Sustainability Panel

We meet on the 27th. The panel will now focus on the delivery of sustainable issues that deliver value and savings to our residents. The administration's priorities are here

All items need to be completed in under 10 minutes please!

Doublespeak - unbelievable

This example of doublespeak is just amazing, how can anyone take this man seriously?

It's our data

My report for the CPS was published yesterday and there have been some encouraging responses from the industry press and other media:

Computer Weekly

Computer World

Yorkshire Post

Conservative Home

Ideal Government

Essentially the report explains where government IT has gone wrong and suggests a way of fixing the problems. You can download it here.

Since 1997 the Government must have got through at least £140 billion on information systems in a naïve belief that if you spend enough the men in white coats can make government more efficient. At the moment the cash burn rate of IT is £16.7 billion a year, that is more than 1% of our entire GDP and much higher than any similar country. It is also, according to Andy Burnham no less, almost 50% more than we spend on drugs in the NHS.

A recent study showed that only 30% of commissioned systems work. Budgets get broken by ludicrous amounts. We all know about the NHS supercomputer and the Offender Management System, but here’s a new one just out from the NAO: the Department for Work and Pensions want to get more people to use their online customer system. More than half of their customer-base can use the internet and yet after huge spending the take-up was – to use the National Audit Office's words – “tiny”.

Out of the 142 million contacts with the public, only 340,000 (about 0.25%) used the online services. What a waste. Why do they get it so wrong?

Government relies heavily on huge contractors who convince them that big ideas need HUGE spending. According to the LSE, 80% of the major contracts come from just 5 top suppliers – compare that to 20% for Holland or 48% for the US. Each department has gone off on its own and set up its own IT systems. Each group seems to have re-invented the wheel many times. There is an ongoing turf war between departments about who owns the “key” data field on us.

But at bottom Labour just doesn’t get it.

Web 2.0 applications such as Youtube and Facebook have been so successful because they have used a simple model and allowed others to work it in the way that best suits their applications. That freedom is at the heart of the internet revolution. But government IT is only just edging towards a recognition that the Internet exists, not offering ways to exploit it.

In part this is a political and cultural issue, the civil service and this very statist government have always wanted to control from the centre, to have a dashboard through which they can judge what public services they think you need. In 2004 Labour hired a guru Sir David Varney who convinced Blair and Brown that they needed “a ‘deep truth’ about the citizen based on their behaviour, experiences beliefs needs and rights.”

The trouble is not just that that would need a legion of data checkers, not to mention for a hefty dose of public trust (which the HMRC scandal dispensed with). The fundamental issue is that this approach is the wrong way up. It is as if Mustapha Mond were in charge. What’s the answer?

Well, first of all we should procure services differently. In January the Thompson Report showed that government project management and execution would be better if the huge projects were cut up into smaller chunks. It would also require government systems to employ open standards so that applications and data could interact with each other. And the office of an executive Chief Information Officer with teeth to force through change.

But no big single database – government must not be able to get away with nationalising some of our most valuable property. We should all own our own personal data.

That is how Amazon, Facebook, Google and co work effectively. They allow access to our data so that people, organisations and companies can interact with us, but we control the data itself. This makes sure data is up to date, but it also allows us to offer access to government (or the third sector bodies that government would like us to use) on our own terms.

Data should be hosted by a small number of private sector suppliers with the government as the default provider. I’ve christened this Government Relationship Management. It puts the power where it should be, in the hands of the people: our data, under our control.

This works in the delivery of world-class secure e-commerce and in the US Google Health and Microsoft Healthvault lead the market offering online health records management to people. In Sweden this approach helps patients plan their own home healthcare more effectively.

I’m not advocating compulsion here. These arrangements would be voluntary. The State would remain as the default holder of personal data. All those who either cannot or do not wish to opt out of central control would still have full access to public services. Nor would they apply to matters of national security, or law and order. So it is not proposed, for example, to allow criminals to control their police records.

It is difficult to estimate exactly but in the medium term this approach should halve our IT spend – almost all other advanced governments operate at that level, what makes us so different?

Giving us back our data will save us money, make government IT more effective and make the delivery of services better. After all, it is our data.

How to make recycling rewarding

As you can see from the quote below, David Cameron has strongly supported the launch of our rewards-based recycling program.

And it's working, after 24 hours we had 500 new residents sign up and 2 had already reclaimed

Check out this video to see how it works....

David Cameron endorses our recycling scheme

“I applaud the Conservative councillors in Windsor and Maidenhead for launching Britain’s first ‘paying the public to recycle’ scheme.

Thanks to this scheme, Royal Borough residents will be getting paid for their recycling, rather than being hit with Labour’s fines and fortnightly collections.

This is a great example of how Conservative councils are helping to look after the environment and also deliver a better deal for taxpayers.”

Paying residents to recycle....

Recycling has just got much more rewarding, with the launch today of the UK’s first scheme that gives households a new incentive to recycle their waste. RecycleBank, which has taken the US by storm, awards Points to households for recycling that can be used at Marks & Spencer, cashed-in for goods and services at local shops, restaurants and attractions or converted into real-cash donations to charities.

Initially the scheme is being trialed in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, where RecycleBank is working with the council and waste management company, Veolia Environmental Services, to bring the scheme to 2,800 households. Following this trial, it will be rolled out across the country.

M&S has shown its support for the scheme by signing up as RecycleBank’s headline reward partner. Richard Gillies, Director of Plan A and Sustainable Business at M&S, said: “This scheme is a win-win for the environment and our customers, and we're delighted shoppers are going to be getting money off in our stores in return for recycling. Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is a key target of our 100 point eco-plan, Plan A, and we’re hoping this innovative service will add to the impressive number of people who are already doing their bit. “

In return for recycling points, M&S will be offering £5.00 vouchers redeemable against a £25 food spend or a £35 clothing spend in UK stores. In addition to M&S, 54 other reward partners have signed up to the scheme, which include Legoland Windsor, Subway, Coffee Republic, Rodale Books and Snappy Snaps, as well as local shops, restaurants, leisure facilities and charities.

The scheme will initially focus on rewarding households for their green waste recycling and expand to mixed recycling (paper, glass, plastics etc) later in the year. Residents will be awarded RecycleBank Points every time they put their green waste bin out for collection and these Points can then be redeemed with any of the scheme’s reward partners. For the first three months of the scheme the residents will get triple points as an added incentive.

Cllr David Burbage, the Royal Borough’s Leader said ‘’Our residents are keen recyclers and thanks to their efforts we currently have a 37% recycling rate. Now we want to reward our residents for recycling even more. “

Cllr Liam Maxwell, Royal Borough’s Lead Cabinet Member for Sustainability, said: ‘’The Royal Borough is leading the way in recycling. We believe in rewarding our residents for their recycling efforts, not imposing penalties. We are excited about launching a pilot scheme that has the potential to boost recycling, reduce waste sent to landfill and also help support the economy by supporting local businesses. It’s win-win-win for everyone.’’

There is no change to the normal waste collection routine and households do not need to do anything differently with their bin. There is also no charge to householders for the RecycleBank scheme.

Residents activate and view their RecycleBank account on RecycleBank’s website www.RecycleBank.com or via its call centre 0800 077 6009.

Matthew Tucker, President of RecycleBank, said: “RecycleBank is excited to enter the UK and bring a valuable rewards scheme to households to encourage recycling. We have significantly increased recycling volumes across the USA, boosting recycling rates anywhere from 30-100%. We service one million people across 19 states, bringing economic benefits to both local economies and residents.

“By using this rewards system the local authority will enjoy an economic benefit through the potential reduction in landfill disposal costs and taxes, while retail partners gain visibility, customer brand loyalty and the reputation of an environmentally conscious company. At the same time, residents take an active role in helping the environment and are rewarded with goods and services or can make donations to charities through the points they gain. This scheme offers real benefits for all parties involved; never more important than in today’s tough times.”

Paul Levett, Deputy Chief Executive for Veolia Environmental Services said: ‘’At Veolia Environmental Services we’re proud to be driving forward the first launch of the RecycleBank rewards scheme in the UK. We’re confident it will help increase recycling rates in the area and we hope it will encourage other local authorities to take up similar programmes. As the leading waste management company in the UK, it demonstrates our commitment to utilise the most progressive technologies and practices available.’’

To find out more about the RecycleBank scheme visit www.RecycleBank.com or call 0800 077 6009.

Expenses Heatmap

Fantastic use of mashup technology.... This is the company behind I love lewisham and other great geo sites I think.