Lane Fox talks up internet savings potential

Many of the 4m people who are not online are among those who use government services most heavily, said Lane Fox. Speaking via video link at the Socitm 2010 conference in Brighton on 12 October 2010, she told delegates: "If you were to move one – just one - of their interactions with government from face-to-face to online, the government could save upward of £1bn a year." She said that the cost to public funds of a single visit to NHS Choices was typically 46p, whereas a visit to a doctor's surgery was £136. On the delivery of high quality websites, she said that government did not have to invent new websites, but could copy the best of those already in use. Asked by one delegate for an update of her review of Directgov, Lane Fox said it would not be right to talk about it before she had reported to Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude. "I will be talking about this in more detail over the next few weeks," she said. Other delegates said they were concerned about the social impact of public sector job losses, particularly on women, caused by moving services online. "You are right…But is it not a question of whether [we move online] but how it is done," she said. Conference chair, the BBC news presenter Louisa Preston, asked about the main differences between working with the Labour government and the new coalition. The internet was "high up the agenda for both parties," said Lane Fox.