Website of the UK government

More and more local and national government services are now available on the internet, but if you’re amongst the one in three adults in the UK who isn’t yet online, you’re still calling your council for information and queuing up to complete forms.  Now there’s a new facility which can help you get to grips with online public services, with a little bit of support from your local UK online centre. 

UK online centres across the country help hundreds of people get online every day with myguide – the easy way to use the internet.  The new myguide short course – ‘Using public services online’ – includes a basic introduction to a typical council website and to Directgov, the one stop shop for central government services.

Using public services online

Managing Director of UK online centres, Helen Milner, explains:  “It may seem a bit odd asking people without computer skills to get onto a computer to learn about online public services, but actually it makes perfect sense.  The best way to learn about something is to see it and try it for yourself, and myguide makes that really easy.  Everything is simply laid out and easy to understand – it doesn’t matter if you’ve never even touched a computer before because with myguide you can start from the beginning – set up an email account, search for information and even learn how to use a keyboard and mouse.  In fact nearly 100,000 people have already registered to make it their gateway to the world wide web. 

“If you know a bit about the internet you can try myguide and all its courses for yourself - with maybe a bit of help from an internet savvy friend or relative.  But if you’re a bit more nervous, you can go into your nearest UK online centre and get as much help as you need to get going.”

The guide is for all ages. One new online government services fan is 60 year old Frank.  He says:  “When I first thought about checking-up on my pension, I couldn’t find all the information I wanted, or any help in understanding all that jargon.  Then I was introduced to Directgov at a UK online centre.  It was brilliant!  Everything I was looking for was right there - and the information I found is already making a difference.  It was really good to have the centre staff around to ask if I couldn’t find or didn’t understand something, and they couldn’t have been more helpful.  Without being pointed in the right direction, I wouldn’t even have known the website existed, and I might never have found out I was entitled to more than I was getting.  Money isn’t everything, but there’s no point in pretending it doesn’t make life easier!  I’ve been really pleased with the advice I got from the pensions bit, and now I’m a real convert to e-government.”

Further information

To follow in Frank’s footsteps, log onto myguide to find the new online public services course, or find your nearest UK online centre by calling 0800 77 1234.

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