Govt to scrap hundreds of ‘unnecessary’ websites

The UK Government’s 820 websites are to be subject to a review for cost and usage, as minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude pledged to scrap hundreds of sites in a bid to save millions of pounds.

News of the impending review and cull comes nearly four years after the previous Labour government committed to close over 420 of the then 794 government websites. According to Maude only two dozen sites has since been reported as closed, while the overall figure of government websites rose to 820.

The minister also revealed no new websites will be permitted except for those that pass a series of exceptions, and are subsequently cleared by the Efficiency board, co-chaired by Maude and the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. The review is expected to end by September’s Spending Review, though up to 75% of existing UK Government websites may be axed – with the remaining sites expected to cut costs by up to half.

A report published today by the Central Office for Information (COI) found that across government £94 million has been spent on the construction and set up and running costs of just 46 websites and £32 million on staff costs for those sites in 2009-10. The report found the uktradeinvest.gov.uk and businesslink.gov are the most expensive websites, costing £11.78 and £2.15 per visit.

“This Government is completely committed to getting the government web back under control,” announced Maude. “The days of “vanity” sites are over.  It is not good enough to have websites which do not deliver the high quality services which people expect and deserve. That is why we will take tough action to get rid of those which are not up to the job and do not offer good value for money and introduce strict guidelines for those that remain.”

Maude revealed going forward he would work with Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox on how the government, “further transform government websites as part of our drive to put key public services online and to increase the number of people who are able to use the Internet.  She will also look at sharing resources and facilities and using low-cost open source products to reduce running costs.”