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The Exemplar 2006 award for the âBest Use Internally' recognised the work of Sedgefield Council in implementing up to date and accurate address information within its Street Scene Services, improving refuse collection and communication with local residents via the Council's website.
Sedgefield Council understand that the local environment is a priority for residents and the removal of rubbish is a contributing factor. The Council collects refuse from over 40,000 domestic properties every week, they also offer special collections and operate a fortnightly recycling collection service and collect green waste from a pilot area. In order to manage these services they needed information about each and every property within the borough. By combining details from the Councils CRM with refuse collection information and then matching this information to address records the Street Scene managers can ensure an efficient refuse collection service and manage changes in routes and collection rounds due to new houses being built.
One of the first questions generally asked when moving into a new house is âwhen is bin day?'. By linking the refuse collection details back into the CRM staff can enter an address and instantly provide an answer. This information is also available online; visitors to the Councils website can enter an address and view a wealth of property related information including refuse collection details.
"By putting property and address information at the heart of its Street Scene Services, Sedgefield Council has achieved remarkable success," said Michael Nicholson, Managing Director of Intelligent Addressing, organisers of the awards. "As a proof of concept, this project clearly demonstrates the value of address information to other departments within the Council. "
The work undertaken by Sedgefield Council on their address and property information (Local Land and Property Gazetteer) forms part of a national initiative to improve efficiency and service delivery. The Council's address records link to a nationwide database called the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) that allows public authorities to freely share information across government departments, the National Health Service and emergency services for example.
The Exemplar awards acknowledge the effort, commitment and achievements of Local Authorities in creating, sharing and using accurate council information such as property databases and street gazetteers. The 2006 NLPG / NSG Exemplar awards, organised by Intelligent Addressing and supported by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), received a record number of entries and the presentation ceremony took place at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Manchester on the 10th October.
10 October 2006
