WHAT SUPPORT WILL YOU GET?

The support structures and information sources that are available to help your Local Authority to take part in the Local Directgov Programme are as follows:

Support Structure Summary

Business Change Managers

Engagement Support Officers

esd-toolkit Staff

The Local Directgov Website

The Local Directgov Enquiry Line

The Local Directgov Online Forums

Information Sources

Support Structure Summary

The Local Directgov Programme has put in place an extensive support structure to help Local Authorities with the Programme:

• A network of Local Directgov Engagement Support Officers (ESOs)

• Access to the esd-toolkit staff for advice

• A website providing useful materials and information

• Access via a Local Directgov Enquiry Line

• Forums on esd-toolkit for advice and sharing best practice and networking with other authorities.

Business Change Managers

There are three Business Change Managers (BCMs) each is responsible for managing the support to Local Authorities in a different region of England:

• North East, North West, Yorkshire and Humberside - Lorraine Trenchard lorraine.trenchard@londonconnects.gov.uk 07984 905 260

• East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands - Louise Russell
  louise.russell@londonconnects.gov.uk 07904 224 509

• London, South East, South West - Trevor Gordon
  trevor.gordon@londonconnects.gov.uk 07904 224 527

Engagement Support Officers

Working with each Business Change Manager within every regional area is a team of Engagement Support Officers. Each has been assigned to work specifically with a set of authorities. For a downloadable list of contacts for regional Engagement Support Officers go to www.ldghowto.org.uk/21.htm . Please contact your assigned Engagement Support Officer in the first instance.

If you have trouble making contact, try the Business Change Manager or leave a message with the Local Directgov Enquiry Line 0845 601 7848.

esd-toolkit Staff

To support this initiative, the esd-toolkit is working in partnership with the Local Directgov Programme. Specific queries relating to the Local Directgov Programme about the submission of data via the esd-toolkit itself should be addressed, in the first instance, to:

• Your Engagement Support Officer (specific use of esd-toolkit for Local Directgov).

For general issues about esd-toolkit please contact:

• Your authority's esd-toolkit administrator (general use of esd-toolkit).

Wider enquiries about the esd-toolkit, the use of the controlled lists, and the relationships between Local Directgov and other esd-toolkit innovations, may be addressed to Deanna Sorrell (esd-toolkit Programme Manager responsible for coordinating all Local Directgov enquiries) via esd-toolkit@idea.gov.uk

The Local Directgov Website

www.localegov.gov.uk/localdirectgov

This contains background materials about the Programme and useful key documents.

The Local Directgov Enquiry Line

0845 601 7848

This may be used to obtain general information about the Programme and to request a call from your authority's Engagement Support Officer. It is staffed during office hours and has an answer phone at other times.

The Local Directgov Online Forums

www.esd.org.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=144

This is a public forum for all registered forum users, subject to the general processes and rules of the esd-toolkit that can be used to:

• Get advice from the esd-toolkit technical support team

• Ask questions about the Local Directgov Programme

• Establish a discussion with peers in other authorities

• Share good practice

• Comment on the Programme.

www.esd.org.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=143

This is a second forum that specifically relates to XML Schema and will be of particular interest to technical staff.

Information Sources

This is just one in a series of factsheets that contain information on:

• The data that is to be collected

• How to collect the data

• Manual data collection

• CSV delimited file data collection

• XML data collection

• Key dates

• Metadata

• The top five benefits of the Programme

• A technical overview of the Programme.

These factsheets and further information can be found on the Local Directgov website: www.localegov.gov.uk/localdirectgov

For further information on the Local Directgov Programme 'How To Guide' or to contact a member of the team please send an e-mail to the Local Directgov e-mail address: localdirectgov@odpm.gsi.gov.uk or call the Local Directgov Programme on 0845 601 7848.

Members of the Local Directgov Programme team are available to provide strategic presentations to authorities and clusters of authorities as required. Please contact the regional Business Change Managers as detailed above.