New performance targets are ignoring the potential cost savings of council websites, according to the Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM). The society claimed the Government had failed to heed the advice of its own adviser on public transformation, Sir David Varney, over the proposed NI 14 indicator. Sir David had recommended councils cut the number of requests from residents over the telephone by 50%, and encourage more people to use local authority websites. The society argued that NI 14, which is one of 198 new national indicators for local authorities and how they measure ‘avoidable contact', was flawed because it did not give Internet transactions more importance. A DCLG spokesman said the indicators were subject to a consultation.
