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09/10/03
Halton Borough Council Winner of Local Government IT Excellence Awards
Halton Borough Council Benefits Express project has this week been named as the winner of the Intellect, Socitm, Solace Local Government IT Excellence Awards. Benefits Express was selected from over 23 nominees for its pioneering approach to processing benefits claims, and the ultimate achievement of making a real difference to its citizens.
The Benefits Express mobile office now links together staff laptops and digital cameras via GPRS communications, enabling staff to update claimants records online and to process benefits directly from citizens' homes. This is a radical improvement, considering that the process previously took more than two weeks. The visiting benefits staff have direct access to all the information required to process the benefits claims, as if they were working from the office itself.
The announcement was made at Socitm's annual conference on 06 October, and was presented by Charles Ward, Marketing and Services Director of Intellect and Chair of the award judging panel.
Commenting on the winning project Charles said, "Now in their eighth year, the Local Government IT Excellence Awards provide us with the opportunity to recognise and reward those local government organisations that have used IT to effectively and innovatively deliver best value public services."
He continued, "This year's entries continue the trend of improving standards, and the winner, Halton Borough Council’s Benefits Express is a shinning example of a project which has challenged the traditional methods of thinking, and has shown real courage in implementation and delivery. The judges were overwhelmed by the council’s balance of innovation, utilisation of resources and the high level of practical services deliverable to the citizen."
The other winners commended for their individual successes and contributions were –
Runner Up - Liverpool City Council, Integrated Children's Service / Children's Community Index The Liverpool City Council has launched the Integrated Children’s Services which is a unique children’s call centre. This is the first 24/7 social care call centre in the country. It will take all enquiries from children, families and professionals, and manage a new Children’s Community Index computer system. Highly Commended - Leicester City Council, Leicester Disability Information and Communication Network The Leicester Disability Information and Communication Network, launched in July 2003, is aimed at people with disabilities and their carers. This unique project has created a web-portal and new computer suites, specially adapted for the needs for users with disabilities, in social care and voluntary sector centres in Leicester.
Highly Commended - Surrey Partners e-Recruitment Pathfinder Project Surreyjobs.info is a state-of-the-art web based recruitment and retention portal designed to retain and attract Public Sector talent for Surrey. It features a ‘once-only’ application form, employer brochure pages and sophisticated job search functionality.
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