My dear prime minister, thank you for inviting me to take over as head of e-government following the unexpected election of the previous appointee, Ian Watmore, as president of Iraq. Perhaps it was a mistake to test e-voting technology in such a volatile environment as Baghdad. None the less, Ian will relish the challenge of sorting out the Middle East.

As my computer does not have PowerPoint, I was unable to read Ian's briefing material. In any case, I thought some a priori propositions might be welcome. Here are some early thoughts.

First, we should halve the number of websites run by central government. My office will take a lead by amalgamating two web portals, Directgov and Government Gateway, together with the Cabinet Office's own site, at the single address www.direct.gov.uk.

This would prepare the way for a campaign to drive up usage. The current strategy, relying on the site's indeterminate nationality to attract hits from every English-speaking country, is having limited success. We should immediately activate phase two and display a small EU flag on the home page. The resulting furore should increase the number of unique visitors.

Across government, we should implement Sir Peter Gershon's efficiency review suggestions for increasing the take-up of online transactions. Car tax renewals and company VAT returns are an obvious place to start. Both services need to stop pussy-footing around with pilots and soft launches, even if back-office systems still leave much to be desired.

Companies could be encouraged to file their VAT returns electronically with a small discount. I suggest 5%. Car owners likewise. Electorally, these measures would do you no harm in two crucial constituencies.

Important as the efficiency drive is, it should not be allowed to dominate the e-government programme. Apart from anything else, there is still little evidence for a connection between the two. Rather, I suggest that e-government be considered as an enabler in two other policy themes: new localism and freedom of information.

Local authorities should have the option of offering residents access to central e-services. This is a reversal of the current policy of assuming that citizens will sign on for local government through a Whitehall-run portal. Councils working this way would, of course, receive a share of the money they save central government.

As for freedom of information, it should be policy that every document produced by government should be posted on the deep web, unless there is a good reason not to. Documents withheld should be publicly identified with a reference number and the reason for secrecy.

First, however, we need to shed a millstone. The target of e-enabling every single service by the end of 2005 has served its purpose. We should abandon it as superseded, replacing it with "priority outcomes", along the lines of those handed down to local authorities. A grown-up government should not be afraid to admit changing its mind in the light of developments. We are a grown-up government, aren't we?

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