Information Strategy
Information Strategy
2011 - 2013
Version 1.0
Version 1.0 Page 2 of 21
Version Control
Version Number / Date / Author / Comments0.1 / 15 August 2011 / Angie Reid
Senior Manager, Corporate Information / Initial Document with input from
· Strategic Policy Advisor – Equality
· Information Manager, Adult and Local Services
0.2 / 26 August 2011 / Angie Reid
Senior Manager, Corporate Information / Updated to include comments from Records Management Service
0.3 / 23 September 2011 / Angie Reid
Senior Manager, Corporate Information / Updated to include comments from ICT Client Team
0.4 / 26 September 2011 / Angie Reid
Senior Manager, Corporate Information / Updated to include comments from Information Governance Group
0.5 / 18 October 2011 / Angie Reid
Senior Manager, Corporate Information / Updated to include reference to Data Quality Strategy
1.0 / 20 October 2011 / Angie Reid
Senior Manager, Corporate Information / Version for publication. Approved February Cabinet.
Contents
Version Control 2
1. Foreword 4
2. Introduction 5
3. About Cumbria 6
4. The national, regional and local context 7
5. Our vision, outcomes, priorities 9
5.1 Seven Principles 9
5.2 Current Status 10
6. Delivering the strategy 11
6.1 Responsibilities 11
6.2 Timetable 11
6.3 Programmes of Work 11
6.3.1 Implement an eDRMS 11
6.3.2 Maximise use of eProcessing and Forms 12
6.3.3 Security Enhancements 12
6.3.4 Information Management Education Programme 12
6.3.5 Clutter Free Cumbria 12
6.3.6 Develop and Agree an Information Management Policy Framework 12
6.3.7 Digitisation 13
7. Performance managing and reviewing the strategy 14
8. Shaping the strategy 14
8. Glossary of Terms 15
10 Point Strategy Checklist and Information sheet 20
1. Foreword
Cumbria County Council receives, owns, creates and is custodian of masses of information. This information is held on computers, in paper documents, on telephones and other portable electronic devices. It may be regarded as both an asset and a liability.
Information as an asset
Information is a powerful tool in ensuring good decision making and determining the direction of service improvement. Our daily contacts with our customers provide a rich seam of information to help us ensure that we are doing the right things in support of the strategies on Economic Development through to care of vulnerable people. It is the benchmark that ensures that the service we are providing delivers what is needed.
Information as a liability
The County Council holds a lot of sensitive and confidential information. The information is attributable to individuals and can be of a personal nature. The County Council is governed by legislation to ensure that we process data and manage information carefully and ensure that it is held securely, used appropriately and remains accurate. When information has reached the end of its usefulness there is a duty on the County Council to dispose of it responsibly to ensure that the information is destroyed completely beyond recovery.
This strategy will help us to understand the information we have, how we look after it and how it can be shared and communicated appropriately.
Councillor Elizabeth Mallinson
Cabinet Member for Organisational Development
2. Introduction
“The stone age was marked by man’s clever use of crude tools; the information age, to date, has been marked by man’s crude use of clever tools.” (Anon)
The Council is committed to delivering the best services for our communities. Whilst we face significant financial and operational challenges, we recognise information is a key enabler in responding to these challenges. Over the lifetime of this strategy and beyond, the Council is expected to deliver better services with fewer resources at a time when demand for services increases. A quote from the Cumbria County Council Plan 2011 – 2014 highlights this ambition
“We are re-engineering council services to ensure that we are delivering services in the most efficient and effective ways.”
This strategy defines the framework for how Cumbria County Council will use, embrace and develop information to improve the way it provides services for the people of Cumbria. It is relevant to all who create or use information held or created by the Council. This includes service users, staff, elected members and partner organisations. Sound management of our information assets will play a pivotal role in achieving the delivery of effective and efficient services.
The Information Strategy should not be viewed as a standalone document, it supports and links into the Council’s budgetary framework and reflects all the outcomes set out in the Council Plan and the Community Strategy. Furthermore, it is a significant supporting mechanism for the Council’s major initiatives including the development of Shared Services, the Better Places to Work and Better People Programmes.
3. About Cumbria
Some key facts about the county:
· Cumbria is the second largest county in England
· More than half of the county’s population live in rural areas
· All the land in England that is over 3,000 feet in height is in Cumbria
· Cumbria is home to England’s largest National Park, the Lake District National Park
· The World Heritage Site of Hadrian’s Wall runs across the northernmost reaches of the county
· Over recent years the county’s population has been growing at a faster rate than the northwest region, but more slowly than the England average
· Population forecasts show a decline in the number of working age people and the fastest decline in the number of children of any county in England
· Within the county South Lakeland is forecast to see the biggest decline in the number of young people for any district in England, while Eden is forecast to experience the biggest increase in older people
· The proportion of residents from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups is much lower in Cumbria than it is nationally; 4% in Cumbria compared to 16.4% nationally
· In recent years, however, the proportion of BME residents has been increasing much more rapidly in Cumbria than it has been nationally so that over time the ethnic profile of Cumbria is changing to become more representative of the rest of the UK.
Economy
• Gross Value Added is £7,876m (2008) with 57% from East Cumbria
• Slowest growing sub region 1995-2003
• Sixth fastest growing 2003-2008
• Short term growth especially strong in West Cumbria, faster than the UK average
The proportion of the population living in rural areas and the fact that the county is the second least densely populated county in England means the way information is shared has great significance. The success of this strategy depends on creating efficient ways that information can be created, stored and retrieved from across the county, removing the constraints of geographic location.
4. The national, regional and local context
Information does not exist in isolation and without context, it has no meaning. Development and delivery of this strategy is therefore influenced by a number of internal and external factors.
Legal Context
The Council has an obligation to comply with the legislation pertaining to information held or created by the Council.
· The Data Protection Act (1998) requires that computer held information is adequate, relevant, accurate and kept up to date. It also requires that information is not kept longer than is necessary and is stored securely.
· The Freedom of Information Act (2000) creates a general right of access, on request, to non-exempt information held by the Council.
· The Environment Information Regulations (2004) provides a statutory right of access to environmental information held by the Council.
· Local Government (Access to Information) Act (1985) gives the Council duties to publish certain information, including meetings, reports and documents subject to specified confidentiality provisions.
· Public Records Act (1958 and 1967) requires the Council to give access to information.
· Equality Act (2010) requires the Council to prevent discrimination and advance equality of opportunity throughout all its functions.
· The Local Government Act 1972 (s224) states “Without prejudice to the powers of the custos rotulorum to give directions as to the documents of any county, a principal council shall make proper arrangements with respect to any documents which belong to or are in the custody of the council or any of their officers.” This Act figures heavily in National Archive guidance.
National Standards and Best Practice
There are a number of standards that determine how the Council should categorise and store its information. This means that where appropriate, County Council information can be shared with partner organisations. This facilitates delivery of a one stop shop where information can be provided to the public. These standards are defined or described in the following documents:
· ISO 8601: 2004 - Data Elements and Interchange Formats – Information Interchange – Representation of Date and Time
· ANSI/AIIM/ARMA TR48-2006: Revised Framework for Integration of Electronic Document Management Systems and Management Systems
· BS 10008 - Code of practice for evidential weight and legal admissibility of information stored on electronically
· Local Government Classification Retention Scheme (2009)
· e-Government Metadata Standard v.3.1 (2006)
· e-GMS Version 3.1. for Websites (2006)
· e-GMS Encoding Scheme – Type v.1.0.
· e-GMS Encoding Scheme – Audience
· Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) – Metadata Terms
· ISO 15836:2003 Information and Documentation: The Dublin Core metadata element set
· ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Information Technology – Security Techniques – Information Security Management Systems - Requirements
· ISO/IEC 27002:2005 Information Technology – Security Techniques – Code of Practice for Information Security Management
· PD ISO/TR 15489 - Information and Documentation – Records Management (Part 1 and Part 2)
· BS 7799 – Information Security Management – Code of Practice for Information Management
· ‘Tell us Once’ is a major programme, being led by DWP on behalf of Government as a whole, to transform the way in which people can tell Government (central and local) about changes to their circumstances. This has implications on how the Council produces and shares information about our customers.
A public consultation process is underway on ‘Making Open Data Real: This seeks views on the government’s proposed approach for a transparency and open data strategy for public services. The consultation sets out proposals for embedding a culture of openness and transparency in public services. It sets out how the government hopes to create the ‘pull’ (a right to data) and the ‘push’ (a presumption of publication). The closure date for the public consultation 27 October 2011.
Technological Context
There is a clear link between information and the means by which it is created, processed and made available. Developments in computing have developed rapidly with an ever increasing proportion of the population using computers and demanding that information is made available to them via the internet. Search engines have transformed the public approach to finding data and an ever increasing number of Cumbrian residents are willing and wanting to perform day to day household transactions electronically.
Social context
Recent high profile cases have created great public concern on how public bodies use their information assets. These cover the full spectrum of mismanagement e.g.
· where too much information is made available, such as the ‘loss’ of data concerning approximately 25 million people in the UK (nearly half of the country's population). The personal data was thought to include names, addresses and dates of birth of children, together with the National Insurance numbers and bank details of their parents
· where information is not made available or shared in an appropriate manner, such as the Baby Peter case.
· Where electronic systems are implemented without enough consideration to implications of issues like security and confidentiality, such as the NHS Care Records Service, which can lead to systems being abandoned or not fully utilised.
5. Our vision, outcomes, priorities
“In your thirst for knowledge, be sure not to drown in all the information” (Anthony J. D’Angelo)
The vision for this strategy is that
Council Information will be created, stored, retrieved and disposed of in a cost effective, secure and efficient manner whilst complying with the statutory obligations.”
5.1 Seven Principles
To achieve this vision seven information management principles have been identified. These principles do not define the actions needed to achieve the vision, but they do establish a framework, against which all future information policies, processes and procedures must be tested.
5.1.1 Accuracy
Information retrieved from the Council information assets will be accurate, up to date, appropriate, and not stored for longer than is necessary. Accuracy will be managed by controlling the mechanisms for information capture, processing, storage, disposal and retrieval.
5.1.2 Security
Information stored by the Council will be secure, ensuring that the integrity and reliability of information is not compromised by unauthorised access, modification or loss.
5.1.3 Accessibility
The County Council will make information available in a way that suits the purpose of the information, its content, its users and the available delivery mechanisms. Information availability will be location independent, so users can access appropriate information irrespective of their physical location. Reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that users with specific communication needs related to disability or language can access information on an equal basis.
5.1.4 Openness
The County Council will not restrict access to information unless there is a justifiable reason to do so. These reasons are clearly defined and arise from legal obligations such as the Data Protection Act (1998), commercial considerations or the protection of the personal safety of employees. This principle matches the Government shift to require public bodies to have ‘Open Data’.
5.1.5 Effective and Efficient Processing, Storage and Delivery
The County Council will manage the delivery of information so it is closely allied with service provision. Combining service design and information management processes will result in best value, fit for purpose services. Whenever practicable, information will be gathered, stored and delivered electronically, but there will be an equivalent rigour applied to the management of physical information resources.