Lords Committee on Government Communications

Teresa Perchard and Fiona Munroe from the Citizens Advice Bureau gave evidence at the Lords Committee on Government Communications today.

Interesting comments on the difficulty of finding good information about new government entitlements and obligations and also that the channel shift to online can be disempowering for some. The digitally excluded may find it hard to get the information or need to rely on others to get it, whereas they could be independent with a printed leaflet. Also if you’re needing to negotiate with your employer or council, something printed off the internet looks less official than a printed leaflet.

At minute 30 on the video, Fiona Munroe talks about Directgov, saying she was impressed with its presentation, accessible language and useful links.

I was delighted to hear she found Directgov’s search quite easy to use, saying it offered quite meaningful lists with headings and descriptions, unlike many government websites.

She also pointed out some perceived shortcomings – that some information was fragmented, still reflecting fragmented systems in government and a lack of detail where there were differences between England and the Devolved Assemblies.