§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr. Christopher Leslie)I have today laid before the House a Special Grant Report (No. 121), which contains powers to pay grant to local authorities under the Government's Local e-Government Programme and the Invest to Save Budget.
The Report contains the following elements:
Nearly £2 million of funding to support six innovative local authority projects under the Invest to Save Budget;£23 million of funding under the Local e-Government Programme to support six National Projects;
£26 million to support 82 Shared Service Delivery Partnerships. These Partnerships will enable authorities to work together to deliver information and services in a more citizen-focussed way, improving access and removing barriers to working between organisations;
£18.3 million of funding to support an enhanced programme of 18 e-Voting Pilots for the May 2003 elections, which are expected to involve up to 1.4 million electors; and
£8.7 million to provide a Local e-Government Support Programme, including work to be undertaken by the IDeA's Strategic Support Unit, and work to identify barriers to implementation particularly of the National Project building blocks, such as the National Land and Property Gazetteer.
Taken together, these projects will help drive forward the e-agenda and help all local authorities in England meet the 2005 target for e-enabling 100 per cent. of their services.