Priority outcomes in e-Government
Linking local e-government investment to the delivery of service improvement in shared priority areas will ensure that it addresses the real concerns of citizens, as well as providing a focus for local authorities up to the 2005 target and beyond.
“e-Government is not an end in itself. It is at the heart of the drive to modernise government. Modernising local government is about enhancing the quality of local services and the effectiveness of local democracy”.
The National Strategy for Local e-Government (November 2002), p5
A key objective of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s (ODPM) SR2002 Public Service Agreement (PSA) involves improving delivery and value for money of local services within a framework of national targets and policies. This includes “assisting local government to achieve 100% capability in electronic delivery of priority services by 2005, in ways that customers will use”.
In order to define what is meant by the term “priority services” and for the Government to measure progress towards the PSA target,a set of e-government priority outcomes for each local authority in England has been proposed. It is expected that each local authority as part of its e-government investment programme will deliver these priority outcomes by December 2005.
The priority outcomes set out in the attached PDF download documents from ODPM are derived primarily from the shared priorities agreed between central and local government. For practical purposes, the shared priorities have been translated into a set of ten priority service and four National Strategy transformation areas. This list of 14 priority service and transformation areas has then been broken down into a set of specific priority outcomes that should be delivered by local authorities by December 2005.
The priority outcomes provide a focus for priority working within the Prime Minister’s target to reach 100% e-enablement of Government services by December 2005 (as measured by BVPI 157 for local government services). They do not seek to add to the requirements measured by BVPI 157, but rather ensure that the e-enablement of local authority services is delivered in a way that enhances the quality, convenience and availability of these services.
Local authorities will be incentivised through the IEG capital funding process for working on the local e-government priority outcomes in 2004/05 and 2005/06. They will also be supported in delivering outcomes through the outputs from the ODPM Local E-Government National Project programme. Progress in delivering the priority outcomes will be monitored through the IEG process.
These arrangements affect English County, District, Unitary Councils, London Boroughs, the Corporation of London, the Greater London Authority, London Development Agency, Transport for London who are subject to the Best Value Performance Indicator 157 and have been requested to prepare IEG statements. Separate guidance is being issued for National Park Authorities. The position of Fire & Rescue Authorities is currently being reviewed.
Outcomes
The proposed outcomes for each priority service and transformation area are defined in terms of:
- Required outcomes – these refer to specific online facilities that must be in place in every area of the country for citizens, organisations, councillors and local authority staff to use by the end of December 2005. Where applicable, these online facilities should be available on a 24/7 basis. Such outcomes must be at Green stage in IEG self-assessment terms by December 2005 (i.e. the work has been implemented);
- “Good” e-government outcomes – the precise approach to achieving these outcomes may be locally determined, but all local authorities are expected to commit to these objectives in order to qualify for further IEG4 funding in 2005/06. As a minimum, such outcomes must be at Amber stage in IEG self-assessment terms by December 2005 (i.e. where work has been approved for funding and is actively being implemented) and at Green stage by 1 April 2006.
- “Excellent” e-government outcomes – high performing local authorities that have already achieved, or largely achieved, the defined required and “good” e-government outcomes, will be asked to agree a baseline and targets for promoting awareness and take-up of e-services, in return for greater discretion in applying IEG grant to meet locally-defined priorities.
Who to contact for more information
For more information on our e-Government programme, please email david.hunter@salford.gov.uk or phone 0161-793 3911.
Downloadable documents
- Definining e-Government outcomes for 2005 to support the delivery of priority services and national strategy transformation agenda for local authorities in England (Version 1.0) (Adobe PDF format, 405kb)
- Delivering priority outcomes & the role of national projects - presentation by Peter Blair (ODPM), 28 April 2004 (Adobe PDF format, 165kb)
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.
This page was last updated on 06 November 2008
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