Internet pioneer Martha Lane Fox has praised Westminster's council's work to give more residents easy access to the web. She has recently published a report calling for radical improvement in the government's current internet services.
Commenting on Westminster Council's work, she said: “A lot of what I am trying to crack in getting more people to use the internet is happening at local government level, so finding examples of local government that are doing effective and interesting things like Westminster Council is fantastic. I am a believer in celebrating things that are going well so let’s make Westminster a beacon for other councils to follow.”
To get more residents online Westminster has 290 computers available in libraries, complete with Office software and internet access. These computers are free to use and the council also runs regular sessions to help new computer users learn the basics. Around 300 of the council's old computers were also distributed to voluntary organisations and residents last year as part of the "Community Computers" scheme.
Cllr Melvyn Caplan, Westminster Council’s cabinet member for finance and also the authority’s digital champion, said: “As a billion pound organisation providing more than 300 services in the heart of London it’s crucial that we have modern effective web services which provide easy to access and up to date information that enable people to do business with us online. We very much welcome the government’s objective of getting more people online as it is our aim to give every one of our residents access to the web by the end of 2012. Our residents tell us they want us to make it easier for them when we they want to contact the council and our website is one of the key ways in which we can achieve this.”
