WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

‘Depraved’ hardly even begins to describe his actions

The Speaking Out investigation was established by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust to investigate the very serious allegations of criminality made against Jimmy Savile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital over many years.

This investigation was undertaken alongside inquiries by other NHS organisations and the Department of Health.  The Speaking Out Investigation is being independently overseen by Kate Lampard, on behalf of the DoH, to ensure that it is robust and any lessons for the NHS can be quickly shared & acted upon.

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YOUR ORGANISATION’S DATA:
A PROTECTED ASSET OR A TICKING TIME BOMB?

71% of employees surveyed report access to data they should not see

Despite a growing number of data breaches occurring under the glare of the public spotlight, the latest survey by the the Ponemon Institute highlights the role that internal vulnerability and negligence often play, suggesting that most organisations are having difficulty balancing the need for improved security with employee productivity demands:

  • 71% of employees surveyed report access to data they should not see
  • Only 22% of employees say their organisation is able to tell them what happened to lost data, files or emails
  • 64% of end users agree that employees are unknowingly the most likely to be responsible for the leakage of data

Simply click here to download the full survey along with the latest white paper on insider threats including the six things you should be doing to mitigate insider threats within your organisation.

 
In it for the ‘Long Haul’

Britain will expand its efforts to combat dementia over the next 5 years the PM said recently as he set out a new, long-term strategy ‘focused on boosting research, improving care and raising public awareness about the condition’.

Britain has emerged as the world leader in fighting dementia since 2010 with investment in research doubled, hundreds of thousands of NHS staff given specialist training and 1m ‘Dementia Friends’ taking part in awareness sessions across the country.  The PM’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 is the next phase in the country’s effort to combat the condition and includes:

  • Over £300m invested in UK research
  • New global fund on dementia
  • 1m NHS staff trained
  • 3 more ‘Dementia Friends’
  • Faster assessments, better care for all
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Metal Theft stats in ‘meltdown’
Metal thefts have fallen by a third in the past year, as councils lead efforts to combat unscrupulous thieves targeting churches, desecrating war memorials and causing disruption by stealing electric cables & metal from railway lines.  The Local Government Association said the decline in metal thefts – which cost the economy around £770m a year - follows the new Scrap Metal Dealers Act which came into force in October 2013 alongside a range of other measures to tackle the crime.
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Short-term holiday savings may have long-term negative impact on children’s career choices
Research based on pupil absence & exam results data reveals the link between attendance & achievement.  Even short breaks from school can reduce a pupil’s chances of succeeding at school by as much as a quarter.
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Government tells lobbying charities to ‘Put a sock in it’

The government is clamping down on taxpayers’ money being used to hire lobbyists.  The move comes after a small number of local enterprise partnerships were found to be hiring public affairs consultancies to lobby the government & Parliament on their behalf.

The CLG is also cracking down on taxpayer funded lobby by other organisations. The Institute of Economic Affairs has undertaken extensive research on ‘sock puppets’ - those pressure groups & charities receiving public money that then use it to lobby government & Parliament for more money & regulation.

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Sign up to learn & take part
Authors, actors & musicians have lent their support to the Last Post Project’s ambition to get communities across the country playing the Last Post for someone in the First World War.  Following a successful start that saw over 40,000 people take part in 2014, the project has now launched a free information & activity pack exploring the battle of Gallipoli.  Teachers, parents, youth workers & community groups can register for the pack and to take part in a week of Last Post activities from 20-26 April 2015.
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OS opens up to innovators

Ordnance Survey announced it will ‘launch a world-leading digital map as open data and create an engagement hub in London’.   It will generate opportunities for enterprise, drive innovation in the digital economy, increase demand for new apps & services and help data-driven businesses to grow.

Recently OS supported the UK’s first ever Open Data Camp in Hampshire.  200 developers, innovators & entrepreneurs had a chance to trial some of the new data to create fresh insights and innovative products & services.

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Re-designing a website is no guarantee of improving it
Better connected 2015 has published information about websites that have been redesigned in 2014 up to the date of their latest review since the last survey, and uses data from the main survey to evaluate the effectiveness of those re-designs.  Data about such sites – 63 in total - was gathered by former council web manager Kevin Jump, who provides commentary in the report on trends in local authority web design based on his appraisal of these sites.
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If I had £1 for every one of these calls!!!!!!
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has welcomed the announcement by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that it will make it easier for the ICO to take action against companies making nuisance calls and sending spam texts.  Electronic marketing, including marketing calls & texts, are covered by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).  The regulations require organisations to have an individual’s consent to make automated marketing calls or send marketing texts to that person.
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Friday 13th will be a lucky day for 5 applicants
The L'Oréal UK & Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science are offered by a partnership between L'Oréal UK & Ireland, the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Irish National Commission for UNESCO, with the support of the Royal Society.  From 2015, 5 Fellowships are awarded annually to outstanding female postdoctoral researchers.  Each worth £15,000, the Fellowships are tenable at any UK or Irish university / research institute to support a 12-month period of postdoctoral research in any area of the life, physical sciences, mathematics & engineering.  Applications close on Friday 13 March 2015.
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A chance to reward ‘un-sung heroes’
DoH is looking for nominations to be considered for New Year 2016 honours.  If you know someone who has made an outstanding contribution within the health & care system you can nominate them for a New Year’s honour.  Status or seniority isn’t important - what matters is what the person has done & the impact they have had on people’s health & care over a sustained period.
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‘Let the dogs off the leash’

HMRC's Chief Executive, Lin Homer, has announced in a Treasury Select Committee hearing that the French authorities have formally agreed that HMRC can share stolen HSBC Suisse customer account data with other law enforcement agencies & regulators, for the purposes of pursuing criminal offences.

HMRC received the data from the French in April 2010 under very strict international treaty conditions, which limited its use to tax purposes only and prevented HMRC from sharing the data with other law enforcement authorities for investigating other potential offences.

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 More contributions to the UK constitutional debate

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

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Please choose from the links below to view individual sections of interest:

Effectiveness, efficiency and accountability in council spending has been abandoned alongside the Audit Commission – so says David Walker in his comment article last week. Let us know what you think of the demise of the body that scrutinises local government spending in the comments section or on Twitter via @Guardianpublic.

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News in Brief

• London: 'the city that privatised itself to death'
• BIS criticised for lax oversight of £1.2bn higher education expansion
• Greater Manchester will get control of £6bn of health spending
• Lincoln is first council to ban public consumption of legal highs
• Labour accused the coalition of sneaking out regulations to speed up NHS privatisation