Socitm appoints new president

Socitm, the professional association for public-sector ICT managers, has appointed a new president.

Rose Crozier, head of information services at Belfast City Council, was confirmed as the new president of the Society of Information Technology Management at its AGM on Thursday. Also elected at the AGM are Steve Palmer, head of ICT at the London Borough of Hillingdon, who becomes vice president; Caroline Ishola-Burrows from the London Borough of Bromley, who becomes the associate member representative on the National Council; and David Bryant of Hytec Information Security, who is elected as subscriber members' representative.

All four will start their one-year terms immediately, well before the government launches its second Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), which aims to identify future investments and reforms in government spending. The CSR will cover departmental allocations for 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, and is due in the autumn.

According to political and social analyst Tony Travers, who spoke at Socitm's AGM, local government can expect continued pressure for service improvement with no extra funds for the foreseeable future. Travers said: "The Comprehensive Spending Review will start a long period of zero growth in real local government spending. This will mean growth of between zero percent and one percent for most local government services, and maybe even cuts in some areas. And it will go on for some time: it will be the new reality for several years, under any political party."