There is a potential "digital disconnect" between local authorities and older people as authorities race to provide council services online, according to a report.
In the wake of the government's Comprehensive Spending Review, all government bodies are under increasing pressure to move as many services as possible online. Fujitsu commissioned research from ComRes to ascertain the extent to which this move online will affect certain groups who may be marginalised by the digital services transition.
ComRes questioned groups of councillors and council officers and older citizens to find out if this ambition was in tune with the needs of its senior council tax payers - and found they were not.
The survey found that 55 percent of councillors and officers did not believe accessing services by the internet is "difficult", but 65 percent of older people agreed with the statement that "it would be difficult for me if local council services were only provided on the internet".
In addition, 94 percent of councillors said their council was "encouraging more people to use the local council website for information about local services", while just 15 percent of older people have used a local council website to find information.
Nearly three quarters of older people would still visit or phone the local council to receive services, even if more services were online.
In the survey 86 percent of councillors agreed that if more people use the internet to access their services it saves their council money.
"The public sector is under immense pressure to make cost savings, create time efficiencies and enable better citizen experiences," said the report. "Moving as many services online as possible is one way to do it but this process has to be managed carefully and considerately."
For the Fujitsu survey 1,000 people aged 60 or over were questioned, along with 443 councillors and 201 council officers.