LocalGovDigital expects early adopters to take up standard for local digital service by September 2016
A network of regional peer groups for officers in nearby councils will be set up to encourage the take-up of the Local Government Digital Service Standard, the group leading on the project has said.
LocalGovDigital said the groups will offer help and advice for council staff in adopting the standard, a draft version of which has been subject to consultation.
The move would be a step in promoting the use of the standard, which will not be mandatory but provide guidance for councils in designing digital services.
Phil Rumens, vice chair of LocalGovDigital, said the consultation is now complete and that the group expects to publish a revised version of the draft at the beginning of April.
It hopes that a core group of local authorities will have adopted the standard by September, and that it plans to hold a summit for the early adopters in the autumn.
The standard has been developed by the digital practitioners network with support from the Government Digital Service, and is based on the Digital by Default Service Standard for central government. This was designed to ensure that any transactional service that appears on GOV.UK meets the relevant criteria.
