Whitehall plans web accounts

Government proposal is part of wider plans to join up service delivery

'My Government' accounts would be similar to commercial web sites

The government is considering creating individual online accounts for citizens accessing public services over the internet.

The proposal is being evaluated as part of wider plans to move Whitehall-wide technology services to major delivery departments, from their current home in the Cabinet Office.

The running of the DirectGov portal has already been taken over by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). And similar discussions are now under way about the Government Gateway authentication service ­ used for a variety of citizen-to-government transactions including online tax returns, driving licence applications and pension forecasts.

Negotiations are continuing to establish whether Government Gateway is best taken on by DWP or HM Revenue & Customs.

DWP is emerging as the favourite because of the tie-up with DirectGov, according to sources close to the discussions.

‘There is the possibility of moving Gateway to DWP as part of the overall strategy to align delivery services with the big delivery departments,’ said a source.

‘Ultimately the citizen could come in through DirectGov, identify themselves using Government Gateway, and then get to a “My Government” type of space.’

A single account follows the lead of commercial businesses from Amazon to eBay, said Ovum government practice director Eric Woods.

‘It is a logical step for citizen services and several other countries are also looking that way,’ he said.

The plan also fits in with the public service transformation agenda being pursued by recently-appointed prime ministerial adviser Sir David Varney.

Moving cross-government infrastructure such as Government Gateway to the major departments can also be seen as part of the wider joined-up agenda, said Woods.

‘In the short to medium term the most important thing is to use the greater IT capability of an organisation such as DWP to meet the requirements for joined-up systems,’ he said.

But in the longer term, there may be questions about whether Whitehall-wide IT services could be a distraction from departments’ main business priorities.

The decision about Government Gateway will be finalised later this year. So far it is used for 100 services from 50 government offices and has 15 million registered users.