Low IT Investments Causing Local Council Services To Suffer

Three quarters of councils say a lack of IT investment is undermining the delivery of its services, according to a new study.

Research by local government technology not-for-profit Eduserv also claims one in four councils lack a strategic plan to deliver online services.

To come to these conclusions, the organisation surveyed local government senior decision makers in November 2014 with a total of 108 respondents.

Of these participants, 79% said they support the use of IT to deliver and support council services, while 77% of those with responsibility for delivering services said a shortfall in investment is making it hard to do their job effectively.

“Councils appear to be playing catch-up in delivering services that meet the expectations of digital users,” claimed Andrew Hawkins, local government director at Eduserv.

“While it is disappointing that so many councils feel their current services are being undermined by a lack of investment in IT, it’s encouraging that they recognise his and want to use IT to improve future service delivering.

“More To IT Than Just Cost Cutting”

“It’s also encouraging that less than half of the councils surveyed (48%) felt the focus of IT should be on cutting costs.

“While in many cases moving services online or to the cloud can have financial benefits for the organisation it’s important this isn’t the key driver – the main priority should be on improving services for residents.

“Most councils seem to recognise this and now is the time for council leaders to deploy greater resources for an effective strategy to deliver the changes needed,” he added.

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