Are there burnt-out street-lights and abandoned cars you want to tell your council about, but can’t be bothered to drop-in or call? Just send them a text.

Following the lead of councils such as Kingston upon Thames and Castle Morpeth, Ashford Council in Kent is the latest borough to use the technology to increase public access by adding SMS messaging to their contact methods. Currently, their program is only in use with their social housing division, where people can use SMS to register interest in available properties.

The council will be phasing-in SMS for other services, including reporting street lighting faults and abandoned vehicles, booking council facilities and courses and requesting more general information. Citizens who have registered with the council will be able to send a text to pay parking fines and other council fees.

Text messages are not processed by a computer, but by an actual person. The council also claim the SMS solution allows them to extend opening hours and increase public access for less money than if they simply offered extended call centre hours. Unlike call centres, it also means no sitting on hold—something most people will be happy to tire out their thumbs to avoid.

This savvy use of technology not only encourages residents to make better use of existing services, but more importantly increases public participation, by making it easier for residents to contact councils in whatever manner they are most comfortable. This bodes well for increasing the level of feedback councils receive, and it’s a positive sign that local government really do want to hear what you have to say—so long as it’s in a few, short, texted words.

Directgov, the government’s services portal, relaunched today, promising a new-look, simpler navigation and improved range and quality of information.

The new site is better organised and the search function returns more relevant results—a big improvement from the last edition—based on a few searches I ran. The red-on-white links are difficult to read, but overall, the main government portal seems to be finally making some progress online.

Directgov is only the beginning, however, as many indivdual government sites are still inadequate. The UK Parliament’s site, called “dry and unengaging” and “impenetrable to most people” last weekin a report by the Hansard Society, even admits their information is dated, directing Scottish users to look up their MPs on the BBC election site.

According to a BBC news story, the Parliament site does not have its own webmaster. I’m not suggesting they’re hiring, but click here for their careers page—in case you can’t find it on the site yourself.