Civil servants shun e-government

Despite moves by the public sector to offer e-citizen services, civil servants are still reluctant to conduct government transactions online, according to research released yesterday.

A study from industry vendor LogicaCMG found that nine out of 10 public sector employees use online services for information gathering such as research, and sourcing addresses and contact numbers.

But only 14 per cent are actually prepared to make e-transactions such as bill payments or claims for child support.

The survey of public sector employees showed that online services are most commonly used for sourcing contact details (67 per cent), conducting research on government departments (51 per cent) and filling in forms such as tax returns (37 per cent).

One in 10 respondents felt that it was appropriate to make complaints online, but only seven per cent indicated that they would be happy giving credit card details or making financial transactions online.

In contrast, 97 per cent of public sector employees stated that they already use commercial sector online services for transactions such as banking or purchasing.

This highlights a higher level of trust with sensitive information towards private sector organisations.

"The results show that the divide between the take-up of private and public sector online services is narrowing, but the government still has some way to go," said Sara Nicholls, sales and marketing director for the public sector at LogicaCMG.

"Increasing confidence in government online services will be key in increasing the take-up of core e-citizen services, both transaction based, such as paying council tax, and non-transaction based, such as filling in tax forms."