WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

With the weather turning colder

Homeless Link have produced a list of the emergency shelters that will be open in the capital this winter.

Updates may be made to this listing as the winter progresses and more information becomes available about some of the shelters.

The winter shelters are listed under the boroughs in which they operate, so some appear more than once. Crisis at Christmas operates a service across London, and is included as the first entry.  Some boroughs are not listed at all - Housing Justice may be able to advise on projects operating in these areas.
Researched Links:

Homeless Link:  London Winter Shelters 2017-18 list published

Increased priority with the colder weather

Raising the profile of Housing First – reflections from the 2018 party conferences

Landmark package to tackle homelessness & rough sleeping in Manchester

£2.6m to help rough sleepers and increase the capacity of emergency night provision

How will Universal Credit claimants experiencing homelessness be paid?

Rough Sleeping Counts and Estimates – your questions answered

Why a gendered approach to supporting women experiencing homelessness is essential

LGA responds to Crisis analysis on rough sleeping

IPPR - Government must stop ignoring hidden crisis of rural homeless

Change Grow Live address the impact of rough sleeping and begging in Leeds

Homelessness sector calls for manifesto pledges to end rough sleeping

New grant for council homelessness services

Housing & Armed Forces sectors thanked for help on Housing Pathway for Veterans

Government urged to take strategic action as rough sleeping numbers continue to rise

How you help people sleeping rough off the streets: how StreetLink works

Rough sleeping and Home Office removals

Saving Lives: supporting people with mental illness to leave the street

Increased priority with the colder weather

Rough Sleeping in Winter – what is being done?

ScotGov:  Action on homelessness and rough sleeping

Severe Weather Emergency Protocol – saving lives in winter

Nowhere Fast: the reality of unsupported temporary accommodation

 

It is universally recognised that 30% of devices connected to any network at any given time, go undetected. An undetected device connected to the network, means it can’t be managed and if it can’t be managed, it is a vulnerability. 

WiredGov has recently teamed up with trusted IT security experts and GCloud approved supplier, C-Stem, to offer selected subscriber organisations a hassle-free Vulnerability Assessment of Device Security (VADS) enabling immediate and full visibility of ALL devices connected to YOUR networks.

Click here to take our 2-minute Public-Sector Cyber Security Survey, check eligibility to receive a full assessment, and be entered into a prize draw for your chance to win £100 in Amazon vouchers.

 
Pleas in for Budget Day!

The LGA has responded to NHS England CE Simon Stevens’ speech to the NHS Providers conference.

There cannot be a sustainable NHS without a sustainable adult social care system.  Adult social care services provide invaluable care & support for older & disabled people. 

Investing in social care keeps people out of hospital and living independent, dignified lives at home and in the community.  It is the single best investment to alleviate pressure on our vital NHS services.  Social care services face an annual funding gap of £2.3bn by 2020.  Councils have long-argued that it is a false economy to pump money into the NHS whilst leaving social care chronically underfunded.

While local government will have managed reductions to its core funding from central government totalling £16bn between 2010 and 2020, we estimate that NHS spending will have increased by just under £20bn over the same period”.

Editorial commentary on Simon Stevens’ Brexit Bus speech to the NHS Providers conference:
  • David Cameron’s government supported ‘Remain’ and did NOT promise £350m per week to the NHS
  • Brexit has not happened yet so the UK’s EU contribution still has to go the Brussels until at least April 2019
  • Mrs May’s (who voted ‘Remain’) government has been careful not to say how the EU contribution would be ‘spread’ over infrastructure, NHS, Local Government & social care, Defence, Education, Agriculture, Housing, R&D, Prisons. etc. – all of whom need extra funding
  • Why are there still huge variations in the prices paid for basic equipment by different Trusts?
Is it time for the NHS to stop writing prescriptions for ‘over the counter’ medicines such as aspirin?
Researched Links:

LGA responds to NHS England Chief Executive Simon Stevens’ speech

Simon Stevens, CEO, NHS England - Speech to NHS Providers

King's Fund:  Patient care deteriorating as NHS heads into winter on a knife edge

King's Fund:   - £4bn needed next year to stop NHS care deteriorating

NHS Confederation:  Chancellor has been warned about NHS funding need

Patients Association - Patients back calls for adequate NHS funding

It wouldn’t be winter without a ‘NHS winter crisis’

We have ‘known’ about the problem for decades, but little ever seems to be achieved

Aspirin, loo roll and surgery: true cost of the NHS revealed - Telegraph

The Sun:  NHS is wasting £ms with some trusts spending hundreds of ...

 
Partial alternative to extra £bns?

techUK Launches Investigation into How Technology Can Help Avoid a Winter Crisis.

techUK launches Investigation into How Technology Can Help Avoid a Winter NHS Crisis
 
Should it be compulsory?

PHE is urging women to have cervical screening after latest figures show a drop in attendance.

Public Health England (PHE) has issued a fresh appeal to young women to take up the invitation of a cervical cancer test as new figures show a fall in the number of 25 to 29-year-old women being tested.  NHS Digital statistics show a drop in the number of women of all ages being screened but worryingly only 62% of younger women took up the invitation for a test last year.

Researched Links:

DH:  Call for women to get life-saving smear test after uptake drops

 
SME Supplier Locator update...

UK Government and public sector spend with SME’s is continually on the increase and by 2020, it is the stated intent of Cabinet Office that £1 of every £3 spent on government contracts goes to SME’s. The past 5 years have seen government make a priority of getting money through its supply chain into the hands of SMEs, by both setting targets and introducing new procurement mechanisms.

Against this backdrop, the WiredGov 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.

Click here to find out more and view this week’s new arrivals to the SME Supplier Locator service. 

 
Not just a toy!

Drones are being used at Dounreay nuclear site, carrying out building inspection work, improving safety & saving money.

The technology sees a camera mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle to carry out tasks that would otherwise have been done by workers on platforms.  The switch to using drones means around £100,000 worth of savings to the UK taxpayer, which can be used for other front-line decommissioning & hazard reduction work.
Researched Links:

NDA:  Dounreay flies high

Mini drones set to investigate hazardous scenes, announces Defence Secretary

Great fun, BUT are you ‘Legal’

Current free flying is unsafe

Apps, paths and drones: Geovation announces its next generation of Programme members

 
Remember attack on NHS

Scotland’s public sector will be better protected against cyber-attacks with publication of a NEW action plan.

The Public Sector Action Plan on Cyber Resilience will encourage all public bodies to implement the same baseline standards of cyber-security in their organisations.  These include active threat intelligence sharing, clear cyber-incident response protocols and appropriate independent assurance that critical protection against the most common forms of attack is in place.
Researched Links:

ScotGov:  Action on cyber-resilience

The UK and France - A joint approach on digital & cybersecurity

CYBERUK 2018

Lack of basic ‘protection’

UK provides world leading cyber security insight to EU delegates

Statement: 'Bad Rabbit' malware incident

AXELOS:  Stories: your organization’s best (evolutionary) defence against cybercrime

A Cuckoo in the Nest? When speed and innovation compromise security

Cyber Crime & Fraud - Nearly Half of All Crimes This Year

LGA:  Councils need more funding to protect against big rise in cyber attacks

Government celebrates cyber security successes in Manchester

Small business urged to follow five simple steps to thrive online

Cyber experts to discuss ways to further improve Welsh defences

‘Growing our own’ is essential

Building a (cyber) secure future

This will be an ‘eternal war’

 
How to ……

The Technology Code of Practice (TCoP) sets the standard for how government should design, build & buy technology.

GDS have been working this year to iterate it so that it provides the best & most relevant guidance to government.  The GDS’s updates have now been approved by the Technology Leaders Network and the new version of the Code of Practice has just been published.

Researched Links:

GDS:  We’ve updated the Technology Code of Practice

 
Realising the benefits of technology

techUK paper outlines actions needed to accelerate IoT adoption.

techUK has launched its new paper, Top Actions to Accelerate IoT Implementation, making a series of recommendations to both Government & industry to help drive the adoption of an increasingly mature technology to increase business productivity and improve the lives of citizens.
Researched Links:

techUK:  IoT is Here. Now we Need to Drive Adoption

techUK:  Made Smarter: A £445bn Prize

You ARE at risk!

Purchasing Power to Secure the IoT – A US solution

Mastering Digital Business: BCS Publishes Guide to Preparing for Digital Transformation

Enabling Benefits of the IoT through new Industry Trust Principle

 
Real History

Curious history lovers can now explore the places, objects & stories in the care of English Heritage in exciting new ways.

Thanks to a partnership with Google Arts & Culture, thousands of rooms, objects & artworks have been photographed & catalogued, and their stories told through new & immersive online experiences.

Using the latest digital technology, the stories of 29 English Heritage places across England - from Tintagel Castle in Cornwall to Hadrian's Wall - are now brought to life through videos, high-resolution photography and 360-degree tours.
Researched Links:

English Heritage:  New Technology Unlocks Stories From England's Past

 
At last!

Scottish Legislation to provide gay men convicted under historical discriminatory laws with an automatic pardon published.

The Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) Bill will also enable men to apply to have convictions for same-sex sexual activity that is now legal removed from central criminal conviction records.
Researched Links:

ScotGov:  Pardon for gay men convicted under abolished laws

Time to judge them by today’s mores?

A fitting memorial to a great man

 
Who funds it?
FM Nicola Sturgeon announces the next stage in plans for reducing train journey times between Scotland & England.
Researched Links:

ScotGov:  Cross-border rail improvements planned

Editorial Comment: Why should rUK build Scotland’s infrastructure

An independent Scotland could require more than the ‘benefits of £24bn’ to both pay for the extension of HS2 and the subsidies of the existing railway(s)

 
Help to ‘heal’

Information about charitable grants for individuals & families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

Charity Commission:  Grenfell Tower fire response - what charitable grants are available
 
R&D the key

UK should double the proportion of its international aid budget spent on R&D so as to solve t pressing global challenges.

Growing drug resistance, increasing demand for clean energy and rising global food demand are among the challenges British science can help tackle according to PX’s latest report.  Yet R&D is relatively neglected by the rest of the international development community, presents high returns compared to other forms of intervention and is a British strength.
Researched Links:

PX:  Global Britain, Global Solutions - How British R&D can transform international development

 
Vote now!

24 November 2017 deadline for Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK tech.

techUK:  UKtech50 2017: Vote for the Most Influential Person in UK Tech
 
Best value of HS2 project

£5m will be invested in woodlands along the spine of England, following launch of the HS2 Woodland Fund.

As part of the construction of Britain’s new high speed railway, High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd is creating a network of new wildlife habitats along the route.  This includes around 7m new trees & shrubs on the first phase of the railway.

In addition to this extensive tree planting programme, a separate fund has been established to help local landowners create new native, broadleaf woodlands and restore existing ancient woodland sites.
Researched Links:

High Speed Two (HS2) Limited - New £5m fund to create & restore woodlands

HS2; still ‘in the station’ but some activity

Carefully calculate the project budget and then triple it for an under-estimation!

 
A cruel waste of money

The RSPCA is warning the public about rogue websites advertising fake premium rate numbers for their cruelty line.

Action Fraud:  Fake RSPCA websites advertising premium rate numbers
 
SuperNEMO

A mile beneath the French Alps scientists are hoping to unlock the mysteries of anti-matter and the neutrino particle.

STFC:  UK team probe the nature of the neutrino one mile underneath a mountain
 
Just imagine the debate in HoC

Online sex services now part of 'gig economy' but workers' rights are overlooked in current circumstances.

Websites offering sexual services are becoming a major part of the 'gig' economy, according to a new study.  Yet those sex workers supplying online sex chats and webcams are being ignored when it comes to policy debates about the regulation of temporary and short-term work.
Researched Links:

ESRC:  Online sex services now part of 'gig economy' but workers' rights are overlooked

 
Not one mention of Brexit!

EC proposes fishing opportunities in the Atlantic and North Sea for 2018.

EC proposes fishing opportunities in the Atlantic and North Sea for 2018
 
Like with like?

IPPR report claims top 10% of households nearly 900 times wealthier than poorest 10%.

Editorial comment;
All publications like this should come with a ‘statistical health warning’ as one could get an even more extreme disparity in wealth by comparing individuals in the 0 – 16 years range with those in the 65 – 81 years range (81 being average  length of life).  The ‘headline’ claims must always be ‘clarified’ by such factors as age, as wealth takes time to accumulate.
Researched Links:

IPPR:  Top 10% of households nearly 900 times wealthier than poorest 10%

 

 More contributions to the Brexit process

Still a ‘hot topic’, with widely spread views, for those who put fingers to keyboard in order to ‘share their views’:

Researched Links:

Brexit microsite

DExEU:  David Davis ‘Our determination to face shared threats will not diminish’

DExEU:  Brexit Secretary reaffirms UK's commitment to shared goals

10DS:  PM will meet with leaders of European business organisations

Home Office:  More detail provided on new settled status for EU citizens

DIT:  New legislation to prepare UK for future trade & customs policy

ScotGov:  Brexit talks

ScotGov:  Benefits of migration

OSSW:  Every part of Wales must flourish after Brexit

techUK:  Health & Social Care Council - Vote for Your Favourite Candidates

PC&PE:  Government's initial proposals for scrutiny of Brexit-related delegated legislation inadequate

Legatum Institute:  The UK Government needs to act now if we are to make 'Global Britain' a reality

IEA:  Lift EU regulations to let vaping flourish after Brexit

Adam Smith Inst:  Open Britain's doors to the world's innovators

CBI: UK must unite behind a 'leapfrog' industrial strategy to win in the new technology age – don't let Brexit crowd it out

CBI: No more Brexit soap opera - Time to unite to achieve best deal

 
Please choose from the links below to view individual sections of interest:
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Latest News
New Decomm Digital Newsletter
New Decomm Digital Newsletter
Welcome to #Decomm, our new digital newsletter. Having an online newsletter is a fresh approach for the NDA. Read our first edition.
Cutting-edge kit set for dry run
Cutting-edge kit set for dry run
Specialist equipment is being installed at Dungeness A in to dry out radioactive waste, halving its volume and making it ready for long-term storage.
Sellafield thinks outside the box
Sellafield thinks outside the box
Two UK companies have won a share of a multi-million pound 'container' contract which will be vital to clean-up work at Sellafield.
Dounreay flies high
Dounreay flies high
Drones are occupying the skies above the Dounreay nuclear site, at Caithness, carrying out building inspection work, improving safety and saving money.
Nuclear suppliers shine at awards
Nuclear suppliers shine at awards
The 2017 award winners have been announced at the annual NDA Estate Supply Chain Event.