The Government's New Site, "Directgov", at www.direct.gov.uk
by Delia Venables
Directgov has now replaced the previous government site, ukonline.
The left hand section describes the general topics covered: Britons abroad, Businesses, Employment and so on.
Some of these sections link to other government sites, for example "Businesses" goes to the Business Link site at www.businesslink.gov.uk which is managed by the DTI and includes information on finance, grants, employment and health and safety.
The Government is trying very hard to provide a seamless whole, so that the viewer does not have to understand exactly how or where the topics are handled (e.g. which central government or local government department is involved) but can move straight to the information required.
The middle section provides a number of useful directories of central government and local government. There are also a series of popular forms provided in pdf form. These include maternity benefits, lost or stolen passports, tax credits, back to work, child benefit, community care grant, off road notification, student grant and incapacity benefit.
The "Do It Online" section includes searching for childcare, finding a job, making a planning application, preparing a tax return online, claiming various allowances and tax credits and booking a driving test. This is one of the most important sections of the site. The more services which can be accessed online, the fewer real people the government (and local councils) need to employ. This is certainly part of Gordon Brown's promise to save billions by cutting back on "bureaucrats".
One successful feature of this section is a claims recovery facility called MCOL (Money Claim Online) provided by the Court Service, which was described in the last newsletter. There is also a section called "Crime, Law, Justice, Rights" which includes Report a Minor Crime, Find a Legal advisor (which links to the Community Legal Service Direct site, www.clsdirect.org.uk), Become a Prison Visitor, Join the Police Force, Join the Specials and the Money Claim Online site.
At the top of the main page (not shown here) is a simple search process (just type in the words e.g. income tax) and also an advanced search which allows words to be combined in various ways and also enables you to narrow down the process before you start, e.g. Central Government, Local Government, finding your MP, local Services etc.
A related site is called the Government Gateway at www.gateway.gov.uk.This is a centralised registration service for e-Government services in the UK which allows you to sign up for any of the Government's services that are available over the Internet for example, Self Assessment, PAYE Internet Services for Employers and Electronic VAT Returns. You are provided with a User ID and a digital certificate which then enables you to send and receive forms, such as Tax returns and VAT returns without having to enter your personal details every time.
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