For those interested in the move of Directgov, and its 172 FTE staff, back to Cabinet Office control, there's loads more detail in an explanatory document published on the Parliament website. I say 'published': it's been slipped out as a PDF on the little-known deposits.parliament.uk subsite.
The note confirms that 'Directgov funding will be reduced by a third over the Spending Review period', from £28.4m in 2010/11, 'together with the funding for the digital teams based in the Cabinet Office.'
But alongside the nuts-and-bolts details of who pays for the laptops, there's an interesting perspective on what Directgov's actual role is:
Directgov‟s ongoing role is to enable government to:
- Reduce the deficit
- Encourage individual and social responsibility, through provision and sharing of information and services in an open and transparent way
- Enhance the role of social enterprises, charities and co-operatives in public services