The Society of IT Management (Socitm), issued a statement on 27 January 2004 in response to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM) consultation document, Defining e-Government Priority Services & Transformation Outcomes. It claimed the ministry is being too prescriptive in its approach. In the document, the ODPM outlined best practice, mandatory and discretionary outcomes for 14 areas of local government activity, including education, democratic renewal, payments, transport and benefits. It proposed that the next round of Implementing Electronic Government (IEG) funding, running from 2004-06, should be used as an incentive for councils to follow its lead.
Glyn Evans, chair of Socitm's Information Age Government Group (SIAG), said this marks an unwelcome change of direction.
"In IEG rounds one to three, you could set your own plans which reflected local priorities," he said. "Now we're being told exactly what we have to do, half way through the programme, which is going to cause major problems all round.
"It will come as no surprise that we are seeking an early meeting with ODPM to discuss the all implications in some detail.'
Socitm's response claimed that the ODPM's attempt to prescribe outcomes undermines the principle that e-government should support local priorities, and that it conflicts with the Government's emphasis on local discretion. Examples of the latter are local strategic partnerships and public service agreements.
It warned that the proposals could interfere with e-government plans that have already been agreed.
It also criticised the nature of the proposed outcomes. It said most involve web based channels, which reinforces the misconception that e-government is primarily about placing services on the web. It also said some are merely measures of inputs and outputs, and that there are problems with definitions of best practice, mandatory and discretionary outcomes.
Socitm also claimed that the change in tack would make it harder for councils to achieve the priority outcomes by the Government's target date of the end of 2005. It also expressed fears that some funding could be clawed back.
Quelle: Kablenet, 28.01.2004
