Hampshire County Council has received ISO 20000 accreditation for IT service management, following an 18-month project to standardise and streamline IT across the organisation in line with industry best practice.

The local authority claims to be the UK's first county council to receive the accreditation, which recognises best practice in service management, data security and operations.

Hampshire satisfied three independent audits and an external review by the British Standards Institute (BSI).

Hampshire's position as a leader in innovation is made possible by the quality of its IT teams, said council leader councillor Ken Thornber.

"Gaining this latest recognition is an excellent achievement and I commend the hard work of our IT teams," he said.

"This demonstrates how once again the county council is taking the lead for professionalism, innovation and best value in the use of technology, at a time when the use of IT is critical to the delivery of our services."