Kable: Online services | Kable

NI website spend hits millions

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:24:44 GMT

Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers have revealed that its departments have spent £5.5m on websites in the past three years

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness disclosed that websites for nine departments cost a total of £1.8m in 2009-10.

In a Northern Ireland Assembly answer published on 27 August 2010, they told Ulster Unionist Party MLA Sam Gardiner that a number of existing government websites will be consolidated onto NI Direct, the country's main government site for citizens.

"The consolidation of government websites will lead to a marked reduction in website numbers, from 90 to approximately 25 and eventually a saving in the resources required to manage government websites," they said.

"The completion of the consolidation project will further enhance the position of NI Direct as the key government channel for online citizen information."

The figures show that the Department of Trade and Enterprise had the biggest website expenditure last year with £626,420. The Department for Social Development came second with spending of £388,504. The Department of Education was the lowest with £5,000.

The website expenditure of Northern Ireland's Department of Finance and Personnel, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, and the Department of Justice was not included in the breakdown of figures.

In June, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude announced plans to reduce the number of government websites.

Edinburgh to launch new website

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:17:55 GMT

City of Edinburgh Council has said it will launch a new council website under plans to make 'major savings'

The council said the one-off cost of £210,000 to create the new website is justified as it will facilitate "significantly lower" annual costs for software licences, support and hosting. Last month Edinburgh announced plans to make major cuts to back office functions and axe up to 300 management posts.

The authority said that the system will act as a platform for around 200 other websites, and it estimates that initial savings will be around £19,000 annually "with the potential for a further £100,000 annually as these other websites are moved".

It claimed the new site will offer "clearer design and navigation, easier and faster access to the most popular tasks, and improved site search options". The council hopes it will also provide much easier ways for users to make payments, request information and ask for help. The new content management system will be provided by Jadu.

"This will be a major step forward for the council and those that use our website," said Andrew Unsworth, Edinburgh's head of e-government.

"While the fact that the system pays for itself through the savings is important, we also see the website as crucial in improving our customer services and we intend to achieve additional savings by encouraging contact from our customers via the web instead of mail, telephone or face to face."

The intended launch date for the new website is 15 September.

DoH retains NHS Direct online

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:02:21 GMT

The Department of Health has said there are no immediate plans to drop the NHS Direct web service, despite signalling the end of telephone consultations

It has issued a statement saying that the site, which provides a first stop for medical advice, will remain in operation while the government reviews the wider use of information in the health service.

This follows the confirmation that it plans to replace the NHS Direct telephone consultation service with the 111 telephone line.

A DoH spokesperson said: "Following the publication of the white paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, a further consultation on the NHS information strategy will inform how patients and the public will be able to access online information and services in the future. In the meantime, online services provided by NHS Choices, NHS Direct and local NHS organisations will continue to support other NHS services."

This followed reports that the department is planning to replace the NHS Direct telephone helpline. Health secretary Andrew Lansley said at the weekend that the service, which costs over £120m a year to run, is to be axed in favour of the new 111 service.

Following this, the DoH issued a statement that said: "The NHS 111 telephone number will eventually replace NHS Direct when it is rolled out nationally and will provide a single point of access for all urgent care services. This has never been available before but makes real sense."

It went on to claim: "This is not a cost cutting exercise, but is about providing a better service to patients. We want to put an end to the confusion over what services are available when and where, and provide people with two simple numbers: 999 for emergencies, 111 for everything else."

The move has attracted criticism as the 111 service will be staffed primarily by non-specialist call advisers, whereas NHS Direct uses qualified nurses.

The DoH launched the pilots for 111 in County Durham and Darlington at the beginning of last week. According to a report in The Guardian, it has just one nurse on duty for referrals with up to 25 operators at each of the two call centres used in the pilot.

Further pilots are due to begin later in the year in Nottingham, Lincolnshire and Luton.

Cabinet Office renews Fast Stream deal

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:28:10 GMT

The Cabinet Office has maintained its deal with Parity Solutions for the management of the Civil Service Fast Stream recruitment process

The contract reflects the service provided by the company since 2003, including running the online portal for applications and the ongoing management of related processes with the help of candidate tracking software.

A spokesperson for the company told GC News the new deal, which will run until December 2012, has been signed on the expiry of the previous contract. Its value has not been disclosed.

There are about 30,000 applications each year under the Fast Stream process. The programme for 2011 will open on 20 September.

Socitm reports website 'paradox'

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:42:19 GMT

The Society of IT Managers has found that more people are satisfied with Whitehall websites, even though council sites provide visitors with more information

This "apparent paradox" is revealed in a supplement to Socitm's bi-annual report on results from its Customer Access Improvement Service.

The supplement says that net visitor satisfaction, calculated by subtracting those dissatisfied (or very dissatisfied) from those that are satisfied (or very satisfied), averages 45% for central government sites, compared with 31% for local government sites.

But when it comes to whether visitors found what they were looking for, the average for local government sites was 54% compared with 38% for central government websites.

Socitm also compared data about value for money and found that in central government this comes out at 23p per web visit, against 39p for local government, based on a small sample of local authorities for which it has data.

However, it also says that cost figures for central government sites have not been verified and range from £11.78 for the UK Trade and Investment website, to less than 2p for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website.

Socitm said that comparable sites show a wide range of results and there is little pattern suggesting economies of scale.

Martin Greenwood, programme manager for Socitm Insight, said: "It is interesting and informative to compare the performance of local and central government websites using the data available.

"But it is a shame that some important citizen-facing central government websites, like www.hmrc.gov.uk and www.nhs.uk (NHS Choices) have not reported on user satisfaction. And it is frustrating that the true cost of major sites is not known because staff costs are obscured by outsourcing contracts."

Coal Authority starts location pilot

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:05:00 GMT

The Coal Authority has begun the first pilot project under the national Location Strategy

The authority has begun to pull together information on coalfield sites so it can be displayed digitally using consistent standards.

This is the first step in putting the UK Location Programme into practice. The programme is run by the Location Council in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and aimed at encouraging the re-use of public sector location information.

A spokesperson for the council said the IT is currently being put in place for the Coal Authority pilot, which is scheduled to run for 18 months. The authority holds information on features such as the entries to disused mines and site inspections, while local councils hold records on land ownership and planning.

"The pilot is pulling it all together so you can look at it all in one way," the spokesperson told GC News. "It will help people like local authority planning inspectors; for example, when a land owner applies to build something they will be able to pull up the relevant information more easily, so they can spot problems such as the danger of subsidence."

He said that the information will initially be made available to Coal Authority staff on its geographical information system, then on various portals, and then hopefully on data.gov.uk, the central website for government data that can be re-used.

Mike Segal, chair of the UK Location Council, said: "Streams of location information from different sources will be combined through a common digital framework enabling all users to discover, view and download the data they need. This promises to transform the spatial management of the authority's critical business data with efficiency savings automatically built into use and re-use."

The work will be guided by the EU Inspire Directive, which requires public bodies to distribute certain types of location information to a specified standard. It will follow the Linked Data web standard for sharing and connecting pieces of information, and will reflect the open access principles behind portals such as data.gov.uk.

The pilot will support the authority's ongoing inspection programme and spread the provision of up-to-date information about legacy mines.

Steve Pennell, the Coal Authority's director of information and systems, said: "We expect to have more interoperable data coming in, especially records of mine entries which will help with the ability to update site investigation reports. Feedback from 180 local authorities on a regular basis will improve our understanding and help us put more value back into the system.

"Ultimately, by sharing data to improve how we communicate with local authorities and the public, we can help protect people as they go about their business in former coal mining areas."

The spokesperson confirmed that other pilots are in the pipeline.

Lane Fox launches review of Directgov

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:16:52 GMT

Digital champion Martha Lane Fox is leading an online review aimed at improving the government's central web portal

The review will remain open until 3 September 2010 and invites the views of the public on four main areas.

Firstly, how should the government achieve the objectives of using Directgov to publish new information and advice; manage transactions, such as buying a tax disc; provide advice about government policy; and make data more transparent, such as the publication of salary details.

A second question asks what government should do itself, in terms of content, applications and standards, and what would be better done by the wider public sector, businesses, charities and users.

Thirdly, should central government provide a platform for the delivery of digital services by other parts of the public or voluntary sector – for example, local authorities, councils, voluntary and community sector organisations?

The last question covers trends in digital delivery and asks what key trends the government should bear in mind when designing digital services.

Responses to questions can be added to dedicated pages on Directgov (http://directgovreview.readandcomment.com), or emailed privately to directgovreview@betransformative.com.

Lane Fox said the review is independent and that she is seeking general feedback about how Directgov can be "transformed and redirected" to making online delivery of public services more efficient.

"It's not often you get the opportunity to step back and assess how things should be different, so I'm interested in all ideas – particularly the radical and off-the-wall," she said.

Directgov technology chief leaves post

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:39:37 GMT

David Matthewman has left his role as chief technology officer at the government's central website for a new position at the Open University

Directgov confirmed his departure and told GC News that Matthewman had brought "valuable commercial and technical expertise" to the organisation.

"In addition he has made valuable contributions to the CTO (chief technology officer) Council, including driving the shared assets agenda," said a spokesperson.

"He has also been involved in some challenging and key cross government work including ID assurance, where he has brought leadership to the access to public service initiative, placing Directgov as the lead for the citizen experience."

Matthewman has already started his new role as chief information officer at the Open University. Directgov has not yet announced his replacement.

"The position of Directgov chief technology officer is currently vacant," the spokesperson added.

Bristol launches audio library book downloads

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:10:00 GMT

Bristol City Council has launched an audio books service that allows residents to download titles free from an online library

The service, which offers more than 600 titles, can be downloaded to any computer, iPod, mobile phone or MP3 player with internet access, the council said.

Up to 10 audio books can be downloaded at any one time and are licensed for use for up to three weeks. After this time the audio books can be either renewed for a further three weeks or will be automatically deleted.

More books will be added by Bristol each month and all titles are available in an unabridged version as MP3 files. A spokesperson for the council told GC News that the service is being hosted by audio book and print publishers WF Howes.

"All you need is your library membership card and a computer or an iPod or MP3 Player to enjoy this exciting new offer," said Simon Cook, Bristol's deputy leader and cabinet member for culture.

"Bristol libraries are constantly looking for ways to meet the changing needs of users and their expectations. This new service is an easy one-click service, available 24/7 and best of all it's free."

Surrey CC, which launched a similar service last month, has revealed that more than 1,500 e-books and e-audiobooks have been borrowed from its online library in the first month since it went live.

Denise Saliagopoulos, cabinet member for community services at Surrey, said she was "delighted" that the service has proved popular with residents.

"It's incredible to think that these books can be borrowed at the touch of a button anywhere in the world, from a sofa in Surrey to a beach in Barbados," she added.

Treasury considers Coins replacement

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 23:05:00 GMT

HM Treasury is looking at the possible replacement of the Combined Online Information System

A spokesperson for the department told GC News that work has begun on Project Oscar, which could possibly lead to the creation of a new database called the Online System for Central Accounting Reporting.

If it is adopted, it would take over Coins' role of recording where public money comes from and where it is spent. It hit the headlines in late May when it was made available online for the first time as part of the government's campaign for greater transparency.

The spokesperson said: "Coins was introduced in 2005 and is over half way through its expected life. The changing needs of the Treasury are outgrowing the capabilities of the current system.

"The Treasury envisages the need for a system, which can better support: improved transparency of public sector financial information; simplified publication of the database data itself; improved system functionality; enhanced access to data for system users; data storage with increased granularity; and the ability to better analyse and model information at the centre of government."

The move comes during a moratorium on central government IT projects, but the spokesperson suggested that, if the replacement is deemed necessary, it could be approved later in the year.

"This project is subject to ministerial approval and the outcome of the Spending Review, which will be published on 20 October," she said.

Defra publishes energy use online

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:15:21 GMT

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has started publishing live data on its energy consumption

The public can now see how much energy is being used at the department's headquarters through an online tool that captures and displays real time energy information with updates every five seconds.

Defra said the energy monitor also provides an overview of the cost of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

The organisation's launch follows that of the Home Office and the Department of Energy and Climate Change, which both went live with a similar system in June.

Defra said the energy monitor "will help to raise awareness amongst departmental staff and provides a further incentive to reduce our energy use".

"Monitoring and making public our energy use is an important part of our plans to make further reductions in the carbon footprint of Defra as a department," a spokesperson for the department told GC News.

"Publishing the data online ensures that we are accountable to the taxpayer and that staff at Nobel House can see how their actions affect energy use in the building and make changes to work habits."

All government departments have committed to publishing their real time energy usage online as part of prime minister David Cameron's plans to make the coalition "the greenest government ever". Energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne is leading the drive to reduce Whitehall's carbon emissions by 10% over the next 12 months.

Data.gov.uk chief admits concerns

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:05:00 GMT

The head of the government's website for the release of public sector data has said it is a challenge to ensure that users can understand the statistics

Cabinet Office official Richard Stirling, who leads the team that runs Data.gov.uk, said that if he was at the Office for National Statistics he would have concerns about statistical releases and people making assumptions "that aren't quite valid".

Speaking in a podcast published on Data.gov.uk on 29 July 2010, he expressed a worry about whether "people understood the accuracy of the methodology and were able to draw sensible conclusions".

"We've tried to take some sensible steps to address that. One is through putting a short two or three paragraph description of what the dataset is on Data.gov.uk alongside the files and also a link to more detailed guidance," Stirling said.

On the subject of whether the government should move towards providing aggregated data rather than raw information that the public may not understand, he said that the coalition plans to "put more work into doing that" in some situations.

"I think what is likely to happen is datasets where there is an awful lot of interest and we can see that there is interest and there is a lot of interest in the visualisation of it, then I think we'll put more work into doing that web front end," the civil servant added.

But Stirling said he was mindful about not duplicating aggregated data that had already being carried out by the public.

"You've got to ask yourself, 'is there any value in us replicating that and should we showcase what someone else has done'," he added.

Government publishes all UK legislation online

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:31:53 GMT

The National Archives has launched a free website that allows the public to scrutinise laws and view everything in the statute book

The organisation said that its new website contains 6.5m PDF documents from Magna Carta, which established basic liberties in England, to the latest statutory instruments.

Believed to be the first of its kind in the world, Legislation.gov.uk shows the original versions of all legislation covering both the UK and its constituent nations, such as all the laws passed by the Scottish Parliament. It also details any amendments, showing how laws have evolved.

Acting chief executive of the National Archives Oliver Morley described the launch of the site as "a bold statement of transparency".

"By using the latest technology and opening up the raw data underpinning Legislation.gov.uk, the National Archives has given global access to the nation's operating system. I'm proud to say this website is the only example of its kind in the world. It provides access to an invaluable and historical resource for anyone wanting to know what the law actually says," Morley said.

The archives believes that the site "takes forward" deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's recent call for wider democratic involvement in the legislative process. The new website follows the launch of a number of other government sites aimed at engaging the public including Spending Challenge and Your Freedom.

The Data.gov.uk team posted a blog on 29 July 2010 saying that they predict the new legislation site will be enthusiastically used by bloggers.

"We envisage bloggers using the Application Programming Interface (API) to pull through most recent versions of parts of statutes. Perhaps we may see the development of specialist legislation aware plug-ins using tools like Wordpress, that automatically mark-up and link legislative references in other documents," the blog said.

"Perhaps someone will mash up current legislation with proposed changes in bills. Just being able to point at a specific part of a particular statute is very useful."

Government claims Directgov move will cut costs

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:47:50 GMT

The government has said that moving Directgov to the Cabinet Office will save a third of its £28m plus annual budget

The prediction is made in a document, published by the Cabinet Office on 27 July 2010, which explains the costs and benefits of changes to the machinery of government since the election.

It says that the government moved Directgov because it should play a more effective role in supporting departments to move services online, and to support the transparency agenda, by integrating its work with digital teams in the Cabinet Office.

The government believed that with Directgov "positioned at the centre" and the authority of the Cabinet Office behind it, savings from web rationalisation could be achieved more quickly.

The document says that, to minimise the cost and disruption caused by the change, the transition of IT facilities will take place over several months.

Money which Directgov pays to the Department for Work and Pensions for the lease of IT infrastructure, such as PCs and desktops, will be transferred to the Cabinet Office for the provision of equivalent equipment.

The document also explains why it moved the Office of Government Commerce and its executive agency Buying Solutions inside the Cabinet Office's Efficiency and Reform Group (ERG).

The government's reasons include the belief that common interests can be pursued by the combined organisation, such as IT procurement and contract renegotiations.

Although the document admits there have been costs associated with OGC's move to ERG, including those for IT, it does not give any amounts other than £7,000 for accommodation costs.

"There will inevitably be upfront transition costs associated with the changes, but these are small compared to the benefits that will be delivered by the changes," according to the document.

"And, as previously announced, the Efficiency and Reform Group will have a greater role in providing corporate support to departments going through a machinery of government change and holding departments to account to help secure the intended benefits of the change."

Parish councils switch to online maps

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 11:59:33 GMT

Dozens of English parish councils, including 30 in and around Bath, have adopted commercial mapping software

Three quarters of the 40 parish councils within Bath and North East Somerset, where the unitary council has agreed to pay the annual subscription of £10 per 1,000 residents for the first year, have adopted the Parish Online service.

"As most of our parishes have a small population, it means a £10 per year cost," Martin Laker, GIS team leader at Bath and North East Somerset Council, told GC News.

Parish Online, a browser based system developed by Getmapping and Spatial Technology, was launched in January 2010. "Its tools and libraries enable users to mark routes, highlight temporary parking, pinpoint a broken streetlamp, designate an area for a new allotment and more," according to a Getmapping spokesperson.

A new version which includes the ability to fade or switch off map layers and the introduction of a full location, postcode and street gazetteer, went live on 23 July 2010.

"I think it's a fantastic service," said Laker. "Before, if they (parish councils) wanted the simplest map, we had to create it for them. Now they can just create maps using their own information. They all think it's a big improvement."

July's update also allows the parent authority to add information. "The district can share its data with the parishes, for example about public footpaths, conservation areas and green belt," said Laker.

He attributes the success, in part, to the support provided by a local university. "The reason for the success is that we work with Bath Spa University and students have trained and encouraged parishes in using this technology," said Laker.