WRITTEN ON May 24th, 2005 BY Tom Fuller AND STORED IN Uncategorized

What do we mean when we talk about ‘Joined Up Government?’ Is the Gershon initiative merely about local councils sharing call centres?

I’m sure there are benefits to doing so. But it seems that these benefits would pale in comparison to joining up service delivery at the front lines. Is there any reason why a worker at a Job Centre cannot also provide information, forms and processing for the National Insurance, Department of Work and Pensions? They might need a little training and a lot of joined up technology to do so. But isn’t this truly the place to start? Why can’t you apply for a driver’s license and a passport at the same place?

Wouldn’t we be able to find better uses for some of the buildings? Wouldn’t we be able to find better uses for the workers?

Wouldn’t we reduce driving, congestion, pollution, frustration and lost communications?

I know it’s a good ‘thing’ to make government organisations more efficient in their administration. But couldn’t we just once concentrate on delivering better services more efficiently–from the user’s point of view?

Cross posted from Tom’s blog.