Public Sector Roundup: New leader, same old software

Merron new head of Transformational Government

The Cabinet Office has said the new head of the Transformational Government agenda will be Gillian Merron, MP for Lincoln. She'll be charged with ensuring technology improves public services.

Socitm: Six suppliers dominate local authority software

The Society of IT Management (Socitm) released a study showing that just a few firms dominate the local authority software market - Anite, Northgate Information Systems, ESRI, Capita, Civica and Mapinfo. Socitm said that the trend will continue as the market matures.

The survey also discovered that in-house software development is limited to maintenance of older systems or found in areas with less well-developed applications, such as committee administration or waste management.

West Yorkshire Police expand video use

The West Yorkshire Police said it had expanded its use of video. A new computer system will allow officers to view video, images and audio from desks and custody cells, meaning an inspector could check on a cell area without leaving the office.

The force's IT radio manager Roy Stokes said: "This should make a significant difference to how officers work and provide a higher degree of security for both custody and help desk staff."

The force also expanded video services to their press office, combining text releases with video clips, allowing the public and journalists to access office interview footage on the website.

Website communications manager Patrick Brooke said: "This latest move will give the public a more animated perspective of what the police do, allow radio stations to retrieve audio from interviews and provide televisions stations with an immediate access to footage on current issues."

Durham maps council travel

Durham County Council announced it is using digital data from the Ordnance Survey to help it better deploy services such as mobile libraries and study how traffic affects council sites. Because transport takes up a large part of the council's budget, the data will also be used to find better routes for staff to limit fuel use.

Brian Dougherty of the council's corporate geographic image system unit said: "This has the potential to deliver substantial cost savings to the council, as well as reducing the environmental impact of vehicle emissions."

Blackpool saves £2 million on shared services

And Blackpool Council has said it expects annual savings of £2 million from adopting a shared services approach and using Lagan for customer relationship management and case management tools.

With 400 different phone numbers across the council to access services, something needed to be done. Blackpool integrated its information management services, allowing for data sharing between departments, creating a streamlined, more accurate service which they called "Customer First".

Elaine Midgeley, assistant Customer First manager said: "Putting all the customer facing benefits operations under one umbrella has streamlined processes and ensures that each citizen can be assessed just once, rather than multiple times."

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