Merseyside pools asset data

Asset management system will unite disparate property data

Public-private partnership Liverpool Direct is developing an asset management system to give the city council a single view of its property and land.

The project will consolidate data from 10 sources – some electronic and some paper – to give a complete picture of the local authority’s assets. It is due to go live in September

The application, which will replace a number of systems, will give a clearer view of the council’s 25,000 properties and allow it to manage them more effectively, says Liverpool Direct chief executive David McElhinney.

‘The new system will improve the use of resources, maximise revenues and help with strategic planning,’ he said.

‘It will also ensure that ownership of property is never in dispute and that property or land does not get lost if it is not used.

‘By providing a full audit, the system will allow the council to gain maximum potential from its assets,’ he said.

Development of the system is expected to take six months, says McElhinney. It is being built using a web-based system from supplier Tribal that will capture information about topics including freeholds, planning, contamination issues and occupancy.

‘It is an information management system for land and property and will drive out higher-quality data so that more informed and timely decisions can be made,’ said McElhinney.

Local authorities’ asset management is often haphazard and wasteful, says Tony Lock, programme director at analyst group Freeform Dynamics.

‘The problems incurred by not doing asset management well are staggering,’ said Lock.

‘The cost is considerable and the potential for things to fall through the gaps is high because the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.’

Problems often arise because multiple departments are made responsible for different assets and there is no single point of responsibility.

‘Asset management should be a coherent whole. It is often split up in local authorities because of internal politics, but getting it right can save money and add value,’ said Lock.