October 2005

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UK not sold on e-Government?

28 October 2005 in Government

Kablenet reports that the UK has fallen behind the rest of Europe in usage of e-government services. According to the latest official EU figures:

  • only 31% of individual internet users have accessed information from public authorities – fifth from bottom
  • only 11% of individual internet users have downloaded forms from public authorities – bottom
  • only 5% of individual internet users have submitted forms online public authorities – bottom
  • for businesses with internet access – bottom in all three categories

The figures, however, also show that services to citizens were most developed in the United Kingdom. So, is it all about marketing or do the figures tell us something else about our internet culture?

Legal Reform White Paper

19 October 2005 in Legal reform

The DCA has published a white paper The Future of Legal Services: Putting the Consumer First, setting out proposals for the regulatory reform of legal services in England and Wales:

  • The Legal Services Board will provide consistent and independent oversight of “front-line” professional bodies such as the Law Society and Bar Council and promote public and consumer interests.
  • The Office for Legal Complaints will be a new, single, independent complaints body subject to oversight by the Legal Services Board.
  • Solicitors and barristers will be able to work together in law practices on an equal footing. Non-lawyers will be allowed to work as managers of legal practices, and also to participate in such practices as owners and investors.

Home Information Pack Progress

19 October 2005 in Home Information Packs | 1 comment

Progress is a new industry update on Home Information Packs (HIPs) produced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, for organisations and individuals across the property industry who are involved in the implementation of the Home Information Pack Programme.

The ODPM’s HIP pages provide an overview of the HIP, information on Home Inspectors and Home Condition Reports and the full range of research, consultations and other reports published on HIPs.

Other independent sources of information on HIPs are:

  • The Property Section HIP Portal which aims to be a hub for practitioners wanting to find up-to-date information about HIPs
  • The Home Information Pack Action Group whose main purpose is to obtain, for high street solicitors and independent estate agents, a high degree of control over the domestic conveyancing market and thereby help secure their futures.

Lawyers at No. 4 in the blogosphere

11 October 2005 in Blogging

An interesting piece in the New York Times reports:

“A survey conducted by Blogads.com, which administers online advertising on blog sites, and completed voluntarily by 30,000 blog visitors last spring, found that 5.1 percent of the people reading the blogs were lawyers or judges, putting that group fourth behind computer professionals, students and retirees. The survey also found that of the 6,232 people who said they also kept their own blogs, 6.1 percent said they were in the legal profession, putting lawyers fourth again, behind the 17.5 percent who said they were in the field of education, 15.1 percent in computer software and 6.4 percent in media.”

Henry Copeland, founder of Blogads, conceded that the survey was “hardly scientific” but undermined the popular image of the blogosphere as dominated by geeks.

It has to be said that these results do not reflect the position in the UK where lawyers seem reluctant to embrace the new medium.

Charity Commission online services

5 October 2005 in Government

The Charity Commission site has a new, improved design. It has also just launched its Online Services which enable charities with annual incomes of £250,000 or more to:

  • complete and send Annual Returns
  • view and make changes to contact details
  • make changes to the way the charity is categorised
  • send general correspondence about the charity

and to follow:

  • complete an application to register as a charity
  • download and use model governing documents