County web's big jump

The latest reports show a big increase in people finding information and accessing services on the site - eastsussex.gov.uk.

When comparing January 2006 figures with January this year, the number of monthly visitors to the website has almost doubled from about 80,000 to over 157,000.

The number of residents using online consultations and e-forms - for services such as reporting faults and potholes, downloading job application packs and accessing school admissions - has also risen sharply.

In 2005, the total number of e-forms used was just under 10,000 but this went up to almost 41,000 in 2006.

The county council has also been handed some good news about its website from SOCITM - the Society of IT Managers. SOCITM has confirmed that East Sussex is in the top six best county council websites for the whole of the UK for content and usability along with West Sussex, Surrey, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Shropshire.

Councillor Bob Tidy, lead county cabinet member for e-government, said: "It's great to see that more and more of our residents are accessing our services via our website. We want to make it easier for local people to use our services and we want to provide more services online. These statistics show that what we've achieved so far is going down well with the public.

"It's also very pleasing to see that our website has again won national praise and been named as one of the best public sector websites in the whole country."

Recent county website improvements and developments include:

'¢An online application system for primary and secondary school admissions

'¢A new events calendar enabling residents to add an event with an image to the website

'¢Updates to the "find nearest roadworks" tool, offerng more information about traffic delays

'¢Consultations on issues including carers' services

'¢A "find my local councillor" tool allowing residents to find their local councillor by postcode