The National project responsible for local e-government standards has approved a list that defines all local authority services.
The Local e-Government Standards Body (LeGSB) has ratified the esd-toolkit's Local Government Services List (LGSL), which councils have informally been using for the last three years. "The list sets out the services that local government typically uses," esd-toolkit programme manager Sheila Apicella told Government Computing News on 2 August 2005. "It will become the backbone of councils' services."
The esd-toolkit is run by a community of local authorities, partially funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Improvement and Development Agency and individual subscriptions.
The list consists of about 680 services, although a council would not provide all of these. Larger councils would typically provide more services from this list than district councils, Apicella explained.
Councils have been using the list to assess their performance through the BVPI 157, and although using the list is optional, it does help councils to meet their government targets and therefore secure future funding from central government, she said.
More services have been added to the list since its inception, and there are plans to add partnership services with bodies like the Fire Service and the Ambulance Service soon.
Apicella said that most local authorities have adopted the list and its introduction has been welcomed. "It is something they have gradually come to regard as being core of what they do," she said.
An advantage of using the list is that it allows councils to locate details of their services in easily accessible locations for citizens, such as on the DirectGov website. Without the list it is difficult for councils to direct citizens to the appropriate pages to access information, added Apicella.
It also allows councils to match a service to the repsonsible official.
LGSL is one of the first standards to be approved by Local eGovernment Standards Body. It plans to publish further standards in the coming weeks.
Quelle: KableNET, 02.08.2005
