BOROUGH OF POOLE

REPORT TO RESOURCES PORTFOLIO HOLDER

12 JULY 2005

IMPLEMENTING ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT RETURN 2005

MID TErm Assessment (IEG4.5)

PART OF PUBLISHED FORWARD PLAN:YES

STATUSEXECUTIVE POLICY

1.PURPOSE AND POLICY CONTEXT

1.1The Mid Term IEG Return is a self assessment of progress relating to e-Government and is required by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The document

  • sets out the role we expect e-Government to play in improving services and modernising our organisation
  • reports the Council’s progress against a number of areas including the 54 mandatory priority outcomes set out by ODPM in April 2004
  • outlines the Council’s use of IEG Funding
  • contributes to national monitoring against the 2005 target
  • The policy context is provided by the e-Government Strategy approved by Council in April 2002, by the Implementing e-Government Return 2004 approved in December 2004, the Customers First Vision approved in September 2004 and the Customer Access and Service Strategy approved in March 2005.
  • The Return has been written for the ODPM in line with their guidance and requires Councillor approval before submission. The deadline for submission is 18th July 2005.

2.DECISIONS REQUIRED

2.1To approve the IEG Return for submission to ODPM.

  1. PROCESS FOR PREPARING THE RETURN
  2. The Return has been prepared by the e-Government Corporate Development Officer with support from the e-Government Member Steering Group.
  3. The full version of the Return will be available on boroughofpoole.com after submission to ODPM.
  4. THE RETURN
  5. In providing a Return, the Authority is showing its commitment to e-Government and the progress it has made in:-
  • using e-Government to support priorities both locally and nationally by reporting on the achievement of 54 mandatory and, where appropriate, 18 “stretch” priority outcomes. This progress is reported using a traffic light system at key dates.
  • developing its e-Organisation. This progress is reported using a traffic light system at key dates.
  • meeting the e-Government target, BVPI157. This progress is reported as a percentage of the public interactions that are available electronically.
  • encouraging use of e-Services
  • identifying resources to support e-Government
  • identifying efficiency gains where new ways of working have been implemented
  1. OUR PRIORITIES AND PROGRESS
  2. e-Government is one of the key strands of the modernisation of government. It is about people, the services they want and how best to deliver them. It requires changes in the way in which the Authority works.
  3. Achievement of both local and national e-Government priorities are outlined in the Return. These include
  • Increasing the efficiency of our business processes by re-engineering them to make best use of new technology. We will speed up manual processes to deliver services more quickly, cut the cost of processes to deliver services more cheaply and improve data handling to reduce error and deliver services to a higher quality. This will make the organisation more efficient, less bureaucratic and more cost conscious.
  • Improving the ways in which we provide access to services - new delivery mechanisms can offer more choice for the public and be cheaper for the organisation. This will make the organisation more accessible and customer focused.
  • Building partnerships to share and exchange information with other public bodies and the Community. This will influence the way we work, opening doors for more effective relationships with people who use a range of public sector services. It aims to reduce 'bureaucracy' for the citizen.
  • The highlights of progress in achieving these priorities are

Priority Outcomes Self Assessment

Status / Number at this status at 18/07/2005 / Number at this status at 30/09/2005 / Number at this status at 31/12/2005 / Number at this status at 31/03/2006
Req’d / Good / Req’d / Good / Req’d / Good / Req’d / Good
Red - (Preparation and Planning) / 0 / 1 / 0 / 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Amber - (In implementation or where elements are implemented) / 18 / 18 / 13 / 17 / 3 / 13 / 1 / 1
Green - (Completed) / 11 / 6 / 16 / 7 / 26 / 12 / 28 / 24
TOTAL / 54 / 54 / 54 / 54

BV157

All Interactions / Forecast national average 2004/5 / 2001/2 / 2002/3 / 2003/4 / 2004/5 / 2005/6
Total types of interaction e-enabled / 360 / 511 / 595 / 728 / 987
% e-enabled / 86% / 36.14% / 51.31% / 59.74% / 73.48% / 99.29%

4.4.Over the last year, we have laid foundations and made improvements in a wide range of services and processes. These services are now being widely used by customers. In 2004/5 tangible highlights include

  • 7,800 customers paid for goods and services online and 10,500 over the telephone using credit and debit cards.
  • Over 6,000 library items were renewed online.
  • Nearly 9,500 customers visited the online Planning Applications Search from 1st October to 31st March 2005. Over 5,000 have already visited it since 1st April 2005.
  • In the 4 months since 1st March 2005 over 1,100 customers have accessed the online benefits calculator and over 1,400 customers have logged in to the online Agendas, Minutes and Reports.
  1. RESOURCING e-GOVERNMENT
  2. Members are not being asked to make decisions about funding for e-Government whilst considering this report. Requirements have already been identified and approved through the Strategy and Budget process and are contained in ICT Investment Plan and in the Medium Term Financial Plan.
BACKGROUND PAPERS

IMPLEMENTING ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT RETURN 2005 MID TERM ASSESSMENT (IEG4.5)

Contact:

Kate Symons - e-Government Corporate Development Officer

01202-633030