This report by the Oxford Internet Institute and the LSE Public Policy Group looks at the progress made by the UK government in delivering services and information online since the same study team reported in 2002. The study involved a wide range of social science methods, including experiments, focus groups, a national survey, online survey of all government CIOs, census of all government websites, comparator studies and webmetrics.

UK government organisations spend some ?208 million on websites each year. Usage of the main government websites has risen over time and some sites are widely and repeatedly used. However, the study reports a number of areas where departments and agencies could improve value for money in the provision of online information and services.

The researchers found that:
(i) Government websites tend to be text heavy and complex to understand and to navigate
(ii) Many agencies have little information about how much online provision of services costs
(iii) Most departments lack sufficient information about who is using their sites and how they are being used