I’ve just come across Open Data Kit, which is ‘a free and open-source set tools [sic] which help organizations author, field, and manage mobile data collection solutions’.

I’ve not played with it, and I don’t know how well it would suit UK use, but according to the Open Data Kit website it enables users to:

• Build a data collection form or survey;
• Collect the data on a mobile device and send it to a server; and
• Aggregate the collected data on a server and extract it in useful formats.

Apparently it’s reached the finals of the ‘Best use of Technology in Government, Non-Profit, or Education’ category of the Washington Technology Association’s 16th annual Industry Achievement Awards.