E government

E government

E government is all about the government exchanging information and services from the government to the public, businesses or other departments of the government. E government allows the government to process look into and respond to any questions the public may have, this allows the government to improve the public understanding of information and/ or services.

Information

GOV.UK

The main website that allows people to find out information in the UK is https://www.gov.uk/ also known as directgov. This is a website that allows the public to report situations, look up information, to learn about problems or incidents, to learn about services provided by the government and legal requirements.

On the GOV.UK homepage the main links are:

·         Driving, transport and travel

·         Businesses and self employed

·         Education and learning

·         Housing and local services

·         Money and tax

·         Disabled people

·         Benefits

·         Employing people

·         Working, jobs and pensions

·         Crime, justice and the law

·         Birth, deaths, marriages and care

·         Citizenship and life in the UK

On the GOV.UK website these links are the most active:

• Job centre Plus job search
• Log in to student finance
• Passport fees
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Council Tax bands
• Running a limited company
• Driving theory test
• Car tax rates
• Get a car tax disc
• VAT rates

I think that this website is very useful because it gives information about lots of subjects that we use in everyday life but we don’t always fully understand those subjects. This website gives us a quick and easy method of finding out information and gives us a way to report complaints about certain areas or items. It gives information that benefits all ages and not just to people above 21, for example it provides information and help for students, first time drivers and first time employment. It helps students with financial issues when going to university and also helps when students are looking to apply to university. GOV.UK gives you information about pensions which can be a great help for when you want to plan your life after employment.

Another website that is similar to this is the government gateway. I don’t think this is as good as GOV.UK because you have to sign up to government gateway to use it but you don’t have to sign up to GOV.Uk. When you sign up to the government gateway you can choose to sign up as an individual, organisation or agent, this helps the user to get the most out of that website and it helps them to get the best suited information for them.

LAW

In E government Law has a big impact. Lots of people want to find out about what they should do in certain circumstances and the government make sure that they can get information about the law. E government gives information about: court, prisons and probations, reporting crimes and getting compensation, young people and the law and your rights and the law. This helps people who have been a victim to a crime tell the government so action can taken to prevent it from happening again. It gives information on what the public’s rights are and what people should do if the find themselves dealing with illegal circumstances.

Law in E government is a really important thing. The metropolitan police service has its own website this allows the public to report crimes quickly and easily. This website allows the public to find out what is happening in the local areas. The website gives you safety precautions and walkthrough in the event that a crime takes place and it helps you to learn what to do. This website also gives in depth information about current crimes and how they are trying to prevent them.

Participation

Online tax

 E government has allowed the public to pay taxes online. This is very helpful because this is a 24 hour service and you don’t have to wait for an office to open or book an appointment or anything all you need is a computer and the right website and you can pay your taxes online. Taxpayers are given the opportunity to pay online in a quick and easy way just by using the internet.

Vehicle licensing

The government now have the opportunity to provide help when it comes to driving now that they can use the internet. The government is now providing help for people who want to learn how to drive, who want to take their driving test or who want to renew their car tax/ tax disc. Everyone must show that they own a tax disc which allows them to drive the vehicle. If you want to renew your tax disc then you have to be the registered owner of the car and you are registered with the DVLA. To be able to renew your tax disc your car insurance has to be valid and also vehicle has to pass an MOT check. This is to make sure that the vehicle in question is safe for the driver or any passengers and most of all the public.

E-petitions

E-petitions can be created easily and without any hard work. They allow you to give your opinion to the world and if more than 100,000 people sign you E-petition then it will be considered for debate in the House of Commons. This gives the public an easy way to have their own say about what goes on in their government and makes the government here what the public have to say. You can make an e-petition at any time you like and about anything that you think will help improve the life of the public.

NHS direct

The NHS stands for The National Health Service is another important part of E government. The NHS is there to make sure that the public are healthy and safe. The NHS have their own website which allows the public to look up symptoms, services, help lines and health checkers. This is very helpful for the public because if they can find out what might be wrong with them before they see a doctor they can save a great deal of time. The website also shows you were your local doctors or general hospital is and when they are open and when visitors are allowed to visit. This is a really helpful website because it can be accessed 24 hours a day 7 days a week and is able to provide the public with information that will help them in their everyday life.

Local government

Greg Clark- Tunbridge Wells Local MP

Greg Clark was born in 1967 in Middlesbrough. He studied Economics at Cambridge University. Greg Clark was Director of Policy for the Conservative Party in March 2001. This was before being elected to Parliament for Tunbridge Wells in 2005. In May 2010, Greg was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government. In September 2012, Greg was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury.

He has been elected for the following:

·         MP for Tunbridge Wells, May 2005 onwards.

·         Member of Public Accounts Committee, 2005-2006

·         Shadow Minister for Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering, 2006-2008

·         Shadow Minister for Teesside, 2006-2010

·         Shadow Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change, 2008-2010

·         Minister of State, Communities and Local Government, 2010-2012

·         Minister for Cities, 2011

·         Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 2012

You can now follow your local MP on twitter and receive updates about what is going on in your local government on a daily basis. Your local MP will also ‘tweet’ useful information whenever there is important information that the public needs to know.

Reporting problems to your local council online

There are a lot of different website that the government have created so that the public can have the option to complain about problems that have occurred in your local area. This gives you the option to contact your local government or if you don’t want to do that then it gives you the advice on how to handle the problem. Such as calling the police, email someone in your local government, booking an appointment or going to see a specialist about that particular problem. You can leave comments on certain websites that give a direct line to your local government.

Advantages of E-Government

 I think that the main advantage of E government is that it can quickly and easily give information to the public.

Also the government doesn’t have to employ so many people so the government can save money and spend it on more important areas to help the public.

Disadvantages of E-Government

With so many departments of the government using online services a fault could bring down the whole organisation.

This could lead to a higher rate of unemployment because the government will not have to employ as many people to manage the ongoing businesses and departments of the governments.