Northgate urges government to put innovation at the heart of effective community safety services |
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Public Services 10-Mar-2008 - [Northgate Public Services] Northgate Information Solutions, a leading provider of innovative services to the public sector and utilities markets, urged the government in a report published today to rebuild public trust in community safety services by putting innovation at the heart of citizen-centred community safety strategies. In a wide-ranging response to Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s final report, Northgate argues that new forms of collaboration between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors are vital to promoting community well-being. The report welcomes many of the recommendations made by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, but highlights the need to tackle some of the barriers to change, including: • a fragmented market place which acts to prevent local forces from developing more strategic and mature relationships with technology partners; The response calls for a range of initiatives to promote citizen-centred services and for the development of a new Community Safety Innovation Council to drive through change and support the development of a national IT strategy. Composed of representatives from community safety services, academia and industry, the Council would act as a catalyst for timely and responsive change. It would be modelled along the lines of that recently established in the health service as a result of the Darzi review. Ian Blackhurst, Managing Director of Criminal Justice & Public Safety at Northgate Public Services, said today: “We wholeheartedly welcome Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s report, but it begs some questions about how we make change happen. At all levels of the police service, I sense there is a real desire for change, but amongst many a frustration that whilst some problems have long been identified, too little gets done too late. “The forthcoming green paper needs to grasp the central point of Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s report that what is required is a sea-change in cultural attitudes. It is time to end the fallacy that technology is all about systems rather than servicing the business of policing and community safety. “This is simply far too important to be left to a top-down approach. We need to liberate local forces to enable them to innovate to develop appropriate strategic responses to tackling community safety, serious crime and national security issues. Above all, this means getting the right balance between national, regional and local initiatives and ensuring that the overall system is flexible enough to collaborate to solve problems in a timely and responsive fashion.” For more information Notes to editors Northgate Information Solutions is a leading provider of innovative services to the public sector and utilities markets. It is committed to high quality public services and understands the public sector. That knowledge is core to its business. Northgate’s task is to enhance public value through the intelligent use of people and technology, and to share in the economic and social benefits that this brings. In the UK, the company works with four out of five local authorities and every police force. Northgate supports public service transformation through sustainable performance partnerships. Its technology is used in the administration of more than £12 billion of revenues and benefits; in electoral administration systems covering 18 million people; to support the national system for reporting police performance; and in the management of over three million local authority and housing association properties worldwide. Founded in 1969, the company has over 6,000 employees.
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