Country : UK
Year Published: 2013
Language: English
Sector: Cross Government
Issue: E-Governance
This report is about the government’s strategy for moving public services to ‘digital by default’, published in November 2012. The strategy incorporated data on 1,298 users from a government survey in August 2012 as data on citizens and small and medium-sized businesses use of, and willingness to engage with, public services online was limited.1 To give the Committee of Public Accounts assurance about the digital strategy, and that its approach to assisting those who are offline to use digital services is based on sound assumptions about the preferences, capabilities and needs of users in England, we commissioned independent research. This included a face-to-face survey of over 3,000 people, an online survey of 130 businesses and eight focus groups in England. 2 The government started to move to online public services in 2000. In December 2011, we reported on the key developments over the previous decade.2 While we found progress in making it easier for people to find government information and services online, we did not find robust data on the costs or benefits of spending. Therefore we could not conclude that the government had achieved value for money in working towards its objectives. 3 When we last reported, the Cabinet Office had set up the Government Digital Service (‘GDS’) to accelerate the move towards digital public services. We made several recommendations for the GDS that they progressed in 2012. In particular, we recommended that it should lead on integrating digital plans across government and improve its analysis of the costs and benefits of going digital. We also recommended that the GDS should have the authority to set and implement policy and work closely with stakeholders to provide digital services that put users first. 4 The GDS is working to make services ‘digital by default’. Digital by default is defined as “digital services that are so straightforward and convenient that all those who can use them will choose to do so while those who can’t are not excluded”.3 However, the strategy also highlights the savings that can come from switching to digital channels. The GDS has identified more than 650 public services that central government provides (excluding the NHS, local councils and the police). These could yield total potential annual savings of £1.7 billion to £1.8 billion if they were provided digitally. In 2011-12, according to GDS, these services cost between £6 billion and £9 billion to operate and more than 300 have no digital channel.4 The savings estimate does not include the costs that may be required to create or redesign digital services. However, it also does not take into account the government’s new approach to becoming digital, set out in its strategy, which could lead to greater savings being achieved more quickly.
In this report we have tested the assumptions made about users in the government digital strategy. Our future audits will evaluate value for money as government redesigns services and moves them online.
Summary/Highlight:
6 The government has made more ambitious plans over the last year, for making public services digital. It is 13 years since the government first announced that it would move public information and transaction services online; a move it initially intended to complete by 2005. Since we last reported in December 2011, the government’s interest has broadened from consolidation of government websites to the more fundamental need to redesign public services with users at the heart. In July 2012, the Civil Service Reform Plan committed the government to becoming digital wherever possible.5 In November 2012, the Government Digital Strategy was published, which includes ways to help those who are not online to engage with government online (paragraphs 1.1, 1.7 and 1.9). 7 Set up in 2011, the Government Digital Service established firm leadership of this digital agenda. In particular it has: • started to improve the Cabinet Office’s digital capacity, and establish digital leaders in departments; • replaced the Directgov and Business.gov portals to public services with a single website – GOV.UK a single point of entry to online public services; • analysed and published cost and performance information on online public services; and • published the Government Digital Strategy (paragraphs 2.2 to 2.9). 8 The Government Digital Strategy is based on sound evidence that many people and small- and medium-sized businesses can access and have the skills to use online public services. From our surveys we found that 83 per cent of people use the internet. Whether people live in a rural or urban area appears to make little difference to their internet use. Age, socio-economic group and disability do affect internet use. Over 90 per cent of those we surveyed who were online were experienced internet users who felt confident about completing online tasks without help. However, 7 per cent of those online lack confidence and may need help to use the internet (paragraphs 3.2, 3.3, 3.8 and 3.11)