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E-Government Benefits

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E-Government Benefits Performance Detailed Report April 2007 E-government Benefits Greater London Authority Audit 2006-2007 Report 11A Page 1 of 16 External audit is an essential element in the process of accountability for public money and makes an important contribution to the stewardship of public resources and the corporate governance of public services. Audit in the public sector is underpinned by three fundamental principles: • auditors are appointed independently from the bodies being audited; • the scope of auditors' work is extended to cover not only the audit of financial statements but also value for money and the conduct of public business; and • auditors may report aspects of their work widely to the public and other key stakeholders. The duties and powers of auditors appointed by the Audit Commission are set out in the Audit Commission Act 1998 and the Local Government Act 1999 and the Commission's statutory Code of Audit Practice. Under the Code of Audit Practice, appointed auditors are also required to comply with the current professional standards issued by the independent Auditing Practices Board. Appointed auditors act quite separately from the Commission and in meeting their statutory responsibilities are required to exercise their professional judgement independently of both the Commission and the audited body. Status of our reports The Statement of Responsibilities of Auditors and Audited Bodies issued by the Audit Commission explains the respective responsibilities of auditors and of the audited body. Reports prepared by appointed auditors are addressed to the Mayor, the Assembly or officers. They are prepared for the sole use of the audited body. Auditors accept no responsibility to: • the Mayor, any Assembly member or officer in their individual capacity; or • any third party. Copies of this report If you require further copies of this report, or a copy in large print, in Braille, on tape, or in a language other than English, please call 0845 056 0566. © Audit Commission 2007 For further information on the work of the Commission please contact: Audit Commission, 1st Floor, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4HQ Tel: 020 7828 1212 Fax: 020 7976 6187 Textphone (minicom): 020 7630 0421 www.audit-commission.gov.uk Report 11A Page 2 of 16 E-government Benefits │ Contents 3 Contents Summary report 4 Introduction 4 Background 4 Audit objectives and scope 5 Main conclusions 5 Detailed report 7 Vision 7 Programme and projects 8 Managing and monitoring delivery 8 Benefits management 12 Appendix 1 – Benefits identification framework 15 Appendix 2 – Action plan 16 Report 11A Page 3 of 16 Greater London Authority 4 E-government Benefits │ Summary report Summary report Introduction 1 E-government means using the power of information and communications technology to help transform the accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of public services. It can revitalise the relationship between citizens and the public bodies who work on their behalf. E-government is more than technology or the Internet or service delivery. It is about putting citizens at the heart of what public bodies do and building service access, delivery and democratic accountability around them. Background 2 In March 1999, the Government produced a white paper ‘Modernising Government’, which included a new package of reforms and targets. The intention was that by 2002, 25 per cent of dealings by the public with Government, including local government and the NHS, should have been capable of being conducted electronically, with 100 per cent of dealings capable of electronic delivery by 2005. 3 In November 2002, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published the national strategy for local e-government. This set out a framework of standards, expectations, infrastructure and support within which local innovation and delivery could flourish, a model of local e-government and a range of potential proposals to promote their effective delivery. It emphasised the requirement to join up services around the citizen at the local level and demonstrated the need for collaboration with local providers including health. The target that by 2005 all services should be available electronically remained. However, the expectation is that they would be available through a variety of channels. 4 This e-government agenda does not affect the GLA (the Authority) in the way that it does most other local authorities. The Authority does not deliver the type of services that other authorities can seek to e-enable or that are covered by the priority service outcomes. Despite this, the Authority recognised the potential for new technology to deliver services more efficiently and to join up services across London. It also saw the possibility of increasing information provision and engagement using e-government approaches. Ways in which these might be achieved have been set out in its Implementing e-government (IEG) statements and other strategy documents. 5 The Authority's role in relation to e-government therefore spans across both activity within the GLA group of bodies and pan-London. In the latter role the Authority works closely with the London Boroughs and London Connects to influence and support e-government developments. Greater London Authority Report 11A Page 4 of 16 E-government Benefits │ Summary report 5 Audit objectives and scope 6 The objectives of this audit review were to: • assess how the Authority's strategic priorities for e-government, including addressing exclusion and diversity issues, are being realised through its own activities and the partnership arrangements in place; • assess how the benefits from e-government projects are realised; and • make recommendations to assist the Authority to improve benefits identification, management and realisation. 7 In making these assessments, we were primarily concerned with the outward facing elements of e-government and not with developments internal to the Authority. The audit did not address the specific e-government plans of the London Development Authority, London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, Metropolitan Police Authority and Transport for London. The review builds upon and extends our previous work on e-government reported in the 2004/05 audit. The fieldwork was undertaken during October 2006. 8 The audit considered the Authority's processes for: • oversight of the e-government programme and projects; • managing and monitoring delivery; and • benefits management. 9 We assessed the arrangements for these at an overall level and also by reference to a small number of specific e-government projects and objectives such as: • London portal; • London smartcard; • single emergency number; and • e-democracy. Main conclusions 10 Since 2001, the Authority and London Connects have produced a number of documents that discuss aspects of e-government in London and set out some specific activities and projects. However, the overall vision is best set out in the January 2004 report, 'Connecting the Capital'. Now that the centrally driven e-government agenda has moved on, the current thinking, as set out in the new IT Strategy, is to embed e-government within directorate business planning rather than to have an all encompassing e-services plan. This is a reasonable approach but, in the past, the lack of a single e-government plan, clearly owned by the Authority, has made it more difficult to progress some of the Authority's e-government objectives. Report 11A Page 5 of 16 Greater London Authority 6 E-government Benefits │ Summary report 11 Until recently, there was no clear process to ensure that e-government projects were selected to support the strategic aims of the Authority through an assessment of competing priorities. Previously, London Connects led much of the outward-facing e-government work including that related to the expressed aims of the Authority. The Authority did not have direct control over the programme but it has always had a representative on the board of London Connects and could therefore exercise influence through this means. The relationship with London Connects has now changed so that London Connects will only act for the Authority in respect of specific, individually approved projects. As a result, in future e-government projects should more clearly support the Authority's priorities. 12 There are not always clear structures and processes for how the Authority manages and monitors delivery of its e-government objectives. The structures and relationships between different groups are complex. Although the structures, responsibilities and mechanisms for managing and monitoring delivery are clear for internal Authority owned projects, this is less true for outward facing projects led by the Authority or led by other bodies with varying degrees of Authority involvement. The e-government strategy board has a monitoring role but does not regularly review the progress of projects or the achievement of the Authority's e- government aims and objectives. The Authority's ability to monitor has depended more upon the overlap of representation on the various groups than on a programme management structure. The Authority needs clear formalised structures to maximise the likelihood of achieving the desired objectives. 13 At present, the process to ensure that the Authority manages, monitors and realises the benefits of e-government projects is not sufficiently robust. In the past, anticipated benefits were not always clearly identified when projects commenced. For the future, the IT strategy states that organisational
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