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National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal:
Policy Action Team Audit - Information Technology |
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Recommendations and Progress to date
1.
The new e-Ministerial Network should co-ordinate work on Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) and social exclusion as part of its overall remit.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: Cost neutral
Timing: On-going
Progress to date: Ministerial co-ordination is being achieved through the
Information Age Ministerial Network chaired by Patricia Hewitt.
Remaining issues for follow-up: Ongoing
role for DfEE to ensure that the Information Age Ministerial Network
does consider ICTs and social exclusion issues.
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2.
DfEE should be responsible for acting on the recommendations of PAT 15.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: Cost neutral
Timing: April 2000 onwards
Progress to date: DfEE assumed responsibility for responding to the PAT’s
recommendations on 28 March 2000.
Remaining issues for follow-up: Ongoing
coordination role for DfEE.
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3.
DfEE should report annually on progress against PAT 15 recommendations.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: £5,000 estimated
Timing: First progress report in July 2001
Progress to date: DfEE plans to publish the progress report on the Internet. It will
also be included in the e-Minister’s annual report to be produced by the Office of the e-Envoy from
July 2001.
Remaining issues for follow-up: DfEE will work with the Office of the e-Envoy on the detail.
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4.
The implementation will require close co-ordination with other Government departments.
DfEE Ministers should ensure effective collaboration with Department for Culture, Media and
Sport, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of the Environment, Transport and
the Regions, building on the inter-Ministerial group for the ICT learning centres. DfEE should
draw on advice from key stakeholders including the Active Community Unit (ACU) in the Home Office,
and community and voluntary groups.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: Cost neutral
Timing: April 2000 onwards
Progress to date: Ministerial co-ordination is being achieved through
the Information Age Ministerial Network (see recommendation 1). And DfEE has established a virtual
network of contacts with other Government departments. Advice of key stakeholders on digital divide
issues has been sought through a DfEE network of external contacts - including the University for
Industry (Ufi), OfTEL, the BBC and Business in the Community (BiTC).
Remaining issues for follow-up: DfEE will continue to use the cross-Government
virtual network to help deliver a co-ordinated approach to implementing the PAT recommendations.
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5.
Promotional and ‘branding’ work following the Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) report e.commerce@its.best.uk,
should ensure effective communication with people in disadvantaged areas.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: CO (Office of the
e-Envoy).
Cost: Cost neutral
Timing: April 2000 onwards
Progress to date: On 11 September 2000, the Prime Minister launched a new campaign,
UK online, bringing together all the Government’s Information Age programmes and services.
This reflected the learning from a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research into
individual and small business attitudes to ICT, with particular focus on people in deprived
neighbourhoods.
Remaining issues for follow-up: DfEE will continue to work with the
Office of the e-Envoy and DTI to drive forward the UK online campaign.
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6.
DfEE’s own promotional work should contain a separate promotional programme aimed specifically at people
living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods who are alienated by technology and aimed at encouraging them
to start making use of the facilities being established.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: Cost of the learndirect information and advice service for 2000-01 is £10m.
Timing: From September 2000 onwards
Progress to date: DfEE’s promotional
activities encourage people living in deprived neighbourhoods to access
IT through: national promotion of learndirect (the national
free information and advice service on learning opportunities, Tel.:
0800 100 900); Computers within Reach (which widens access by making
recycled PCs available at low cost to the 100,000 poorest families);
and UK online computer training (an initiative offering 50,000 people
in receipt of benefits additional computer training). The PAT 15 website
is being developed as a vehicle for conveying these messages. There
is a funded route, through the Capital Modernisation Fund (CMF), and
a non-funded route to becoming a UK online centre. Funding for the
first 616 CMF UK online centres was announced in September 2000 by
the Prime Minister. These centres in the most deprived neighbourhoods
are expected to open from spring 2001 and will provide access to ICT
for those who may have no other access route. BBC WebWise materials
are being distributed to organisations working within identified areas
across the UK, e.g. housing associations; and provides additional
resources supporting outreach work thereby widening access to, and
understanding of, the Internet.
Remaining issues for follow-up: DfEE will continue to work with other
departments to ensure consistency and appropriate timing for campaigns that promote ICT at the local
level. By the end of 2002 there will be over 6,000 UK online centres across England including a wide
range of access points, e.g. libraries.
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7.
Individual departmental programmes to provide various ICT-based facilities should be presented to
the public as a single, cohesive proposition which demonstrates the Government’s strong commitment
to maximising the national benefit from the Information Age. A strong link to other national
programmes such as BBC Webwise is also important.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: CO (Office of the
e-Envoy)
Cost: Cost neutral
Timing: Ongoing
Progress to date: UK online is a major new national partnership
between Government, local communities and business. It joins up Government services and initiatives
through a high profile national marketing campaign and brand to increase Internet access for all and
help to make the UK a leading e-commerce society. Members of the public can check for details of
their local UK online centre via the web (http://www.ukonline.gov.uk) or via the learndirect helpline
(0800 100 900). DfEE has met the BBC to develop links to WebWise. The third phase of the WebWise
campaign ran throughout October 2000. Over 5,000 organisations took part running free taster sessions.
The BBC broadcast a range of programmes and short motivational trails which generated 30,000 calls.
To date WebWise has motivated over 250,000 people to find out where a taster session is being held.
Remaining issues for follow-up: All activities providing access to ICTs
are being brought together in the UK online campaign. In addition, DfEE and the Office of the
e-Envoy will continue to ensure that Government programmes and other national provision such as
BBC WebWise complement each other as part of the UK online campaign
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8.
Within individual neighbourhoods local marketing and outreach activities, using local mentors,
where possible, should be implemented to encourage people to take the first steps towards using ICTs.
Local regeneration partnerships should be encouraged to engage local residents in exploring the
potential of ICT and to include ICT provision and skill building in local strategies.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: Community Champions Fund £0.5m for 1999-2000 and £1m for 2000-01.
Timing: Ongoing
Progress to date: This approach was reflected in the ICT learning centres
prospectus which was published by DfEE in January 2000.
DfEE has established the Community Champions Fund which seeks to identify key individuals in excluded
communities who can, with a little support, help their own and others’ communities to progress community-led projects.
Government Offices (GOs) are targeting the Fund on excluded communities in consultation with local voluntary and
community sector partners. Community Champions are likely to be involved in a range of activity including
mentoring, outreach, spreading good practice and helping communities to develop specific ICT projects.
Remaining issues for follow-up: DfEE will continue to explore potential links to the work of regeneration partnerships and local learning partnerships.
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9.
By April 2002, each deprived neighbourhood should have at least one publicly accessible community-based
facility to complement any home access which is available, in line with the Government’s targets
for e-commerce as set out in the PIU report (see recommendations 5 and 16).
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: £252m will be made available through the CMF to establish UK online
centres. £10m from the CMF for Wired-up Communities.
Timing: By April 2002.
Progress to date: To date 616 phase 1 CMF-funded UK online centres
have been announced (see recommendation 6). Over 650 phase 2 applications are currently being assessed
with successful applications to be announced by March 2001. The phase 3 deadline for applications is
4 May 2001 with successful applications to be announced by September 2001. DfEE announced the Wired-up
Communities project in April 2000. The first pilot project based in Liverpool was announced in October
2000. The pilot work is in the early stages of development. This complements UK online centres
through home access. It is community led, offering technical support and appropriate content especially
for jobs and education. Each of the 44 most deprived local authority districts identified in the
Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) report Bringing Britain Together already has a number of accessible ICT
facilities. These will be supplemented by new centres as they come on stream with UK online centres
funded through the CMF specifically targeted on the 2,000 most deprived wards.
Remaining issues for follow-up: By the end of 2002 there will be
over 6,000 UK online centres across England including CMF-funded and other UK online brand centres.
DfEE issued a private sector prospectus for phase 2 Wired-up Communities pilots in October 2000,
with announcements of new pilots expected in early 2001.
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10.
How the elements (at recommendation 9) are provided should be defined in the neighbourhood. As
recommended by PAT 4: Neighbourhood Management, the delivery mechanisms would be the Local Strategic
Partnerships (LSPs) and a neighbourhood-level delivery organisation. In the meantime, guidance is
required for those who are deploying resources in this field. The cross-departmental Ministerial
group should adopt the principles set out in the PAT report, publish them immediately and require
individual departmental programmes to follow them. The first annual report should include an input
on how far this has been achieved.
Accepted: Yes
Lead Department: Department for Education
and Employment (DfEE).
Cost: Cost neutral
Timing: By April 2002.
Progress to date: Applications under the CMF-funded UK online centre
prospectus had to show how proposed centres will link into local plans.
The UK online centre prospectus issued in September 2000 will help unite the current range of services and programmes
across sectors under a common UK online brand.
Remaining issues for follow-up: DfEE will discuss handling
with the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) once it is up and running. And the principles underlying
the PAT 15 report will be raised through the Information Age Ministerial Network.
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