Councils share £560k of funding for big data and digital schemes

The funding will go towards IT projects that can be reused by other councils in the future, says Local Government Association

Thirty-four councils are to share £560,000 of funding for digital, data and technology schemes that could benefit all local authorities in the future.

The funding is being provided by the Local Government Association (LGA), a cross-party organisation that calls itself the "national voice of local government".

The councils are using the money for a range of initiatives, the LGA said. For example, Bournemouth is spending its £25,000 grant on integrating data across the council, while Wigan is using the same amount to develop a single view of a child's record, and Northumberland is using the money to support the development of a cloud-based public health portal using real-time data.

Bexley Council is using its allocation to develop a data analytics system to link its employment and skills management information system with housing and troubled families' data to help early intervention in a bid to tackle financial exclusion, while Lewisham is putting its £25,000 towards an app for adult social care, and Blackpool is developing a social care financial assessment app.

Councillor David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's improvement and innovation board, said that the programme aimed to build on the good work already being done by councils in using digital tools and approaches to transform local public services.

"Local government has made huge progress in enabling residents to carry out transactions online. Councils now need to build on this good work and fully utilise digital technology to help deliver more efficient services to manage rising demand and expectations from their residents," he said.

"Councils have championed the use of new technology as it emerges and we have highlighted opportunities for central and local government to share digital platforms for common online transactions, such as payments, as part of joining up how we deliver citizen and business focused public services," he added.

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