What a difference a reply makes

I wrote the other day about new plans  for 6000 UK online centres, and what seemed a pretty top-down consultation approach that didn't involve those using the centres. I emailed the organisation developing the plans - since I rather doubted they monitored this blog - and didn't expect to get any response. It looked that sort of organisation. But I got a friendly email, giving me new information directly related to my piece, which I'll come to later. It changed the way I felt about the organisation - and made me reflect what a difference it would make if others were also prepared to do the same.
The context is that government is pushing local centres - which may be in libraries, colleges or other community facilities - to focus on what used to be called e-government, and is now (transformational) t-government. It is, in official language, a major  programme to modernise and transform the way government interacts with the public and delivers its services. In practice it is, in part, about trying to get people to use the Internet instead of ringing up or going to the counter. Local and central government has met its targets of moving services online - but people aren't using them enough ... and that is costing.

The UK online centres are important because they serve a lot of people who use public services - but don't use the Net. Their original aim was to provide access and learning opportunities - whether informal or formal - and so address the digital divide. As the consultation document says:

There are no signs that the divide will close naturally over time as once predicted in fact internet use has stalled at around 60% over recent years, which means that 40% of people are still not accessing potentially vital services.
In many ways, the need for UK online centres has never been so great.
This is why we feel the time has come for a new vision and mission for UK online centres which recognises the significant work you are already doing and outlines how the network can be better aligned to support the needs of both citizens and government.

My main point in writing about the plan was that no one seemed to ask the centre users what they wanted, so I wrote:

While there are many pros and cons for this approach, I was struck by another question. Is anyone asking the users of the centres what they would like? I suppose they could go into their local centre, download the pdf, digest the proposals, then fill out the response form, but looking at the form I don't that's the idea. Questions are about Do you agree with the mission, Do you support the vision, Do you feel the strategic aims are the right ones ... so it is clearly for  managers rather than users. The plan says there have been focus groups at centres, but no details are given of what was said, or whether centre users were involved.

Here's what I received in reply, from Anne Faulkner, Head of Policy

Many thanks for sight of your blog and for taking part in the debate - I think your assessment is fair and balanced.
You're right to ask the question about what centre users think and we've done quite a bit of research in this area, most recently with a major e-government project in the South West - (link)
We're particularly interested in those who can't access online services via their home or office because they're digitally excluded - and often digital exclusion goes hand in hand with social exclusion. Unless these people have support through intermediaries such as UK online centres, we fear that they will be even more excluded as government's face-to-face channels reduce.
Helen wrote an article about this recently which you might find of interest (link):
On the question of the consultation process itself, asking people to fill in the consultation form is only one part of the process and provides a structure for analysis. We also want to encourage centres to talk to their Regional Managers and feed in that way and Helen's planning to post something on her blog to generate debate. I do take your point that we could have broadened the scope further and we'll consider this for future consultations.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment and for your positive view of the work the centres do. I've also sent your blog link to Helen, who will post a reply directly.

Helen is Helen Milner, managing director of UK online centres, who blogs here. In her article for The Times she writes:

As more public services move from face-to-face to online channels, we need to ensure that they’re reaching socially disadvantaged people. At UK online centres we’ve just completed research which suggests that to create the elusive e-citizen, we need t-government coaches. The research analyses a pilot in the South West that teamed UK online centres with selected local and central government websites to support people in using them. Those most in need of a helping hand had a social need to contact government: housing; pension or benefit inquiries; job or course search information. Ninety seven per cent were reassured just by having UK online centre staff around to support their first online transactions. Six months later, a follow-up found that 45 per cent had continued to find useful t-government information, 18 per cent had enrolled on a course and 9 per cent had got a new job.
The benefits of offering this support — to the individual, to government, to society and to the economy — should not be underrated. Our research estimates that 6.6 million people are both digitally and socially excluded, and it’s time the credits rolled on the digital divide and we closed the gap for good.

I've gone on about this this a bit because I think there are a few lessons that may be useful both to organisations and humble bloggers.
I found the way the consultation report was presented rather off-putting. I had to download a pdf and then do a tedious copy and paste job to get some text. The content was pretty formal too. Both the style and the consultation approach - fill in a response form - jarred against the title of 'Creating Confident Citizens'. It put me into critical mode.
However, Anne's friendly response gave me a different feel for the organisation. They were prepared to engage in a one-to-one conversation about their plans.
It seems to me that the challenge for an organisation like UFI, that runs the centres, is to bring a bit more of its conversational style into the front line. Make documents more accessible and blogable. Put Anne, Helen and others up front. Tell some stories from centres - or, much better, help centres and their users tell stories for themselves. There's a start a Centres News section, but the logos are rather overwhelming, and the style is a bit press release.
Ooops, there I go, slipping in a snide aside. Rephrase ... the Centres News section offers a fascinating window into what's happening in the centres. More please. Why not put it on a multi-user blog?
The lesson for me is to try and get to the people behind the official documents. They may be prepared to talk.

Comments

[Helen Milner]

Thanks for your comments on UK online centres and for highlighting the consultation on our draft development plan. I've put a post on my blog ukonlinediary.blogspot.com asking for some blog comments on the plan and I've put a link through here to this blog too. I hope that generates some comments from UK online centres or interested others.