Jane Ludlow - Associate Partner - Government

In the tsunami of change since the May elections, one vital constant remains, tucked away in 1.104 of the Statement. The Coalition’s cost reduction plans, like Labour’s before, rely heavily on us citizens choosing to deal with Government using more cost effective, digital channels. Many of us would positively welcome this – done properly. This means first gaining our trust on matters of data and access security (no ‘big brother’ databases) and allowing us to control what information we choose to share about ourselves, and to whom. 

What’s more, digital services need to sell themselves. Like the move from over-the-counter banking to ATMs, we choose to use them because they are easy to use, readily available and more convenient. Only then can the old ‘analogue’ channels be turned off, and savings actually realised. Right now, however, things don’t auger well given the UK’s track record of citizen take up for existing e-Government services (32%, OECD ‘Government at a Glance 2009’). 

Time, then, for a radical re-think in how we design and deliver citizen-facing services, with citizen needs (not internal processes) in the driving seat. The technology is there, and we know what works from experience in the on-line customer retail and banking markets. The vital missing ingredient is a fundamental shift in mindset. A willingness to think ‘outside in’ and to ‘reform’ (to coin a phrase) key processes end to end – regardless of artificial functional silos - rather than simply window dressing out-dated ways of working. Development of e-services (the window on Government) must go hand in hand with new operating models for e-management (the engine behind what the citizen sees) to ensure lean, efficient delivery of new services that will maximise take up – and deficit reduction.