English local authorities will spend £3.9bn between
2001/2002 and 2007/2008 on e-government, according to research from
public sector IT consultancy Kable.
In its guide, Implementing Electronic Government 4, Kable said
the average annual spend would be £570m. The research was based on
English local authorities' Implementing Electronic Government
statements, which set out how each council will achieve its target
to provide all services electronically by December 2005.
Kable highlighted difficulties in how local authorities will
continue to support their e-government infrastructure. Although
average spending is set to fall to £324m in 2007/2008, it is
unlikely that it will fall any further, it said.
The annual expenditure to support e-government in English local
authorities could increase because of a need to implement new
technologies and refresh infrastructure, but central government
funding is due to end after 2006.
Most local authorities believe there will be efficiency gains
from their e-government investment.
Kable estimates that English local authorities will release
£968m of cashable savings between 2001/2002 and 2007/2008. Although
annual cash savings could meet annual investment in e-government by
2006/2007, the total investment still outweighs any savings, the
research firm suggested.
The total UK spend will be considerably more across the
seven-year period if Wales and Scotland follow similar patterns,
Kable said.