The importance of good design in public buildings is underlined in a new report from the Institute of Public Policy Research. “Reinventing the Town Hall: A Handbook”, says it can lead to savings in long-term running costs, promote productivity, and increase the satisfaction, happiness and even the health of the people who work for and use public services.The report is the culmination of ippr’s Designs on Democracy competition, which chose new designs for North Hertfordshire, Stockport and Bradford town halls. The institute ran public workshops with local people in all those council areas. Views expressed included suggestions that the existing buildings had an air of secrecy or looked like courts. One person said, “I don’t think you would find the public in here” and another, “As a teacher, I would never want to bring my children in here”.
A new training package will be offered to local councils from today aimed at helping them to understand the needs of developers and to know how best to engage with the local community. The one-day simulation programme has been piloted in the West Midlands and is being launched today at the joint LGA-National Planning Forum annual conference.The programme – Financing the Urban Renaissance’ – has been developed by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), in partnership with the Local Government Association, the British Property Federation, and ContinYou, a new charity for community learning. It is part of the continuing drive to improve standards in planning, and the understanding between developers and local planning authorities,
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This annual survey of websites by the Society of Information Technology Management shows that local government is moving slowly towards the goal of providing services online by 2005 and some councils will not meet the target. Comparison of the detailed findings with the fourteen priority areas set by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister reveal shortfalls that cannot be made good by 2005.The survey found that only 23 council websites, representing 5% of the total, achieved the top classification by providing a full range of transactional services for users. Over 80% of sites provide information with some self service facilities. Some 12% of sites displaying only promotional material were placed in the bottom category.