged, was the only council tested in Northern Ireland. Since 2014, the partnership between Adur & Worthing councils, resulting in a shared website, has reduced the number of shire district websites assessed from 201 to 200.
In comparison with 2014, the number of four star sites has increased by two, but the number of three star sites has decreased by 13, meaning that overall, the number of good and very good sites has declined slightly. Numbers of very poor sites have increased.
The drop in four star sites in 2014, largely explained by the introduction of integrated testing of the mobile experience has been halted, as shown in the chart below.
135 sites (33%) passed the Better connected mobile standard, nine more than in 2014.
There is a clear relationship between the councils with the best developed websites and those with the best mobile access as can be seen in chart 1.2b. Four star sites are required to achieve the mobile standard, but the percentage drops sharply for 3 star sites (39%), 2 star (27%) and 1 star (12%) sites.
KEY CC = County Council, SD = Shire district, LB = London borough, MD = Metropolitan district, EU = English unitary, WU = Welsh unitary, SU = Scottish unitary, NI = Northern Ireland district
| All councils ** | CC | SD | MD | EU | SU | WU | LB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better connected overall (stars 1-4) | ||||||||
| Highways Report street lighting failure |
44% | 48% | 0% | 64% | 30% | 75% | 23% | 24% |
| Rubbish and recycling Report missed bin |
34% | 0% | 35% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Libraries Find out how to borrow e-books |
35% | 52% | 0% | 47% | 29% | 41% | 9% | 33% |
| Leisure facilities Find out about keeping fit |
27% | 0% | 27% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Council tax Apply for council tax reduction |
32% | 0% | 32% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Planning and Building Control Find out about permitted development |
47% | 0% | 49% | 47% | 43% | 50% | 32% | 48% |
| Schools / youth Apply for free school meals |
44% | 70% | 0% | 47% | 43% | 22% | 45% | 42% |
| Parking Renew parking permit |
38% | 0% | 0% | 17% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 61% |
| Family history Find out about local archives |
78% | 78% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Council business Find out about my councillor |
46% | 74% | 48% | 39% | 45% | 50% | 23% | 36% |
| Social care Apply for a blue badge |
61% | 74% | 0% | 0% | 61% | 53% | 55% | 0% |
| Social care Find out about breaks for carers of adults |
35% | 56% | 0% | 33% | 41% | 28% | 23% | 24% |
| Environmental health Report a bonfire problem |
31% | 0% | 31% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Council business Find out how to vote |
50% | 0% | 53% | 56% | 55% | 22% | 14% | 67% |
| Registration services Find out how to register a death |
68% | 70% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Usability and other | ||||||||
| Navigation (% pass) | 37% | 59% | 33% | 50% | 34% | 44% | 41% | 30% |
| Search (% pass) | 71% | 78% | 68% | 72% | 73% | 72% | 68% | 88% |
| A-Z (% pass) | 64% | 70% | 63% | 61% | 70% | 69% | 41% | 64% |
| Mobile (% pass) | 31% | 44% | 26% | 47% | 36% | 53% | 18% | 18% |
| Accessibility (% pass) | 43% | 52% | 36% | 47% | 46% | 69% | 41% | 45% |
The Better connected results in 2015 show a slight decline in performance by overall star ranking, and also by comparison of the number of tasks across all councils that have achieved Better connected standards. In 2015 only 42% of all tasks did so, compared with 52% in 2014 (see table below).
The 2014 survey had also seen a decline in performance compared with 2013, with in four star sites down to 32 from 39 and three star sites down to 157 from 165, as well as a significant fall in accessibility standards.
This indicates that local authority website performance over recent years is struggling to keep pace with technological developments and increasing customer expectations, despite compelling reasons for councils to become ‘digital by default’.
| Criterion | Sites reaching standard (2014) | Sites reaching standard (2015) | Comparison with 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|
| All customer tasks | 52% | 42% | Significant deterioration |
| Navigation of top tasks | 33% | 37% | Minor improvement |
| Use of search engine | 71% | 71% | No change |
| Use of A to Z index | 60% | 63% | Minor improvement |
| Accessibility | 26% | 43% | Significant improvement |
The lack of progress seen in Better connected 2015 is reflected in visitor feedback from users of council websites collected via Socitm’s separate Website performance service.
This service offers visitors an online survey where they can record satisfaction (or not) and indicate whether they were able to do the task that they came to the website to carry out.
During 2014 an average of 28% of desktop visits and 30% of mobile visits ended in complete failure. These are significant increases from 2013. In addition, the average figure for net satisfaction in 2014 was 17% (calculated by subtracting the percentage of those who are dissatisfied from those who are satisfied). This is a 39% drop in satisfaction from the previous year’s figure of 29% and a much greater drop from that recorded by our own reviewers’ assessments.