Benchmarking: What will you measure and discover in 2025?

Nations and regions news, July 2024

Authors and contributors: SA Mathieson

A supplementary edition of nations and regions news, which appears in Socitm’s annual magazine, In Our View, with recent stories from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and every region of England.

Dumfries and Galloway Council logo

Scotland

Dumfries and Galloway Council, East Ayrshire Council, North Ayrshire Council and South Ayrshire Council have won a Municipal Journal award for SWConnects, which provides live online teaching for pupils sitting Higher exams in 40 secondary schools. 

Wrexham County Borough Council logo

Wales

Wrexham Council has won an award from the Royal Town Planning Institute for its Digital Place Plan to use technology in managing and improving its city centre, adopted in early 2023. 

Belfast City Council logo

Northern Ireland

Belfast City Council has allocated £50,000 to 29 local creative projects based on the results of a participatory budgeting scheme involving presentations and votes at a City Hall event. 

Longford County Council logo

Republic of Ireland

Longford County Council has run a science and technology event for more than 450 primary school children from 18 schools sponsored by Microsoft and other companies, as well as government and EU funding. 

Middlesbrough Council logo

North-east England

Middlesbrough Council is among the region’s local authorities introducing online support for unpaid carers from Mobilise, through an agreement with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care. 

Calderdale Council logo

Yorkshire and the Humber

Calderdale Council has supported the opening of an industry 4.0 facility based at Calderdale College which is designed to help local engineering and manufacturing companies adopt technologies including artificial intelligence and robotics. 

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority logo

North-west England

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is working with data scientists in South Korea to create a digital twin of Liverpool’s bus network, allowing it to model the potential effects of route and fare changes. 

North Northamptonshire Council logo

East Midlands

North Northamptonshire Council has created a new post of executive director of strategy and change. Paid up to £151,033 the holder will be responsible for customer services, technology, communications, human resources, business intelligence and performance. 

Stoke-on-Trent- City Council logo

West Midlands

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has renewed its traffic management contract with Telent, which uses equipment at 129 sites to help manage congestion and major events such as football matches.  

Three Rivers District Council logo

East of England

Three Rivers District Council and Buckinghamshire Council have been informed that new deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will decide whether to revive two data centre developments they had previously rejected. 

West Oxfordshire District Council logo

South-east England

West Oxfordshire District Council will continue to close its call centre for non-urgent enquiries at 2pm while boosting capacity during lunchtimes, following a successful trial and increasing use of online services. 

Cornwall Council logo

South-west England

Cornwall Council, Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council will close their jointly-owned education and employment support service CSW Group. Three of the councils will move staff in-house while Cornwall is considering a new provider. 

City of London Corporation logo

London

The City of London Corporation is publishing live air quality levels online and on display screens using Air Aware, a tool developed with government funding and the London boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets.