Contact: Tim Conway, ext 6752 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 On 21 January 2004 this Committee requested a report setting out how decisions on investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are made and prioritised. This paper accounts for expenditure on ICT in the department in terms of fixed and variable costs within the context of departmental aims, corporate programmes and Government obligations. Access to information through ICT is essential to the delivery of all the County Council's services, therefore continuing investment in ICT is essential to the delivery of Environment Department services. The Department is driven by operational efficiency, participation in corporate programmes, Government targets and the expectations of its citizens and partners.

2. Corporate Strategy

2.1 This report supports all aims of the Corporate Strategy, particularly Aim 5 (Improving Services) by ensuring that the Environment Department can develop ICT and e-Government in support of all services and that this will be available electronically by 2005.

3. Background to e-Government and Information and Communications Technology

3.1 On 21 January 2004 Members requested a report setting out the extent of investment currently made by the Environment Department into ICT and accounting for how investment decisions are determined. Supporting information is set out in the ICT Strategy (attached as Appendix 1). (The scope of this document excludes the activities of the Intelligent Transport Systems Group which delivers specialist traffic signal, control and information systems.)

3.2 Whether it is internet shopping, mobile phones or through the wall banking, ICT is driving and empowering everybody's lives, and advances in technological change will continue. Public use of on-line services, planning and consultation are a reality. It is necessary to continually explore the opportunities to exploit ICT in the advancement of services and to keep up with progress.

3.3 E-Government, the term for the exploitation of ICT to promote improved delivery of public services, is an international phenomenon.

3.4 The purpose of e-Government is to improve services, improve access to services, enhance inclusion and local democracy, and join together the partnerships of organisations responsible for public service delivery.

3.5 The success of e-Government also requires that improvement is made to the efficiency of operations. This must be achieved by transforming service delivery processes and by sharing systems with partners, not through the use of technology alone.

3.6 The Government has set national e-Government targets for local government that the County Council is obliged to meet to maintain its "excellent" Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) status.

3.7 Investment in ICT is also essential to the current operation of the Environment Department and its service improvement plans.

3.8 The management of the highway network, passenger transport, waste and environment all depend on the collection and analysis of data in complex information systems.

3.9 The Environment Department employs 757 staff (excluding crossing patrols and school escorts) and all need to have access to office and specialist systems on the shared county-wide network. There are 21 major systems and 45 specialist systems to support on the network (see Appendix 2).

3.10 For the purposes of e-government the Department has 87 service processes and 329 types of transactions with the public and it is necessary to ensure all of these are electronically supported to meet the national Best Value target. This amounts to a budget in 2004/05 of £3.538 million for ICT or 1.14% of the Department's capital and revenue budgets.

3.11 New Government initiatives for processes such as Asset Management and the E-Government agenda will require a much higher standard of data collection and information dissemination. The only way this can be achieved is by greater investment in IT systems. The Environment Department is committed to working closely with its IT Service Department colleagues and IT software suppliers to ensure that its IT system development is carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible.

4. How is the ICT Budget Spent?

4.1 The table below sets out the combined Central ICT and Highways ICT Budgets.

Fixed Costs	£'000s
Staff
IT Client Staff	296
Additional staff 2004/05 only	35
Hampshire County Council IT Services Charges: Infrastructure	1,700
Computer systems, telephones, telecommunications, maintenance
Hampshire County Council IT Services Charges: Business Systems Support	332
Service Level Agreements with IT Services
External Purchases	191
General purchasing and recurring software and support charges
	2,554
Variable Costs
Hampshire County Council IT Services Charges: Business Systems Development
ICT Development	120
Mainframe systems replacement and e-Government, additional budget 2004/05 only	200
Contribution towards SAP Time Recording development	68
Highways systems development	368
External Purchases
Highways, street lighting and other software licences and development support	228
	984
TOTAL	3,538

Fixed Costs

4.2 As can be seen from the table, the vast majority of the IT budget (£2.554 million) is spent on the fixed costs of providing and supporting the IT2000 network, telephones, telecommunications and supporting existing systems. The greatest part of this (£1.7 million) relates to the provision of computer terminals, telephones, telecommunications and systems and services from the County Council IT Services Department.

4.3 The sum of £332,000 provides for Support Service Agreements with IT Services. The purpose of this is to support the smooth running of the Department's operations. Environment Department staff can call on appropriate technical or ICT business expertise to ensure that they receive timely help, advice, or problem fixing. They are able to draw on the wide expertise and experience provided by over 100 ICT professionals through IT Services and enables the appropriate skill (sometimes very specialist) to be applied to the right task.

4.4 Around one third of the work carried out under the support service is agreed during the year by the Department's IT Client staff and is designed to enable response to requests from Environment Department managers for ICT advice, small pieces of consultancy or even small ICT developments to help meet the ever changing demands of their services.

4.5 The remaining two thirds is used to support the Department's staff in their use of the existing networks and systems and includes:

(i) maintaining systems and data security;

(ii) identifying solutions to problems, managing their resolution with the minimum disruption to the Department's services;

(iii) working with third party suppliers of packages to apply fixes, implement upgrades, etc for packages running in IT2000; and

(iv) advising the users of the applications on how to get the most out of them.

4.6 The sum of £296,000, plus an additional £35,000 for this year only, provides for the Environment Department's IT Client staff. The purpose of this group is to plan and manage ICT development, services and support to enable improvement and delivery of Environment Department services.

4.7 This group develops ICT strategies and plans, manages development programmes and projects and provides business analysis and consultancy to ensure the Department's service delivery is supported in the most effective way.

4.8 It also manages and develops support services from the in-house IT Services Department, the performance of external suppliers and the use of ICT resources, licences and assets.

4.9 To ensure the effective use of systems by Environment staff the group provides office systems support and training, develops small systems and undertakes systems implementation projects.

4.10 It also manages access to systems to ensure systems security and provides service and financial administration.

4.11 A total of £191,000 is spent externally, mainly to provide for annually recurring software licence and support fees.

4.12 Steps are taken to minimise fixed costs. All annual agreements are reviewed before renewal. The demands on the service level agreements with IT Services are regularly reviewed. Where there is a high demand for support, changes to systems, processes and training are used to reduce the need.

4.13 In the replacement of mainframe systems, the need for each system has been reviewed, allowing some to be eliminated.

Variable Costs

4.14 The majority of variable costs relate to the development of new or existing systems to meet the demands of service priorities, primarily mainframe system replacement, e-Government and participation in corporate programmes.

4.15 The core IT development budget (£120,000) is deliberately kept to a minimum to fund:

(i) participation in corporate programmes;

(ii) developments of importance to the whole Department;

(iii) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) developments; and

(iv) developments on behalf of groups within the Department that do not have budgets from which necessary developments could otherwise be funded.

4.16 In 2004/05 an additional £68,000 has been allocated to contribute to the replacement of the Time Recording System and a further £200,000 this year for other Mainframe system and e-Government developments.

4.17 Developments funded from other budgets in the department this year include £368,000 for highways systems development consultancy and £228,000 external costs of new software licences, development and implementation support.

4.18 Highways systems developments are being driven by:

Operational effectiveness

(i) data collection devices for highways inspections

8% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £ 62,000

(ii) scheduled maintenance development

4% of overall Highways IT Systems budget - £35,000

(iii) arboriculture inspections

2% of overall Highways IT Systems budget - £15,000

(iv) improved resilience of systems

4% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £30,000

Mainframe system replacement

(i) street lighting system

12% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £100,000

(ii) highways referencing system

6% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £50,000

e-Government and compliance with other legislation

(i) street works legislation updates

1.2% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £10,000

(ii) National Street Gazetteer legislation - costs included in

highways referencing systems above.

(iii) Skip Licence applications

0.5% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £3,500

(iv) enquiries from the public

2% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £16,000

(v) information provision

2% of overall Highway IT Systems budget - £15,000

4.19 The majority of Highway systems operate under the EXOR Highways software, providing a central database of specialist highway applications for the 14 local highway offices and their partners. Central to these systems is the core Network Management and Spatial Services. Enquiries from the public, highway inspections and works ordering, condition assessments and street works management are managed on the Highways systems, allowing coordination, integration and transfer of data between individuals and groups of staff. The continued development of remote data capture devices, integration with partners and increased use of e-governance will increase benefits for the business and provide a value for money as the system evolves

5. How is What is Spent on ICT Decided?

5.1 The majority of the ICT expenditure (£2.554 million) relates to the fixed costs of the provision of essential infrastructure and ongoing support to operational systems.

5.2 The item in the ICT budget over which there is normally most choice is for IT Development £120,000. However this is not currently sufficient to meet the corporate commitment of the County Council as a whole to replace the mainframe systems, to implement SAP and to comply with national e-Government targets. Consequently, this year the Department's development costs also include an additional £68,000 towards the replacement of the Time Management System in SAP and £200,000 towards the unavoidable costs of replacing other mainframe systems and e-Government.

5.3 Investment in highways system developments is also being driven by the need to replace mainframe systems, to implement e-Government and legislative requirements, to increase the resilience of the core highways systems as they are now critical to day-to-day operations, and in implementing changes to improve effectiveness, for example in inspections data recording and maintenance scheduling.

6. How are ICT Investment Alternatives Chosen?

6.1 The vast majority of ICT development is done on a must-do basis with little scope for choice between alternatives. As set out above, there is little room for manoeuvre in ICT expenditure.

6.2 Some developments, such as the call centre system to support CANGO buses and the Hampshire Land and Property Gazetteer, have been funded by external grants where there is no competition between alternatives or with other budgets.

6.3 In 2004/05 the priorities for development expenditure are the final replacement of mainframe systems and the continuing implementation of e-Government.

6.4 The completion of the corporate programme to replace mainframe systems this year will relieve part of this pressure in future years.

6.5 However, there is still much to do to meet existing e-Government targets. New targets were set on 30 April 2004, by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, for mandatory outcomes that will create new demands for systems developments. For example:

(i) "Citizen participation and response to forthcoming consultations and decisions of public interest (e-consultation), including facility for citizen to sign up for email and mobile phone text message alerts on nominated topics".

(ii) "Self service or mediated access to all council services outside standard working hours via the internet or telephone contact centres (ie available for extended hours outside of 9am-5pm Monday to Friday)".

(iii) "100% of all email enquiries from the public responded to in one working day."

6.6 The availability of low-cost GIS information for the majority of staff and the geographic presentation of information to citizens is also likely to become a priority as most interaction with the public involves information about locations.

6.7 The Department's long-term priorities are covered in the Department's ICT and e-Government Strategy document. These contain the aims of the County Council's corporate e-Government Strategy including:

(i) more 'joined up' working with partner organisations;

(ii) more accessible improved face-to-face, telephone, e-mail and web communication with the public with support staff working from home and from remote sites;

(iii) services to be delivered or supported electronically - by providing access to supporting information, systems for staff who deal with the public and web access for the public who desire it;

(iv) services to be open and accountable - by providing improved access to information about services; and

(v) services to be used by 'e-citizens' through on-line consultation processes and facilitating feedback on services.

6.8 Environment Department services are now dependent upon the level of sophisticated information technology available which has brought considerable service benefits. However, there is little discretion in the use of most of the ICT budget. Most ICT costs are used to fund ongoing operations and developments that are unavoidable because they address Government targets and the need to keep up-to-date with technology. Where there is choice, the available funds are being used for mainframe systems replacement, e-Government, highways systems and GIS developments.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

16/TC

APPENDIX 1

ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT

DRAFT ICT AND E-GOVERNMENT STRATEGY

1 Introduction

1.1 The use of information and communications technology (ICT) is driving and empowering all our lives. We are increasingly able to work, shop, manage our financial affairs and keep ourselves up to date with news and information from home, or indeed any location of choice, through the world wide web.

1.2 In many industries costs have been driven down and service choice and quality improved through the use of technology. This contributes to public expectations of constant improvement to services that have a direct impact on the demands on local government.

1.3 One response to these changes in expectations is a drive for electronic government that affects all public sector organisations, local and national. The aim is to exploit information and communications technology to enable the delivery of improved, more accessible and cost-effective services, to re-vitalise local economies and engagement in local democracy.

1.4 The exploitation of information and communications technology and investment in e-Government to this end is essential:

(i) to meet Government targets and public expectations;

(ii) to ensure the future assessment of the county and the Department continues to be excellent;

(iii) to support the success of the County Council's plans to achieve corporate aims for service delivery; and

(iv) to deliver Environment Department priorities.

1.5 This document aims to support:

(i) the Departmental Service Plan;

(ii) the Corporate Strategy; and

(ii) the new Corporate e-Government and ICT Strategy published in November 2003;

with plans to:

(i) provide ICT support to service priorities;

(ii) complete our programmes for e-Government;

(iii) complete our legacy systems replacement programme; and

(iv) participate in the implementation of the corporate Enterprise project.

1.6 The document attempts to bring together the various drivers influencing the department's direction and business to determine business-driven objectives for the development of the use of Information and Communications Technology within the Environment Department.

1.7 Its purpose is to provide a framework for decisions and decisions on the development and use of Information and Communications Technology in the department and assist the delivery of the department's business aims and objectives.

1.8 This strategy with the endorsement of the Departmental Management Board requires and depends upon continuing support and action from management throughout the Department to meet the challenge to use information technology to transform the way we operate and achieve Departmental, County and Government aims.

2 Where Are We Now?

The Current Use of ICT and E-Government in the Environment Department

2.1 Since the introduction of the County Council's IT2000 Strategies of 1998 and 2000, there has been rapid change in the use of ICT in the Environment Department.

We have:

(i) provided access to the common IT2000 and HPSN networks to all the staff in the Environment Department (over 750, excluding school escorts and school traffic patrols) and to the staff of many of our partners; enabling shared use of systems and information and better service to the public;

(ii) started a programme to replace of all our legacy mainframe based systems with new technologies; and

(iii) prepared for the use of the corporate Enterprise system for Finance, Procurement and HR management.

2.2 During this period Government launched its Strategy for Local e-Government. We have responded with:

(i) a programme to provide better access to information and services for the public;

(ii) supporting systems for our staff to assist improvement to service delivery;

(iii) engagement with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Authorities e-Government Partnership in a pilot system to exchange public highways enquiries; and

(iv) the development of a system to support the production of the National Street Gazetteer (NSG) and Local Land and Property Gazetteers across the county.

2.3 Management and staff throughout the Department have taken a lead in the implementation of innovative new systems to support the continuing development of services.

2.4 This has enabled us to go a long way towards making information and access to all our services available to the public on-line and has improved our ability to deal efficiently with telephone service to the public in Highways, Passenger Transport and other services.

For example:

(i) the development of a distributed system for highways enquiries and fault reporting allows calls relating to road conditions to be recorded, distributed and managed to completion electronically;

(ii) an on-line shop supports our road safety service; and

(iii) the use of sophisticated global positioning systems and mobile communications enables a small telephone call centre to manage the CANGO demand responsive bus service to rural communities.

2.5 ICT support is now fundamental to all activities across the Environment Department. The Geographic Information System (GIS), for example, is an essential tool:

(i) providing maps for engineering;

(ii) enabling the combination and analysis of population, infrastructure and ecological data for planning; and

(iii) assisting both the planning of services and the protection of the environment.

2.6 GIS is also used to support all sorts of transport route planning:

(i) passenger transport;

(ii) safer routes to school;

(iii) salt routes;

(iv) streetlight scouting; and

(v) abnormal loads planning.

In the case of the CANGO buses, GIS is used in combination with Global Positioning systems (GPS) to track the position of vehicles.

2.7 The use of the County Council's HPSN network and the EXOR Highways system, including Public Enquiry Manager, now provide all Highways Management officers with access to the same shared information and systems. This has improved service to the public and the coordination of activities across the Department, with our highways maintenance partners and with colleagues in the District Councils.

2.8 Access to databases and analytical software is required for performance management and benchmarking to assist and maintain operational efficiency, and is essential to our research activities that support planning and information provision.

2.9 The public can now obtain information about services at home, via the web, which was previously only available through interaction with council staff. This is often more convenient and also frees up staff time for the provision of other services.

2.10 Consultation via the web has been successful in gaining feedback and engaging members of the public who may not previously involved.

3 Where Do We Want To Be - Next Steps 2004-2005

What Are Our Key Drivers?

3.1 In the short term our immediate needs are:

(i) to complete the mainframe systems replacement programme;

(ii) to meet our e-Government targets;

(iii) some key operational systems developments; and

(iv) some key technology developments.

Mainframe Systems Replacement Programme

3.2 All systems running on the mainframe must be replaced by March 2005 with applications running on the corporate IT2000 platform to meet the corporate objective of decommissioning the mainframe.

3.3 We are now well into the process of replacing Environment Department systems and are on track to complete this process.

3.4 Of the 36 mainframe applications owned by the Department, 10 have been replaced, 12 made redundant and 14 remain to be replaced by March 2005.

3.5 This process has been ongoing since 2001 and this final year of the programme is a major priority of the Department.

3.6 Continued use of obsolete technology increases costs and decreases the potential benefits of our systems, which must be brought up-to-date to maintain comparative effectiveness. Our approach has been to follow the corporate strategy to defer replacement costs by maintaining systems as long as possible on the mainframe. To maximise the benefits of replacing these systems we have sought to review the business objectives and future requirements of the new systems and to incorporate these into the new systems. Corporate systems infrastructure and standards are selected throughout for systems of strategic importance.

3.7 We are entering the final year of the legacy replacement programme and systems being redeveloped include:

Biological Records

Correspondence Register

Distribution lists

Environmental Protection/Waste Management

Financial Project Control

Highways Referencing

Land Development and Land Availability

National Cycling Proficiency

National Street Gazetteer

Road Accidents

Schools Contract Vehicles

Special Maintenance

Street Lighting

Time Management.

Implementation of the Enterprise Project

3.8 Part of the corporate IT2000 strategy included the replacement of the mainframe financial, purchasing and personnel management systems with the Enterprise/SAP project. We plan to follow up the implementation of SAP HR in the department with SAP for Finance and Procurement. Our approach is to investigate carefully the best way for the department to adapt its procedures to make the most of the new systems.

3.9 An analysis of the best way to work with SAP Finance and Procurement is underway.

3.10 The corporate use of SAP for Time Management and Project Management will be pursued.

3.11 The potential for the use of SAP in our legacy systems replacement programme has been considered and will be evaluated for future developments, taking costs and resources into account.

3.12 We are engaged, with other departments, in planning the provision of ongoing training by the County Treasurer's Training Team.

E-Government Programme

3.13 The Government requires all local authorities to participate in this national initiative. The performance indicator requires that every type of transaction with the public is electronically enabled by December 2005.

3.14 The Environment Department "owns" 87 processes and 329 transactions with the public, as defined for the purpose of he performance indicator, and is making good progress with 80% electronically enabled at the end of March 2004.

3.15 A wide range of highways, transport, traffic, travel, waste and environmental information has been made available. A distributed call centre for highways related enquires has been implemented and on-line consultations about highways proposals have been successfully implemented.

3.16 Having said that, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has recently announced new, mandatory, priority outcomes for e-Government and there is still much to be done.

We will:

(i) participate with the joint Catalogue of Services sponsored by the HIOWLA e-Government Partnership Board as it develops;

(ii) participate in the implementation of the corporate web content management system to enhance the efficiency of web publishing;

(iii) exploit corporate infrastructure for web-based transactional services; and

(iv) participate in the development of the corporate approach to Contact Centres.

3.17 In order to achieve the performance indicator target by e-enabling all our transactions with the public and to help maintain excellent CPA status we will further address:

(i) e-consultation;

(ii) e-payments for web and telephone transactions; and

(iii) making appointments with staff relating to highways licences and services.

3.18 In some cases we may have satisfied the criteria for the performance indicator without really improving service delivery or efficiency and in these cases we need to review the options for service transformation.

3.19 We are also responsible for the county's participation in two mandatory national projects, National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) and National Land Information Service (NLIS), and will further progress our participation.

3.20 The paper published by the ODPM on 30 April specified 53 new mandatory outcomes for e-Government, many of which will have to be addressed by the Environment Department. These are made up of 29 newly defined "required" outcomes that must be completed by December 2005 and a further 24 "good" outcomes, which are also mandatory and must be implemented by 1 April 2006. The County Council as a whole will have to consider whether to attempt to meet a further 19 "excellent", non-mandatory outcomes specified in the paper, which largely relate to setting baselines and targets for e-Government awareness and take-up, directed at locally defined priorities.

3.21 Evaluation of the paper is still in progress. Individual responsibilities remain to be agreed for this new development amongst county departments and between partner organisations.

3.22 Pending further evaluation, the Environment Department can expect to be responsible for, or involved in:

(i) adapting our on-line A-Z information to the new national taxonomy of the "Local Government List";

(ii) supporting further citizen participation in consultation and decision making, with email and text message alerts on nominated topics for those who register their interest;

(iii) agreeing baselines and targets for e-participation activities including targets for citizen satisfaction;

(iv) developing public systems for reporting and tracking progress with the processing of abandoned vehicles;

(v) receipt and processing of Minerals and Waste planning applications;

(vi) implementing e-payment and e-procurement systems;

(vii) links to live systems for interactive journey planning;

(viii) public e-consultation on traffic management proposals;

(ix) multimedia resources on local policy priorities on website (video/audio);

(x) GIS presentation of roadworks information, updated daily;

(xi) participation in the development and implementation of the required County Council policy for home and mobile working;

(xii) participation in a corporate contact management centre;

(xiii) participation in a corporate (web) content management system;

(xiv) participation in a corporate electronic records and document management system;

(xv) establishment of internal targets and measures for customer take-up of e-enabled access channels; and

(xvi) responding to 100% of emails from the public in one working day.

3.23 The first step will be to define the deliverables of the above targets, review how we are organised to achieve these objectives and how they are to be funded and resourced. This will be accounted for in this year's annual Implementing Electronic Government statement and business and budget plans.

Other Developments

3.24 More information about other planned developments in the short term are defined in the department's ICT and e-Government Delivery Plan 2004/05. Few, if any, developments are truly excluded from the category of e-Government but some of the "things we would be doing anyway" include:

(i) further development of systems for development control;

(ii) the Highways Land (GIS plotting) project;

(iii) further implementation of Minerals and Waste planning systems;

(iv) further development of the Land Searches system;

(v) highways inspection data collection developments;

(vi) improvements to highways systems resilience.

Funding

3.25 The combined IT and Highways IT development budgets for 2004/05 provide for £984,000 for e-Government, mainframe system replacement and other developments in Highways Management. This is believed to be sufficient for planned developments for the current year.

3.26 Future costs are likely to continue at a similar level. As mainframe replacement costs fall away, additional e-Government demands will have to be met. Future costs will be assessed in this year's budget planning and for this years projects as the deliverables of each project is established.

Resources

3.27 Resources in both the IT Client and IT Services are stretched by the current high level of demand for system developments. Within the IT Client the resource for strategy, innovation, planning and project management is particularly under pressure. Additional resource and new ways of working will be investigated.

3.28 Within the IT Services there is also a pressure on the availability of experienced systems development staff. There is also a limit to the number of concurrent systems changes that the Environment Department can cope with.

Training

3.29 Demand for training is also likely to increase as new systems are implemented. This can be addressed through the corporate Learning Zone, the Treasurer's Training Team (for SAP) and our Departmental System Advisor for essential Microsoft Office - email, word processing, spreadsheet and presentations - skills.

3.30 The possible extension of the use of Public Enquiry Manager to activities such as Correspondence Management presents a training demand. The options for addressing this will be considered.

3.31 We will also engage in corporate planning to address the new e-Government target for universal training of all staff to ECDL level or equivalent.

4 Where Do We Want To Be? - Vision for the Future

Developing the Vision

4.1 A series of workshops, involving senior managers from all groups of the Department, were held in 2003 to explore the potential for the exploitation of e-Government. Many of the possibilities explored are enumerated below and a programme to explore these is included in the Department's ICT and e-Government Delivery Plan.

4.2 Future development of e-Government will make an essential contribution to the county's aims, by supporting and enabling the development and improvement of the services of the Environment Department.

4.3 There is much scope to make further use of technology to transform the way we operate and improve services.

4.4 The use of technology is now, more than ever, an essential resource for the delivery of services. It is increasingly being used to support participation with partnering services in the region in the delivery of planning, transportation, environment and natural resource services.

4.5 The public expects our staff to have information readily to hand when they call. They expect to be able to deal with us by phone and email, letter or in person. All this requires the support of sophisticated computer systems.

4.6 More information about the County Council's plans for e-Government is available in the County Council's e-Government and ICT Strategy, Information Technology Blueprint, Core Systems Strategy and Implementing Electronic Government Statement. The Environment Department must participate in the development and implementation of these plans.

4.7 The overall vision is that our services should be:

(i) more 'joined up' - Working with partner organisations (Raynesway, Mott McDonald, etc). Contributing to national initiatives such as the NSG, the NLIS and the NLPG;

(ii) more accessible - Improving face-to-face, telephone, e-mail and web communication with the public. Supporting staff working from home and from remote sites;

(iii) delivered or supported electronically - providing access to supporting information, systems for staff who deal with the public and web access for the public who desire it;

(iv) open and accountable - providing improved access to information about our services; and

(v) used by `e-citizens' - supporting on-line consultation processes and facilitating feedback on services.

What Are the Key Drivers in the Longer Term?

4.8 Our investment in technology is driven by:

(i) service improvement plans;

(ii) the need to keep pace with developments and maintain our efficiency relative to other organisations;

(iii) the expectations of the public and our Members;

(iv) targets set by Government;

(v) corporate ICT and e-Government strategy; and

(vi) trends in information technology.

4.9 While the Environment Department wishes to drive its own business forward we must also respond to corporate strategies and the Government's e-Government strategy.

How Will We Get There?

4.10 In order to direct the development of ICT towards the achievement of the vision expressed above and the Department's aims we will:

(i) Identify through departmental management the opportunities to advantage from ICT through:

(a) business process transformation;

(b) opportunities to contribute towards the corporate objectives,

(c) the development of local democracy and engagement with systems to support consultation and the exchange of information; and

(d) promotion of local vitality through systems to support networks and partnership working;

(ii) pursue the achievement of the performance indicator and targets related to e-government objectives to help to maintain the Department's contribution to Hampshire County Council's `excellent status' under the CPA; and

(iii) include ICT and e-Government opportunities in our plans to address the Department's Service Improvement Priorities and Specific Service Priorities.

Supporting the Department's Aims

4.11 The Department's Service Plan identifies a number of Service Improvement and Specific Service Priorities. This section identifies how e-Government and ICT can contribute to these priorities.

4.12 Some of the ideas that follow have led to actual projects, others refer to ideas raised which remain to be developed through the business planning process.

Service Improvement Priorities

"Sustaining and improving the level of Member and community satisfaction with the services of the Department by identifying, clarifying and meeting their priorities."

4.13 We will use Web Channels to engage dialogue with Members and the community.

4.14 We will develop common systems across the department and partner organisations to providing shared access to information.

"Achieving the PSA, BVPI and other locally identified targets, ensuring they remain relevant to the needs of the Hampshire community and thereby maintain the excellent status of the Environment Department's performance in the CPA."

4.15 The plans to achieve each of the 4 PSA targets owned by the Environment Department depend in each case on ICT support. This is documented below.

4.16 We will plan developments to achieve the BVPI 157 target, essential to maintaining an excellent status.

4.17 We will plan for the development of effective service support systems that enable efficient collection and analysis of BVPI data required to manage performance to achieve the goals set.

"Re-focussing the services of the Department to help deliver the aims of the Community Strategy for Hampshire, making the best use of the benefits of the Hampshire Strategic Partnership and Local Strategic Partnerships."

4.18 We will explore the potential for supporting Community Strategy partners by hosting information, developing interfaces, etc.

4.19 We will support joint projects such as the creation of the Hampshire Unified Gazetteer, sponsored by the HIOWLA e-Government Partnership and managed by the Environment Department to provide benefits across the county.

"Progressing Local Development Framework for Minerals and Waste and the associated Materials Resources Strategy."

4.20 We will use Web Channels to engage dialogue with Members and the community.

"Improving Hampshire County Council's corporate performance on environmental sustainability."

4.21 We will seek new methods for measuring waste, developing the use of passenger transport, minimising road congestion and increasing internal sustainability.

"Engaging with the South East England Regional Assembly to ensure that the needs of Hampshire's communities are properly reflected in future regional spatial planning."

4.22 We plan to ensure that through shared databases, such as the Land Availability Management system, GIS and the shared Hantsnet intranet, the best information is available to staff for planning purposes.

4.23 We will seek opportunities to share this information with South-East partners.

"Identifying key marketing and communications objectives for the year including the key messages to be communicated and the target customer groups."

4.24 We will collaborate in the use of the corporate content management system to simplify the engagement in dialogue with the public.

Specific Service Priorities

4.25 Examples of the potential for future developments are set out below.

"Work in partnership to address the causes and symptoms of transport congestion."

Opportunities include:

(i) implementing further Intelligent Transport Systems;

(ii) delivering CCTV data;

(iii) using the web or other media to publish further car park, congestion, public transport and school and work travel plan information;

(iv) improving real-time travel and traffic information by incorporating selective Street Works programme information;

(v) encouraging the use of low-cost video conferencing within the Department.

"Continue to improve the condition of the highway network."

We can:

(i) support new inspection methods in the field by providing mobile technologies for providing necessary information to inspectors and for collecting inspection data;

(ii) manage highway information more effectively;

(iii) implement integrated highway management system for managing the adoption of new roads;

(iv) further develop with maps the facility for the public to report problems directly to the Public Enquiry Manager system via the web;

(v) further develop core highways management ICT systems, shared with partners and contractors, in order to streamline and improve maintenance responsiveness and effectiveness;

(vi) develop the use of the UK Pavement Management System (UKPMS) to improve the monitoring of road condition and effective direction of resources.

"Cut the numbers of road traffic casualties"

For example by:

(i) implementing a new road accident and analysis system in liaison with the Police;

(ii) continuing to use and develop the Road Safety website to help with education and training resources and provide an on-line shop for road safety resources; and

(iii) continuing to host and develop the regional Road Casualty Reduction website providing facilities for the beneficial sharing of information between members.

"Promote the Natural Resource Initiative, as a tool for materials recovery and reducing the volumes of waste to landfill."

(i) Developing the Hampshire Natural Resource Initiative website to promote initiative and engage local businesses.

(ii) Developing a new ICT system for managing and charging for waste disposal.

"Increase the numbers of passenger trips by public transport and reduce the rate of increase in journeys by private car."

(i) Development and support of the ICT systems which underpin the CANGO bus initiatives.

(ii) Provide a single source of public transport services and schedules on the web.

(iii) Encourage the use of video-conferencing within the department to reduce journeys.

"Continue to improve the environmental quality of both town and country."

(i) Develop the use of the new system for monitoring and analysing flora and fauna records for sites across Hampshire to a nationally recognised standard.

(ii) Development of a new ICT system for managing the minerals and waste development control process.

(iii) Through the use of the new system for managing street lighting.

"Engage more effectively with the community, particularly with young people."

Particular emphasis on educating and training young people on our websites (eg road safety, cycling proficiency).

5 Addressing ICT and E-Government Challenges

Addressing the issues raised by e-Government

5.1 One of the outcomes from the workshops held to develop departmental awareness of e-Government in the Department last year was a range of general themes and issues with which the department must come to terms, including the following key points.

5.2 We need to operate less in information silos: wider access to information still appears to be an issue, as is the integrated use of GIS. More communication about current projects within the Department and joined up working within the Department with multi-section input to projects appears to be required. We also need to develop common referencing and documentation protocols to support information access and sharing. Much has been done, but we need to seek more opportunities to share systems with our partners.

5.3 We need to provide support to staff: They need to feel secure in the face of changes in operations and possible restructuring. They may need additional support in the face of increased contact with the public requiring additional skills and possibly imposing an increased workload.

5.4 Communication: With increased access by the public to staff it is increasingly important that they are aware of activities across the department.

5.5 Change Management: If real service delivery changes are to be implemented, internal and external marketing of the strategy to all stakeholders will be required to manage expectations and facilitate change.

5.6 Commitment: The management team as a whole will be required to share belief in the approach to change required.

5.7 Policy: a single common approach to electronic service delivery will be required.

5.8 Systems: a range of new technologies will be required as will improvements to Hantsweb presentation and navigation.

5.9 Information Management: a common approach to document management and the protocols for dealing with communications with the public must be enforced.

5.10 Customer Focus: our service delivery decisions must reflect customer preferences and enhance not increase social inclusion.

6 Technology Strategy

6.1 The Technology Blueprint appendix to the Corporate e-Government and ICT Strategy provides the technical environment for the development of new systems. Several technologies stand out in importance for the Environment Department:

Mobile data collection and network access for field workers

Wider access maps and GIS and the improved management of GIS data integrity

The use of CAD as source of shared design information

Support of e-Payments

Support of e-Consultation

The integration of web transactions with back end systems

The authentication of people accessing web transactions

The provision of a security framework to allow shared access to networks with partner organisations and integration of systems

Improved search facilities in Hantsnet.

Other possibilities include:

Portals for information management

Mobile phone text messaging for traffic news and other information

Wider use of media for information traffic and passenger information

The use of low-cost video conferencing to reduce travel time and costs

The provision of improved home based computing to support flexible working and reduced travel

New approaches to paper systems and electronic filing, for example further use of scanned images and workflow.

6.2 We will pursue the corporate support of these technologies, which are largely contained in or compatible with the Technology Blueprint section of the Corporate e-Government Strategy and their wider use within the department.

APPENDIX 2

IT SYSTEMS IN USE IN THE ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT

APRIL 2004

Major Systems

Key Environment Department Web Sites

Specialist Systems