WIREDGOV

A survey by Socitm Insight of council website and social media coverage of the public sector strike on 30 November shows wide variation in practice and performance.

While 22% of councils surveyed provided excellent coverage, 18% provided no coverage at all, with the rest falling somewhere between.

The survey covered single tier councils across the UK and county councils in England on the day itself and the two days before it, and followed similar methodology as that of the annual Better connected survey in which researchers 'mystery shop' websites to test the quality of the experience from the customer point-of-view.

The survey conducted around the 30 November action asked whether a simple Google search led to useful information about service disruption, and whether visitors were told about updates that might be available through council pages on the social media channels Twitter and Facebook.

48 council websites (22%) were able to answer at least five of the six questions posed in the survey. The best examples were found at Bracknell Forest, Derby, Isle of Wight, Luton, Medway, North Somerset, Peterborough, Stockton-on-Tees and Stoke-on-Trent (all English unitaries), Warwickshire (county council) and Argyll & Bute, South Ayrshire (Scotland). London boroughs, metropolitan districts and councils in Wales had noticeably fewer good examples.

Further information about the survey is in our press release. The survey results will also be presented and discussed at Building website take-up and citizen e-engagement a one-day event being run for members of Socitm's Website take-up service being held in Birmingham on Friday, 9 December.

Full results of the survey will be published in Better connected 2012, available from 1 March.