INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
1. By mid 1999 one in five households in the UK had
Internet[1]
access at home, at work or at university with new connections
rising at the rate of at least a million a year. The Internet
(the Net) is a major channel for electronic transactions such
as e-commerce and communications through e-mail. The World Wide
Web[2]
(the Web) is becoming the principal basis of communication on
the Net. Government on the Web is a major opportunity for departments
to provide higher quality services directly to citizens electronically
at lower costs.[3]
2. The Web consists of thousands of sites created
by organisations and individuals holding large amounts of information.
Web sites can usually be accessed by users without any special
authorisation who can target their information seeking to their
specific needs and gain information fast and conveniently. The
widespread introduction of government Web sites would enable departments
and agencies to interact with citizens and business more quickly
and cheaply in a range of new and different ways for example,
filing tax returns or applying for benefits, driving licenses
or passports electronically; citizens and business being able
to access information 24 hours a day seven days a week; and citizens
being able to notify different agencies of changes of address
without having to visit a government office or send a letter.[4]
Not all citizens have access to the Web and departments have to
ensure that such groups are not disadvantaged in the quality of
service which they receive from departments.
3. There is potential to reduce costs. Web-based
technologies are not just important for external communications
and interactions. In the form of 'Intranets' they can improve
internal efficiency by facilitating faster and more cost effective
communication between and within departments principally by the
Government Secure Intranet.[5]
Departments and agencies are responsible for developing and maintaining
their own Web sites. Within the Cabinet Office the Central Information
Technology Unit (CITU) is responsible for developing the Government's
information technology strategy and monitoring its implementation.
Achieving Information Age Government is a key commitment of the
Modernising Government programme.
4. On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and
Auditor General[6]
we took evidence from the Cabinet Office, the Department of Social
Security and the Department of Trade and Industry on progress
so far in achieving Government on the Web; and the scope to increase
the benefits of the Web to deliver higher quality services directly
to citizens at lower cost. Four main general points emerge from
our examination:
- Improving the quality of Web sites
Citizens and business will only be encouraged to
use departments' and agencies' Web sites if they find them easy
to access, the information provided is up to date, accurate and
reliable and if Web sites are easy to navigate. The quality and
accessibility of Web sites and intranets vary significantly between
departments and agencies, however, with some looking disconnected
and relatively hard to navigate. The Cabinet Office issued new
guidelines to Department and Agencies at the end of 1999 to improve
the quality of Web sites and have set up a team to monitor their
implementation. It is clearly important that departments and agencies
actively comply with these guidelines and that they design their
Web sites with the needs of the end users - citizens, businesses,
schools or universities very much in mind so that they are encouraged
to deal with government on-line.
- Developing civil servants' IT skills
If more public services are to be delivered electronically
civil servants will need to be proficient in using Web based technologies.
Staff with experience in communicating via the Web are, however,
still relatively rare in central government. If Government on
the Web is to become a reality more training needs to be provided
to equip civil servants at all levels with the necessary IT skills
and experience.
- Improving service delivery
Government Web sites make feasible new forms of service
provision for the benefit of citizens and businesses. Realising
these benefits requires departments to be innovative and look
afresh at existing ways of doing things to determine if by delivering
services electronically they can improve for example, the speed
of service delivery; provide services at times more convenient
to citizens; reduce the cost of services by streamlining the number
of forms which citizens have to complete and reducing other unnecessary
procedures; or provide services in completely new and innovative
ways. While some departments are making good progress in using
the Web to improve service delivery in others however it is not
possible for citizens to down load simple forms, submit returns
electronically or for citizens to interrogate Web sites to access
basic information. We recommend that the Cabinet Office and departments
in drawing up their Service Delivery Agreements should give more
priority to exploring opportunities to give citizens the option
to receive or access more public services on line when it is cost
effective to do so.
- Potential for efficiency savings while preventing
social exclusion
If two per cent of the 160 million phone calls a
year which the Department of Social Security receive could be
shifted to people looking up material on the Department's Web
site instead the Department could save £7.7 million annually.[7]
Not all citizens, however, will have access to information technology
or have the skills to use it, and some citizens will prefer more
traditional face to face communications or written correspondence
with departments. It is important that as more government services
are delivered electronically that these citizens are not excluded
from the benefits which government on the Web makes possible.
The Cabinet Office and departments need to remain alert to this
risk so that some citizens do not become disadvantaged in their
dealings with government.
5. The Committee's more specific conclusions and
recommendations are:
Progress in Achieving Government on the Web
(i) We are concerned that, after a promising
start, progress in achieving government on the Web has been much
slower over the last few years. We note the Cabinet Office's assurance
that they intend departments to catch up and to offer the sort
of service that will make the UK one of the leading countries
in the world for electronic services on-line. We look to the Cabinet
Office to give a strong lead from the centre to encourage departments
to make more rapid progress (paragraph 11).
Targets to promote Government on the Web
(ii) We are surprised when a citizen telephones
a department this is counted as an electronic transaction and
that at present this contributes to the Government's targets that
50 per cent of transactions should be capable of being done electronically
by 2005 and 100 per cent by 2008. We note the Cabinet Office 's
explanation that they were not including ordinary telephone calls
but those where Web based technology was used to provide a response
to a citizen. We also recognise that advances in technology mean
that public services should become accessible via third generation
mobile phones. Nevertheless, including telephone calls carries
the risk that achievement of the Government's targets may be overstated
and we look to the Cabinet Office to ensure that only those services
delivered by telephone which fully draw on Web based technology
are counted as contributing to the targets (paragraph 17).
(iii) We note the Government's decision
to bring forward from 2008 to 2005 their target to make 100 per
cent of services provided to citizens available electronically.
We recommend, however, that in monitoring the achievement of this
target that the Cabinet Office measure not only availability of
services electronically but also the extent to which citizens
take up these services (paragraph 18).
(iv) In defining the outputs and outcomes
which departments are responsible for and setting out how they
intend to deliver them Public Service Agreements and Services
Delivery Agreements are important management and accountability
tools for incentivising departments to improve the delivery of
services to the citizen. We look to the Cabinet Office and departments
in preparing their new agreements to include in them strategies
for achieving the Government's electronic transaction, targets
(paragraph 19).
Progress in using Intranets to improve communications
(v) We are concerned that progress in establishing
Intranets to improve communications within and between departments,
and so realise the significant potential for efficiency savings,
has been limited. We note the Cabinet Office's concern that more
needs to be done to change the culture of departments so that
electronic communications becomes much more the normal way for
departments to do business. We encourage the Cabinet Office to
continue with their drive to bring about this change across departments
(paragraph 23).
Investing in Web technologies
(vi) We note with concern that as there
is yet no established or robust methodology for justifying the
expenditure which departments and agencies invest in Web based
technologies. This is important for assessing the likely benefits
and whether they are justified in terms of the expenditure needed
to realise them. We note that the Cabinet Office have commissioned
a study to determine what such a methodology should be. We urge
them to ensure that this issue is pursued and departments are
encouraged to test and apply the results (paragraph 27).
(vii) The speed of progress in achieving
government on the Web will be influenced by the extent to which
civil servants have the aptitude and skills to use the new technologies.
Staff with experience in communicating via the Web in central
government have been relatively rare. The Cabinet Office accept
that more needs to be done to equip civil servants, particularly
older staff, with the right skills. We encourage them to give
priority to training staff so that the full potential of government
on the Web in terms of better quality and cost effective services
for citizens is realised (paragraph 28).
Increasing the Benefits of the Web to Deliver
Higher Quality Services to Citizens
(viii) Government on the Web is about providing
citizens with facilities to receive public services electronically.
Some departments have made good progress in doing this particularly
in providing a range of forms on line. We are concerned, however,
that this basic facility is not more widely available and the
UK is behind other countries in providing citizens with services
on-line. We look to departments and agencies to make more progress
and in particular to be more innovative in exploring ways of offering
more services on-line (paragraph 33).
(ix) We are concerned that the Department
of Social Security have made slow progress in providing services
on-line and that the Department are two to five years away from
being able to offer a universal service to citizens so that they
can if they wish submit all benefit forms on-line. We are also
concerned that the Department's mainframe computer systems are
one to two generations older than that which the Internet requires.
We note the Cabinet Office's assurance that they are now managing
the risk of departments being overtaken by new technological developments
by ensuring that departmental services can be accessed over as
wide a variety of different technologies as possible including
digital television (paragraph 34).
Number of Web sites and their accessibility
(x) We are surprised that the Cabinet Office,
with their lead responsibility for promoting government on the
Web, did not know how many departments and agencies have a Web
site and whether they meet their good practice guidance including
being easily accessible by members of the public. We emphasise
the importance of the Cabinet Office having more reliable information
on the existence and quality of government Web sites so that they
can target their efforts in promoting good practice (paragraph
40).
Promoting and servicing Web sites
(xi) If citizens are to have confidence
in departments' Web sites the information contained on them needs
to be current and regularly updated. The Cabinet Office did not
have information on Web sites which were not updated regularly
but intend that their media team, as part of their strategy to
give more central direction to the achievement of information
age government, will monitor how often government Web sites are
up dated (paragraph 46).
(xii) We welcome the Cabinet Office's decision
to introduce a new Web search facility—the Government Portal—later
in the year which is intended to make it easier for citizens who
do not know which department to contact to identify the government
Web site most appropriate for their information seeking needs
(paragraph 47).
Minimising the risk of fraud
(xiii) We note the Department of Social
Security's assurance that delivering more services on-line will
not increase the risk of benefit fraud and the Cabinet Office's
assurance that the move towards more electronic government would
not make it more difficult for civil servants to whistle blow
in confidence if they were concerned about some practice or quality
of service delivery (paragraph 50).
Joining up Government
(xiv) Electronic systems, by improving communication
and the exchange of information between departments, can make
a major contribution to achieving co-ordinated delivery of services
where this is necessary. But electronic systems need to be compatible
and we are concerned that many departments have separate systems.
We note that the Cabinet Office have issued guidelines on data
standards to help ensure that departments, systems are more compatible.
We emphasise, however, the importance of electronic systems being
more integrated so that departments responsible for complementary
services to citizens can provide them in a fully joined up way
(paragraph 53).
Managing increasing volumes of electronic transactions
(xv) We agree with the Cabinet Office that
the growth in e-mails requires careful handling so that civil
servants do not become overwhelmed by the increasing volume. We
look to the Cabinet Office to encourage departments to introduce
measures such as electronic document management systems which
can help them manage the increased volume of e-mails (paragraph
58).
(xvi) One of the major advantages of the
Web is the speed with which information can be sent and received
and we expect departments to respond more quickly to e-mails from
the public unless the issues raised by the correspondence are
especially complex (paragraph 59).
(xvii) Electronic systems make it easier
to track letters from the public so that when citizens contact
a department their details are quickly accessible and they do
not have to repeat information which they may have provided in
an earlier telephone call. We encourage departments to make greater
use of this sort of facility so that citizens can benefit from
a quicker and better service when they contact departments (paragraph
60).
(xviii) Citizens are unlikely to access
services electronically if the process is complex and time consuming.
To avoid this departments will have to look for ways for simplifying
and streamlining their systems and forms where practicable so
that citizens see a real advantage in accessing government services
on-line. We expect departments to give sufficient attention to
this as they explore ways of making more services available through
their Web sites (paragraph 61).
Realising cost and efficiency savings
(xix) Departments should be able to make
extensive internal efficiency savings if they provided more of
their services and operations on-line. We are concerned, however,
that departments have not been very good at measuring what they
have achieved in terms of improved efficiency suggesting that
there is much potential yet to be realised. We note that the Cabinet
Office intend to investigate this further with departments but
we expect more progress to be made so that the significant efficiency
savings which are available are realised (paragraph 66).
(xx) As more government services are provided
electronically the associated improvements in efficiency should
have an impact on departments' staffing requirements and patterns
of employment. It is too early yet to estimate the impact which
greater use of Web based technologies may have on staffing but
we stress the importance of departments and the Cabinet Office
monitoring this carefully so that opportunities to realise efficiency
improvements and cost savings are not missed (paragraph 67).
The risk of social exclusion
(xxi) Not all citizens will have access
to government Web sites or they may prefer face to face contact
with departments. Those who do not for various reasons have access
services on-line should not become disadvantaged in the quality
of service which they receive from departments. We welcome the
Cabinet Office's and the Department of Social Security's assurance
that they are alert to the risk of social exclusion arising as
more government services are delivered on-line and that arrangements
are in hand to make it easier for those at risk at being disadvantaged
to access government Web sites. The risk of social exclusion is
of major concern to us and we reinforce the importance of the
Cabinet Office and departments doing all that is possible to avoid
it occurring (paragraphs 71).
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