By Sarah Left, 24 October 2000 19:00
NEWS Delegates agreed that the current strategy of dividing the task between a number of junior ministers and high level civil servants was slowing down progress.
Launching Eurim's report - A Shock to the System - Joined Up Electronic Government - at the House of Commons today, Ian Bruce MP, chairman of Eurim, said that without a cabinet minister driving change at the highest level, the office of the e-envoy becomes just another layer of bureaucracy.
Brian McCandless, Eurim member, agrees. He said: "You need an e-envoy to drive through the mechanisms and technology of e-government, but my experience in the private sector says that if you're serious about radical business transformation then you need a CEO to drive it. The e-envoy can't do that."
Most Eurim members were unwilling to name names as to who the cabinet minister should be, although Margaret Moran MP, chairwoman of the meeting, suggested Patricia Hewitt has the necessary background and experience.
The Cabinet Office has insisted repeatedly that the new e-envoy will not be a minister.
Eurim's report acknowledges a massive culture change in the civil service is a prerequisite for modern government, and this is why the members feel a top-level appointment is necessary.
Moran summed up the group's concerns by questioning whether "an organisation that has remained unchanged since the Victorian era and before can respond fast enough to the modern age".
Ever since joined-up electronic government was first discussed, civil servants have been concerned that increased automation will mean inevitable job losses.
The Gartner Group claimed last week that one third of government agencies will disappear within five years as government moves online.
Although Eurim argued that increased service delivery will increase demand and keep civil servants on the pay roll, undoubtedly many civil servants will be unwilling to move into direct service provision to the public as opposed to back-office jobs.
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