Bids invited for projects to better inform citizens
The Timely Information to Citizens project team at CLG is inviting local authorities in England to submit funding proposals for innovative pilot projects to provide better local information to citizens.
This project has been set up to deliver on the government commitment in Chapter 3 of the recent White Paper: Communities in control: real people, real power, to improve citizens’ access to information on local services and performance, in order to empower them to hold local service providers to account.
See the esd-toolkit’s new Informing Citizens forum for further details of the invitation for funding proposals and to discuss the work of the Timely Information to Citizens project team.
Also keep a look out also for good practice in the esd-toolkit Informing Citizens community pages.
Posted by support@esd.org.uk on 23/12/2008
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Book your place for the first round of free Toolkit User Meetings for 2009
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The agenda for the next esd-toolkit series of FREE regional events running between January and March 2009 has been developed to provide delegates with a wide variety of practical and workable support tools which will help LA officers and their partner colleagues play an active role in contributing to the achievement of the objectives in the national, regional agendas and meet the wide range of local priorities to meet the needs of our customers efficiently and effectively.
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NI14 - Latest guidance from Cabinet Office
Alternatively the document can be downloaded from the File Exchange as a pdf file by clicking here:
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In an e-mail to esd-toolkit, Bob has added clarity to the actual reporting date for NI14 . Councils can choose any date during April 2009 (therefore, in effect, making 30th April as the final date)
During January, esd-toolkit will be beta testing the software which is designed to support councils with their NI14 data handling and analysis, leading to service improvements as well as supporting CAA.
Posted by tony.hinkley@esd.org.uk on 18/12/2008
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DCSF project launches vocabularies for consultation
 A draft vocabulary has been released by the Information System for Parents and Providers (ISPP), which is seeking local authority feedback. The vocabulary is designed to support web site navigation and information tagging by subject to improve searches for information by parents and prospective parents about services and facilities which may be of benefit to parent, prospective parents, children or young people.
The draft vocabulary can be accessed via a new ISPP page on the esd-standards website. There you will also find an interactive viewer allowing you to browse through the vocabulary.
The ISPP project has also released a document describing Draft Complementary Controlled Lists for consultation. This proposes use of existing esd-standards vocabularies, with revision if required, where suitable.
Posted by support@esd.org.uk on 15/12/2008
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Public sector portfolio event London - 22-Jan-09
With the December publication of the new OGC Guidance on Portfolio Management, Ten Alps Events proudly announces our inaugural Public Sector Portfolio Management 2009 Conference and Exhibition to be held at the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) at Savoy Place, London, on January 22nd for a select audience of 150 corporate-level delegates, to which I would like to invite you and/or members of your team.
Posted by tim.adams@idea.gov.uk on 11/12/2008
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The Big Picture Showcase - after the event now read it at your leisure
A successful esd-toolkit showcase TLC event took place for the southern English regions in London on 26-Nov-2008 attended by over 100 members of the esd-toolkit community.
We are preparing some notes from the meeting but these will take a few days to complete. In the meantime, we are pleased to advise you that all the presentations used during the day are now available for download from the esd-toolkit File Exchange. |
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Posted by tim.adams@idea.gov.uk on 27/11/2008
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New Data Handling Guidlines available for download
Recent losses of personal information require that all public bodies act to bolster public trust and confidence in the way personal information is handled and kept safe.
The LGA, working closely with the Society of Information Technology Management (Socitm) and with central and local government, has prepared guidelines highlighting recognised best practice in secure data handling, providing local authorities with a key checklist of actions, and setting the standard for local government going forward. |
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Posted by niall.smith@idea.gov.uk on 20/11/2008
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NI14 update – Audit Commission endorses data collection at service level
| Tom Wraith of the Audit Commission announced at the Cabinet Office conference, Tower 08.5 on 3rd November, that, during CAA, Audit Commission’s discussion with local authorities will be about NI14 data collection at individual service level, and how these data are being used to improve services where LAs have taken this approach within their priorities. When asked if esd-toolkit’s advice on data collection at LGSL level had Audit Commission’s endorsement he replied, “Yes.” |
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Posted by tony.hinkley@esd.org.uk on 07/11/2008
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Key Information Working Group - controlled lists and business model
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The second meeting of the 2008-2009 esd-toolkit initiatives to support Key Information took place on Thursday 30th October 2008.
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The meeting addressed controlled lists and how they provide a common language across local government in order to understand council services. It discussed how to develop lists into a business model in order to enable senior management to make optimum use of limited resources.
It considered existing work by the esd-toolkit, CLG and CTO council, and developed a potential straw model for the business model.
Please click the link below to read the full summary of events along with links (for subscribing users) to downloads, papers, presentations and next steps.
Posted by ciara.ogrady@idea.gov.uk on 06/11/2008
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Performance Management Working Group - NI tree, benchmarking and the Data Interchange Hub
| The second meeting of the 2008-2009 esd-toolkit initiatives to support Performance Management took place on Thursday 23rd October 2008. |
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The session included around 25 user representatives who gathered in Birmingham to discuss National Indicators including a demonstration of the esd-toolkit’s Indicator tree with all 198 indicators, how this is mapped to services and its new features. Contextualised benchmarking, demographic neighbours and the Data Interchange Hub were also key discussions on the day.
Please click the link below to read the full summary of events along with links (for subscribing users) to downloads, papers, presentations and next steps.
Posted by ciara.ogrady@idea.gov.uk on 28/10/2008
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Business Improvement Working Group - shaping services to meet customer needs
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The second meeting of the 2008-2009 esd-toolkit initiatives to support Business Improvement took place on Thursday 16th October 2008.
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The session included around 25 user representatives who gathered in Salford, Manchester to discuss how local authorities are getting on with business improvements, if they have considered SPRINT as a change management methodology and if they know of contacts which are likely to be avoidable.
The emphasis on the day was on sharing ideas, practical sessions and discussions including the benefits of calculating activity costs and finding new ways of working that puts the customer at the centre to become more effective and efficient. The group considered different techniques used by councils to build a local business model to provide management information for shaping services to meet customer needs.
Please click the link below to read the full summary of events along with links (for subscribing users) to downloads, papers, presentations and next steps.
Posted by ciara.ogrady@idea.gov.uk on 27/10/2008
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Citizen Insight Working Group - beginning to mainstream Citizen insight
| The second meeting of the 2008-2009 esd-toolkit initiatives to support the Citizen Insight agenda took place on Thursday 9 October 2008 by a gathering of the esd-toolkit Citizen Insight Working Group in Preston, Lancashire. The session assembled some 25 user representatives to review, challenge and direct esd-toolkit activities this year supporting local government in the post CSR-07 area of improvement challenge of "understanding and involving the citizen in service design and delivery". Work areas considered the following: mainstreaming citizen insight techniques within a council, definitions and strategies, the role of NI-14 (reducing avoidable contact), demographic profiles and modelling in service design and take up, customer satisfaction - interpretation and actions, the role of corporate data systems. |
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Click the link below to read the full summary of events along with links (for subscribing users) to downloads, papers, presentations and next steps.
Posted by tim.adams@idea.gov.uk on 22/10/2008
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Case Studies and benefits arising from 5 years of eGovernment
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As part of esd-toolkit programme planning for 2008-2011, we undertook research and investigations to assemble evidence of the tangible benefits that have been derived for councils and the citizen experience in improved service delivery arising from eGovernment investments. This resulted in a most interesting a useful report of case studies and contact data. The report is available on the esd-toolkit File Exchange and can be accessed by subscribing authorities by clicking here to download the report. |
Posted by tim.adams@idea.gov.uk on 16/07/2008
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