London Councils has disputed the accuracy of claims made by information technology group Socitm that ten of the capital's boroughs failed to publish information on last Wednesday's ‘day of action'.

The umbrella group has rebutted Socitm Insight's findings, asserting all 32 London boroughs provided details on their website homepages on the local impact of industrial action by council staff over changes to pension schemes.

Based on Google searches, the Socitm survey revealed almost one in five council websites made no reference to the public sector strike on 30 November, leaving residents unclear about possible service disruptions.  Of the 206 councils tested by Socitm Insight's ‘mystery shopper' in the run-up to and during the strike, 18% of councils made no reference to it at all, and only 12% of councils used social networking channels to keep people informed. 

Among those councils cited for not giving information were one in three county councils, 10 London Boroughs, 15 unitaries and 5 metropolitan districts.  The research found that only 22% of councils provided ‘excellent coverage' with the best examples including Bracknell Forest BC, Derby City Council, and the Isle of Wight.

But Jo Revill, chief media and communications officer for London Councils said the ‘research is misleading. Every London borough posted details on the impact of the strikes on the homepage of their website,' she added.

Commenting on the survey findings, Martin Greenwood of Socitm Insight said: ‘While the actual impact on many services may not have been clear until the day itself, some communication by every council to show how it would be managing the situation might have been expected.'  Full results of the survey will be published publicly in Better connected 2012.