Ten years into the project and the process of getting local authority services online remains stubbornly slow, according to a new report from the Society of IT Management (Socitm)

Despite pockets of excellent practice - where a handful of leading councils are using their web sites to "underpin front line service delivery" - the majority of local authorities cannot process transactions, such as council tax payments or parking fines.

The study also highlights a fall in the number of sites complying with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, from 64 sites in the previous year's study, to just 49 now.

Nevertheless, Socitm's annual study of councils' online sophistication suggests there are signs of improvement. In 2007, 165 out of 468 council web sites examined were capable of processing transactions. While that number is still painfully low after 10 years work, momentum is building: the number of councils with transactional web site was 36% higher than the year before.

And while there were still only four web sites that achieved the a mark of excellence, that once again represents a marked improvement on the previous year, when just one web site was awarded the distinction.

Introducing the report, Janet Callender, chief executive of Tameside Metropolitain Boroug Council remained upbeat about prospects. "Innovation and technology both have key roles in driving the delivery of council services for the future. Increasingly, our web site are underpinning front-line service delivery, improving efficiency and effectiveness," she said.

Socitm examined the council web sites the for information about libraries, using registration services (such as births, marriages and deaths); arranging waste collection and recycling; obtaining housing information; finding out about council tax and finance.