It sounds like a check-out nightmare: "How much are vehicle licences, Sharon?" None the less, your local supermarket may soon be offering a line in government documents. The office of the e-envoy is about to announce proposals for intermediaries such as businesses and voluntary organisations to run electronic public services. Motoring organisations and insurance companies could issue car tax discs when members renew policies, for example.
Difficulties abound. How much access should intermediaries be given to government databases? Should private companies make a profit? Should the government withdraw from providing a particular e-service? Most importantly, is the British public ready for Stelios Haji-Ioannou or Richard Branson to become the face of government?
A draft policy on e-government intermediaries, circulating in government and due to be published for consultation in spring, will suggest answers. But the office of the e-envoy is committed in principle as part of its project to put government online.
"By 2005, we'll have a mixed economy in e-government services," a senior official said.
This commitment comes from the top. In 2000, Downing Street's think-tank, the performance and innovation unit, urged the government to nurture a private e-government industry. A report written at the height of the dotcom boom said: "Competition between public, private and voluntary sector providers of government services will improve service quality, stimulate innovation and improve value for money."
The report called on the e-envoy to "champion the involvement of the private and voluntary sectors in the electronic delivery of government services."
Nobody in Whitehall took much notice. When one start-up began selling fishing licences online, the Environment Agency undercut it with its own web service. The reason for the revived interest in intermediaries is simple. Andrew Pinder, the e-envoy, is confident that almost all government services will be available online by the target date of December 31, 2005.
But on present trends, few people will be using them. Government websites are already being described as online versions of the Millennium Dome - impressive, but deserted. The way to get usage up, the theory goes, is to create services that can be run through commercial websites and call centres. Coenraad van der Poel, European managing director of EzGov, a supplier of online government services, says that the way to break down barriers is to offer services in places where citizens are used to completing transactions and feel comfortable in doing so.
One model is the deal under which a travel agency, Double S Travel, accepts passport applications at 400 World Choice travel agents. For £5, the firm checks that the forms have been filled in correctly and the right docu ments included. Applications are less likely to be held up and the passport agency has to handle fewer incorrect applications. As for the company: "It's good for building customer trust," says a partner, Steve Pattenden.
However, checking forms is relatively straightforward. But if third parties are to offer real e-government services, they will need access to online government data - the vehicle ownership register, for example. This poses political and technical difficulties. The e-envoy's draft policy will propose about a dozen "rules of engagement" to balance security with availability and create a level playing field for business.
Later this year, a new intermediaries section on the e-envoy's website will invite suggestions for services. But Van der Poel warns against getting carried away. While intermediaries can reach more citizens, responsibility for content needs to remain with the government. "Nobody's interested in buying government services from a third party if they know the third party is making a profit. It goes to the heart of trust. At the end of the day, we still expect government services to come from the government."
