Many DfES websites on the Government closure list

Over 100 Department for Education and Skills run/funded web sites are amongst the 551 sites closed or due to close under a far-reaching rationalisation of the UK Government's web site presence described in the Government's Transformational Government - Enabled by Technology - Annual Report 2006 [3.6 MB PDF]. One of these is reported to be the Further Education Resources for Learning web site, but my assumption - some readers of Fortnightly Mailing will know if this assumption is correct - is that its contents will be moved somewhere else. Also on the list are:

• National Grid for Learning, which closed in April 2006;
• Help is at Hand;
• ACLearn.net.

A key excerpt from the report is below. From the full list of sites earmarked for closure [795 kB PDF], it is pretty obvious that rationalisation is warranted, especially if the process of redirecting, re-using valuable content, and archiving some of it as cultural assets, is properly managed. However one could imagine that a cruder process of simple closure may actually be the approach taken.

"Website rationalisation

The Government’s objective is to have strong, strategically effective communications and service delivery via the internet, designed around the needs and lifestyles of citizens.

Ministers commissioned the main central government departments to review their websites and develop plans for their rationalisation and the migration of content to the Directgov22 website for citizens and the Business Link23 website for businesses. In the first phase of departmental reviews, 951 websites were considered across 16 central government departments. Decisions have already been taken to close 551 (58 per cent) of these websites; 90 sites have already closed. Decisions have also been taken to continue with 26 websites – although some of their current content will move to Directgov and Business Link – and decisions on the remaining 374 sites will be taken in the next six months. Further discussions will take place over the next few months in order to produce detailed implementation plans, confirm the role of departmental corporate sites, extend the review to executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, and encourage further collaboration between departments. This will be completed by June 2007."

Comments

[Kevin Donovan]

Many of the web sites with which the sector is familiar will be subsumed behind the (QIA) Quality Improvement Agency's "excellence gateway" - see http://excellence.qia.org.uk/.