WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Ways of opening up Europe by negotiation

Where do EU member states stand in the wake of the UK's Brexit vote?  And what does this mean for future UK-EU negotiations? Open Europe Co-Director Stephen Booth argues that the UK needs to carefully survey individual countries' interests to get UK-EU negotiations right.

In a second report, based on interviews with businesses, trade associations and additional research, Open Europe assess how withdrawal from the EU would impact 8 of the UK’s key exporting industries, in both the goods & services sectors.

Researched Links:

Open Europe: EU member states’ positions on Brexit and their implications for UK-EU negotiations

Open Europe: Securing free trade with EU after Brexit likely in goods sectors but far harder for services

Telegraph: New Zealand offers UK its top trade negotiators for post-Brexit deals

 

In response to the growing concern over email security, the United Kingdom is requiring all government agencies to adhere to new protocols related to email communications. To truly protect against cybercrime through the email channel, a widely used email authentication standard called Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) was developed to restore trust in the email sender-receiver relationship by reducing email threats such as phishing, brand impersonation and malware.

To learn more about how to comply, we invite you to download this latest paper within which you will learn:

  • Why is email authentication important?
  • What does a strong email authentication system incorporate? 
  • How to comply with and surpass the updated government regulations

Click here to access and download your free copy of ‘Understanding and Complying with New Email Authentication Requirements for the UK Government’

 
No real mention of Brexit and the consequent reduction in funds!

The EC has proposed the 2017 draft EU Budget of €134.9bn in payments focusing on the 2 main policy priorities for Europe:

*supporting the ongoing recovery of the European economy

*addressing the security & humanitarian challenges in our neighbourhood

Increased funding will go to investments in growth, jobs & competitiveness in the EU as well as to securing the necessary resources to protect the external borders of the EU, to reinforce security inside & outside the Union, to provide support for the reception & integration of refugees, and to address the root causes of migration in the countries of origin and transit. 

MEPs also call for the introduction of one or several new “own resources”;

*a reformed VAT

*a Financial Transaction Tax

*a reformed EU Emissions Trading System

*the phasing out of all forms of rebates

Editorial comment:  One would have thought there would be some forward planning for the loss of UK contribution and one notes they want to get rid of our rebate!
Researched Links:

EU News:  Draft EU Budget 2017: Commission proposes a budget focused on priorities

Update EU’s long-term spending plan to cope with crises, urges Budgets Committee

 
There is no movement on Turkey joining EU!!!!!!
The 12th meeting of the Accession Conference with Turkey at Ministerial level was held last week in Brussels.

Accession conference with Turkey: Talks opened on Chapter 33 - Financial & budgetary provisions

 
They help fill in the Thin Blue Line
Do you know a police volunteer who deserves special recognition?  Nominate them in our annual awards in celebration of police volunteers in England & Wales.  Anyone can nominate a special constable, police support volunteer or volunteer police cadet for an individual or team award.  Nominations are open until Sunday 17 July 2016.

Home Office:  Nominations now open for the Lord Ferrers Awards 2016

 
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. 

 
A boost for some lucky start-ups
As a key partner of EHI Live this year, techUK is offering start-ups free exhibition space at one of the largest health & social care conferences in the UK.  The conference is in Birmingham on the 1st & 2nd of November. The start-ups chosen for the free stand space will each have a half day to show their product, speak to attendees and exhibit alongside techUK.  The deadline for all expressions of interest is next Friday 8 July 2016.

techUK:  Health & social care start-up? Exhibit at EHI Live for free!

 
Should this be delayed until we know impact of Brexit?
The programme for High Speed 2 (HS2) is facing cost & schedule pressures with options for extending the opening date for phase 1 now being considered and steps are being taken to bring cost estimates within available funding, according to a report by the National Audit Office.
Researched Links:

NAO:  Progress with preparations for High Speed 2

DfT:  Investment in infrastructure is now even more important

HS2 Ltd response to NAO report

But which government will pay for it – perhaps ScotGov should pay for it out of the overgenerous Fiscal Framework?

Will this ‘power-up’ the northern economy?

 
Does this impact on you or someone you know?
Public Health England (PHE) is reminding those aged 79 years who have previously been offered shingles vaccine but haven’t received it, to ensure they have it before their 80th birthday.  Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against this debilitating illness.  Any individual who reaches their 80th birthday is no longer eligible for the vaccine due to the reducing effectiveness of the vaccine as age increases.

DH:  Approaching 80? Make sure you have had your shingles vaccine

Shingles - NHS Choices

 
All ‘work’ should be pensionable
A TUC report has found that as many as 3m part-time women workers are excluded from workplace pensions.  The report Unfinished Business: Building a fresh consensus on workplace pensions, finds from analysis of official data that 4.6m UK workers earn less than £10,000, which is the trigger for automatic enrolment into a pension.  Of these, 3.4m are women.  The TUC is calling for the government to use a planned review of automatic enrolment, which is due to report in 2017, to set out a roadmap for long-term development of workplace pensions.

TUC: 3m part-time women workers excluded from workplace pensions

 

 More contributions following EU Referendum

As might be expected, having got over the shock of the Brexit referendum result, just about every organisation and Think Tank this week put fingers to keyboard in order to ‘share their views’:

Researched Links:

 

UK Government:
10DS:  PM Commons statement on the result of the EU referendum: 27 June 2016

HMT:  Statement by the Chancellor following the EU referendum

NHS England:  EU are all highly valued

BIS:  Today’s challenges are tomorrow’s opportunities

BIS:  EU referendum result: update on support for business

Electoral Commission:  National turnout for the EU Referendum is announced

BIS:  Business Secretary to chair Business Roundtable

BIS:  Statement on higher education & research following the EU referendum

BIS: Business Secretary to chair government group focused on business engagement following referendum

EHRC comments on racist incidents following EU referendum

Culture Secretary statement on DCMS sectors following the EU referendum

ICO:  Referendum result response

ICO:  Referendum result response update

EU:
EU News:  Statement on the Decision of Commissioner Lord Hill to resign from the EC

EU News: Joint statement by Schulz, Tusk, Rutte and Juncker on UK referendum outcome

EU News:  Debate on Brexit and its consequences

EU News:  MEPs call for swift Brexit to end uncertainty and for deep EU reform

Speech by President Jean-Claude Juncker on the result of the referendum in the UK

ScotGov:
ScotGov:  EU Referendum

ScotGov:  Scotland in Europe

ScotGov:  FM's statement on EU referendum

ScotGov:  Standing Council on Europe

ScotGov:  Support for business following EU referendum

ScotGov:  Scotland in Europe

ScotGov:  Protecting Scotland’s EU interests

Wales:
WAG:  Welsh Cabinet to meet on EU referendum

WAG:  Statement by the FM: EU referendum Cabinet meeting

WAG:  Every penny of EU funds to Wales must be replaced” says Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford

WAG:  “Racism has absolutely no place in Wales” says First Minister Carwyn Jones

WAG:  Wales is still a great place to do business says Economy Secretary

Wales Office:  Alun Cairns tells business leaders - UK Government will support you

Welsh NHS Confederation statement on EU referendum

Northern Ireland:
NIA:  Committee brings Brexit concerns to the fore

Think Tanks, etc.:
IPPR:  Post-Brexit Britain faces battle between progressive & regressive forces - IPPR

IPPR Scotland comment on the Leave vote

IPPR Scotland: 'UK Government must help not hinder Scotland from remaining in the EU'

Brexit inflation shock will hit poorest families twice as hard as the richest

IPPR:  Brexit and the North

IPPR:  Brexit & climate change - no need for environment backlash

IPPR: 5 actions the Government must take now to deal with this crisis

RUSI:  Negotiating Britain’s EU Departure: From Tears to Hard-Headed Calculations

RUSI:  Malcolm Chalmers on the Implications of the EU referendum for the UK's international role

IFS - We are in uncharted waters without a compass

PX:  The implications of Brexit on energy and environmental policy

CBI: Business priorities post-EU referendum

CBI Letter to The Times: Business priorities post-EU referendum

NEF:  Brexit: the immediate risks

NEF:  Putting communities at the heart of a post-Brexit plan

BCS warns that UK must focus on maintaining its place in the European and global scientific & engineering communities post Brexit

Age UK:   How will the EU Referendum affect older people?

techUK:  Plan A: use the UK’s tech excellence to power Britain back to growth

Open Europe :  EU member states’ positions on Brexit and their implications for UK-EU negotiations

Open Europe: Securing free trade with EU after Brexit likely in goods sectors but far harder for services

TUC backs CBI’s call for certainty for EU citizens in the UK

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

There is, according to Lord Gus O'Donnell, former head of the civil service, no rush. Brexit is not going to be a simple process.
But there is an awful lot of uncertainty, and leaders from across the public sector are calling for clarity. “Whoever leads the government will need to ensure that they provide the civil service with the resources and expertise necessary to deliver this outcome,” says Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union. A PCS official, meanwhile, warns that the fallout from the vote will add pressure to civil servants at a time of political turmoil.
In local government, some are viewing the result as a boost for localism. “We need to ensure the money sent to Brussels is now better spent in our local communities,” says Solace director Graeme McDonald. Read more reactions here.

More Brexit Coverage

Whitehall has no roadmap for the gargantuan task of enabling Brexit

Whitehall has no roadmap for the gargantuan task of enabling Brexit
There aren’t enough civil servants with experience to handle massive programme of legislative reconstruction

Referendum campaign lacked evidence, but the fallout must not

Referendum campaign lacked evidence, but the fallout must not
Government ministers and public servants must avoid knee-jerk reactions when making spending decisions

Now is Whitehall's chance to shed its reputation as elitist and aloof

Now is Whitehall's chance to shed its reputation as elitist and aloof
Civil servants should avoid the temptation to adopt a bunker mentality in the coming months

Also on the network
MoD squanders £100m a year on performance management

MoD squanders £100m a year on performance management
Even hardened trade unionists like myself were shocked over how much is spent on the unfair ranking system

I was made to feel not good enough to interview for my own job at the Tate

I was made to feel not good enough to interview for my own job at the Tate
Agency staff knew it was a zero-hours contract but we had hoped our loyalty would be recognised

News in brief
• Oliver Robbins takes charge of UK Brexit unit
• Government Digital Service is trying to lose its “arrogant” image
• Jeremy Corbyn defiant as council leaders join resignation calls
• Councils win Israel boycott case
• David Cameron defends civil servants after criticism from Ukip