Annual Reports

Socitm: The results of the latest edition of Better connected, the tenth annual survey of local authority websites published by the Society of IT Management (Socitm) show that four councils have achieved the full E (excellent) site ranking.  The E sites are: East Sussex CC, Gloucestershire CC, Salford City and Tameside MBC.  This compares with 2007 when just one ‘E’ site was found (Barking & Dagenham), who fell short this time on one aspect of accessibility.

37 questions were around five ‘scenarios’ based on typical website user needs:
* looking for information about libraries
* using registration services (ie births, marriages & deaths)
* arranging waste collection and recycling
* obtaining housing information
* finding out about council tax and finance
Press release ~ Better connected, the tenth annual survey of local authority websites
 
Defra: Environment Minister Jonathan Shaw urged the public and local authorities to continue the fight for cleaner streets as he published a new environmental survey, which showed that graffiti tags and dog fouling have decreased since last year, but cigarette ends are still the most widespread kind of litter on our streets - found in 78% of sites surveyed - and fast food litter remains at the same level as last year.
 
The Local Environment Quality Survey of England is carried out annually for Defra by ENCAMS, the organisation behind the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, and monitors a representative sample of 54 local authorities across England to give a national and regional picture of how clean our streets are.
Press release ~ Local Environment Quality Survey of England 2008 ~ ENCAMS ~ Local environment quality survey of England : Directgov ~ New environmental skills website ~ Defra - Litter
Free, Secure, Compliant UK Public Sector IT Recycling Service