councils in news
RSS councils in news£68m 'snooping' database: Little impact on serious crime
News The legislation would mean that hundreds of public bodies licensed under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - including local councils, health authorities and government agencies - will have access to the communication information. [13 Aug 2008]
£400m outsourcing deal faces employment tribunal
News Two local councils and IBM face legal action over claims a £400m outsourcing joint venture broke rules on the transfer of public sector staff. The dispute revolves around the transfer of 1,500 local government jobs in Somerset - including more than... [06 Aug 2008]
Local authorities lack transformation skills
News However 60 per cent of councils said spending on management skills training in terms of change management and process management was a high priority in the next 12 months, indicating a gap in that vital skill set. [30 Jul 2008]
UK officials going snoop crazy
News Police and security services made the majority of the requests for billing information and other details but 1,707 of them came from local councils. Officials made more than 500,000 requests to snoop on private phone and internet information in the... [23 Jul 2008]
'Chip and Bin' dumped by council
News Councils wishing to participate will propose schemes and methods that they have devised, not us. The UK's first project to measure the amount of rubbish thrown away using microchipped bins has been dumped. [17 Jun 2008]
Lie detectors to hunt out benefit cheats
News The Voice Risk Analyser (VRA) system will be piloted by another 15 councils following its success in seven areas of the country. In Harrow, one of the first councils to trial the technology from May last year, it has already helped the council save... [07 May 2008]
Shell accused of keeping staff in dark over job losses
News The relevant staff councils have been fully involved and have said they are fully satisfied with the process. Shell has been accused of keeping IT staff in the dark over their future following the oil giant's £4bn outsourcing deals. [03 Apr 2008]
Local gov't adopts web-savvy interaction
News Web services are becoming an increasingly important way for citizens to interact with local government and councils are responding with improved websites. Four councils achieved an 'excellent' rating for their websites compared to just one last... [04 Mar 2008]
Skin-detecting CCTV keeps an eye on motorists
News He said many UK councils have shown interest in using dtech to police vehicle occupancy, adding it is already in use "all over the world".dtech has additional applications beyond policing congestion, according to Tyrer, who said as well as car... [26 Feb 2008]
Computer says 'No' - lie detectors trap benefit cheats
News The Capita VRA system is being trialled by 12 UK councils and works by detecting stress patterns - such as hesitation or changing of answers - in the voice of callers to indicate whether they might be lying. [18 Feb 2008]
Sussex Council outsources desktop role
News The council will also work with Serco to offer a shared service to other councils, agencies and partners across the region. West Sussex County Council (WSCC) has signed a £14m desktop contract with services company Serco. [13 Feb 2008]
Does superfast broadband Britain stink of sewage?
News The UK has 360,000 miles of sewers, according to H2O Networks, which is in discussions with various councils to hook up cities across the country with sewer-laid fibre. The three contenders for the first Fibrecity claim are in the running because... [23 Jan 2008]
UK's fastest supercomputer unveiled
News The procurement was managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on behalf of UK Research Councils with some of the money coming from the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills. [15 Jan 2008]
Local gov't tech spend to hit £3bn
News According to the Society of IT Management's (Socitm) annual IT Trends survey, spending on local government IT will rise again as councils invest in efficiency programmes and securing the information held on their computers. [03 Jan 2008]
Chip and bin to combat climate change?
News At present, local authorities are banned from doing any charging on waste, she said - so the aim of the bill is to give councils in England the power to pilot schemes if they want to. Councils would have to meet certain criteria before being able... [31 Oct 2007]
