2005 e-government deadline will be hit

The vast majority of local authorities, despite recent reports to the contrary, will make the 2005 e-government deadline but the quality of services and how technology is implemented will vary across each organisation.

"It's like [the build up to] the Athens Olympics - it will happen next year but there is the question of what it will look like," said James Hehir, chief executive of Ipswich Borough Council, speaking at the Government UK IT Forum in London this morning.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Ealing Council in west London, agreed. She called the government's 2005 deadline - which has been known for a number of years now - "a tool to drive the agenda" and a "starting point", rather than some kind of "watershed".

She promised her authority will make it in time, serving different parts of the community through different channels.

Simon Norbury, director of information and communications technology at Westminster City Council, said most councils are now firmly committed to increased savings and efficiencies brought about through IT and this has had a knock-on effect on those in charge of that area.

"The days of the IT director being a technical guy kept in a cupboard and who was wheeled out only when a solution is needed are gone," he said.

But while progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done with IT implementation. There is the question of additional funding for local authorities after 2005 and how - or even whether - IT rollouts should give a return on investment.

In an answer to a question from the forum floor, John Thornton, director of e-government at local government development body IDeA, said we "should expect savings… but at the moment there are expectations that [any savings] are reinvested".

Referring to the government efficiency review headed by former Office of Government Commerce chief Sir Peter Gershon, Ealing's Guy said: "Even Gershon talks about 'non-cashable savings'."

The idea is that some services, when delivered electronically, may not mean less money spent by a local authority but will mean a better experience for citizens.

She added: "There has to be a return on investment but it won't happen overnight."

The Government UK IT Forum was organised by European Technology Forum, a sister business of silicon.com.