The latest computer technology is being used to keep on top of a council's figures.

East Dorset District Council is among the first local authorities in the county to benefit from new IT systems, with statistics on community safety and equality being presented to councillors and senior officers at the authority's scrutiny and policy committee last week.

The new electronic performance management system was funded by a regional grant of nearly £320,000 and will be shared by councils across the county.

Cllr Tim Palmer, chairman of the district council's scrutiny and policy committee, said the system was "absolutely vital" with new methods of government scrutiny coming in which will judge East Dorset council with its neighbours.

"Its impossible to imagine running a large corporate body without a performance management system of this kind," he said.

Staying on top of precious data is crucial to retaining the council's independence from Whitehall. For example, the Audit Commission recently gave the authority the thumbs up in its "Direction of Travel" report.

But an emphasis on continual improvement means town hall chiefs must stay ahead of the game to retain civic independence from Whitehall control.

"Without a system like this, we would have the Audit Commission knocking on the door awarding us nil points," said Cllr Palmer.

The system will be shared with authorities in west Dorset and Purbeck, as well as Dorset County Council.

An "exception report" will be generated by the system to warn sub-committees of areas where performance has dropped. And councillors hope the early warning system will help them stay one step ahead of Whitehall pen pushers in the fight for extra funding "The system works on a traffic light basis, and a red light will alert us immediately to problems," said Cllr Palmer.