City of London / Greater London Authority - United Kingdom

Articles and resources about egovernment activities and issues in the City of London / Greater London Authority in the United Kingdom.

Local Government - United Kingdom - Councils A-K

United Kingdom Local government councils grouped alphabetically by name from A to K.

Local Government - United Kingdom - Councils L-R

United Kingdom Local government councils grouped alphabetically by name from L to R.

Local Government - United Kingdom - Councils S-W

United Kingdom Local government councils grouped alphabetically by name from S to W.

Connected councillors: a guide to using social media to support local leadership

The Connected Councillors guide is meant as a brief introduction to social media for councillors, outlining how social media can be used to: support councillor's leadership roles; create a space for community conversation; keep a finger on the pulse of local needs; campaign for political office and on important local issues. It is targeted particularly at councillors who have some IT skills, and would like to know more.

Local by social: How local authorities can use social media to achieve more for less

Social media are changing the world in which we work, socialise and govern, and in many different ways. From Twitter to eBay, Facebook to YouTube, new tools are emerging every year that place the connecting power of the internet in the hands of every one of us. Marketing and sales teams are discovering lucrative new channels; staff and employers are experiencing a change in their relationships; the news and public accountability are swifter and more challenging; and the power of individuals to spread messages is now significant enough that no company or government can ignore it.

Local Government Articles: A-E - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about egovernment activities and issues in local government in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Articles: E-Q - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about egovernment activities and issues in local government in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Articles: R-Z - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about egovernment activities and issues in local government in the United Kingdom.

Local Government related links: A-N - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about egovernment activities and issues in local government in the United Kingdom.

Local Government related links: O-Z - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about egovernment activities and issues in local government in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Reports - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about local government reports relating to egovernment activities and issues in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Sites: A-C - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about local government websites in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Sites: D-H - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about local government websites in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Sites: I-N - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about local government websites in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Sites: N-S - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about local government websites in the United Kingdom.

Local Government Sites: S-Z - United Kingdom - Archive

Articles and resources about local government websites in the United Kingdom.

To be truly accountable, councillors must do more than just use Twitter

To transform local democracy and increase participation, local authorities must redesign how councillors interact with residents, by Catherine Howe. Guardian Professional, Wednesday 5 June 2013."With a crisis in participation, simply getting councillors to use Twitter is not going to be enough – officers need to think about a more fundamental redesign of how they interact with their communities..."

Following the Trends: Results from the 2013 BDO Local Government Social Media Survey - in pdf format (3195 kb)

(This document requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader). BDO, 18 May 2013. "One London Borough told us that a massive 70-80% of hits to their website were coming from mobile phones or tablets. Our survey shows that 38% of councils are using SMS and we are seeing a revival of text as a tool for targeting residents, and preventative communications to reduce overall contact (for example, council tax reminders in the London Borough of Sutton). It is clear that mobile is the next ‘big thing’ in council customer services, following the web and social media. Despite these advances in technology, our survey revealed that some council staff still do not feel comfortable using new tools in the local government context. 71% of respondents agreed with the statement that “there is either lots of confusion or limited understanding about a social media strategy in my organisation”. Confusion has reduced since last year, but not by much. Use of social media has increased, and we are seeing new and different ways of using digital tools for local government every day. Yet we still come up against three common questions all the time: • How do you prove social media works? • How do you manage risk and reputation? • What tools and support are out there to help? Our survey results underpin the need for more clarity and support in these areas..."

Councils embrace social media

More local authorities are using Twitter and Facebook to deal with customers. It means they can give a better service, but the financial benefits are hard to identify, by Kate Denham. Guardian Professional, Thursday 23 May 2013. "A survey of local authorities published today by BDO shows that 98% of councils are using some form of social media, reflecting the fact that three out of four UK consumers now have an active Facebook account..."

The rise of the digital citizen signals new opportunity for local government

By Billy D’Arcy, Managing Director, O2 Public Sector, Posted by Andy Price, Public Technology, Tuesday, 14 May 2013. "There’s no doubt that with the rise of mobile technology and social media, consumers today have never been more connected or influential. With smartphone penetration expected to reach 90 per cent in the next three years and the advent of mainstream 4G services signalling a much faster mobile experience, this is only set to increase. In the private sector this evolution is sparking a power-shift between businesses and consumers. But what challenges and opportunities does the rise of the digital citizen mean for local authorities?..."

Channel Shift: Speeding Up the Long Game

Posted by Andy Price. Public Technology, PM Friday, 10 May 2013. "For many local government organisations, there is a gap between aspiration and reality when it comes to realising their channel shift programmes. They can see their ultimate goal of a self-service model for public interactions, and many organisations have already made headway in this by offering a select number of services online. But how should they extend these initial footings to build a solid foundation for pervasive online interaction? Simply offering online engagement to supplement telephone or face-to-face contact channels isn’t the ultimate objective. While this may realise some financial savings, it also runs the risk of simply offering another point of contact to the organisation, rather than delivering genuine ongoing benefits from transforming services..."

Poll: are services getting better?

An Ipsos Mori study suggests that an equal number of public sector managers think services have improved as have deteriorated. What are your thoughts? Guardian Professional, Thursday 11 April 2013. "Local government has been hit by major cuts, but amid all the belt-tightening are services actually improving? This may be the case, at least according to some public sector workers, after an Ipsos Mori survey showed that one in five senior managers believe the quality of their services has actually improved..."

Big data: a big opportunity or just big brother?

Data sharing offers opportunities for local authorities to understand communities and improve services, by Paul Scriven. Guardian Professional, Thursday 14 March 2013. "Imagine a world where real time data could be used to provide personalised services that meet the needs of individual families. This information could show us more clearly what communities want, leading to smart commissioning and outcome-based services. This might sound like pie in the sky today, but in some south-east Asian and North American cities technology is already being used to ensure local authorities design good public services for the first time. The word collaboration is used a lot in local government. To most, collaboration means meeting in a room, pooling a few budgets, sharing staff and providing services collectively. But this is just scraping the surface of what collaboration could mean for councils..."

Local government not signed up to 'digital by default' agenda suggest results from latest Better connected survey of council website performance

SOCITM, Published Friday 1 March 2013. "... Results from the latest Better connected survey of council website performance suggest that, with notable exceptions, local government organisations are not yet signed up to the 'digital by default' agenda set by the Government. Although there has been an increase in the number of 4 star sites, there has been a small decline since 2012 in the number of sites achieving three and four stars in the survey (177 cf 183). This compares with a rise in three and four star sites between 2011 and 2012 from 32% to 42%. These results are supported by visitor feedback data from 2012, taken from a different survey (Socitm's Website takeup service) of council website users. This records satisfaction down on all measures, including overall satisfaction and satisfaction with specific features of the site. Visit failure rates (from the same survey) are also up, reversing trends over the previous two years..."

How to achieve successful channel shift in local government

by Haydn Knight. Posted by Andy Price. Public Technology, Monday, 11 February 2013. "Local authorities need to make the move from more expensive methods of dealing with their citizens to less expensive ones, including self-service channels. The financial climate demands it and the constantly evolving needs of citizens dictates it. But local authorities run the risk of being blind-sided by the need to cut costs if they don’t keep the customers’ needs at the heart of their channel shift plans..."

Openly Local - making local government more transparent

"Openly Local is a new project to develop an open and unified way of accessing UK Local Government information. So far we have opened up data for over 140 local authorities, and more are being added every week, with more information being opened up too. Openly Local is not affiliated with, supporter of or linked in any way with any political organization..."

Benefits of moving to the cloud

by Alex Mathieson. LocalGov.co.uk, 10 September 2012. "The current budget cuts in local authorities are having a considerable impact on the services they provide and councils are working extremely hard to shield frontline services from the 28% cut to the money they receive from Government... However, it is possible for local authorities to continue to make cost-efficiencies and still ensure that they develop strong relationships with the general public. One way to do this is by harnessing the power of location based information. The release of location-based data can lead to new ways of improving citizen self-services via easy-to-use, interactive mapping interfaces on council websites..."

Reducing the cost of assessments and reviews: An adult social care briefing for councils - in pdf format (1342kb)

(This document requires the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader). Audit Commission, August 2012. "Councils must assess social care needs on request, or where they think it is necessary to do so. Once councils have provided services or a personal budget, they periodically review the individual’s needs. In 2010/11 English councils did about 1.8 million assessments of needs and reviews of the resulting care. While councils have final responsibility for assessments and reviews of needs, personalisation has changed the way they carry them out. It involves self-assessments and assessments of carers. It promotes a greater variety of care packages, and a wider range of people who provide care. It alters staff roles and activities..."

Audit Commission: online information can cut councils' care review costs

Review finds good use of web and call centres has significant impact on costs of adult care assessments, by Gill Hitchcock. Guardian Professional, Thursday 23 August 2012. "The Audit Commission says that councils can reduce spending on adult care assessments and reviews by improving web-based advice and assistance. In a report on the value of money in assessments and reviews, it says that some councils are improving their websites so that "information is more streamlined and accessible"..."

Online channels make up two thirds of council contact

Posted by Stuart Lauchlan. Public Technology, Wednesday, 22 August 2012. "... In a new study, Socitm found that of the 600 million-plus customer contacts received by English local authorities each year, the majority are now coming in through online and other digital channels..."

Socitm: Too many self-service council site visits are failing

Posted by Gary Flood. Public Technology, 28 May 2012. "If you really want to know why channel shift in local government matters but are still holding out, maybe these numbers will convince you: based on cohorts of councils completing a key Socitm exercise last year, it costs £8.62 per visit for face-to-face interaction with a resident, £2.83 per call for phone – but just £0.15 per visit if they visit your council website instead..."