COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (284) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 25 November 2008
A new Strategy to
tackle problems from traffic management to flooding, improved
policy formulation and decision making by using better
geographical information, was launched by Baroness Andrews today
in a report Place Matters: The Location Strategy for the United Kingdom.
Too much crucial information about places in the United Kingdom
and the public sector activities that occur at them are collected
and stored in isolated documents and databases by councils,
executive agencies and government, making it difficult to access,
share and analyse that information.
The government policy announced today will enhance the
information available for planning, for example, which communities
require regeneration investment, where police should focus their
resources or the best evacuation routes for different communities
in the event of a flood.
The implementation of the Location Strategy will enable better
risk management and better use of resources by introducing
nationwide standards and support services for cataloguing
information such as crime statistics, animal movements and disease
information, air and noise pollution information and traffic
congestion statistics.
The UK Location Strategy aims to simplify finding and using
location data so that information can be accessed speedily to
enhance decision-making.
Reducing the time taken to find, view, download and use location
data the Strategy will also drive down costs and increase the
ability to provide better public services.
Overall central government, local councils, police, the National
Health Service, firefighters and members of the public will be
able to access the information they need more efficiently, more
quickly and with less expense.
Baroness Andrews said:
"Good maps and location intelligence can help determine how
quickly our ambulances turn up, where a policeman patrols, how we
act in a national emergency. Knowing more about where we live can
help us make the best decisions.
"But across the country there is still too little sharing of
the best practice and we are wasting time and money trying to find
the information we need.
"The Location Strategy will ensure we make better use of
information already held so we can use it faster and with less expense."
The Location Strategy sets out a Five-Point Action Plan for
public services that will help them to:
* know what data we have and avoid duplicating it
* use common reference data so we know we are talking about same places
* share the data easily through common technology, standards and
business relationships
* gain the appropriate skills to support its use
* drive strong governance to enable change which will be led by
the Location Council which is being set up by the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Vanessa Lawrence CB, Chair of the UK Geographic Information Panel
and Ordnance Survey's Director General and Chief Executive, said:
"Everything from planning national security and flood
prevention to orchestrating your local rubbish collection is
underpinned by an understanding of 'place'.
"As 'everything happens somewhere' it is clear
that place-based information underpins our daily lives; many
services depend upon a knowledge of 'place'.
Geographical information is a major decision-making tool and this
Strategy sets out the principles which will enable the UK economy
to benefit more fully from its use.
"Through the UK Location Strategy the GI Panel has used its
expertise to show local councils and government how to make best
use of this information. We believe it will bring enormous
benefits to the UK and allow more efficient use of geographic information."
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will now
take this Strategy forward through the UK Location Council. The
Council will meet for the first time on Friday 28th November and
will continue the work of the GI Panel which is today disbanded.
Notes to Editors
1. To view the full UK Location Strategy please visit http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/locationstrategy
2. The UK Geographic Information Panel was made up of senior
individuals, representing key interest groups, to advise Ministers
on the most effective use of digital geographic information (GI)
across business and public services.
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