WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

So the decision has been made; sort of
The Airports Commission has published its final report, which sets out its recommendations to government for expanding aviation capacity in the UK.  While each of the 3 schemes shortlisted was considered a credible option for expansion, it has unanimously concluded that the proposal for a new northwest runway at Heathrow Airport presents the strongest case and offers the greatest strategic & economic benefits – providing more than 70,000 new jobs by 2050.
Researched Links:

Airports Commission (AC) releases final report

DfT:  Secretary of State for Transport takes receipt of AC final report

CBI responds to AC

TUC welcomes report on Heathrow airport expansion

IEA:  Politicians must now embrace airport expansion

ScotGov:  Transport Minister comments on AC report

FM of Wales, Carwyn Jones responds to AC report

WWF comment on proposed third runway at Heathrow

Crossrail: textbook example of how to get things right

AirportWatch | Heathrow Third Runway

Heathrow Hub: Home

London Borough of Hillingdon - Heathrow Airport

The UK must prioritise a single hub airport with spare capacity to support trade - CBI

No To The Third Runway - cpre.org.uk‎

Stop Heathrow Expansion

Heathrow expansion | Wandsworth Council

Heathrow Runway Expansion - takingbritainfurther.com‎

HACAN:  A voice for those under Heathrow flightpaths

LJLA joins with other UK airports to back Heathrow expansion

Gatwick vs Heathrow expansion - London Gatwick: Obviously

 
Supplier Locator: July update…

Many of WiredGov’s stakeholder departments within Central Government (including HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, Home Office, BIS and DCLG) have been working hard to deliver on the Government’s pledge that 25% of all direct and indirect central government spend should be with SMEs by 2015 but there is still a great deal more work to be done.  Against this backdrop, our Supplier Locator service has been developed specifically to embrace the SME Agenda and provide the ideal platform for SME’s to promote their services, solutions, accreditation and success stories directly to our ever increasing audience across all government and public sector verticals and Tier 1 suppliers.

The most recent arrivals to the Supplier Locator include:

CH Clarke & Co
 
First Choice Office Design
 
Clicked Research Agency Understanding Talent Ltd
 
If it wasn’t for Grexit and Tunisia this would be front page news

The protection of children is one of the most serious & important responsibilities entrusted to the police service. In a time of changing communities – both real & virtual – the police service must reassess their approach to child protection, or risk failing another generation.

Although all forces have strategies & policies in place that are designed to ensure children are effectively protected & safeguarded (i.e. protected from further harm), and senior leaders are clear in the priority they place on this area of policing, HMIC’s inspections found that the plans articulated by senior officers have ‘failed as yet to result in consistently good services for children’.  On too many occasions HMIC found that investigations were poor & plagued by delay, and the response to reports of offences against children – ranging from online grooming to domestic abuse – was inadequate.

Researched Links:

HMIC:  The police service must reassess their approach to child protection - or risk failing a new generation of children

Root & Branch’ reform is so difficult to achieve despite the best of intentions

Not surprising crime figures fall if reports of crimes are ignored!

CQC updates information on 'safeguarding' children & adults in England

CQC:  Our roles & responsibilities for safeguarding children & adults

 
Should we make the police involved in protecting & safeguarding children do something similar?

The new Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) revalidation process for community nurses & midwives is a ‘wake up’ call for nurses to prepare the necessary requirements needed to continue to work in health & social care and for NHS employers to provide community nurses with the support & training to help engage with the revalidation requirements.

From April 2016, they will have to revalidate every 3 years to remain on the NMC register, a compulsory requirement if they wish to maintain registration to work in health & social care.  All nurses & midwives will be required to complete an annual 450 hours of nursing practice, plus 40 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) every 3 years, collect 5 pieces of feedback from patients & colleagues, and provide 5 written reflections relating to the NMC code of conduct.

Researched Links:

‘Wake up’ call as community nurses express concern about new NMC revalidation process

 
It’s not just Greeks who live in Greece
The Greek government has announced a bank holiday until 6 July and implemented restrictions on its banking system.  International payments into Greece are exempt from these restrictions.  UK government payments, including State Pension and public service pension payments, will continue to be made into Greek accounts in the usual way.   The DWP will attempt to contact people that draw a British State Pension from a Greek bank account, and help people to switch these payments to a non-Greek bank account if they wish.
Researched Links:

DWP:  Greek bank accounts:  advice about State Pension & welfare payments

 
LAs are calling for health precautions as temperatures rise
With temperatures soaring to up to 30˚+ Celsius in some parts of the country, the Local Government Association warns that the elderly & those suffering from respiratory problems are most at risk.
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LGA:  The heatwave arrives – Precautions called for by councils as the nation bakes

PHE:  Carry on keeping cool

2015 Heatwave Plan for England

RoSPA issues water safety message as the hot weather hits

Tombstoning - RoSPA

Drunk 17 year old 'tombstones' from Plymouth Hoe – straight into hospital

Last decade sees dramatic increase in chance of extreme hot European summers

Environment Agency teams rescue thousands of fish distressed by the heatwave

Employers urged to cool down their workplaces and their staff

Keep cool during hot weather

NHS Choices:  Heatwave – Be prepared

 
Defence Expenditure is no longer just about ‘hardware’
The MoD is looking for new techniques & methods to provide military context of cyber activities.  Its Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is seeking innovative ways to interact with cyberspace to help commanders understand the cyber component of the military situation.  Dstl’s Centre for Defence Enterprise is launching a competition for industry & academia to present new ways to help MOD understand, interact & predict outcomes within cyberspace.
Researched Links:

Dstl:  Understand & interact with cyberspace

Chatham House:  Connecting the digital divides - Technology & cyber policy experts launch new journal

BCS:  SFIA version 6 launched to drive the digital age

BCS and the Tech Partnership put professional development high on agenda for IT specialists

The Cold War heats up as the cyber threat increases

 
Only a ‘team effort’ can provide 24/7 cyber vigilance
Organizations can be more effective in preventing & responding to cyber-attacks by ensuring effective collaboration between those responsible for cyber resilience and IT Service Management (ITSM) teams, according to a new white paper by AXELOS Global Best Practice.  Despite the numerous overlaps between cyber resilience and ITSM, many organizations manage them in independent silos, which results in unhelpful conflicts.  The white paper – Cyber resilience and ITSM: working together to secure the information your business relies on – argues that there needs to be real collaboration between cyber resilience and ITSM to ensure risks are properly managed.
Researched Links:

AXELOS:  Cyber Resilience & ITSM

CESG:  Guidance on Security Operations & Management now available on GOV.UK

It is an increasingly dangerous Cyber World out there

You may get more than you wanted purchasing online

A cost that increases even faster than house prices in London

EVERYONE is at risk to some degree, not just Businesses

‘Terrorism’ comes in many forms

 
Provision of a service does not mean people know about it
Disabled patients are set to benefit from improved healthcare after a new law comes into force to ensure information they receive is clear, consistent & easy to understand.  The Accessible Information Standard will be implemented on 31 July 2016 and aims to provide people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss with information that they can easily read or understand.  This means informing organisations how to make sure people get information in different formats, for example in large print, braille or via a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.  All organisations that provide NHS or adult social care are required to follow the new standard.
Researched Links:

NHS England launches accessible information standard

 
Not only the NHS that needs to ‘get its message out’
HMRC is piloting new British Sign Language services for deaf customers working with the Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD).  Deaf customers, who are able to handle their own affairs but cannot speak to HMRC directly, can now use video relay with a BSL interpreter via a webcam, and the interpreter will be able to talk directly to an HMRC adviser on the phone to create a 3-way ‘real time’ conversation.
Researched Links:

HMRC:  New services available for HMRC’s deaf customers

 
If we ignore history we will forget its lessons
The public will be invited to the Thiepval Memorial in France on 1 July 2016 to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.  The joint Anglo-French event is expected to attract great public interest, so tickets 8,000 tickets will be allocated in pairs, free of charge, through a public online ballot.  The ballot will be open to residents of the UK, France & Ireland on 28 September 2015.  The Somme was one of the bloodiest battles of the WW1, resulting in over 1m casualties.
Researched Links:

DCMS:  We will remember them - 8,000 tickets available for public to commemorate the Battle of the Somme Centenary

DCMS:  Register your interest in the 2016 Somme Centenary Ballot

 
Being ‘orientated differently’ is not a crime and is ‘normal’

The government have launched their £2m fund to tackle homophobic, biphobic & transphobic bullying in schools.  It intends to share the lessons learned from these projects more widely with schools, so that they have the knowledge & tools to tackle this issue more effectively.

In addition, the Government has launched a new Stop Online Abuse website to help people take action against offensive, damaging or threatening content in all forms of media, particularly online.  The website provides practical advice for women & LGB&T people on how to recognise abuse, steps to take to report it and how to get offensive content removed.

Researched Links:

DfE:  Celebrating Pride in London

NHS England:  NHS drive for action to tackle trans inequalities

 
Information for those who left the armed forces between December 2008 & September 2011
If you have now left the armed forces and had administrative action taken against you as a result of a police caution between December 2008 and September 2011, it may be that you have grounds for a complaint.
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MoD:  Information for those who left the armed forces between December 2008 and September 2011

 
175m numbers set to benefit
From 1 July 2015, all Freephone numbers which begin 0800 or 0808 will became free for consumers to call from all phones, whether mobile or landline.  In addition, landline & mobile charges will become clearer for calls to service numbers starting 084, 087, 09 and 118.
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Ofcom:  Call charges clearer from Wednesday

EU News:  Commission welcomes agreement to end roaming charges and to guarantee an open Internet

 
Have you made an impact?
GSK and The King’s Fund have launched the 2016 GSK IMPACT Awards, which will be open for applications from UK charities until 25 September 2015.  The awards are open to charities with an annual income of between £25,000 & £2m that are at least 3 years old.  The name ‘IMPACT’ derives from the criteria that winners must have demonstrated in their application submissions: Innovation, Management, Partnership, Achievement, Community Focus and Targeting Need.
Researched Links:

Kings Fund:  2016 GSK IMPACT Awards calls for applications from health & wellbeing charities

 
£ up, savings protection down
The government has introduced legislation which will ensure that retail customers & small businesses will continue to receive deposit protection of up to £85,000 until 31 December 2015, after which a new limit of £75,000 will come into effect.   As the value of the £ has increased, it is necessary to reduce the limit.  Over 95% of retail depositors will continue to be fully protected by the FSCS’s new deposit protection limit following the reduction.
Researched Links:

HMT:  Government acts to support depositors during change to a new Financial Services Compensation Scheme coverage level

 
Will it be the same after the budget?
Tax-Free Childcare will be available to up to 1.8m households to help with the cost of childcare, enabling more parents to go out to work, if they want to, to provide greater security for their families.  Here are the top 10 things to know about the scheme.
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HMT:  Tax-Free Childcare: 10 things parents should know

 

 More contributions to the UK constitutional debate

More news, opinions, documents, claims & counter-claims;

Researched Links:

WAG:  Minister announces plans for a smooth transition to Welsh taxes

 
Please choose from the links below to view individual sections of interest:
Our biggest talking point this week has been whether black and ethnic minority people are shortchanged by mental health services. The author explains that for many, long term care is denied in favour of sectioning and medication, and there is no follow-up support. Here's what some of you had to say:
UNCHARITABLE
"Ethnic minorities are less likely to be referred to talking therapies, more likely to be sectioned and more likely to come to mental health services via the courts. The reasons are complicated, embarrassment, fear of being sectioned, not believing in the medical model for these diseases, misdiagnosis, under resourced and complicated systems that are particularly hard for disadvantaged groups to access may all play a part."

steweatherhead
"Staffing levels are too low to be able to truly individualise care; the cultural awareness and sensitivity of these services overall is far behind the curve when it comes to considering the diversity within the UK population."
Join the debate by posting a comment or tweeting us @GdnHealthcare.
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