A prospectus for the Electronic Delivery of Government Services Initiative A prospectus for the government.direct Electronic Delivery of Government Services Presented to Parliament by +5 red The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by Command of Her Majesty November 1996 VA 49 nov 1996 / == £6.85 Cm3438 | Wellcome Centre for Medical _ EE DEE" ; : Contents Foreword by the Rt Hon Roger Freeman MP Introduction Looking at our achievements Looking around the world Setting a strategic direction Setting out the principles Applying the principles Making the link Solving some problems Reaping the benefits Moving ahead “ ,.. The purpose of this Green Paper is to explain the Government's Mision of what is possible, and to start a debate which will help everybody to get the most out of this new phase of public service reform, by ensuring that the new forms of service are aligned as far as practicable to what the public wants. As the Minister for Public Service I find the prospect of delivering services electronically direct to the public ... enormously exciting, and I hope that you will too. ” Foreword by the Rt Hon Roger Freeman MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Cabinet Minister for Public Service Over the past 15 years Britain has been at the forefront of public service reform with the creation of ‘Next Steps’ Executive Agencies and the establishment of the Citizen’s Charter and Deregulation Initiative. This Green Paper marks the beginning of a new phase of equally radical and wide ranging reform which will build on the existing programmes. It will be founded on the new possibilities offered by information technology, and it will learn from the way that these are starting to be harnessed by other governments and the private sector. It will change fundamentally and for the better the way that government provides services to citizens and businesses. Services will be more accessible, more convenient, easier to use, quicker in response and less costly to the taxpayer. And they will be delivered electronically. These will be better services and they will be different. The purpose of this Green Paper is to explain the Government’s vision of what is possible, and to start a debate which will help everybody to get the most out of this new phase of public service reform, by ensuring that the new forms of service are aligned as far as is practicable to what the public wants. As the Minister for Public Service I find the prospect of delivering services electronically direct to the public — of ‘Government Direct’ — enormously exciting, and I hope that you will too. I believe that it will help to bring government closer to the individual and give citizens and businesses more control over their dealings with government. I hope that you will reflect on the prospectus set out in this Green Paper and, by giving us your views, help us to get the best out of Government Direct for everyone. Leen goAv proesperctusn fmor tehe nt.direct Electronic Delivery of Government Services Introduction Over the past 20 years information technology, or IT, has transformed everyday life. Whenever we obtain money from a cash machine at a bank or building society, whenever our purchases are passed through the laser scanner at a supermarket checkout, whenever we pay for a purchase with a credit or debit card, whenever a travel agent books a holiday for us with a major travel company, or whenever we make a call from a mobile phone, we are using powerful examples of modern information technology. 1.2 Government too has made extensive use of information technology, which now supports services to the public across the full range of government functions. However, unlike the examples from the private sector, government information technology is usually hidden from public view. In most cases, citizens or businesses who deal with government are expected to fill in paper forms and send or take them to a place where the information they contain can be fed into a computer. After processing, the response from government is printed out on paper and sent back through the post. 1.3 Information technology now makes it possible for citizens and businesses to deal directly with government if they wish to do so. As subsequent sections of this Green Paper will show, this will give them access to services with quicker — sometimes immediate — responses, which are available in more convenient places and at more convenient times. To draw a parallel with the private sector: in order to withdraw money from a bank or building society it was once necessary to fill in a cheque or a withdrawal slip, and take it to the counter when the bank or building society was open. Now, for those customers who choose, money can be withdrawn from a cash machine without form-filling, at any time of the day or night, seven days a week. The Government wants to bring the same or better levels of convenience to the services that it delivers directly to individual citizens and to businesses in the UK. goAv proesperctuns fmor tehe nt.direct Electronic Delivery of Government Servic es 1.4 This Green Paper sets out a prospectus — a 1.7 Ifyou would like to give the Government your strategy — for a new way of delivering central views on the proposals set out in this Green Paper you government services across the United Kingdom. can do it in any of the following three ways: These services include providing information, by post to: collecting taxes, granting licences, administering - Matthew Bishop regulations, paying grants and benefits, collecting and Central IT Unit analysing statistics, and procuring goods and services. Cabinet Office, Office of Public Service The Government intends to collaborate with Local Hampton House Authorities in the delivery of services wherever 20 Albert Embankment possible. The strategy also includes new ways of London SE1 7TJ working and sharing information between government departments and agencies which would or by fax to: improve efficiency. - Matthew Bishop Central IT Unit 1.5 The new forms of service delivery will be more Cabinet Office, Office of Public Service efficient, more accessible and more convenient and fax number: (0171) 238-2006 they will also appear quite different from the arrangements we are all used to. They will only work or by e mail to: if a substantial proportion of the public (both [email protected] businesses and citizens) find the new forms of service delivery attractive. The Government wants, as far as is 1.8 Please supply your name and address, so that the practicable, to tailor the new types of service to public Central IT Unit can contact you if anything in your demand. The purpose of this Green Paper is to seek response needs clarifying. Please also indicate which public reaction to the service delivery arrangements it government services are of particular interest to you describes. Throughout the paper questions are posed and, if you are commenting as a representative of the to indicate the issues on which the Government public, who you represent and (if appropriate) the would particularly welcome comment; but reaction name of the representative body and the scale and on any of the material in the Paper is also welcome. nature of its membership. Immediately after the Green Paper is launched, the Government will initiate a series of pilot schemes, so 1.9 Your comments should reach the Central IT Unit that members of the public can try the new forms of no later than 7 February 1997. service delivery for themselves. Their reactions will shape the arrangements which are eventually launched on a national scale. CABINET OFFICE 1.6 This Green Paper is addressed in the first instance to those who act as representatives of the general public, both citizens and businesses. Copies are available on sale from The Stationery Office and its agents. The Green Paper can also be accessed via the World Wide Web at http://www.open.gov.uk/citu/ cituhome.htm. goA vproesperctusn fmor tehe nt.direct Electronic Delivery of Government Services Looking at our achievements 4 IT and government now For many years government has made extensive use of computers to improve the Piet efficiency of its services. Computers have improved accuracy and response times, and have benefited the taxpayer by reducing government costs. The following are a few examples chosen from many. CITIZEN’S CHARTER UNIT — LOCAL MEDICAL INVESTIGATION PERFORMANCE GUIDE CD-ROM COMPUTER SYSTEM (MEDICS) Under the Charter, performance The DVLA MEDICS system deals with information on a range of public information about people whose a~L o services (e.g. schools, hospitals, medical history may affect their — councils) is published every year. ability to drive. It converts paper In order to make it more accessible, documents received from doctors the Charter unit has produced a and the public into images which CD-ROM which contains performance are stored on a computer. The information for the whole UK. The system has reduced the time needed system is very easy to use, and is to deal with cases and made it available free to members of the possible to deal more quickly with public. telephone queries. DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY DVLA OPTICAL CHARACTER Technical enhancements to the RECOGNITION/INTELLIGENT national unemployment benefits CHARACTER RECOGNITION system (NUBS2) saved an estimated (OCR/ICR) 8 million pieces of paper and Vehicle licensing documents removed the need for 1.5 million previously dealt with manually are phone calls. now processed automatically and more cheaply, using equipment that reads not only pre-printed but also BENEFITS AGENCY handwritten information. The use of bar coded benefit order books in 1,465 London post-offices HM LAND REGISTRY over its first year resulted in savings Computerisation of land register estimated at £50 million; recovery records has enabled HM Land of lost or stolen order books rose Registry to process registrations from 23% to 85%. more quickly and efficiently, and to provide a fast reliable and friendly telephone information service to the INTERDEPARTMENTAL OFFICE public. AUTOMATION A pilot project linking twelve local authorities, MAFF, OFT, and LACOTS (the Local Authority Co-ordinating Body on Food and Trading Standards) using well defined electronic messages to transmit information, has produced average savings of 76% and reduced error rates, in some cases, from 70% to zero.