The parliamentary website could be set for a major overhaul as part of a comprehensive strategy designed to reconnect elected politicians with the public they serve.

A report by the Commons modernisation committee called for a greater effort to be made to inform citizens of the activities taking place in the Palace of Westminster.

The parliament.uk website was last overhauled in July 2002, but has still faced criticism for simply replicating the paper output from parliament's work without making the most of new opportunities offered by advances in technology.

More people now access parliamentary records through the internet than through its printed publications, with some 300,000 unique users recorded for the parliament's website during January 2004.

"Getting the website right is therefore probably the single most important thing that parliament needs to do in this area," said the report.

"Despite the progress that has been made, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the main website."

The report noted that while incremental improvements to the website were possible over the coming months, a more radical overhaul will not be possible until an IT upgrade currently underway finishes at the end of 2004.

"We are convinced of the need for a radical upgrading of the website at an early opportunity, which will require significant investment in systems and staff," said the report.

Interactive

The interactive opportunities of digital should also be kept "under review", said the report.

Hinting at the possibility of interactive votes via the BBC's digital Parliament channel, it noted that the number of viewers drops dramatically when MPs hold a vote and all that can be broadcast is "members milling around the chamber for 15 minutes".

The committee also said that making greater use of online consultations could be "a good way for parliament to take account of the views of the wider public".

ePolitix.com has worked on one such consultation in partnership with the Treasury select committee.

"There have now been several experiments with online consultation on an ad hoc basis, both by select committees and by all party groups," said the report.

"They have generally been successful and have proved effective as a way of engaging members of the public in the work that we do and of giving a voice to those who would otherwise be excluded.

"We sure select committees and joint committees considering draft legislation to make online consultation a more regular aspect of their work."

Other options under review include the possibility of a Commons newsletter setting out details of forthcoming business.

And integrating website content with emails may make "e-alerting" possible for internal and external users.

Using the web

Responding to the report, Liberal Democrat Commons spokesman Paul Tyler said the internet offered greater scope to communicate with the public than simply encouraging visits to the Palace of Westminster.

"I was determined that we should develop the interactive potential of electronic communication, especially to engage younger citizens in the parliamentary process," said Tyler, who is also a member of the modernisation committee.

"As the elections last week showed, the voters have some messages for us.

"If we do not make it possible for them to have an effective dialogue with parliament, public frustration and contempt will simply undermine democracy altogether."