East Lothian’s Democratic Vision

Case Study

In August 2002 East Lothian Council became the first Scottish authority to adopt CMIS, the Flexible Management System for Modern Government. The system is used to publish committee agendas, minutes and other related information as a part of the Council’s approach to e-Democracy. This information can be accessed by up to 1,500 staff via the Authority’s own Intranet. Already well established South of the Border, CMIS ’s paperless systems had to compete against more established suppliers to secure the contract.

“We were of course very interested in how support would be provided, and this is something we have been monitoring throughout the implementation phase. In practice when issues were encountered most could be handled by email or telephone and the response was usually prompt and effective.” Jim Lamond, Head of Policy and Business Management at East Lothian.

East Lothian is situated to the east of Edinburgh and has a population of 89,000. More than half the population live in the Musselburgh, Prestonpans, Cockenzie, Port Seton and Tranent areas. The Council employ 4,500, with 1,500 in the main council offices and 85 ICT staff. The committee system project began in February 2001 and was managed by a multidisciplinary team including Jim Lamond, Lyn Kennedy – Administration Officer, Moira Batchelor – IT Officer, Adrian Hodge – New Media Officer, plus other members of the committee support team on a regular basis. A specification was drawn up and a number of suppliers invited to tender.

“The CMIS product fully met our publishing requirements and offered more besides, including basic committee and councillor information - such as membership, register of interests, attendance records, contact details etc.”, explained Jim Lamond. “It was clearly the best “Fit for Purpose” product that we explored and indeed the most economical.”

CMIS, originally developed by Enline plc and now owned by Astech, addresses the evolving needs of the full e-Democracy process within councils of all sizes. This includes effectively managing information relating to an Authority’s cabinet or committee structure, members’ details, minutes and all types of documents associated with meetings.

The latest release of CMIS allows councils to meet the need to consult with the public on Forward Plan items and, with the Document Preparation module, have the option of a completely standard approach to all relevant documents.

Neale Hayes, CMIS Product Manager was keen to point out the importance of this contract: “We have had a number of very successful CMIS implementations but securing the East Lothian business was particularly pleasing. Along with the rest of the UK, Scotland is a very important market for us – we are keen to work with authorities to ensure our products and services meet their specific needs, whether they are a function of size, geography or legislation.”

The implementation phase went very smoothly and included the addition of a single document electronic agenda plus associated reports for transfer via network to a digital copier. This was a significant bespoke development that has been integrated seamlessly.

“The benefits of a standard publishing format was something we had not anticipated”, commented Jim Lamond. “Although it is early days CMIS has already paid for itself in terms of service enhancements and significantly improved access to the decision making process. We were delighted by the product and the service we received and would be happy to recommend them to any organisation wishing t o implement a similar system.”

After a successful implementation of the internal phase, the next step is to extend access to the public via the Authority’s website.

“The CMIS proposals for the web-facing Forward Plan are interesting. I can certainly see how these may form a part of our democratic consultation process.”

Clients &
Case Studies