Braintree district: Council defends £75,000 website (From Braintree and Witham Times)

Braintree district: Council defends £75,000 website

5:00pm Friday 17th August 2012 in News

Braintree Council has defended its new £75,000 website following criticism about costs and design.

The new site has been online for a week after the 10-year-old design was upgraded by technology company Jadu.

The council believes the new site is easier to search and claims it is cost effective.

At Thursday’s Halstead Town Council meeting concerns were raised about accessing the planning section of the Braintree site to discuss applications in the town.

Councillor Chris Siddall, cabinet member for performance, said the website revamp was put out to tender and the council considered three bids.

He said: “We evaluated the bids not only on cost but on the technical ability to meet our specification.

“Jadu was assessed by us to provide the best solution to meet our needs within our available budget.

“The capital cost, £75,000, covers the design and implementation of a new website and content management system including new forms solution, new e-payments solution, mobile website capabilities, etc.”

The council was unable to say what the cheapest quote was as it is “commercially sensitive.”

See this week's Times for the full story.