Richmond Council scores a red mark against its e-government target of "empowering and supporting local organisations, community groups and clubs to create and maintain their own information online".

In its Implement Electronic Government Statement, the council admits that it is not likely to achieve anything beyond amber even by the end of next year, although the Online Community's independent network has existed across the borough for the past seven years as a voluntary organisation developing the very service the council report refers to.

The founder and creator of the Online Community network, John Inglis, said: "We have always tried to encourage the council to work with us to integrate e-community and e-government. We run their consultations on the Journal - such as the recent consultation on the licensing policy - and we feature road works and other public information as a service to the community.

"We have the network in our ten towns and villages across the borough with thousands of people taking part. It has been an uphill struggle to get Richmond Council to do anything with us in the e-community and after more than seven years we feel the council are more than ever resisting working with the online community in the borough.

"According the council's own statistics, 80% of homes are online now and anyone who does not have access to a computer at home can get online at the library. To me it just seems plain daft, and it is the people in our communities who are the losers."

See the section in the report

Friday, December 17, 2004

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