Council website leading the way in online services

The site was one of only 36 across the UK to meet the standard.

This is the second consecutive year that the website has been awarded the maximum four stars.

Socitm’s Better Connected surveys explore the ability of all 416 UK council websites to provide quick and easy ‘customer journeys’ and successful resolution of a series of top tasks.

‘Top tasks’ are the most common reasons that residents and businesses visit council websites. They may be requests for information (for example finding out about building control) or transactions (for example applying for a temporary event notice).

Based on scores given across a number of tests and customer journeys, an overall rating score is assigned to each local authority. 

The website was rated across several key areas including:

• Council Tax, where the process for applying for a single person discount was rated as four star;
• Licensing, where the information about temporary event notices, and the process for submitting a notice and paying, was rated as three star;
• Site tools, where the tools for finding content on the website including navigation, search and A-Z listings was rated as three star; and
• Mobile testing, where the ease with which the site can be accessed from mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones received four stars.

Cllr Michael Stokes, Leader of Rugby Borough Council, said: “I am very proud that the Rugby Borough Council website has been hailed by Socitm as an example of best practice.

“Our online information and services are a big part of our commitment to run an efficient and effective council.

While there is more to do to make the most of web technologies, this award indicates that our user-focused approach to the online journey is paying off.”

Adam Norburn, Executive Director of Rugby Borough Council, said: “With most visits to our website now made on mobile devices direct from search engines it’s increasingly important that we design our services for smartphones and tablets, and structure our sites for easy navigation from Google and other search engines.

“Residents and businesses have demonstrated that they will use well-designed online services, and our challenge now is to maintain these standards as we move more services online.” 

Residents and businesses can visit Rugby Borough Council’s website at www.rugby.gov.uk.