Council goes on-line

WEALDEN District Council is to receive a share of the 325m being made available to local authorities to help them deliver services electronically.

The council has recently been advised by the department for local government that its Implementing Electronic Government (lEG) Statement was satisfactory, which means the council will be eligible for central government funding over the next two years.

All local councils have been set a target of delivering services on-line by 2005, which for many means that telephoning the council or visiting the offices could be a thing of the past. In less than four years anybody with access to the Internet or digital television will be able to transact their business at times which suit them, and from the comfort of their home.

Wealden is already some way ahead of other local authorities with 27 per cent of services available electronically, and around 1,000 pages of information available through the council s website.

By 2005, residents will have 24-hour access to planning applications and will be able to pay their council tax, apply for benefits and order and pay for other services on-line, ranging from booking leisure facilities to emptying a cesspool.

One of the objectives of e-government is that local government should appear seamless to the customer. The council believes that, generally, residents do not want to know whether refuse collection is a parish, district or county function and whether it is carried out by directly-employed staff or a contractor they just want their bins emptied.

By working with other local authorities and partners in the private and voluntary sectors over the next three years, Wealden aims to provide a single point where the customer can access services directly simply by quoting their postcodes and the services they require.

The council s deputy leader responsible for corporate matters, including e-government, Cllr Raymond Parsons, said: 'E-government is just one of the ways that local councils are improving services to reflect what the customer wants. The public expects to be able to transact business with others round the clock and at times which suit their lifestyles and they do not see why their local council should be any different. This funding is vital if we are to meet the public s expectation and achieve the government s targets, so the DTLR s verdict is good news for us all .

The council s e-champion, Jeff Hart, was also keen to stress that it would be business as usual for those who have not joined the e-revolution: 'We know from our local consultation in preparing the IEG Statement just how much Wealden residents and businesses value the opportunity to talk directly to our staff on the telephone or to discuss their business in person, and have no intention of taking these options away. However a lot of our time is taken up with answering simple questions or providing information which people can find on our website, and if we can encourage people to help themselves, we can free-up more resources for front line services .

Wealden s IEG Statement is available on-line at wwwwealden.gov.uk and may be inspected at the council offices in Crowborough and Hailsham.