eGov has already used 75% of its budget

Tuesday 28 March 2017

It's been revealed that a major States initiative to get more government services online has already spent more than three quarters of its £9.9million budget - and senior officials now say they'll need more funding to complete the project.

At a Public Accounts Committee Scrutiny Hearing yesterday, States Chief Executive John Richardson told a panel that major changes to the way islanders interact with their government hadn't yet been made - but £7.9 million had already been spent on the program leaving just £2 million left.

While the project was said to be “on track”, Mr Richardson admitted that expenditure was going to be “very tight” between 2017 and 2019.

So far, the biggest areas of spend has been on various “small projects” such as the bus and ‘Love Jersey’ apps, which have come in at around £1.8 million.

£1.4 million has been spent on the “design authority” - the way different systems - such as those relating to taxes, residential status, healthcare and social security - each holding critical and sensitive data, will be brought together, to be accessed in a secure way.

Pictured: Chief Executive John Richardson, who outlined eGov expenditure at a Scrutiny hearing yesterday.

Meanwhile, £1.3 million has been allocated to staffing and consultancy costs, attributed to a lack of of on-island expertise.

“We are finding that the technical skills we require are quite difficult to attract so we’re having to pay for those through outside advisors and consultants but it’s critical we get this right. We mustn’t take in any risk with citizens’ data and security matters,” Mr Richardon told Express.

The two-year “gap” in funding was attributed to funding “additional projects”, including supporting parishes with digitisation such as a new online driving licence application system and a reformed online income tax scheme.

Despite the panel’s concerns that the project could run out of money, Mr Richardson said he was “confident” that the eGovernment programme could be “replenished” from the Public Sector Reform Budget.

Pictured: Income tax is set to go paperless under eGov proposals.

“We are moving into a digital age and we want to get as many of our systems online as possible, but there is a cost associated with it,” he added.

The main “barrier to success”, he said, was ensuring the successful and secure integration of islanders’ data and that people with the same names on the Island would not end up having accidental access to each other’s information. 

Nonetheless, developments so far were described as “positive”. Special mention was given to the Police’s mobile working scheme, which has seen officers equipped with tablets and smartphones allowing for the swift transfer of information between HQ and those working in the field.

“We developed the police mobile working scheme as a project that was always intended to roll out to other departments. Feedback so far has been very positive… Now it’s a case of making sure that we’re ready to roll it out… The benefits are huge because then they can put all the data in a mobile device and don’t have to worry about going to the office to retype it,” Mr Richardson commented.

He added that by 2019, islanders should have access to a new digital tax return system, with social security contributions to be also digitised once the interface is in place.

Help will be at hand, however, for those who might not have digital access or struggle with online facilities.

“We have a customer service centre up at Le Motte Street, we see that being the hub where anyone who can’t use the digital systems, there’ll be access to the public for manual assistance.”