A GROUP of North Yorkshire councils is to benefit from a Government initiative to improve access to services.

The partnership of nine local authorities in the county is one of only 24 across the UK to gain Pathfinder status, which brings support of £100,000 a year.

Members of North Yorkshire Access to Services are looking to achieve effective "E-Government" by 2005.

The scheme aims to ensure all council customers can access services quickly and effectively, 24 hours a day.

Hambleton District Council's cabinet spokesman on information technology, John Morley, said: "As one of only a handful of partnerships to receive this backing, we see it as a tremendous vote of support. It will make it much simpler for us to get the help we need to deliver better services across the district for all our residents.