Journalist, editor, analyst and trainer on computing, government, climate and data
For each pair of pictures, the one on the left is a wide view from a viewpoint with an arrow pointing to the city, the one in the right is a Brum-hanced (or Cov-hanced) close-up. Click on any image for a larger version. Continue reading “Brumspotting: how to see Birmingham (and Coventry) from the Cotswolds”
The hospital trust chief executive tells SA Mathieson why he is putting clinicians back in the driving seat
Based on a lengthy interview at the John Radcliffe hospital with Sir Jonathan Michael, chief executive of what is now Oxford University Hospitals NHS trust.
Continue reading “Doctors and nurses turn managers in Oxford”
Data from two councils, a rural district and a London borough, suggests big differences in spending on CCTV
Using Freedom of Information to find council CCTV costs, usage and efficiency in two contrasting areas of England. More recently, I have mapped comprehensive data collected by Big Brother Watch on this subject.
The debate over the use of CCTV can be rather sterile. The police, local authorities and other parts of the public sector present them as a public good, there “for your safety and security” as station announcements phrase it. Continue reading “A tale of two cameras”
One of the largest non-metropolitan police forces has released financial information on its use of roadside surveillance cameras
More on police use of ANPR cameras across England and Wales here and here. More on Oxfordshire county council’s ANPR system here.
Continue reading “Thames Valley Police unveils ANPR spend”
A council using automatic numberplate recognition to manage traffic has released the locations of the cameras, having previously refused to do so
Oxfordshire county council initially refused to provide the locations of its then-new ANPR traffic camera sites, but did so when I requested the data under Freedom of Information – to its credit, only nine days after I asked. Police forces have taken a somewhat less co-operative view on this subject. Continue reading “Oxfordshire reveals ANPR traffic camera sites”
