Written question asked by Simon Kirby (Conservative) on Thursday, 2 December 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 December 2010. It was answered by Lord Maude of Horsham (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 December 2010 on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Electronic Government: Publicity

Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps his Department is taking to encourage people to access Government services online.

Answer: I have taken a number of steps to review online Government services and the websites used to access these services. These include asking Martha Lane Fox in her role as Digital Champion to review the Directgov Website, and asking Government Departments to review their own websites.On 23 November I published the report on Directgov prepared by Martha Lane Fox and my response to that report. Copies of both documents are available in the Library. My response outlined plans for making a first wave of Government services 'Digital by Default'—these are:"Job seekers allowance""Services provided by Companies House""Student loan applications"My officials continue to talk with officials from other Departments to identify further services to become Digital by Default.Work also continues with organisations, such as the Post Office and UK Online centres, on developing 'assisted digital' access to support those who need help to access digital services, to ensure that in making services Digital by Default no-one gets left behind.Finally, I and my Department continue to support the work being done by Martha Lane Fox and her team under the Race Online 2012 initiative to help get more people online—and I would like to see all Government Departments make pledges in support of Race Online 2012.

Secondary information