Public Sector Perspective
At the beginning of each month at LSBUD, everyone in the team tries to predict the number of search requests which will run through our system and, as the new recruit, I am consistently underestimating that figure.
I knew that LSBUD was popular but did not know quite how popular…with over 300,000 searches per month. That is the equivalent to one every 10 seconds.
As I drill down into my particular area of interest, the UK Public Sector, I have been pleased to see the sheer number of searches carried out by public sector bodies. Our records show a minimum of 200,000 searches by public sector workers per annum with one County Council in the South of England racking up 14,000 alone.
And it is not just local government; central government agencies involved in transportation, planning and the environment take advantage of the ease of the LSBUD system to review where there may be hidden assets. As an example, one major environmental body carried out over 7000 searches in 2021 and the numbers for 2022 keep growing.
From Highways to Drainage, from Planning to Flood Management, there is the desire to ensure that workers are safeguarded, the environment is protected, and community disruption is minimised.
LSBUD may be driven by the private sector, but the advantages of a free, open access portal, fully supported by industry, are available to everyone be they a private individual, a civil engineer, or a local authority Landscape Architect.
And long may that continue.
Rick Crowhurst
Government Business Development Manager
