E-gov awareness campaign planned

The UK Government is planning to launch a national campaign to get more of us to communicate with local councils online.

Having already blown £4bn of taxpayers' money on its "e-Government" initiative, ministers now want us to use it.

Kicking off early next year the campaign will delight us with the "benefits of accessing council services online - including flexibility and convenience, and improved access to information".

And while bureaucrats acknowledge that there are plenty of people out there who are willing to contact their councils online, "there is evidence that current usage of council e-channels still lags behind public interest in using them".

"Our future plans are dependent upon winning citizens around to the benefits of using e-services," said Local e-Government Minister Jim Fitzpatrick. ®