Whitehall is overhauling the UK Online portal to make it
easier for people to access government information via the
internet.
The move follows an independent review of government
communications conducted by Guardian Media Group chairman Bob
Phillis, which warned that UK Online falls far short of providing a
single site for all government services.
The report, which was commissioned by Cabinet Office minister
Douglas Alexander, said that individuals find information on local
public services most valuable, as opposed to information from
government departments. Individual departments’ websites should
only be "visible" on the site when it makes sense for the user, it
added.
Speaking at a press conference earlier this week, secretary of
state for trade and industry Patricia Hewitt confirmed that UK
Online would be upgraded to help resolve these problems. "The first
steps will be taken towards the end of February with an enhanced
version of UK Online," she said.
E-envoy Andrew Pinder said he hoped UK Online will become more
of a "destination" like the BBC’s website, where a range of
information is collated on one site. UK Online's existing portal
fulfils the role of a "hub" for other government websites.
The UK Online citizen portal went live in December 2000 as a
means of guiding users through more than 1,000 government websites.
However, the government now has a fight on its hands to ensure that
the public uses the electronic services being rolled out across the
public sector.
Last year, junior minister Christopher Leslie warned that people
in the UK are not engaging with government as readily as they buy
or bank online. In 2002, an international benchmarking report from
Booz Allen Hamilton found that the UK lagged behind its competitors
in getting citizens to use online services.