Richmond in Vanguard in the Drive to Modernise Government

12.00.00am GMT Sun 6th Jul 2003

Richmond Council is in the vanguard in the drive to modernise local government and is bang on course to reach its target to make all services accessible online by the end of next year.

Already over 50 per cent of Council services are available electronically. This drive towards E-Government aims to provide higher quality, more cost effective and accessible services for the public.

Overall, customer services will be much more efficient and responsive.

The Council's new partnership with ITNET will in April 2004 deliver a variety of new systems that will help accelerate this drive.

The existing website at www.richmond.gov.uk contains a wealth of information about Council services and a host of other useful data about local facilities.

However, under the ITNET partnership a new website is being developed that will be much more interactive. Members of the public will be able to book a wide variety of services online at their convenience.

All these IT initiatives were started while the Liberal Democrats were running the Council when David Williams was responsible for IT. The main credit should go to Mike Gravatt and Pat Keane, the two Council officers who have planned a very successful conversion to new systems keeping Richmond upon Thames well ahead of most other local authorities.