http://www.ukauthority.com The news and information service for local government en-gb Copyright: (C) UKauthorITy.com 2010, http://www.ukauthority.com 20 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2741 The development of a freely available national address register is "long overdue", the government's official advisers on public sector information said this week. In its response to the consultation on the future of Ordnance Survey (OS) the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information says, "It is a national scandal that we do not have a definitive single National Address Register when most of the components have long resided in the public sector." Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:14 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2741 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2740 Child safety is being put at risk as too much time is spent recording identical information, claims the LGA. It maintains that all staff involved in child protection should record information in the same way, using the Common Assessment Framework. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:42 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2740 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2739 More than three quarters of electors - 77% - would vote on the internet if they could, finds new research. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:09 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2739 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2738 Critics of the London bias of the national media will have plenty of ammunition with the headlines being given to the NHS summary care record this week. The British Medical Association's grumbles about the way in which the record is being deployed featured prominently in today's Radio 4 Today programme and lead the Daily Telegraph. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:41 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2738 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2736 The Audit Commission has published a discussion paper on how information on the web can empower the public. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:36 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2736 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2737 When it comes to dangerous dogs, anything a flagship Tory council in London can do is good enough for everybody else, it seems. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:49 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2737 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2735 The BMA has written to the government calling for a suspension of the programme to upload summaries of patients' medical records in England to a national database. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:36 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2735 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2734 A free software widget to allow people to search the web for information on public services in their area is to be launched today by the Directgov website. The Directgov team is taking the opportunity to use what may be the last big public showing for the highest profile IT-related programme of Gordon Brown's government, the digital inclusion drive. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:35 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2734 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2733 Local authorities will have to operate to a higher standard of transparency than other parts of government in the Conservatives' proposed "post-bureaucratic age", Tory leader, David Cameron, has revealed. Under a Cameron administration, government bodies as a whole would have to publish online every item of spending over £25,000 - however local councils would be "asked" to publish everything over £500. Mon, 8 Mar 2010 09:36 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2733 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2732 Claims that a big leap in the number of microchips in waste bins is proof of "spying" were dismissed as rubbish by the government. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 15:41 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2732 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2731 Rural local authorities are facing long term depopulation as the young quit the countryside because of poor telecommunications. Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:12 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2731 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2730 Shadow health minister, Stephen O'Brien, has challenged Labour to come clean about attempts to lock an incoming government into wasteful NHS IT contracts. Wed, 3 Mar 2010 10:43 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2730 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2729 Northamptonshire County Council is using web-technology to engage people in cost-cutting decision making. Wed, 3 Mar 2010 09:19 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2729 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2728 One of the biggest names in government IT outsourcing is contemplating returning to the local government scene under its new ownership. EDS, absorbed into HP following a $14bn merger two years ago, is on the lookout for opportunities in providing standard services to the sector, Craig Wilson, managing director, HP Enterprise, said last week. Tue, 2 Mar 2010 19:10 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2728 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2727 Older people and the less well-off are to be the target of a campaign to get 7.5 million new internet users online by 2014. Tue, 2 Mar 2010 14:35 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2727 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2726 The Home Office has promised that in the latest crackdown against crime the police and community support officers (PCSOs) will spend more time walking around communities rather than sitting in offices filling out forms. Tue, 2 Mar 2010 09:46 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2726 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2725 Five years on from the rush to make public services available online, the development of local authority websites has run out of steam. The latest instalment of an authoritative annual survey, the Better Connected report, shows "little evidence that councils have invested in their sites over the last 12 months" to enable self-service government. Tue, 2 Mar 2010 09:45 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2725 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2724 Jobcentre staff, tax workers, coastguards, border agency officials, courts staff and driving test examiners are set to go on strike next week. Mon, 1 Mar 2010 14:35 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2724 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2723 The government says that a BBC Survey forecasting at least 25,000 council jobs will be under threat in England in the next three to five years reinforces its push for councils, health, the police and the voluntary sector to share resources like IT, HR and finance rather than cut front line services. Mon, 1 Mar 2010 09:21 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2723 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2722 The government's push to transfer local and central government information online is finding favour with the UK's consumers but the Government Gateway is barely open. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:10 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2722 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2721 Computers keyboards are being pushed to one side as staff at the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission turn to pen and paper to complete claims that the IT system cannot cope with. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:24 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2721 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2720 Details have emerged of efforts by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to create a comprehensive database of addresses for use in the 2011 census. The aim is to build a list that is at least 99% complete from existing databases, update it continuously until census day in March 2011 - and then to discontinue the work. Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:17 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2720 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2719 There were five shouts of "Object" on a frenetic night of navel-gazing in the Commons - but MPs were silent on the question of e-petitions. For supporters of the idea, silence truly was golden, because it commits parliament to a trial scheme when it reconvenes after the looming general election. Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:27 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2719 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2718 Government plans to slap a 50p-a-month tax on all fixed line telephones to fund superfast broadband have been damned by a cross-party committee of MPs. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:04 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2718 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2717 The drive to free up official data on local services, announced as part of the launch of the government website data.gov.uk, has the potential to create benefits for citizens and businesses and improve efficiencies in the public sector, the Local Government Association and Socitm said today. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:26 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2717 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2716 The public sector has been the lifebuoy of the UK software and IT services industries for the past decade, with public sector IT contracts exceeding £10.9bn in 2009. But with cuts expected under both the existing Labour government or a potential Conservative one, the public sector IT boom is at an end. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:54 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2716 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2715 The government's troubled attempts to upgrade fire and rescue services for modern terror emergencies are about to be extinguished, it seems. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:37 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2715 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2714 Councils facing the challenge of an ageing population as public spending reduces should consider turning to technology to cut costs. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:27 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2714 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2713 Fujitsu has beaten Cap Gemini and HP Enterprise Systems to one of the largest single hardware contracts ever placed by the latest public sector. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:08 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2713 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2712 Supporters of plans to allow the public to e-petition parliament for change are biting their nails ahead of a key debate next week. The long-stalled idea - it is two years since Gordon Brown was first asked to give the go-ahead - will finally be settled next Monday (23rd). Or will it? Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:27 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2712 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2711 In the face of inevitable cost and job cuts across the public sector, Socitm is disappointed that the new Government ICT Strategy focuses on reducing technology costs - arguing that much higher savings are achievable through better ICT deployment. Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:07 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2711 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2710 Government departments have spent at least £10 million on website redesigns and upgrades over the last two and a half years - more than double the amount previously thought, according to new figures. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:41 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2710 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2709 As a topical hot-button tabloid news story, it had everything but a footballer's wife. National and regional papers alike splashed the news that Cambridge City council had earmarked nearly £30,000 to provide "lucky councillors" with their own Apple iPads devices. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:52 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2709 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2708 Public bodies and their IT contractors are nervously digesting Conservative leader David Cameron's pledge to publish in full all government contracts worth more than £25,000 should it win the election. The main speculation is whether Labour will try to match - or trump - the promise in its manifesto. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:45 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2708 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2707 People want online tools which allow them to participate and engage with politicians rather than having a passive, broadcast-only relationship with them, says the Hansard Society. The internet has made it easier for Britons online to take part in civic and political activities and half of them prefer to use the internet to take part in democratic life. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:24 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2707 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2706 Kent County Council's internet TV station, Kent TV, that has had more than £1.8m spent on it since its launch is to be closed next month. The council says the channel was always earmarked for closure in March. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:10 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2706 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2705 Microsoft has taken a significant step towards launching its HealthVault personal electronic health record system in the UK. The company has announced the first NHS customer for its Amalga data aggregation platform, a key component of HealthVault in the US. Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:21 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2705 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2703 Continued demand for technology to support administrative and tax and revenue collection and management functions could push government IT spend across western Europe to $68.6bn by 2013, says IDC. Mon, 8 Feb 2010 10:23 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2703 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2704 Sunderland has won £10m of training vouchers for its citizens in Microsoft's Britain Works Challenge. Barnsley and Milton Keynes came second and third in the competition to devise effective programmes to address unemployment and availability of digital skills in the local community. Mon, 8 Feb 2010 12:01 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2704 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2702 Two barriers stand in the way of new laws to make it easier for museums and libraries to unlock their treasures digitally, it appears - the House of Lords and the fast-approaching general election. Fri, 5 Feb 2010 10:42 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2702 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2701 Making better use of technology, including 'telecare' and 'telehealth', would make the health service smarter and save money. Wed, 3 Feb 2010 12:00 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2701 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2700 The election battle cry rings out, says Helen Olsen in her comment in the Jan/Feb issue of LGITU magazine. Tue, 2 Feb 2010 16:24 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2700 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2699 The January/February issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com. View an electronic e-book version, read individual features/sections in pdf or download the entire magazine as a pdf. Tue, 2 Feb 2010 16:28 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2699 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2698 Whitehall measures to reduce the toll of public sector IT disasters will apply to the 'wider public sector' from 2012, according to the final version of the 10-year government ICT strategy published this week. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:02 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2698 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2697 The government's 'make public data public' initiative was born in a lunch discussion between Gordon Brown and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world-wide web, according to an interview published today. Prospect magazine quotes Berners-Lee as saying that Brown asked him in spring 2009 what the UK should do to make the best use of the internet. "I said, you should put all your government data onto the web. And he said, okay then, let's do it." Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:24 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2697 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2696 Savings to the public purse of £3.2bn annually from 2013/14 are claimed through measures set out in the government's new ICT Strategy. Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:23 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2696 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2695 Eco-driving, videoconferencing and increased connectivity on public transport are some of the ways information technology could help make travel in the UK more environmentally friendly, finds new research. Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:14 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2695 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2694 A single source of UK geographic data will be on the web by April 2011, the custodians of Britain's geographic information policy have revealed. The first annual report of the UK Location Council, a body set up to implement the 2008 national location strategy, states that the Geoportal's initial facilities, such as a metadata service, will be provided 'by the end of Q4 2010'. Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:40 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2694 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2693 Local government IT is under unprecedented pressure to deliver more with less, and tougher times lie ahead. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:42 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2693 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2692 A major report on shared services shows one of the key ways that local authorities and other public bodies will be protecting their frontline services during and after the most severe economic recession of modern times. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:33 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2692 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2691 More than 2500 data sets from across government are, from today, free for reuse by the public from a one-stop data shop, data.gov.uk. Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:32 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2691 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2690 Logging on to a government website is the easy bit; using it is much harder. Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:02 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2690 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2652 The November/December issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com. View an electronic e-book version, read individual features/sections in pdf or download the entire magazine as a pdf. Thu, 3 Dec 2009 14:08 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2652 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2598 The September/October issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com - download the entire magazine or read individual features/sections of the publication. Thu, 8 Oct 2009 14:25 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2598 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2573 The July/August issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com - download the entire magazine or read individual features/sections of the publication. Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:39 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2573 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2456 The latest issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com - download the entire magazine or read individual features/sections of the publication. Mon, 6 Apr 2009 20:49 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2456 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2402 The latest issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com - download the entire magazine or read individual features/sections of the publication. Wed, 4 Feb 2009 10:49 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2402 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2357 The latest issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com - download the entire magazine or read individual features/sections of the publication. Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:11 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2357 http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2287 The latest issue of LGITU is now available on UKauthorITy.com - download the entire magazine or read individual features/sections of the publication. Wed, 8 Oct 2008 17:26 GMT http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsArticle/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=2287