THE LOCAL DIRECTGOV PROGRAMME
This guide is designed to assist Local Authorities to engage with the Local Directgov Programme. The guide contains a series of factsheets that are intended to introduce Local Authorities to the processes required for data collection in order to complete the Local Directgov requirements as stated in IEG 5.
To print any of these factsheets, please select the appropriate link below:
Please note that diagrams provided within the data collection sections of this website can be better viewed as printable factsheets.
| Factsheet 1- | What Data is Needed for Phase 2? |
| Factsheet 2- | Data Collection Methods |
| Factsheet 3- | Manual Data Collection |
| Factsheet 4- | CSV Delimited File Data Collection |
| Factsheet 5- | XML Data Collection |
| Factsheet 6- | What Support will you get? |
| Factsheet 7- | Key Dates |
| Factsheet 8- | Metadata |
| Factsheet 9- | Top 5 Benefits |
| Factsheet 10- | Technical Overview of the Programme |
| Factsheet 11- | Guidance on Selecting and Entering URLs into the esd-toolkit |
| Factsheet 12- | Sustaining The Links With Local Directgov |
The Local Directgov Programme is developing technology to seamlessly connect the Directgov website to Local Authority websites. This is a solution that will provide a single point of entry into both Central Government and Local Authority services.
Until now, Directgov has focused on services provided nationally by Central Government departments or their agencies. However, almost 80% of all government services are actually provided through Local Authorities, Parishes and the voluntary sector. The Local Directgov Programme is therefore an important service extension, creating the means to enhance e-Government.
The Local Directgov Programme has been created by Local Authorities, for Local Authorities. Led by the London Borough of Brent and London Connects, the programme is engaging with Local Authorities to increase citizen take-up of their online services. It offers an important step towards developing a reliable platform to extend the reach of online Local Authority services.
We understand how important it is for citizens to recognise, identify and interact with Local Authorities. The Local Directgov Programme will not replace the need for individual websites or regional portals, but will complement them, extending the reach of existing online access to both Local Authority and Central Government services.
The Local Directgov Programme will deliver three innovative projects, the outputs of which will enable the achievement of our overall objectives:
- Project 1- The National Infrastructure and Engagement Project - led by London Connects and the London Borough of Brent
- Project 2 - Neighbourhoods and Parish Councils Project - led by Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, and Surrey ePartnership
- Project 3 - Home and Community Franchise Project - led by ODPM's Home & Community Franchise
As one of the top four government websites, with well over 2 million visitors per month - a figure that is continually rising - Directgov is already a proven successful citizen delivery channel for Central Government services.
Local Authorities are already making good progress towards achieving their target of 100% e-enablement of services by December 2005, in accordance with the Priority Service Outcomes and the IEG Programme E.
We aim to build on this effort, by offering direct links between Local Authority services and relevant articles on the Directgov website. This will take citizens seamlessly through to the most appropriate Local Authority web page for the specific service they require.
The Local Directgov Programme has been specifically structured to engage closely with Local Authorities.
“We have a nationwide Engagement Team that will positively support them [Local Authorities] throughout this process. Together we can create the best links between Directgov and Local Authority websites, for an enhanced service. Local Authorities have laboured hard to e-enable their services and achieve their Priority Outcomes. We want to work with them to capitalise on that. If we work together to enable citizens to access Local Authority services via Directgov, and Central Government services via Local Authority websites, we can significantly increase the take up of all those services.”
Patrick Clark , Programme Manager for the Local Directgov Programme
The Local e-Gov Programme has been working with Local Authorities for the past four years, preparing and helping them to e-enable their services. The time is now right to extend the reach of the Local Authority offering and to enhance the citizens’ experience.
The Local Directgov Programme has been developed to help increase citizen take-up of online Local Authority services. It will further raise the level of citizen interaction by enabling access to individual Local Authority services online via the Directgov website - www.direct.gov.uk.
We appreciate that Local Authorities have been working hard to meet a variety of e-government targets and objectives. We aim to build on this success by helping to increase the take-up of Local Authority online services. We want to work with Local Authorities and provide support as they engage with the Local Directgov Programme.
Now is the time to ‘push the boundaries’ and further improve the Local Authority offering and the citizen experience.