his report summarises the e-government context in Edinburgh, based on interviews with staff from the city, and identifies factors that they feel shape their local e-government context and their involvement in the Smart Cities project. The local e-government environment varies tremendously across the North Sea Region of the EU, with municipal strategies being shaped by very different national, regional and local policy contexts and political and technological agendas. This is the fifth of a series of six reports summarising the local e-government environment in six municipalities from six different countries who are participating in the Smart Cities Interreg IVb project.
1. Understanding e-government
in Edinburgh
Summary & Context
The local e-government environment varies tremendously across the
North Sea Region of the EU, with municipal strategies being shaped by
very different national, regional and local policy contexts and political Project Context Map
and technological agendas. This series of reports summarises the local
e-government environment in six municipalities from six different countries
No.5
who are participating in the Smart Cities Interreg IVb project. The reports
allow project partners to review their local e-government context, and helps
us identify to common factors across project partners, along with areas of
difference between partners. This report summarises the e-government
context in Edinburgh, based on interviews with staff from the Council, and
identifies factors that they feel shape their local e-government context and
their involvement in the Smart Cities project.
As well as a narrative description of the context, this report contains two
diagrams:
• Main policy drivers
• Context diagram covering the projects that they feel are most relevant
to Smart Cities
• Details of the entities mentioned including links to source material, in
English where available.
The information in this document is derived from descriptions supplied by Key Facts:
directly by staff at the City of Edinburgh Council (referred to as Edinburgh or
CEC from now), supplemented by desk-based research. Edinburgh
Local Authority in devolved
The Project Context UK region of Scotland
Figure 1 illustrates the organisations that Edinburgh has identified as being Populations:
significant to the City’s involvement in the Smart Cities project, showing the
strategies and drivers Edinburgh City – 478 000
Scotland – 5 194 000
The main top level driver for Edinburgh’s participation in the project (along UK – 62 042 000
with all project partners) is INTERREG IVB North Sea, funded by the
European Union (EU).
The INTERREG initiative is designed to strengthen economic and social
cohesion throughout the European Union, by fostering the balanced
development of the continent through cross-border, transnational and
interregional cooperation. A principal aim of the Programme is to expand
the scope of territorial cooperation and focus on high quality projects in
innovation, the environment, accessibility, and sustainable and competitive
communities.
The 2007-2013 Programme connects regions from seven countries around
the North Sea, incorporating policy level planning and the long lasting
and tangible effects of projects. The North Sea Region Programme 2007-
2013 works with cutting edge policy areas in regional development through
transnational projects.
Smart Cities is one of the projects funded through the programme. The general
aim of the Smart Cities project is to create an innovation network between
governments and academic partners leading to excellence in the domain of
the development and take-up of e-services. Edinburgh’s involvement in the
project’s work is focussed on customer services (WP3), and wireless city
(WP4) workpackages.
2. Europe
European Union Regional Development INTERREG IVB
Best practice PORISM
sharing
UK
I&DEA ESD Toolkit
Scottish Building a Better Pathfinder
Government Scotland reports
Customer
first
Scotland
Local Government in
Scotland Act
COSLA
National
Infrastructure
Improvement
Service Citizen Scottish
Account Services List
Police, Fire, UoE Edinburgh Napier
NHS
Edinburgh
Partnership
Efficiency/Cost saving
Edinburgh
Best value
Excellence
Customer service SOA
City of
Edinburgh Council
Corporate Strategy Smart Cities
BT PLC
Fig 1:
Main policy drivers for City of EDinburgh
NB All items are linked to or supporting Smart Cities
3. National level – UK, Scotland
The nature of the relationship between Scotland and central UK government
is not a federal one: in many cases, the UK and Scottish government will be
running their own programmes in the same area; sometimes there is confusion
over whether ‘UK’ programmes do in fact also include Scotland, or are intended
only for England (or England and Wales). Reflecting this, descriptions of UK and
Scottish activities in Figure 1 are interleaved in this section. Moreover, in the case
of Smart Cities, there are no UK level departments or projects that are affecting
Edinburgh’s engagement with the project.
The Scottish Government is responsible for all local authorities, including
Edinburgh. The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 contained a package
of measures intended to support local determination and to deliver better,
more responsive, public services. The three core elements are interlinked,
Best Value, Community Planning and the Power to Advance Wellbeing. Best
Value is a central, enduring foundation for continuous improvement across the
public sector and places the emphasis on the customer, while having regard to
economy, efficiency, effectiveness, equal opportunities requirements and to the
achievement of sustainable development. Edinburgh’s shared services agenda
is now being progressed as part of the Alternative Business Models programme,
replacing the Pathfinder Reports.
The government allocates local authorities a budget for a three year settlement
period at each Spending Review to provide more certainty and stability for local
authorities as a result of knowing their individual revenue and capital allocations
for three years. When the current government came into office in 2007, ring
fencing of local government funding was ended and replaced by the creation of
a Single Outcome Agreement (SOA). SOAs underpin the funding provided to
local government over the period 2008-09 to 2010-2011. They are agreements
between the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and Community Planning
Partnerships (CPP)s which set out how each will work in the future towards
improving outcomes for the local people in a way that reflects local circumstances
and priorities, within the context of the Government’s 15 National Outcomes and
Purpose. All of the outcome agreements are uniquely shaped to reflect the needs
and circumstances of the areas they cover and designed to ensure local people
know exactly what their CPP is committed to provide on their behalf.
I&DeA, the Improvement & Development Agency is a subsidiary of the (English)
Local Government Association. It has been used as an inspiration and a
resource for the Scottish Improvement Service (IS), which was set up in 2005
help improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of local public services in
Scotland by providing advice, consultancy and programme support to councils
and their partners. Their purpose is to help councils and their partners to improve
the health, quality of life and opportunities of all people in Scotland through
community leadership, strong local governance and the delivery of high quality,
efficient local services. Stakeholders include the Scottish Government, COSLA
and the Scottish Local Authorities.
4. Porism is a Smart Cities partner. Maintained in conjunction with I&DeA, Porism’s
esd-toolkit publishes a list of some 600 customer facing services supplied by
councils. The list results from co-operation between the Life Events Access
Project (LEAP) and a number of councils, some of whom previously published
their own lists. The esd-toolkit is being implemented in Scotland as the Scottish
Services List, which has been used as the basis for the A-Z service listing within
the Web Services project.
The Improvement Service is coordinating a number of national projects, of which
the most relevant to Smart Cities is the National ICT Infrastructure project,
which will supports joined up/shared services across Scottish local government
as well as the wider public sector. It aims to deliver ‘first time’ public services by
re-designing them around customers’ needs, also making use of the Scottish
Services List (SSL).
Edinburgh
The City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has powers over most matters of local
administration such as housing, planning, local transport, parks, economic
development and regeneration.
The local CPP (qv) is the Edinburgh Partnership, which apart from CEC includes
representation from the health service (NHS), police and fire services, regional
transport and the local universities, including Edinburgh Napier University.
The Single Outcome Agreement agreed between the Council, the Edinburgh
Partnership and the Scottish Government in 2009 now provides the Council’s
corporate strategy, replacing the previous three-year corporate plan.
A private company, BT PLC, is responsible for delivery and support of most ICT
services to CEC. A ten-year ICT partnership agreement was signed in 2001,
focused on achieving the Council’s vision of being recognised as the UK leader in
delivering modern, joined up and interactive public services using new technology.
This shared vision is encapsulated in the Council’s Smart City ICT Strategy (no
relation). In early 2006 a five year contract extension was agreed.
Figure 2 shows how five divisions from three of the city’s six departments are
engaged with the Smart Cities project. From Corporate Services, eGovernment
and Corporate Communications are working on a revised website, driven by
a new content management system (CMS). eGovernment is also working with
Customer Services as part of the process change programme to implement
customer journey mapping for users of services provided by Revenues &
Benefits. Edinburgh Napier is working with CEC to create a case study for wider
dissemination though Smart Cities.
5. Edinburgh Napier
Programmes &
BT PLC Projects
Strategy
Unit CMS/New website
Smart City Vision
The Council Process change
Efficiency
& Cost Savings
eGovernment
Journey Mapping
Revenues and Achieving
Benefits excellence
Smart Cities
WP3
Customer
Corp Comms
Services
Wireless
Customer Services
Libraries
Libraries transformation Smart Cities
and info services People’s Network WP4
Fig 2:
Projects most relevant to Smart Cities for Edinburgh City
6. Source information
Table 1 Name: DWP
Details of significant entities
www.dwp.gov.uk/local-authority-staff/housing-benefit
Department of Work & Pensions: Funds Housing Benefits. CEC online service
for the Housing Benefits part of its benefits online service and took part in the
‘Tell Us Once’ project.
Name: IDEA
www.idea.gov.uk
Improvement & Development Agency: subsidiary of the Local Government
Association (LGA). It was formed in 1998 to work in partnership with all councils
in England and Wales, to serve people and places better, to enhance the
performance of the best authorities, accelerate the speed of improvement of
the rest, and develop the sector as a whole.
Name: Porism Ltd & esd-toolkit
www.porism.com
Porism Limited is a progressive software company located in Brixton, London,
developing bespoke database systems for Windows and the web.
Porism’s esd-toolkit (developed in conjunction with I&DeA) publishes a list of
some 600 customer facing services supplied by councils in England. It is now
being adapted to the Scottish.
Name: Scottish Government
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government
The Scottish Government is responsible for all local authorities. It allocates
local authorities budget for a three year settlement at each Spending Review to
provide more certainty and stability for local authorities as a result of knowing
their individual revenue and capital allocations for three years.
Name: Single Outcome Agreement
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government/SOA
www.improvementservice.org.uk/single-outcome-agreements/
Underpins the funding provided to local government over the period 2008-09
to 2010-2011. A central element of the new relationship was the ending of
ring fencing of local government funding and the creation of a Single Outcome
Agreement.
They are agreements between the Scottish Government and CPPs which
set out how each will work in the future towards improving outcomes for the
local people in a way that reflects local circumstances and priorities, within the
context of the Government’s 15 National Outcomes and Purpose.
7. Name: Building a Better Scotland
www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20318/47372
Agenda setting document - in 2004. Written under previous government, but
some work under this agenda continues.
Name: Local Government in Scotland Act and
Community Planning Partnerships
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/PublicServiceReform/
community-planning
The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 contained a package of measures
intended to support local determination and to deliver better, more responsive,
public services. The three core elements are interlinked, Best Value, Community
Planning and the Power to Advance Wellbeing.
Community Planning is intended to provide “trust within a framework”,
empowering and charging local Government, core partners and Scottish
Ministers to take ownership and drive forward improvement in local services.
CPPs are intended to impact on the complex long standing issues that face some
areas, for example poverty and health inequalities. Reporting on Community
Planning is to communities rather than to the Scottish Government.
Name: Best Value
www.improvementservice.org.uk
Set up in 2005 help improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of local
public services in Scotland by providing advice, consultancy and programme
support to councils and their partners. Their purpose is to help councils and
their partners to improve the health, quality of life and opportunities of all
people in Scotland through community leadership, strong local governance and
the delivery of high quality, efficient local services.
Name: Improvement Service
www.improvementservice.org.uk
Set up in 2005 help improve the efficiency, quality and accountability of local
public services in Scotland by providing advice, consultancy and programme
support to councils and their partners. Their purpose is to help councils and
their partners to improve the health, quality of life and opportunities of all people
in Scotland through community leadership, strong local governance and the
delivery of high quality, efficient local services.
8. Name: IS Shared Services
www.improvementservice.org.uk/shared-services
The Improvement Service works with the Local Government National Shared
Services Board, councils and other partners on developing shared services
strategy and delivering specific collaborative projects.
Nine current areas of work: Development strategy, Pension Pathfinder, Public
Information Notices portal, Customer first, Improving together, Diagnostic
pathway, Shared workforce planning, Revenues and benefits.
Name: National Infrastructure
www.improvementservice.org.uk/national-infrastructure/
The National ICT Infrastructure supports joined up/shared services across
Scottish local government as well as the wider public sector.
Name: Customer First
www.improvementservice.org.uk/customer-first/
It aims to deliver ‘first time’ public services by re-designing them around
customers’ needs.
The programme supports the principles of: easier to access, better integrated,
local services; effective collaboration across the public sector; better use of
public resources; high standards of public service; and willingness to innovate
and learn from others.
Name: CRM
www.improvementservice.org.uk/national-crm
National CRM: Customer Relationship support.
Name: Entitlement Cards
www.improvementservice.org.uk/national-entitlement-card
OneScotland Card Management System replaces the interim system that was
put in place to support the national concessionary fare scheme. As well as
supporting concessionary travel, the new system will allow commercial travel
ticketing and other applications, and will allow councils to add products and
services to cards that have already been issued.
9. Name: DNA-Scotland
www.improvementservice.org.uk/core-programmes/customer-first/
dna-scotland
Definitive National Addressing for Scotland: The DNA-Scotland Programme
aims to establish a single property information source that adheres to common
agreed standards and, together with the citizens account, will be used to
improve service delivery within Councils and throughout the Scottish public
sector. Corporate Address Gazetteers (CAGs) created by Councils will be linked
to a national address gazetteer – the One Scotland Gazetteer.
Name: Esd-toolkit – Scotland
www.esd.org.uk/esdtoolkit/Communities/A-ZScotland/ContentView.
aspx?ContentType=Content-236
Community of practice developing Scottish Navigation List and Scottish Services List.
Name: A-Z/ Knowledge
www.improvementservice.org.uk/national-entitlement-card
OneScotland Card Management System replaces the interim system that was
put in place to support the national concessionary fare scheme. As well as
supporting concessionary travel, the new system will allow commercial travel
ticketing and other applications, and will allow councils to add products and
services to cards that have already been issued.
Name: Scottish Enterprise
www.scottish-enterprise.com
Scotland’s main economic, enterprise, innovation and investment agency. the
ultimate goal is to stimulate sustainable growth of Scotland’s economy by
supporting ambitious and innovative businesses. Works with public and private
sector partners to develop the business environment in Scotland. Delivers
a range of dedicated support services locally, nationally and internationally.
Relevant to Edniburgh:
* Edinburgh Science Triangle is ranked in the world’s top twenty science parks.
* Edinburgh BioQuarter is a landmark life science real estate development which
will establish Edinburgh and Scotland as one of the world’s top ten centres for
biomedical commercialisation.
10. Name: COSLA
www.cosla.gov.uk
Scottish Local Authorities: The representative voice of Scottish local government.
Also acts as the employers’ association on behalf of all Scottish councils. As
a membership organisation, one of our highest priorities is to maintain and
enhance our relationship with member Councils and the key principles
Name: SOLACE
www.solacescotland.org.uk
LA Chief Executives: Scottish Branch of the Society of Local Authority Chief
Executives & Senior Managers. Founded in 1973, it is the representative body
for senior strategic managers working in local government.
Name: Edinburgh Partnership
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Council/Partnerships/Community_planning/
edinburghpartnership
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/CEC/Corporate_Services/CommunityPlanningHome
Leads joint action to address key issues facing people living and working in the
city. The Community Plan for Edinburgh 2008 - 2011 sets out the priorities for
the Partnership:
– sustainable economic growth
– maximisation of land use and affordable housing
– investment in prevention and care services, health improvement
and social inclusion
– environmental sustainability and climate change.
11. Name: City of Edinburgh Council (CEC)
www.edinburgh.gov.uk
City of Edinburgh Council: Smart Cities partner.
CEC has powers over most matters of local administration such as housing,
planning, local transport, parks, economic development and regeneration.
Name: CEC Plan 2007-2011
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/council/council_publications/
CEC_corporate_plan__edinburgh_2007
The Council’s Corporate Plan, covering the period 2007-11, was agreed by the
City of Edinburgh Council in August 2007. The plan shows how the Council is
tackling the strategic issues that matter to the public, improving performance
and working with partners to improve services. The plan outlines priorities for
the next four years, identifies what the Council will be doing to contribute to
Edinburgh’s City Vision, and provides strategic direction for the Council and all
those working within the organisation.
Name: BT Public Sector Scotland
www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTUKandWorldwide/BTRegions/Scotland/
Factsandfigures/BTGlobalServices/DevolvedGovernment.htm
The City of Edinburgh Council partnership programme was created in 2001
when a ten-year ICT partnership agreement was signed. It is focused on
achieving the Council’s vision of being recognised as the UK leader in delivering
modern, joined up and interactive public services using new technology. In early
2006 a five year contract extension was agreed.
12. www.smartcities.info
www.epractice.eu/community/smartcities
The Smart Cities project is creating an innovation network between cities and academic
partners to develop and deliver better e-services to citizens and businesses in the North
Sea Region. Smart Cities is funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the
European Union.
Smart Cities is PARTLY funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the
European Union. The North Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 works with regional
development projects around the North Sea. Promoting transnational cooperation, the
Programme aims to make the region a better place to live, work and invest in.
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