WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

ICOOutsourcing a task does not mean an end to an organisation's legal responsibility - Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has been served with a Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) of £325,000 following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act (DPA), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said recently.

The data breach occurred when an individual engaged by the Trust’s IT service provider, Sussex Health Informatics Service (HIS), was tasked to destroy approximately 1,000 hard drives held in a room accessed by key code at Brighton General Hospital in September & October 2010.  The Trust has been unable to explain how the individual removed at least 252 of the approximate 1,000 hard drives they were supposed to destroy from the hospital during their 5 days on site.

The Trust has now committed to providing a secure central store for hard drives and other media, reviewing the process for vetting potential IT suppliers, obtaining the services of a fully accredited ISO 27001 IT waste disposal company and making progress towards central network access. 
Press release ~ View a copy of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust monetary penalty~ View all of our recent monetary penalty action ~ ISO 27001 & Information Security ~ Trust response to penalty ~ ICO consults on new anonymisation code of practice (closes 23 August 2012) ~ ICO to revise publication scheme requirements ~ ICO - Council fined £70,000 for losing highly sensitive data ~ ICO:  It’s not just the bad publicity, the ICO could fine an organisation as well (4th item)

If the above item raises any concerns / issues as to your own organisation why not consider one of the ICO’s FREE Advisory Visits: Data Protection Advice - In a Day, which are aimed at SMEs such as smaller public authorities, charities & third sector organisations.

There are 3 main areas that they will look at; security, records management and requests for personal information, plus providing an opportunity for you to ask us questions about data protection.  There is no expense to your organisation and you get a short report at the end, which summarises what you should do next.  Simply click here to find out more.

CSJ:  With budget cuts we can only afford targeted funding that delivers value for money - Crude & flawed yardsticks for measuring child poverty should be scrapped and replaced with a range of new indicators reflecting the true causes of deprivation, according to a leading think-tank.  The Centre for Social Justice condemns the existing official formula as arbitrary & faulty and says that it conveys almost nothing about the suffocating nature of genuine hardship.

Christian Guy, Managing Director of the CSJ, said: ….. “Poverty is about more than money - it is about the family breakdown, addiction, debt-traps, and failing schools that blight the lives of our children."   The current formula, based mainly on income inequality targets, has led to narrow & expensive policy responses, costing taxpayers at least £150bn from 2004 to 2010.   

In a new report, the CSJ calls for a complete overhaul of the system, in which the accent would be on measuring the underlying causes of blighted young lives, such as family breakdown, welfare dependency and educational failure, rather than the symptoms of low relative income.
Press release & links ~ CSJ: Rethinking Child Poverty ~ Coalition tug of war stifles solutions to family breakdown, warns CSJ ~ UNICEF calls on austerity Britain not to harm children ~ NICEF Report Card 10, Measuring Child Poverty ~ ONS: At Risk of Poverty Rates 2010 ~ 12 cost-free policies to reform Britain: a 12 days of Christmas gift to the Government ~ Strengthening the Family and Tackling Family Breakdown. Fatherlessness, Dysfunction, and Parental Separation/Divorce ~ Response of the Centre for Social Justice to Child Poverty and Improving Life Chances - Consulting on a New Approach ~ JRF - New Welsh poverty figures threaten 2020 child poverty target ~ Previous UNICEF UK response to Child poverty Strategy ~ DWP report: CPU Child Poverty Pilots: Interim synthesis report ~ IFS:  The better off can cut back on expensive luxuries, but for the poor that is often not an option ~ WAG: Child poverty ~ Child Poverty and Social Exclusion in Rural Wales (scroll down) ~ ‘Child Poverty Solutions Wales’ website

NHS ConfedTime to call ‘Time’ on cheap & accessible booze? - NHS Information Centre figures published recently show the burden of alcohol on the health service is unsustainable

The NHS Confederation's Jo Webber, said: "Alcohol is already costing the NHS more than £3 billion a year and the problem is taking an intolerable toll on our society.  In some parts of the country more than a fifth of A&E admissions are alcohol related.  Drink can be a contributory factor with some of our biggest killers such as cancer.  It can also lead to particular difficulties for people with mental health problems.  The fact that only one in 18 people who are dependent on alcohol receives treatment shows we need to up our game. But solving the problem is not something the NHS can do alone”. 
Press release & links ~ Alcohol dependency drugs: 60% rise in prescription items in 8 years ~ NHS Confederation's submission to the Health Select Committee's alcohol strategy inquiry ~ Health Select Committee's alcohol strategy inquiry ~ Ambitious plans to turn the tide on irresponsible drinking ~ Find out about minimum pricing ~ NHS Confederation comment on Alcohol Strategy ~ Science & Technology Cttee: Alcohol guidelines ~ Commons Health Committee Report on AlcoholSheffield University research on minimum pricingAlcohol attributable mortality and morbidity ~ ScotGov - alcohol ~ Alcohol – Minimum Pricing ~ Health in Wales: Alcohol ~ NI: Drugsalcohol.info

WAG:  ‘Rural’ by definition means few affordable houses or well-paid jobs - The Minister for Housing, Regeneration and Heritage, Huw Lewis has recently visited housing projects in Llanbedr and Crickhowell to see how, by working closely with communities, unique solutions can overcome rural housing problems.

A pan-Wales Rural Housing Enabler Network was established in 2008 and the Welsh Government provided £150k a year to support the establishment of 10 Rural Housing Enabler posts, alongside funding from Local Authority, and RSL partners and other bodies such as National Park Authorities.
Press release & links ~ Pan-Wales Rural Housing Enabler Network ~ JRF: A minimum income standard for rural households (see also related articles to rt. of webpage) ~ Taylor Review into rural housing and economies ~ NI: Rural Housing Association ~ Government response to the Matthew Taylor Review: Implementation plan ~ Defra: Rural proofing ~ Rural Housing Service Scotland ~ Rural Housing Information Centre ~ HCA: Rural Housing

HMRCe-Trotters are fools if they think they can horse around when it comes to paying their taxes - People trading on the internet who haven’t paid all the tax they owe have just a couple of days left to take part in an opportunity offered by HM Revenue & Customs to get their tax affairs in order on the best terms available.  

Under the time-limited opportunity, known as the e-Markets Disclosure Facility, online marketplace traders who come forward before 14 June 2012 to register their intention to take part in the campaign can benefit from lower penalties than those who HMRC catches up with.

People who sell only a few personal items, however, and who are not traders are unlikely to be liable to pay tax on what they sell, and are not being targeted by this campaign.  Those who are unsure whether their e-marketplace activity could be seen as trading can visit HMRC’s website and can watch a YouTube video for advice.
Press release & links

ieaWhy not a version for top bankers & managers whose actions slash share values and ruin the economy? - In a new paper released recently by the Institute of Economic Affairs, it was argued that that Britain should introduce a debt brake to ensure the Chancellor balances his budget. 

If the Chancellor fails to observe the debt brake, there should be a public exchange of letters between him and the OBR explaining why & what action is being taken to rectify the situation.  The Chancellor could also face a personal financial penalty of up to 20% of his salary.
Press release ~ Binding the Hands of Government

EU NewsA smart way to find out about EHIC - Just in time for the summer holidays, the EURO 2012 Football Championship and the London 2012 Olympics, the European Commission has launched an application for smartphones explaining how to use the European Health Insurance Card.
Press release & links

Forthcoming event:  Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit  - 19-20 September 2012, London - Strategic Roadmaps to Secure the Enterprise and Reduce Risk - As the premier gathering of enterprise IT security and risk management executives, the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit takes a comprehensive look at the entire spectrum of IT security, business continuity management and risk, including: network and infrastructure security, identity and access management, compliance, privacy, fraud, business continuity management, and resilience.
 
Experience two days of interactive presentations, guest keynotes, real-world case studies, panel discussions, peer networking and topic-specific roundtable and workshop discussions.

Click here to view the full agenda and register.

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