New P40B survey shows more council staff banned from Facebook

I've just published the results of a P40B survey at www.p40b.co.uk

Over the summer, I contacted all the London Boroughs under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act to see whether they banned their employees from accessing sites such as Facebook and MySpace. It's clear that councils are divided over their approach, but more and more are choosing to use software to block their staff from gaining access. Although no one wants to think of public servants sitting around wasting their time at work, I wonder whether the policy is rather shortsighted? We all know that there's a whole generation addicted to social networking. Even older folk such as myself have dipped their toes in the water. Wouldn't it be better to encourage social networking as a way of stimulating a connection between council employees and members of the public who are pretty alienated from local government? I hope this is a story that will be picked up by the media, as there are implications right across the public sector.

In other news, as my 40th birthday fast approaches, we've had more pictures of hats appearing around the world. If you visit www.40whitehats.co.uk, you'll find the familiar white titfers as far afield as New York City and Queensland, Australia. It's great to think that news of my celebrations is spreading virally to people I've never met before.

I hope shortly to launch another signature initiative in which people can send me greetings from far-flung locations. Watch this space.

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Latest birthday news

Hats are travelling well. The latest shots from Belgium, France and Spain are now available to view on www.40whitehats.co.uk

The eccentric Count Phillip von Woodford is about to travel to Salzburg to investigate a code hidden within one of the world's best-loved musicals.

And a whole new P40B site is set to launch shortly. Watch this space.