Take up of online services

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Take up of online services

• Vicky Sargent
• Author Better marketed achieving success with
  take up of online services
• Alastair Gilchrist
• Director of Parking, Westminster City Council
• 15 October 2007

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Todays presentation

• Why take-up research
• is important now
• Method cases
• Westminster e-parking
• Conclusions

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Related research
Better answered
Better connected
Website take-up service
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Why is take-up research important now?
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Why is this research important now?

• Because take-up is required for benefits
  realisation
• for citizens, service providers and the tax payer
• The UK is leading the EU for sophistication of
  public e-services.
• but is below average in terms of usage.

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Why is this research important now?

• Because councils are operating in a much tighter
  financial environment - CSR07s 3 per annum net
  cashable efficiency gains.
• Shifting to online brings savings in transaction
  and other costs median average transaction costs
  when systems fully integrated
• - face-to-face 7.81
• - telephone 4.00
• - web 0.17
• Source NWeGG

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Why is this research important now?

• Reduce the number of information requests handled
  by telephone by 50
• Make the web the primary access point for all
  simple information and advice requests

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Why is this research important now?

• Service Transformation Agreement (re CSR07)
• Public services to understand needs/behaviours
  of citizens/businesses to create services that
  are better for customers, staff, the taxpayer
• Goal is to halve avoidable contact by 2011
• contact that adds no value to the outcome ie
  nugatory, duplicative or caused by failures in
  business processes.

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Why is this research important now?

• Theres still a lot to do eg join up phone and
  web
• Better answered research showed callers passed on
  to other individuals or organisations, or called
  back, when information being sought was actually
  available on the website
• Senior specialists in areas such as planning
  often seemed
• unsure about what their websites offered.
• Hardly anyone knew they had all the information
• I needed on their website. Better answered
  reviewer

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Why is this research important now?

• Better answered findings on out-of-hours messages
  
• Just 21 of councils refer callers to website
• Six months later, still the case in 16 London
  boroughs with out-of-hours message

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How did we research Better marketed?
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• Initially we sought examples of successful
  marketing campaigns
• Later we looked at examples of high take-up and
  then investigated how they were achieved
• High take-up was rarely result of marketing
• as generally understood in the public sector
• We researched 16 case studies in total

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Our case studies
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Case studies in the report
Bristol City - 58 of parents applying for school
places in 2007 did it electronically Leicester
City - now getting 85 of its job applications
online. South Oxon DC - 55 of applicants for
new recycling bins ordered online Warwick DC -
more than 70 of choice-based letting bids now
made online
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Case studies in the report
Walsall MBC - received more than 50 of planning
applications in February online. Westminster
City - 60 of parking revenue in two pilot areas
through pay-by-phone scheme. Bristol City -
campaign in for all service managers THINK
WEB! Gloucestershire CC website marketing plan
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Case studies published online
e-payments Bassetlaw DC general web
take-up Colchester BC LB Southwark Shropsh
ire CC e-planning Fenland DC Kennet
DC LB Hillingdon library services Warwickshi
re CC

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About our case studies

• These stories have not been easy to find
• Six service manager-driven, two corporate
• other drivers than just increasing take-up
• Extensive promotion is not a major feature

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Westminster e-parking
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Take up of online services

• Vicky Sargent
• Author Better marketed achieving success with
  take up of online services
• Alastair Gilchrist
• Director of Parking, Westminster City Council
• 15 October 2007