WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
| Why didn’t Labour complain about electoral bias when the electoral system favoured them? |
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The independent Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has published its initial proposals for new Parliamentary constituencies. The publication marks the start of a consultation (closes on 5 December 2016), during which the BCE needs to hear from you to help shape the proposed new constituency boundaries. Following a decision by Parliament to reduce the number of constituencies in the UK to 600 from 650, and to ensure that the number of electors in each constituency is more equal, the BCE has been asked to make independent recommendations about where the boundaries of English constituencies should be. The BCE must report to Parliament in 2018 and, if agreed by Parliament, the new constituencies will be in use at the next scheduled General Election in 2020. |
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Boundary Commission for England: 2018 Boundary Review initial proposals launched Cabinet Office: Boundary reform is essential for modern democracy CO: Independent review to deliver fair & equal parliamentary boundaries Electoral Commission calls on government to harness resources for voter registration Electoral Bias - UK Polling Report Guardian - Election 2015: How Labour gains from UK electoral system in a tight ... |
With the 8th iteration of G-Cloud now live, we would greatly appreciate your participation in our G-Cloud survey. This survey has been designed to measure the current thoughts, feelings and experiences of the G-Cloud (Digital Marketplace) across public sector organisations’ to determine where improvements (if any) can be made. The survey should take less than 1 minute to complete and closes at 5pm tomorrow (20th September 2016). Click here to offer your views plus a chance to win £100 worth of Amazon vouchers! |
| It is not just about new Grammar Schools |
| New proposals to create a 21st-century school system that works for everyone have been unveiled by Education Secretary Justine Greening. The consultation closes on 12 December 2016. |
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DfE: Building a school system that works for everyone JRF: Bringing back grammar schools won’t increase opportunity for those who need it most IFS: Can grammar schools improve social mobility? Grammar schools: What are they and why are they controversial? - BBC |
| SME Supplier Locator update... |
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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. |
| While some records are critical / important (child protection, immunisation, etc.)... |
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...others are used to just ‘pad out’ managerial reports to the detriment of service provision. School nurses spend twice as much time on paperwork than on direct work with children in schools, research by the Children’s Commissioner for England has found. This could be reducing their ability to identify children at risk of neglect or abuse. There was also evidence that time pressures meant their role in supporting & promoting children’s health & wellbeing, their mental health, healthy relationships and sex education – was being compromised. |
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LGA responds to report by children's commissioner on school nurses NICE to tackle falling child vaccination rates NHS England welcomes new plans for radical shake up of youth mental health care |
| Equivalent to more than the whole population of Scotland |
| New data from PHE and its new Diabetes Prevalence Model reveals 3.8m people in England aged over 16 had diabetes in 2015, around 9% of the adult population. |
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DH: 3.8m people in England now have diabetes Emotional support required as well as medical NICE: Children & young people with suspected diabetes should be seen by a specialist immediately |
| ICT security costs money, but lack of it costs even more |
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The Cabinet Office has not yet established a clear role for itself in coordinating & leading departments’ efforts to protect their information, according to the National Audit Office. The NAO report found that its ambition to undertake such a role is weakened by the limited information which departments collect on their security costs, performance and risks. It also notes, however, that the UK Government has a strong international reputation in some areas of information security & digital government. Protecting the information departments hold from unauthorised access or loss is a critical responsibility for departmental accounting officers. Departments are, however, increasingly required to balance this responsibility with the need to make this information available to other public bodies, delivery partners, service users and citizens via new digital services. And increasing dependencies between central government and the wider public sector mean that the traditional security boundaries have become blurred. |
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NAO: Protecting information across government Unlock Economic Growth & Revenue Opportunities with Data Lack of clarity encourages inconsistency CQC launches an updated code of practice on confidential personal information Not only could it cost you a fortune, your organisation could be crippled as well Who are the heroes & villains regarding personal data? Review of health & care data security and consent Audit Scotland: Data sharing uncovers nearly £17m of fraud and error Two thirds of large UK businesses hit by cyber breach or attack in past year Launch of new data sharing consultation Data sharing initiative enables action on 30,000 cyber crime threats Alert to help cross border privacy enforcement Data revolution has created a ticking time bomb warns BCS MOD hackathon to mine the Deep Web Mapping the border as users see it techUK Responds to Sir Nigel Sheinwald's Summary of Work to Date 10 ways Google is Transforming Public Sector Frontline Services Bristol City Council “Collaborates” to Improve Front-Line Services and Citizen Access NHS must care for patients AND their confidential medical records |
| After all, the babies grow up to be workers |
| The country’s biggest businesses are leading the fight against pregnancy & maternity discrimination that affects around 390,000 pregnant women & new mothers each year, by forming a new alliance to show employers how to attract, develop and retain women at work. |
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ESRC: Britain’s leading employers unite to end pregnancy discrimination in workplaces Pregnancy is too often a significant ‘bump’ in a woman’s career path |
| Child abuse; pure & simple |
| The Home Affairs Committee says everyone involved in protecting children must be made aware of, and prevent, female genital mutilation (FGM), a form of child abuse when practiced on girls. The duty on frontline professionals to report incidences of FGM must be enforced with stronger sanctions. |
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PC&PE: Ongoing failure to tackle "national scandal" of female genital mutilation LGA responds to FGM report by Home Affairs Committee Crime Prevention Minister announces mandatory reporting of FGM Even after the crime they hide behind ‘family honour’ to persuade the girls not to complain |
| Supporting some of the most vulnerable |
| A new funding model for supported accommodation includes women’s refuges, homeless shelters and housing for those leaving care. |
| Possible piercing pain resulting from use |
| Public Health England (PHE) is warning people who have recently had body piercings about an unsafe cleansing spray provided by piercing studios across the country for aftercare use, which may cause severe infection. It is a 100ml bottled aftercare saline spray and is manufactured by Lion Care Products Ltd. |
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DH: Warning over infection linked to an aftercare spray for piercings |
| A nice way to help developing countries |
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The NICE team working with low & middle income countries to develop & get value for money in their health systems is movng to Imperial College London. The International Decision Support Initiative, largely funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and DIFD, will leave, but NICE’s international work will continue. The team will move to the Institute for Global Health Innovation under Lord Ara Darzi of Denham. |
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NICE global care experts move to Imperial iDSI: Better decisions. Better health Institute of Global Health Innovation | Imperial College London |
| Could you be a NICE Fellow? |
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NICE is a on the lookout for inspirational health & social care experts to act as ambassadors for high quality, evidence-based care. Applications to NICE’s prestigious Fellows & Scholars Programme are open. They offer the chance to get involved in the work NICE does, and they support networking with like-minded advocates of evidence-based practice. This year NICE is also looking for applications from lay members on NICE’s committees or from influential individuals working in the charitable and voluntary sector. There are 10 NICE Fellowships available. |
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| Helping HMIC to understand the problem & map the way forward |
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A request to techUK members for their top priorities & questions for Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. techUK has secured a meeting with HMIC to explore how the industry can support efforts to improve procurement & implementation of IT systems. techUK could support HMIC in investigations, helping document the situation, identifying the problems, framing questions, proposing strategies & providing guidance to forces within the scope of the HMIC inspection & audit regime. So in advance of this meeting they are asking members to let us know their top 5 priorities for HMIC: what are the top issues members would like to see HMIC focussing on with regards to procurement and use of IT? Or, to put it another way, if you were HMIC, what would you be focussing on when inspecting forces? |
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| techUK: Call for Input - Tech Priorities for HMIC – (closes on 23 September 2016) |
| Measuring the value of research |
| A new Forum for Responsible Metrics is being set up as a partnership between HEFCE, Research Councils UK, Wellcome, Universities UK and Jisc to advance the agenda set out in ‘The Metric Tide’, which highlighted growing pressure on higher education institutions, researchers, funders and policymakers to use metrics in managing & assessing research. |
| Nothing fishy about this invitation |
| The Environment Agency in East Anglia is inviting applications for a share of £20,000 to help fund fish & fishing. Do you know of a fisheries project that could benefit from some extra funding? Money for projects to improve local facilities will be made available through the Fisheries Improvement Fund, which comes directly from rod licence sales. |
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