Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Maclennan of Rogart (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Thursday, 9 June 2005.

e-Government Unit

Question: My Lords, although the use of what the Civil Service calls "controlled vocabulary" may operate as a disincentive to get online to the Government, can the Government say whether there has been a significant improvement in the access to e-government over the past two years? It was made clear in June 2003 that only one-tenth of the population was using the online e-government services, as compared with 50 per cent of the population in Canada, with its single portal.

Answer: My Lords, there have been improvements, and I am sure that the e-Government Unit is aware of its role and responsibility in ensuring that those improvements continue. There is an increasing number of visits to government websites and increased participation—as I understand—in www.govtalk.gov.uk. So I believe that people are learning their way around the system.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 672 c963-4
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Cost effectiveness Government information services Publishing Electronic government e-Government Unit Thesauri