Government gateway gets March kick-off

The government said its delayed secure transactions gateway will now be integrated into its UK online web portal from mid-March.

Available via the UK online portal and appropriate departmental websites, the first services will cover VAT returns from HM Customs & Excise, agricultural aid applications from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and PAYE year-end tax returns from the Inland Revenue.

The Cabinet Office's e-government team said the Government Gateway provides a single route to many legacy systems across departments, and claimed it as the first global service offering full digital signing of XML, the certificates of which are used to authenticate transactions.

The team has been under pressure to introduce the system quickly since talks with the original contractor Compaq collapsed last October. Further upgrades to support additional transactions and services are promised later in the year.

Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney said yesterday that more than 40 per cent of services were now available online, and the introduction of secure transactions showed "real progress" was being made to modernise public services.

Registration for Customs & Exercise and MAFF services began last month and users will also be available to register with the Inland Revenue website later this month. Once registered, a user should be able to use the same ID to access services from different departments through the Government Gateway.

Contractors for the project include Microsoft, Dell, Cable & Wireless and IT services firm Sema, amongst others, with Sema providing support services in a one-year contract valued at £10m by the Anglo-French firm.