Local Directgov Programme Connecting Local Services to Directgov www.localegov.gov.uk/localdirectgov Welcome to the Local Directgov Programme’s December Edition Jim Fitzpatrick, Commenting that due to the “Over the last fi ve months we successful delivery, it would now have transferred ownership, Local e-Government be irresponsible to maintain so they can begin to be taken Minister on the a large infrastructure, he forward by individual councils. future of Local highlighted the need to migrate We will continue to migrate the National Projects. The three projects, whilst driving forward Directgov exceptions to this, which will only the parts of the programme continue to be centrally driven, that need a push on a national In a recent Ministerial are to be Government Connect, scale, where joining up across speech at an external the Local Directgov Programme, government at all levels is stakeholders away and a newly announced essential.” day, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, £5 million national take-up Minister for Local e- campaign to be launched in the Mr Fitzpatrick also drew specifi c Government, highlighted New Year. attention to two Local Directgov the next steps for Local products during his speech e-Government, including Mr Fitzpatrick commented: “Like for their usefulness to Local the Local Directgov any good programme, Local Authorities: ‘The How To Guide’, Programme. e-Government has developed and ‘The Good Practice Guidance a life of its own. Imagination for Online transactions for Acknowledging that Local has bred innovation. Local Local Authority Web Managers. e-Government has been a Authorities have found ways to remarkable achievement to adapt and develop products, date, and drawing attention that in turn, have helped other to the transitions within it, he Local Authorities. The natural highlighted ODPM’s policy for conclusion therefore, is that Local taking e-government forward to Authorities own them, spread the next stage. them and reap the benefi ts.” ‘How To’ Guide & Factsheets Now Available Factsheets to compliment the Local Directgov Programme’s ‘How To’ Guide are now available for download at www.localegov.gov.uk/localdirectgov These fact sheets are a series of short, easy to use, printable guides to support the How To Guide, which will assist Local Authority web managers. Local Directgov Going Live! Patrick Clark, Local Directgov This means that January will The Local Directgov Programme Manager says “At see all the 388 English Local Programme is Local Directgov, we recognise Authorities’ priority services on target to ‘go that Local Authorities have and interactions, as listed in the worked hard to e-enable their How To Guide (65 services/112 live’ in January services and to achieve their interactions) linked to the 2006, linking Priorities Outcomes. We want Directgov website www.direct. to work with them to maximise gov.uk via the Local Directgov all 388 English on this eff ort. I believe that in application. Local Authorities working together to enable citizens to access Local Authority “Once this system goes live to Directgov, services via Directgov, we can in January, we will also be initially linking 65 signifi cantly increase the up-take requesting a fuller set of services and 112 of those services.” services and interactions that are currently being fi nalised by interactions. Patrick “The Local Directgov Programme the Local Directgov team. These Clark, Programme is successfully moving forward, URLs will be requested from all and rapidly progressing towards Local Authorities and linked into Manager for Local a January ‘Go Live’ date. By the Directgov in March 2006. Local Directgov tells us 9th of December we will have Authorities will be able to begin completed the collection of to realise the tangible benefi ts of more. virtually all of the Local Authority this Programme.” URL’s requested” he added. An Interview with an ESO ... Since October, the Local Directgov Programme has had a team of 15 Engagement Support Offi cers (ESOs) working both to support the current Local Authority pilots and to approach all other English LA’s to en- courage their participation in the Programme, making them aware of all the benefi ts. We hear more from Nigel Rainford, one of the ESOs, to fi nd out more about what they have been doing. Nigel, how did you get involved with the Local Directgov Programme & in being an Engagement Support Offi cer for it? I was working as the e-Gov Coordinator at Oldham MBC, saw the advert and thought it was an interesting opportunity and a logical progression. I am now based in Bolton, working with this pilot, and cover the Lo- cal Authorities in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire. What are you aiming to achieve through this role? As ESOs, we are encouraging Local Authorities to fully engage with the Programme, to take ownership of their content, and to improve the citizen’s journey when interacting with government services on the web. We are asking Local Authorities to provide Directgov with URLs to 65 service areas (112 interactions), and to put them into the ESD toolkit, in order to create the links between Directgov and their website. My role is to work with these Local Authorities, and to demonstrate the easiest possible way in which they can do this, according to their IT set up, and to give them support where needed So, what does a typical day consist of in your job? Contacting LAs to arrange meetings, visiting LAs for presentations on the Local Directgov Programme, speaking to colleagues to get updates and tracking progress. What do you see as the key benefi ts of Local Directgov for Local Authorities? Primarily, that it will increase the number of visitors to their website, but also the effi ciency gains of en- couraging more people to transact through a website. I expect that a further important benefi t will be the increased citizen satisfaction with the Local Authority service quality they receive. How much practical help is available to Local Authorities wishing to engage? The ESOs are available to visit LAs that may require advice and help with inputting data into the toolkit or working with the CSV fi les. Additionally, we are providing information about the upcoming XML Schema. There is also the How To Guide and other tools on the website, which provide further helpful guidance to web managers and IT staff . What kind of response have you had so far? I have had a very positive response from the Local Authorities I have spoken with so far, and work has al- ready begun with some of them. Some LAs have been auditing BVPI 157 and have the URLs ready and waiting. They just needed to know exactly where they should be input, and the best method of inputting this data. Any fi nal comments or advice for Local Authorities who are considering the Programme? Just view the whole process of online transactions from the citizen perspective, and consider how it will ul- timately be of real benefi t to them. An improved service to the citizen is the real purpose behind this work. Directgov wins Website of the Year! Directgov was recently named central Government website of the year at the 2005 Good Communication Awards, which recognises excellence in public sector communications, and contributions to joining up, which serving to further endorse the benefi ts of the Local Directgov Programme. With an ever-growing strong reputation, matched by a growing take-up from citizens, the gains for Local Authorities when linking their sites through the Local Directgov Programme, have never been more convincing. Thanks to the Local Authority Assurance Group The Local Directgov The LAAG covered a lot of London Borough of Brent groundwork including terms Bridgnorth District Council Programme’s fi rst of reference, presentations and Brighton & Hove City Council Local Authority discussions on Local Authority Colchester District Council Assurance Group engagement methods, updates Durham City Council (LAAG) meeting for on discussions with CMS Essex Online the programme’s Suppliers, a break out session Havant District Council current pilot Local on the choice of services and Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Authorities, took place interactions in Directgov, plus District Council technical solutions and how London Borough of Kingston on 18th November, pilots can contribute to testing Lichfi eld District Council proving a successful and quality assurance. Lincup (Lincolnshire’s Electronic forum, so a BIG Gateway) thank you to all who Sarah Powell, Business Change Mansfi eld District Council attended. Manager for the Local Directgov Mid Sussex District Council Programme says “I want to Salford Metropolitan Borough The Local Directgov Programme’s express my thanks to all the Council fi rst Local Authority Assurance Local Authority pilots for your Surrey Portal (surreyonline.info) Group (LAAG) meeting for the time and eff orts so far on the Teinbridge District Council programme’s current pilot Local programme. We really appreciate Torbay Council Authorities and portals, took the hard work that you have Wansbeck District Council place on 18th November, proving been putting in, helping to make Warwick District Council a successful forum, so a BIG thank the Local Directgov Programme Wirral Metropolitan Borough you to all who attended. as eff ective as it can possibly be, Council in supporting Local Authorities YourLondon portal The day provided a valuable through the process of linking to opportunity to bring together Directgov.” The Local Authority Assurance pilots from across the country, Group are currently deciding with all of our Engagement A total of 21 Local Authorities whether to hold a further Support Offi cers working and 4 pilots have been working meeting in January 2006 alongside them. with the Programme on piloting or whether to continue the process. The full list of Local communications electronically.