Whilst the DETR has its own e-business ambitions, if the facilities are not available for the wider community to take advantage of this alternative form of service delivery, the accusations of a digital divide will remain. 4.1 Access in the Community To aid this access issue and to close the divide identified in the ONS figures above. The UK Treasury announced that as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2000 that 1 billion UK pounds sterling would be committed to driving forward plans to get services online. This included some innovative ideas such as the creation of 6000 UK Online Centres by 2002. By providing low or no cost Internet access located in convenient local places and opened at a time when users want to access them, the Government has taken another step forward to providing access to the Internet for those that want it.
Access is the key to success for closing the digital divide .
Pathfinder authorities are those councils who qualify for grants to develop electronic service delivery projects. The first 25 million of the 350 million available was announced in March 2001. The Local Government Minister, Beverly Hughes, announced 25 new projects involving 105 local authorities to work in partnership with other public service agencies, local communities and the private sector. Through this funding the department is able to help local authorities explore different ways of delivering services electronically. The selection criteria has meant that the social inclusion agenda has been considered, resulting in innovative projects ranging from the promise of access to services in rural areas to piloting digital television to report faulty street lighting and pot holes.