3. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
About Better Connected • Been going since 1999
• Surveys all UK council
websites every year
• Tests tasks: 'pay council
tax, find out 'how to apply
for social housing'
• Team of professional
reviewers use structured
questionnaire
• Also test access from
mobiles, navigation, search
and A-Z, and accessibility
• Sites ranked from 1-4 stars
on aggregation of survey
results
• Headline results and all
service reports free-to-view
Betterconnected.socitm.net
4. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Better Connected and social care
In 2014-15 BC reviewed:
• Apply for a blue badge
• Find out about breaks for carers of adultsIn 2015 we reviewed :
BC social care tasks 2015-16 but for IEWM/ADASS WM Boilerhouse tested:
1. Is my parent is eligible for deferred payment agreement & how to apply
2. Find meals service for my elderly relative and what will it cost
3. Can I find a local approved provider of help at home care services (assume
self-funders)
4. Find out about fitness classes for older people
And for ADASS EM we did 1 & 3 above and:
5. Am I eligible for care support (financial)?
6. My parent is suffering from loneliness – what is available locally to help?
5. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Service reports
• We no longer assess 'the
council website', but
principally a set of services
• Services now get star ratings
and their own report
• Web managers say this has
stimulated better
conversations about
improvement
• Services teams specify and
procure the software that
customers use online
• Service teams largely
determine the customer
journey and quality of
information that is provided
6. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Council web pages • Every council has its own
web pages for results
• Pages also provide digital
context: population,
deprivation, digital
exclusion
• We’ve just linked to the
digital exclusion heatmap
• We provide information
about web visits and Twitter
followers
• We are keen to add more
relevant open data
• Headline results are free to
anyone to view
• Employees of Socitm
subscribing organisations
can see detailed results and
commentary from reviewers
8. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Better Connected social care results 2014/15
BC results 2014-15 (provide good/very good service):
• Apply for a blue badge – counties and E/W/S unitaries - 61%
• Find out about breaks for carers of adults – all but districts – 35%
Better Connected & social care in 2016-17 ?
Ongoing discussion with ADASS IN and TLAP about collaboration
9. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Findings from testing with ADASS WM and EM
• Problems with customer journeys whether entry from Google or site
navigation/search/A-Z
• PDFs – Google dead end; burial of key information
• The assessment barrier
• Coyness about money
• Issues with implementation of e-marketplaces/directories
- findability
- integration with main website
- adding/maintaining useful content
• ‘Competition’ with eg NHS Choices, Which, Age UK etc etc
• Poor integration with relevant services eg public health and leisure
10. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Service area Task 3&4 stars
Rubbish & recycling Find out opening times for council tip 78%
Schools/youth Apply for secondary school place 78%
Leisure Find out about keeping fit 72%
Parking Pay parking fine 71%
Council tax Pay council tax 62%
Housing Find out how to apply for housing 58%
Transport & buses Apply for older person's bus pass 48%
Libraries Renew a library book 45%
Rubbish & recycling Report missed bin 41%
Schools/youth Apply for primary school place 41%
Planning Object to a planning application 34%
Business Register food business 22%
Performance of different services BC2015-16
11. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Wider digital context: shift to mobile
No %
4 star 170 41
3 star 111 27
2 star 24 6
1 star 27 6
0 star* 84 20
416 100
* these sites are not purposed for mobile
Access from mobiles
• 80% have websites purposed
for mobile
• Up from 26% in 2014
• 68% of sites provide a good or
very good experience
• Sites not purposed for mobile
lost a star rank
12. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Wider digital context: growth of
customer accounts
• Better Connected Digital Management survey in 2015 found:
• 34% of councils with a corporate ‘my account’
• 36% planning to introduce one
• 30% without one
• We will be repeating the survey this year
• Only 11 councils responding to our 2015 survey had takeup by
households > 10%
• In 2015-16 we find evidence of councils ‘forcing’ take up
• How will customer accounts be affected by GDS initiatives like
Verify?
• Do customers want a ‘single view’ of their dealings with the council?
13. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Wider digital context: social media, engagement,
communities
2015 report concludes:
• If an organisation’s leaders
support social media, this gives
the rest of the staff the
confidence to embrace it
• There is scope to diversify the
range of social media platforms
councils are using – to
embrace newer platforms such
as WhatsApp and Instagram –
these are platforms their
citizens are engaging with
14. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Wider digital context: social media, engagement,
communities
• Better connected has covered social media since our well known report ‘Twitter
Gritters’
• Back then, the issue was anxiety about bandwidth and inappropriate use
• Better Connected digital engagement survey looks at social media activity as well
as more direct engagement through email alert sign ups at corporate and service
level
• We will repeat this survey this year
• Links to wider initiatives to support/encourage digitally-enabled and networked
communities within individual service like libraries and social care
15. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Wider digital context: digital exclusion
• Exclusion must be a big part of the conversation about local digital
• See links to Digital Exclusion Heatmap from betterconnected.socitm.net
• Hence the involvement of Tinder Foundation and Doteveryone in Better
Connected Live
• What proportion of users of of this services are digitally excluded?
• What are key digital opportunities for users of this service?
16. betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
Still useful!
1 The challenges: making health
and social care sustainable
2 Meeting the challenges
3 The new statutory framework and
responsibilities
4 The ‘whole place’ approach to
health and social care integration
5 Information and advice
6 Working with carers and the
voluntary sector
7 Consumer digital
8 Joining things up around the
patient and service user
9 Information and technology
requirements of the Care Act
