Monthly Reports

PRIME MINISTER

Introduction

This is our sixth monthly report on progress against the UK Online strategy, as set out in the UK online annual report published on 11 September.  The strategy details how we are driving forward the programme of change to get individuals, businesses and Government online.   As usual, this report is structured around the five key priorities identified in the UK online strategy: modern markets, confident people, successful businesses, getting government online, and world class supply.  A more detailed progress report on every one of the commitments in the UK Online annual report is being published on our website at www.e-envoy.gov.uk.  This report shows that of the 94 commitments announced, 67 are on track, 15 completed, and 12 are behind schedule.

In the short term, because of the current investment climate, the pace of ADSL broadband investment is slower than expected.  BT’s competitors, for example, are being slower in taking advantage of the “local loop unbundling” regime than we had originally envisaged.

That said, we are still making rapid progress: 50% of UK households are now within the area of a broadband enabled exchange.  With BT forecasting 60% availability by the end of the year this represents a firm foundation for achieving our goal of developing the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005.

In all countries broadband is still at a very early stage, with almost every OECD country having fewer than 1 in 100 households connected to broadband.  In effect, broadband is at the stage narrowband internet was 5-6 years ago.

On 2 April, Patricia chaired the first meeting of the UK online Broadband Stakeholders Group, which brings together key players from the private and public sectors to drive forward and develop our strategy for meeting that goal (set out in UK online: the broadband future, which we published in February).  Andrew chaired a follow-up meeting of the Executive Group of Stakeholders on 26 April.  One of the priorities identified by the group was the potential for Government to use better co-ordinated procurement of its own broadband requirements to catalyse broadband roll-out in areas currently considered uncommercial – largely rural ones.  We are announcing today a major consultancy project to develop the mechanisms for achieving this.  The study will also evaluate the costs, benefits and value for money for using those mechanisms not only to procure broadband services for the public sector, but to share the commercial risk on a partnership basis with industry of rolling out broadband networks to domestic and business users in rural areas. 

In addition:

• On 11 April 2001 Oftel published new leaflets to help consumers make the best use of the wide range of telephone services available.  Last year Oftel research showed that a third of consumers didn't know that they could keep their number when changing phone companies and 47 per cent didn't know they could bar expensive calls being made from their phone. Patricia welcomed the publication of the guides, which are available from Oftel's website, from  Citizens’ Advice Bureaux, Trading Standards Offices and libraries around the country, as well as directly from Oftel.
• On 6 April Oftel announced that it would only take regulatory action to impose new open access regulation on operators of electronic communications networks and facilities if the operator had market power in the relevant market.  Oftel would also need to be assured that the benefits from open access regulation justify the costs, and that open access is an effective and proportionate measure to deal with the competition problem.
• On 2 April Oftel revoked the Order on BT that contained a number of requirements relating to BT's satellite uplinking services and related backhaul circuits which provide a link between a TV studio and a satellite, via BT tower.  The Order, which was made in 1995, required BT to provide backhaul circuits to its competitors on the same terms and conditions as those provided to its own satellite uplinking business.  After consultation with the industry and other interested parties, Oftel concluded that the Order is no longer required. Changes have been made to BT's operating and internal compliance procedures to the extent that breaches similar to those that resulted in the Order are no longer likely.  Revoking the Order is a de-regulatory measure which is in keeping with Oftel's strategy to regulate only when necessary.

Confident People

On 26 April Malcolm Wicks, Minister for lifelong Learning, backed the Learning and Skills Council’s (LSC) major initiative to match information technology training more closely to employers’ needs.  The LSC aims to help many more people to gain valuable IT skills by setting qualifications targets for the 20 million people who use IT regularly in their work.  At present only around 1% of the UK workforce has a full IT qualification.  The initiative will assess the current skills of a sample of 500 trainees who have achieved different ‘vendor’ and national IT qualifications, and match their skills against their employers’ assessment of needs.  They will then fill any gaps, bringing the pilot trainees’ skills up to the best industry standards.  The project will also consider whether IT qualifications could be split into modules, to rationalise assessment and other costs.

In 18 April Patricia, Tessa Jowell, and Michael Wills announced plans to set up all-girl computer clubs in schools. Jointly supported by the DfEE and DTI, the project will encourage more young women to take up Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a career.  The move came in response to a Government task force report which recommended that young women need to see careers in ICT as accessible, credible and enjoyable. MORI research for the e-skills National Training Organisation (NTO) shows that despite high earnings potential the key barrier to girls entering the ICT profession is its unfashionable image. The clubs will be aimed at girls aged between eight and 14 years old, and will create a virtual learning environment in which girls can develop both hard and soft skills, and will be developed in conjunction with the e-skills NTO and industry.  Business is predicting a shortfall of 400,000 IT professionals over the next couple of years, and by bringing girls into IT clubs at an early age we can help reduce the skills shortages in British business.  The clubs will involve private sector support and will initially work with City Learning Centres, which are part of the Excellence in Cities programme.

On 15 April Stephen Byers and Chris Smith unveiled details of a programme to provide a series of neighbourhoods across the country with free conversion to digital TV. The programme of projects will be led by the Independent Television Commission (ITC).  Under the programme, neighbourhoods will be invited to take part in the scheme. Households in areas selected will be supplied with free equipment allowing them to:

- watch all the existing free terrestrial channels on digital TV, where the reception is usually better;

- watch the current free digital TV channels, including ITV2, BBC Choice, and BBC Knowledge (those wanting access to subscription channels will have to pay subs themselves);

- use their TV set to access interactive internet services including learning and shopping; -send and receive e-mail.

It is expected that the first 'digital neighbourhood' will be  identified in the next two months and actioned within the next six months.  Organisations which have already confirmed their participation in the Digital TV Pilot project include: BBC, ITV, BSkyB, Ondigital.  Assessing the impact of the new technology on viewers will enable Government and industry to understand the use that people will make of digital TV, including those who only want free-to-air services.  The pilots will also provide practical experience to plan the switchover to digital TV.  Currently, over a quarter of UK households are receiving digital TV services. The Government set out in September 1999 its conditions for switchover from analogue to digital TV transmissions and expects these to be met within the period 2006-2010.

On 27 March Patricia announced a digital TV label to help consumers shop for digital TVs with confidence. From next month industry is planning to ensure that a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) label will be clearly visible on the screen of all digital TVs in retailers, as well as on boxed digital TVs.  The Government is concerned that consumers are being misled into buying TVs with digital 'features', such as digital sound, under the impression that what they are getting are digital TVs, capable of receiving all the new digital channels without the need for a set top box.  Agreement has been reached with TV manufacturers, retailers and broadcasters to promote the DVB logo to identify those TVs which are genuinely digital receivers. UK manufacturers and retailers are working together to ensure that all new digital TVs carry it, and that sales staff in the shops are trained to understand and explain the advantages and differences of digital TVs over analogue sets and so called 'digital ready' sets. ITV plan to show a public information promotion at peak viewing times, which shows consumers how to be sure they are buying a real digital TV.

On 2 April David Blunkett announced a new £42 million project to produce digital course materials in six GCSE subjects that will give teachers and pupils instant access to sound, video, interactive and 3-D educational materials.  From September 2002 pupils will be able to back up their studies for GCSEs on their digital TV, home PC or school computers. Maths, science and history course materials have been piloted in over 30 schools.  The first complete course materials using digital technology to support GCSE teaching in maths, English, French, science, history and geography will be produced equally by the BBC and Granada Media and will complement but not replace traditional teaching and resources. The DfEE ran a competition for the development of the digital GCSE resources. BBC and Granada were successfully judged against key criteria including the educational merits of the proposals and value for money. Two courses will be available in September 2002, with delivery of the rest starting in September 2003. The BBC's involvement requires the approval of DCMS, who have sought views from the broadcasting, communications and publishing industry, and will consider the proposals in the light of any responses, and against DCMS’ BBC public service approvals guidelines before reaching a decision on whether to approve the service.

On 13 March OFT launched an education campaign on distance selling as websites selling a wide range of consumer goods may be breaching consumer law.  By law, consumers must be given clear and full information for goods or services bought from home, including information on their cancellation rights.  A 'mystery surf' of the internet of 637 UK sites, visited by the OFT and trading standards departments, found that 52% failed to give easily accessible information on refund or exchange policies.  The OFT is now working with trading standards authorities to follow up with these companies to ensure that their sites are amended to comply with the law. This is the fourth time the OFT has participated in a global sweep. The UK results have been forwarded to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for inclusion in the international results, which will be published shortly.  The findings of the internet sweep coincide with the OFT's launch of an awareness campaign on the Distance Selling Regulations which came into force last October.  Advice is now on the OFT website and a new consumer information leaflet has been published.

Successful Businesses

Ian McCartney announced the introduction of the ‘Click-Use’ online licence which went live on HMSO’s website on 1 April. Under the new plans, businesses will be able to utilise and communicate Government information, providing new and exciting products for their customers. Such information includes data about health, house prices, schools performance tables, crime, census results and guidance issued by Departments. The system, will enable publishers, Internet businesses, libraries and members of the public to reuse information under the terms of one simple licence. Most of the material covered by the class licence can be reused free of charge.  To apply for a licence a user will have to visit HMSO's website, complete a simple application form and hit the submit button. The licence then takes immediate effect. The initiative is part of a general trend in liberalising access and reuse of government information. It is linked to the Government's Review of the Knowledge Economy as part of the Spending Review 2000.

On 19 March the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in collaboration with Royal & Sun Alliance published Essentials of Health and Safety Routemap, an easy-to-use computer software package designed to help small businesses improve their health and safety awareness. The Essentials Routemap will assist firms to avoid accidents and ill health at work by helping them identify and control the risks their workers face. It includes a user guide and a copy of the Essentials of Health & Safety at Work handbook.  Health and safety failures cost Britain up to £18 billion each year. Workers in small manufacturing firms are more than twice as likely to be killed at work than workers in larger firms in the same sector. The cost of work-related accidents and ill-health to employers is £140 to £300 for each worker employed. These figures underline the value of the Essentials Routemap. As part of the Revitalising Health & Safety Strategy, launched by John Prescott on in June last year, HSE undertook to provide a range of straightforward information products to help small firms develop sector specific health and safety plans. The Essentials Routemap is one example of the new range of electronic products HSE is now producing.

Getting Government online

Government Gateway

On 27 March Andrew spoke at Microsoft’s Global Leaders Conference in Seattle, where he took to the stage with Bill Gates to demonstrate the UK Government Gateway to over 400 representatives from Governments across the world.  He explained to international delegates from over 80 different countries how the UK is leading the way in setting up a secure infrastructure for transacting with Government.  The Government Gateway provides a single route to many legacy systems across departments and is believed to be the first global service offering full digital signing of XML. It will offer citizens and businesses a single authentication service with high levels of security and resilience, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Once a user has successfully registered using a common user ID or digital certificate, they will have access to services from right across Government.

The first stage of the Government Gateway is now complete.  Registration and enrolment for services offered by Inland Revenue, HM Customs and Excise and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food went live on 25 January, and transaction handling went live in March 2001.  The number of  registrations currently stand at 6,000. Equifax has been selected as the first online issuer of digital certificates for use with the Gateway.

ukonline.gov.uk

There has been a substantial increase in use of the Citizen Portal site (ukonline.gov.uk) over the past month. It has received 6.8 million page hits to date and has 15,360 registered users (ie users who have chosen to give their details and can take part in discussions). Recent improvements to the site include links to Ordnance Survey and the Met Office.  The Office of the e-Envoy is at the scoping stage for an OJEC retendering exercise, and expects the exercise to be completed and a supplier in place within the next 15 months. The timetable allows sufficient time to consider the impact of other major portals used by government departments, and to ensure the invitation to tender includes a strong field of potential suppliers, so we can be confident of a value for money solution and can negotiate attractive partnership agreements.

e-business strategies

Building on the programme of work with departments on developing the second iteration of their e-business strategies the workshop planned for departmental strategists was held at the end of April. The workshop gave e-strategists the opportunity to identify areas of common interest and to develop a clear programme of activity leading up to the completion of the second round of e-business strategies and beyond.  Key issues for further work included customer groupings, common obstacles to progress, and developing assessment criteria for the next round of strategies.  The account managers within the Office of the e-Envoy will be working with their opposite numbers in departments to take the results of the workshop into the next iterations of the strategies

Other Government Developments

Other recent Government developments include the following:

• On 18 April Jack Straw launched the national National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), the UK’s first national law enforcement organisation tasked to combat computer-based crime. The NHTCU is the centrepiece of the National Hi-Tech Crime Strategy, supporting the Government’s commitment to ensuring a safe and secure online environment for Internet users in the UK, and is the result of a partnership between law enforcement, business and the IT world.  The new unit will undertake national investigations of serious and organised crime using IT; provide consultation to local forces and other agencies; liaise with government on policy issues and provide a 24-hour point of contact for G8 countries.  However, the majority of hi-tech crime will continue to be investigated by local forces serving the local community. 
  
• On 4 April Chris Smith launched a new Government website - Openbritain.gov.uk at www.openbritain.gov.uk/. The site provides up to the minute advice about where to go and what to see in Britain and links to other useful sources of information. The dedicated site is a 'one-stop-shop' that:

  - showcases the top British visitor attractions;

  - has a search facility for information on Britain's 15,000 leading visitor attractions and events;

  - links browsers to key information sites;

  - provides tips for walkers;

  - lists guidance for visitors visiting affected areas; and

- gives up to date information on the measures the Government is taking to bring foot and mouth disease under control.

A million browsers logged on in the first week to search for visitor attractions up and down the country. Further developments will include information on accommodation and tour operators.

• On 3 April OGC announced the introduction of a new web-based pilot Electronic Tendering System – OGC TenderTrust – to replace the traditional paper tendering system in the purchasing of products and services by central Government, which could produce savings of around £13 million for the taxpayer over 4 years.  OGC TenderTrust is expected to reduce burdens and costs to suppliers, reducing supplier's tendering costs by an estimated £37million and to stimulate interest in the market. It will not only add value in its own right but will also form part of the Government's move to embrace e-commerce with its supply chain.  Some of the key benefits of ETS include:

- reduced paper trail on tendering exercises and labour intensive tasks;

- reduced costs and time savings on both sides;

- improved management information;

- a platform to stimulate innovation;

- scope for further gains in the wider public sector;

- support of the green agenda.

The award of the six-month pilot contract to the Royal Bank of Scotland will enable the system - OGC Tender Trust - to be run in conjunction with Trust-Marque International Ltd, who will provide the OGC Tender Trust technology.   The Government participants in the pilot include the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency. The Agency is leading the development of an e-commerce strategy for the whole of the NHS and e-tendering is one of the key elements of this strategy.  Upon the successful completion of the pilot contract, it is the intention of OGC to roll out the piloted system under terms of a four-year contract, across central Government, departments, agencies and NDPBs.

• On 28 March Jack Straw announced the creation of a new child protection taskforce to help make UK cyberspace the safest place in the world for Internet users.  The taskforce will include representatives of the Internet industry, child welfare organisations, the police and Government. Its establishment was agreed at a meeting of key representatives from these organisations, called by Jack Straw as part of the Government response to the recent report by the Internet Crime Forum on child safety in Internet chatrooms.  Chaired by Lord Bassam, the taskforce members will work in partnership to identify and implement the best ways in which children can be better protected when using the Internet. Among the areas for action identified at the meeting were:

- reviewing Internet content rating systems and developing a "kite marking" scheme for chatrooms which deliver child-friendly services;

- developing "safe surfing" education and awareness campaigns for parents and children;

- enhancing co-operation between police and communications service providers in the course of their investigations;

- reviewing existing legislation to ensure that the law continues to protect children from 'grooming' and other forms of abuse and keeps in step with changes in technology.

Progress made by the taskforce will be reviewed by Jack Straw at a further meeting in the summer. 

• On 26 March Jacqui Smith announced more than £11 million for over 500 more secondary schools to introduce electronic registration of pupil attendance in the drive to tackle truancy. Electronic registration means that a school can quickly find out who is absent, through logging attendance online, allowing the school to take almost immediate action - following up with the family concerned. The usual manual system can take hours for registers to be collected together and more time to discover who is in or out. Through electronic registration, taken twice a day, and in some schools at every lesson, pupil attendance can monitored much more closely than ever before. Independent reports have shown that electronic registration of pupil attendance can reduce truancy by 10 per cent in the first two years. The £11.25 million, from the Government's Capital Modernisation Fund from 2002, is in additional to Standards Fund money for tackling truancy and improving discipline, worth £174 million in 2001-2. A number of schools have already introduced electronic registration and have proved that it is a successful and significant tool in tackling truancy.
• On 19 March Andrew presented awards to the winners of the second Government Website Awards at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in London, organised by COI Communications Digital Media on behalf of the Government Internet Forum. The winner of the Profile Award - which covers sites that offer wide-ranging information - went to FCO, and the two Highly Commended Profile Awards went to UKOnline and the Patent Office. The Value Award - which recognises the work of smaller agencies, low-budget sites and those that aim to communicate large amounts of information as quickly as possible - was won by Trade Partners UK, which aims to creates success for British business overseas, and the Highly Commended Value Awards went to the Department of Trade and Industry's enterprise site. The Highways Agency site was also highly commended. The Forum membership is invited to nominate sites - 70 were submitted this year - and a panel of independent non-government experts judges the nominated sites.

• On 16 March a consultation paper and draft legislation was published on e-conveyancing, making the ability to buy homes and land at the click of a computer mouse a step nearer reality.  The consultation paper contains draft legislation to permit the use of electronic conveyancing documents, such as contracts, transfers, mortgages and leases, and is available on the LCD website. The current law requires that contracts for the sale of land and legal documents such as trusts transfers and deeds mortgages have to be on paper. The proposed legislation would involve making an order under section 8 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000. The order and the associated land registration rules would create a legal framework for the use of electronic conveyancing documents. The development of these land law reforms will be complemented by changes to stamp duty legislation.  Responses to the consultation paper are sought by 25 June 2001.

• On 16 March Gisela Stuart announced two pilot digital TV projects which will help to ensure patients have easier and faster access to health advice and information from their own homes.  Telewest has been commissioned to pilot a digital "interactive" healthcare service – Living Health - accessible through people’s televisions in their own homes, which will be available to around 50,000 Telewest Active Digital customers in the West Midlands. People will be able to book appointments with their GPs, have conversations with NHS Direct nurses on screen, and users will have interactive access to general and local healthcare information. Communicopia Productions Limited has been commissioned to produce a pilot interactive television channel to provide access to the information currently available on the NHS Direct website, including information about particular illnesses and conditions, audio and video clips, and advice about living a more healthy life.  Digital TV promises faster, easier access to health information for all.  The Department is continuing negotiations with a number of other companies to pilot other aspects of health services on digital interactive television and announcements will be made about these in due course.  

The website of the Office of the e-Envoy provides a regularly updated report on Government services that are available online.

On 12 March Patricia announced the Government’s decision on patents to protect computer programs and internet trading methods.  The announcement follows the recent consultation Should Patents Be Granted for Computer Software or Ways of Doing Business?  Key conclusions include:

- there should be no significant change to the patentability of software;

- the law is not clear enough; urgent European action to clarify is
needed;

- business methods should remain unpatentable.

The key principle is that patents should be for technological innovations. So a program for a new machine tool should be patentable, but a non-technological innovation, such as grammar-checking software for a word-processor, should not be.  Patent law is harmonised under the European Patent Convention, and these conclusions will be recommended to our European partners. The European Commission is currently evaluating its own consultation on software patents, and we shall be pressing them for an early Directive which embodies our conclusions, and with which the Convention can then be aligned. The conclusions may be viewed at the Patent Office website.

Top of page