Two thirds of consumers using digital channels for local government transactions

Two thirds of the 600m+ yearly customer contacts with local authorities in England are now coming through digital and online channels.

That’s according to a new study from research firm Socitm Insight for the Government Digital Service (GDS) which found consumers are using these channels for transactional services such as paying tax, applying for licences and loans, and receiving, requesting or ordering other goods and services.

Based on various data gathered specifically for the GDS project, Soctim has estimated that the total number of face-to-face and phone contacts across the local authority sector might reach 201m contacts per year.

Socitm also estimated the total number of web visits in 2011/12 was 388m with the current average ratio of offline to online contacts being 34% to 66%.

Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude said in a statement: “Today’s publication goes right to the heart of our twin commitments to make government more open and public services cheaper, more efficient and focused on users. Making public services digital by default offers huge opportunities for cutting out waste and improving the user experience. The first release of this data sets us on the road to maximising the savings from shifting to digital services.”