Government Services (Electronic Delivery) (Hansard, 5 April 2000)

§ 3. Mr. Oliver Letwin (West Dorset)
What recent representations she has received on the effectiveness of the Government's targets for the electronic delivery of Government services. [116386]

§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. Graham Stringer)
There have been two reports on the monitoring of the targets, which have been openly 960 debated. In the light of the two reports, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has determined to bring forward the date to 2005, when 100 per cent. of those services that are appropriate to electronic communications will be brought online.

§ Mr. Letwin
May I be permitted to congratulate the Minister and his colleagues on the huge enthusiasm—[Interruption.] Oh, yes, the huge enthusiasm that the Government display for matters electronic. Does he think that the Government's competence in delivering is evidenced by the fact that they appear to have chosen for themselves a web name that is already occupied by somebody else?

§ Mr. Stringer
No, I do not think that it affects the effectiveness of the Government that somebody has been trading under the internet provider named previously. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind comments, but the important point is that the Government are taking e-government and e-commerce seriously. We are speeding up the process to ensure that Government services are online so that we do not get behind in the international race.

§ Mr. Andrew Reed (Loughborough)
While it is important that e-government becomes a way for the future, what steps is my hon. Friend taking to ensure that Members play their role in delivering e-government to their constituents?

§ Mr. Stringer
In many ways, the most important help that can be given to Members in using e-government is the greater availability of information that the Government are making available on their websites at all possible opportunities.

§ Mr. Andrew Lansley (South Cambridgeshire)
If the Government's intentions on electronic government were serious, two things would have been done in the document published on Monday: first, managed call centres would have been taken out of the definition of electronic service delivery; and secondly, the target date for the proportion of services delivered genuinely electronically would have been 2002, not 2005. Why did the Minister do neither of those things?

§ Mr. Stringer
On the first point, the hon. Gentleman misunderstands the definition of communication with Government: it includes someone who calls a centre and speaks to a person who has access to all the available information, as opposed to just chatting about the information. If the information is available to the person contacted—for example, as it is in NHS Online—it counts towards the Government's targets; if not, it does not. I hope that the hon. Gentleman finds that definition helpful.

§ Mr. Lansley
I am grateful to the Minister, but I am afraid that he is the one who has got it wrong, speaking about NHS Online when he means NHS Direct. To the public, managed call centres are not a form of electronic service delivery, however desirable and accessible they may be. I have two specific questions: first, what proportion of Government services will be able to be delivered electronically—that is, by internet, digital 961 television and electronic data exchange—by 2002; and secondly, what proportion of services will be able to be delivered by digital television by 2002?

§ Mr. Stringer
The hon. Gentleman asks questions—[HON. MEMBERS: "No!"] Changing the target date from 2005 to 2002 for 100 per cent. electronic service delivery would obviously change the objectives and definitions for 2002. Precisely because of the nature of those questions, the Government are reviewing the current definitions of electronic communication.

§ Dr. George Turner (North-West Norfolk)
What role does my hon. Friend envisage for rural post offices in the delivery of Government services in the countryside? Is provision being made now to ensure that, if people increasingly want to use post offices to access Government services electronically, post offices will be able to offer such facilities? Are we putting the right technology into post offices now?

§ Mr. Stringer
Via the Horizon project, £500 million is going into post offices. The performance and innovation unit is considering the criteria for post office access and it is the Government's policy to maintain a national network of post offices.