Scots councils ‘smarter’ than those across rest of the UK

Scottish councils are “smarter” than those in the rest of the UK, according to an audit of local authority technology use.

East Kilbride-based technology firm Ecebs conducted an audit of 100 local authorities throughout the UK looking at their use of “smart technology”.

Many councils use smartcards – credit card sized devices given to citizens to access council services such as libraries, leisure facilities and buses, as well as logging use of public works like gas repairs or social housing.

Scottish councils use smart technology for twice as many services than the rest of the UK, with an average of three services compared to 1.5 elsewhere.

Furthermore, out of the 10 “smartest” councils in the UK, six were Scottish. Aberdeen City Council has been named Scotland’s “smartest” council, with six different types of service being implemented with some form of smart technology. Southampton City Council topped the UK chart.

Just 29 per cent of councils in the whole audit use smart technology to deliver more than two local services and some 26 per cent of those councils audited said they do not use any smart technology.

David Burdett, managing director of Ecebs, said: “Scottish councils should be applauded for their efforts in modernising local services.

“However, a large proportion of the UK’s local authorities have still to truly embrace technology across multiple services, and that includes many in Scotland.

“Councils can cut costs and deliver better local services by sharing technology.

“Multi-application smartcards and associated technology enable this shared service vision to be delivered today.

“If we don’t upgrade our local services with new technology we will have missed a huge opportunity to create a more efficient, simpler system for everyone.”

Some Scottish councils have come up with new ways of delivering public services. Aberdeenshire Council has introduced a pilot scheme allowing residents to pay for car parking electronically.

West Lothian Council is also considering using smart phone technology to encourage people to pick up litter.

Local transport was the most common use for smart technology among all city and county councils, with 49 per cent having introduced smartcards for initiatives such as national concessionary travel schemes.

Use in schools as dinner payment cards for pupils, was the second most popular method for using smart technology, with use in 38 per cent of councils.

Third most popular was ID services (28 per cent) and fourth was library services (27 per cent), such as membership or book renewals.

Mr Burdett added: “The truth is, the foundations for change have already been laid – most local authorities now have smart transport systems in place, and one in three has introduced smart payments in schools. The technology is available to enable those services to be expanded without the need for huge extra investment in new technology or infrastructure.

“We can now deliver technology that can be implemented across multiple services while offering a range of benefits to residents and local authorities including fraud detection, a full audit trail, reduced administration costs and extensive management information.”