E-envoy told: 'More action, less chat'

The E-envoy has been told he and his department must stop talking and get on with actually delivering government services online.

According to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), the usefulness of government website search engines is low, the website designs are problematic and usage numbers are lower than expected.

Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, told Parliament the main problem was the failure to measure the benefits the sites offer.

He criticised the E-envoy, Andrew Pinder, for not having a central collection point for website usage data. This is particularly critical bearing in mind the trouble UK Online is having in attracting visitors.

Without this, Sir John said, government is missing valuable information about what works and what doesn't for citizens using online services.

Alan Mather, the CEO of e-delivery at the Office of the E-envoy, told silicon.com last month: "Somewhere between Tim Berners-Lee and Marc Andreessen there was a screw-up. People don't browse government, they turn up for something."

While Mather's plans include making the government's portal as big and as enticing as the FriendsReunited site, he is still unsure as to how he will achieve this.

Today, the Office of the E-envoy issued a response to the NAO saying it welcomes the report, which it says makes a "useful contribution" to its efforts.

The report is entitled "Government on the Web II" and follows a similar investigation carried out by the NAO in 1999.

The National Audit Office has assessed the E-envoy's progress since 1999.

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