Earlier on this month we learnt that the government is to review official websites. Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude promised a review which he says could see up to 75% of government websites shut down. Now, thanks to a question asked in parliament by Tom Watson MP, we can see exactly which websites will stay and which will go in DEFRA, the department most concerned with the environment. The results are interesting reading, and maybe shed some light on the new government's priorities.

The full list of those that will stay and those that will go can be found on theyworkforyou.com, and is worth perusing. But here are some highlights.

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Perhaps the highest-profile casualty is http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/ which, like other websites on the hitlist, is destined for closure by April 2011. A lively, regularly-updated site, this is the central and official portal for all things to do with Britain's national parks. Interestingly it covers the whole of Britain and has not been devolved - maybe this counted against it. However it does have a whole load of good, regularly-updated content - this must cost quite a bit to keep going.

By contrast, there are quite a few websites on this list that really wouldn't cost anything more than pin-money to keep going. When a project is finished, it's sometimes useful to keep its archive or results online. Admittedly there will be a hosting cost but this is trivial. Examples of sites which are not, or need not be, regularly updated but which still have value include http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk and http://intertidalmanagement.co.uk.

Perhaps most alarming are a couple of websites that really, one struggles to imagine not existing. Unless the minister is disingenuously naming websites that will just be renamed and moved elsewhere, is it really the government's intention to close down the Rural Payments Agency website? Or put a stop to the long tradition of distributing knowledge via Forest Research? Assuming both these agencies continue working, they're going to need websites. Assuming.

Still, it's not all bad news. No sir! The government is protecting front-line services, whatever they are. So we will not be losing such vital websites as http://www.lovechips.co.uk http://www.beefyandlamby.co.uk and http://www.potatoesforcaterers.co.uk. Nice.

Edit: see follow-up post HERE.