Looking Local Case Study
January 2009
 Surge in Citizen Take-up of Government Services via
Digital TV and Mobiles through "Looking Local" Portal
 Take up and usage of local government services via the groundbreaking digital TV and mobile-based portal "Looking Local" more than doubled across the country last year, thanks to the development of high-demand new services and to a step change in the level of promotion by the Kirklees Council-run portal and its public and technical sector partners.
This dramatic rise in usage of digital TV and mobile to access council and public sector support in areas such as social housing, health, transport, community facilities and employment indicates the need for access to local government via such channels. It demonstrates the potential the portal offers local government to reduce digital exclusion, enhance the efficiency of communication with its citizens and offer vital services to vulnerable groups including disadvantaged young people and isolated older and chronically ill people. 
In December 07, Looking Local and over seventy local government sites it hosts recorded around half a million hits a month by people using interactive television or mobile browsing to access public services. By July 2008 usage had reached over twice that level. The increase to well over a million hits a month has been sustained since then with nearly thirty local government sites now regularly seeing over 2,000 hits a week. These hits are from people doing business with local councils and their partners electronically rather than adding to telephone call or face to face transaction workloads or their own travel times and costs.  
 
Looking Local enables local authorities and their partners - such as housing associations, police and fire services - to provide remote information and services to citizens who do not have a computer or internet access or do not have the skills or confidence to go online. One third of the UK population still does not have access to the internet, a significant proportion of whom do have either interactive TV or mobile phone based browsing.
Two factors contributed to the growth in usage of Looking Local last year. The first was technical development and investment by local authorities and partners to create an enhanced and demand-led range of services.
The extension during the year of Choice Based Lettings (CBL) to digital TV and mobile channels vial Looking Local is one of the most popular of those new developments. Take up of CBL through Looking Local has been considerable among those seeking social housing otherwise unable to bid for properties easily. Abritas was the first service provider to develop a plugin for CBL to Looking Local, with Home Connections and IBS Open Systems following later in the year.
The sub-regional housing association, Home Options Greater Norwich, achieved over 20,000 hits per month on Looking Local based CBL during the second half of last year. They are delighted at the number of satisfied house seekers as a result. Examples include a young family in financial difficulties placed in a two bedroom bungalow in South Norfolk; an older couple no longer able to manage the stairs through ill health relocated to a bungalow, leaving a much bigger house available for a large family who needed it; and a young man who had been living with his parents for over a year because of his relatively low need band now in a new build earmarked for local residents.
 
Other innovative recent developments are in areas such as payments, library services and housing repairs. Technical development has been completed in anticipation of the huge rise in the number of those who have interactive TV as digital switchover approaches. 
The second factor leading to the huge rise in take-up of services through Looking Local is the increased focus on marketing last year of both the portal itself and individual services on individual sites.
The profile of Looking Local among Virgin interactive TV viewers rose significantly through banner advertising over the summer which was the catalyst for usage growth. In parallel, relationship building with Sky interactive enabled Looking Local to improve its positioning within Sky Interactive navigation screens to make the service far easier to find by those browsing speculatively.  
Simultaneously, local authorities have implemented marketing campaigns to capture customer interest and encourage adoption of the new access channel. GP Appointments and Repeat Prescriptions through Looking Local is one such service introduced little more than a year ago now highly regarded.
People can use their TV remote to book appointments or repeat prescriptions at any surgery which uses EMIS software, and council promotions have raised awareness and encouraged levels of usage which generate real efficiencies both for the patients and for the surgeries themselves. Mr Davies from Peterborough is a very enthusiastic user: "Being able to book appointments while watching TV is much more convenient even than going on-line, and my dad, who needs regular repeat prescriptions and doesn't have a computer, has saved himself a huge amount of time on the telephone. It is an excellent service."
 
On top of access to council services, the availability on the portal of several hugely popular national databases offering vital information on traffic, jobs, health care and legal advice has increased visits to Looking Local and the probability that browsing viewers notice and use TV and mobile based local government services.
As a result of all this success, the potential of Looking Local has been recognised by several national and international organisations. Looking Local has received grants from the government's Technology Strategy Board and the European Commission to apply its interactive TV technology to Telehealth provision and improve remote healthcare solutions for older and chronically ill people, helping many more isolated people communicate with carers and family, and helping them stay in their homes for longer. Looking Local was also recently accepted as part of a consortium working with the DCSF to develop "PLINGS" (Places to Go, Things to Do) - a national database of positive activities for young people - on digital TV and mobile. These wins will provide benefits to many more people and provide the opportunity to raise awareness of the portal's benefits more widely than ever, ensuring that usage can only grow even stronger next year.