West Sussex citizens still more likely to use post and in-person visits to access council services

The Local Authority Digital Transformation Index (LADiT) utilises the latest census information across every local authority area in England, Wales and Scotland, and combines the data with expert customer experience (CX) analysis from FourNet.

The Index, which covers 350 local authorities across the UK, then charts a detailed pathway for councils embarking on future digital transformation journeys.

The data reveals that people living in West Sussex are more likely to use phones - both landlines and mobiles - to access council services and information. Nearly one in two people, 47%, more than the national average, are likely to use landlines and 50% to use mobiles.

Three out of four people, (77%) are likely to use email, 37% are likely to make in-person visits. But younger generations are more likely to use social media in future. 50% are likely to want to use TikTok and 44% to use Snapchat, perhaps reflective of the fact that 50.2% of the local population are 45 or under.

The LADiT Index, from tech firm FourNet, plots the channels which residents are more likely to want to use in each council area - whether landline, mobile phone, chatbot, email or social media etc - and ranks them with a score for each demographic.

The data shows that West Sussex County Council may need to invest in the latest digital technology platforms to communicate with local residents.

Alan Linter, FourNet’s Group Consulting Director of Customer Experience, said: “With local authority budgets under pressure, West Sussex Council will benefit from this analysis when considering the next steps in its digital transformation journey. This information will be useful under government plans to create a single tier of local government for counties.

“What our LADiT Index reveals is the make-up of local populations with data which will be critical for councils to take into account when deciding how to invest in tech and designing their services.

“There is a huge difference in the way the majority of people interact with council services across the UK from the top of our index to the bottom - and West Sussex County Council will be able to use that data to understand their needs and plan for future investments better.”

UK councils are the backbone of local governance, managing £121.7 billion in budgets, supporting over 1.3m employees and providing services to nearly 60 million people.

Understanding the needs of citizens and optimising their customer journey when accessing local services is crucial to local authorities - and FourNet’s new LADiT Index provides key data for that purpose which will furnish digital transformation plans for the future.