Government 'should learn from Obama's recovery website'

The Government should take notes from Obama's recovery plan website, the CBI has said.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) praised the value of the US Government's new economic recovery website, www.recovery.gov which aims to explain new initiatives and their effects.

The site charts how recovery money is being distributed, maps the number of jobs legislation is expected to create in each state, and a presents a timeline of activity.

Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, said that there has been "little sense of a coherent strategy" with the UK recovery plan, adding that the US website "offers an excellent template".

"The prime minister should ask Alistair Darling and Lord Mandelson to click on to www.recovery.gov, and to produce something similar for the UK in the very near future," Lambert said.

"Properly communicated, a similar website for the UK will give the public and businesses a much clearer idea of what is actually being done to get the economy going. It will impose real discipline on policymakers to deliver on time.

"And by offering a clearer sense of when and what help might be on the way, it will be an important step towards restoring the confidence that, more than anything else... is needed in our country right now."