Council and Democracy >> e-Government

East Sussex e-Government Group

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Terms of Reference

1. The group was formed, as a matter of urgency, to assist all authorities in the County with the preparation of the Implementing e-Government (IEG) Statement.  This was required by the DTLR for 31 July 2001 at the latest.
2. The first meeting replaced a previously scheduled meeting of the IT Managers and was convened in Hastings on 30 May.  Officers attending represented a variety of disciplines but all were charged with the preparation of the IEG Statement.  A total of four meetings have been held which have been fully supported by all authorities.
3. A representative from the DTLR attended the first meeting and made it clear that partnership working was a key consideration.  Additionally, project proposals ignoring joint working between public, private and voluntary sector organisations would be less favourably considered.
4. This emphasis on partnership working was readily accepted and led to the view that a service improvement involving joint information points or "first stop shops" should be explored.  Key to this would be web sites with comprehensive information about local services giving details of contact addresses, telephone numbers, etc.  Each information point should then aim to satisfy most first time enquiries for both county and district services.
5. The joint partnership approach has been endorsed by each authority through their IEG Statement and also at a meeting of County Chief Executives.
6. 
   In order to advance the e-Government agenda towards the targets set by Central Government the East Sussex e-Government Group is aiming to formulate an action plan for electronic service delivery. This could include the following:
   
   
   • Provision of joint public access points using existing accommodation and staff wherever possible
   • Integration of websites and development of an East Sussex portal
   • Joint service delivery infrastructure
   • Investigation into sharing of business systems
   • Consideration of wider partnerships, for example, with Consignia, Parish and Town Councils and voluntary bodies
   
   It is envisaged that appropriate working groups would be required to undertake individual projects.  The East Sussex e-Government Group, however, feels it has a role in the co-ordination and monitoring of activities and is seeking authority to proceed on this basis.

John Hoy - Chairman

On behalf of:
East Sussex County Council
Eastbourne Borough Council
Hastings Borough Council
Wealden District Council
Lewes District Council
Rother District Council

August 2001

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Report on the East Sussex e-Government Partnership

Recommendations

1. To endorse the formal establishment of the East Sussex E Government Partnership Group
2. To agree to the portfolio of e government projects and the initial project funding from partner organisations

1. Introduction

1.1. The East Sussex E Government Group was formed in response to the requirement for each authority to produce an Implementing Electronic Government Statement by 31 July 2001.  This was achieved successfully by all the authorities in the partnership, and a common agreed element was included in each authority's submission.

1.2. The E Government Group have gone on to submit a 'Partnership Bid' to DTLR.  The bid is essentially an application for funds under the Government's Local Government On-Line (LGOL) programme, but also the Group felt that irrespective of any forthcoming funding the identified projects should be pursued as part of each authorities E Government Programme.

1.3. The current members of the partnership are: East Sussex County Council, Brighton and Hove Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council, Rother District Council, Wealden District Council, Sussex Police.

1.4. The objectives of the partnership are;

'Our collective goal is to provide a seamless range of services enabled by modern ICT systems where the citizen will not be required to understand Local Government organisational structures.'

1.5. The partnership can be described in the following terms;

'East Sussex has a three-tier system of Local Government, and the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove Council.  The tiers are the County Council, the District and Borough Councils and, within the Districts, Town and Parish Councils providing services as appropriate.  Despite the division of services between these authorities, the customer's expectation is that they should be able to access services through a single point of contact.  It is the intention of the local authorities to work together in partnership to achieve this.'

1.6. The partnership group are very pleased that Sussex Police are taking a full and active part in the group's activities, and it is the intention to invite other public agencies to the group, notably the Health Service and Fire Authority.

1.7. This purpose of this report is to formally recognise the existence of the group in that it can make appropriate decisions, hold and allocate financial and personnel resources, and also to seek agreement from the Chief Executive Officer Group to the E Government Project Programme.

2. Establishment of the East Sussex E Government Partnership

2.1. The partnership will be established formally by a Memorandum of Agreement signed by all partners.  As is the case with similar partnerships, one authority will be designated as the Accountable Body for receipt and disbursement of funds, financial management and financial controls. The draft Memorandum of agreement is attached as an appendix.

3. Project Programme

3.1. The following are the main projects included in the partnership bid submitted to the DTLR in order of priority:

1. Public Access Information Points (Project Lead: East Sussex & Rother)
2. Web Links (Project Lead: Hastings)
3. A to Z of Services (Project Lead: Wealden & Eastbourne)
4. Improved Telephony (Project Lead: East Sussex & Lewes)
5. SCID (Sussex Citizen Information Database) (Project Lead: East Sussex, Lewes & Sussex Police)
6. Middleware (Project Lead: Brighton and Hove & Eastbourne)
7. Call/Contact Centres (Project Lead: East Sussex & Hastings)

3.2. Subsequently the 'Web Links' is felt to be an integral part of the 'A-Z of Services' project and is being treated as such.

3.3. A project synopsis of all the remaining six projects is attached to this report.

4. Initial Funding

4.1. Based upon the project work summarised in the attached synopses, initial funding for the financial year 2002/2003 is estimated as:

1. Public Access Information Points: £25,000
2. A to Z of Services: £10,000
3. Improved Telephony: £14,000
4. SCID (Sussex Citizen Information Database): £0
5. Middleware: 2003/04
6. Call/Contact Centres: £25,000

4.2. The e-Government Partnership recommends that an initial partnership fund be established with £10,000 contributions from the IEG grants of each of the partner organisations. That funding, subject to agreement of project detail, will be used to carry out the project work.

5. Conclusion

5.1. Although the E Government Group have been in existence for a comparatively short time, the members of the group feel that considerable progress has been made in the area of partnership working. The Group's project portfolio is tangible evidence of the co-ordination of activities. This is particularly significant in respect of the 'lead authority' approach to each of the defined projects.

5.2. The East Sussex Chief Executive Officers Group is asked to formally endorse the establishment of the East Sussex E Government Partnership Group. The purpose of the group would be to act as a forum for East Sussex public agencies to progress the business and technology aspects of E Government.

5.3. The CEOs Group is further asked to agree the portfolio of e government projects and the initial project funding from each partner organisation.

East Sussex E Government Partnership Group
Virginia Gilbert (Chairman)
8 May 2002

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