What the parties promise

With the country going to the polls next week, Computing looks at the importance of technology in the manifestos of the three major parties.

LABOUR
Labour's manifesto says the party will continue the implementation of large government IT projects with the development of a national identity database, biometric passports and ID cards, and seek a consensus in support of a national road charging system to replace taxes on transport.

In a drive to resolve an IT skills shortage, the party will encourage the development of IT training in schools, supporting help for all pupils to have access to computers at home by 2006, provide free training for employees who did not reach GCSE standard at school, and create a partnership with employers to fund workplace training.

Labour says it will achieve the digital switchover of television between 2008 and 2012 to free radio spectrum for commercial use, and deliver a cross-government strategy for closing the digital divide. The party wants to expand the use of IT to further transform public services, including a digital challenge for a local authority to act as a national pathfinder in digital service provision.

And a Labour government will modernise copyright and other forms of protection of intellectual property rights, and set up a National Internet Safety Unit to protect children.

CONSERVATIVES
The Conservative party recognises the benefits of using IT to 'join up' government services, but says citizens are being put off by continuing government computer failures.

'The pressure from voters to see joined-up government is paralleled by massive scepticism in the competence of government and its suppliers to deliver the savings and efficiency improvements being promised,' says Michael Fabricant, Shadow Minister for Industry & Technology.

'Under a Conservative government we will do all we can to ensure that this scepticism is diminished and the UK fully embraces IT in the 21st century.'

Fabricant cites previous Tory government moves to put in place the foundations for greater competition in the UK telecoms market.

'The last Conservative government planned a period of regulated duopoly to enable the cable companies to build alternative infrastructures before BT was unchained in 2002 and Oftel wound up,' he says.

But he believes the UK has not fully exploited the benefits of this deregulation. 'From Brussels to Beijing, from Stockholm to Seoul, home workers have bandwidth not available in the UK outside a few science parks,' he says.

'In egovernment the UK has gone from near pole position in 1997, to middle of the pack.'

The Conservatives say the government's approach to IT, using 'centralised command and control programmes', is not meeting the needs of Whitehall departments or citizens.

'The National Programme for IT in the health service is a classic example,' says Fabricant. 'The centralised patient records system is part of a genuinely transformational agenda: to complete the transfer of control over healthcare from clinicians to politicians.

'This is to be achieved by centralising bookings as well as records so that performance against target and contract can be monitored and rewarded. It is not merely the largest IT programme in the world but the largest change programme in the UK since the post-war nationalisations and is being implemented to tight timescales with strong penalty clauses.'

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
The Liberal Democrats say IT will play a vital role in delivering key public services in the next few years - but believe there is work to do.

'The experience of ordinary people is still far from one of there being seamless government services accessible via the medium of their choice,' says a party spokesman.

'If we are to derive real benefits from applying technology to public services then the approach must be one of fundamental system redesign rather than tinkering at the edges.'

The party says that ensuring the availability of IT skills is essential - but recognises the need for suitably-qualified overseas workers as well.

'We believe it is crucial that the IT industry can continue to recruit staff from a high skills base,' says the spokesman.

'But the UK will still need economic migrants to fulfil demand for IT jobs. The Liberal Democrats would establish a simple "Green Card" scheme, based on points earned for possessing skills and qualifications, to ensure that UK companies have the right tools to succeed.'

And a Liberal Democrat government would seek to allay concerns of IT contractors over the controversial IR35 tax rules relating to self-employed professionals.

'The Liberal Democrats would consult with business to produce a more satisfactory outcome where the genuinely self-employed are not penalised,' says the spokesman.

Key manifesto pledges are also dependent on exploiting IT systems. The Lib Dems would use new technology to provide diagnostic tests in GP surgeries, community hospitals and on the high street.

The party says it will use technology to develop 'health MoTs', targeted through electronic patient records so that people are given tests based on their age and risk factors.

A Lib Dem government would use technology to phase out vehicle excise duty with a system of national road user charging, and would scrap plans for ID cards to fund the recruitment of 10,000 more police officers, to be equipped with technology to allow them to fill in forms remotely, allowing more time on the beat.