WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
| Still much more to be done by LAs to comply with Best Practice / Legal Requirements |
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The ICO has published the results of a survey completed by local councils at the end of last year, along with a blog highlighting guidance available (see second link below) to help councils achieve compliance with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Anulka Clarke, ICO Head of Good Practice, said: “The overarching conclusion from our analysis of the survey results was that, although there is a lot of good practice out there, with GDPR coming in May 2018, many councils have work to do to prepare for the new GDPR. Some of the Findings: *Although most councils carry out privacy impact assessments (PIAs), 34% of councils still do not. That will need to change. GDPR makes it a legal requirement for councils to conduct data protection impact assessments in certain circumstances. The ICO Privacy Impact Assessment Code of Practice provides more advice and will be reissued for GDPR in due course. *37% of councils have no data sharing policy, despite increasing data sharing requirements to provide certain services. The ICO data sharing guidance can help change that. *25% of councils told us they don’t have a data protection officer. Under GDPR the role of data protection officer is required in public authorities. *Establishing an Information Asset Register (IAR) will help ensure a council knows what information it holds, where it is & which Information Asset Owner (IAO) is responsible for it. Yet our survey showed just 17% of councils has a complete IAR and 34% have yet to appoint IAOs. *18% of councils did not provide mandatory data protection training for staff processing personal data. It is important councils remember to train temporary staff and provide annual refresher training for all staff. All the guidance on the ICO website can be used for training, including our dedicated training resource area. *It’s a good idea to have a proper incident management process. Yet the survey showed 14% of councils do not have an Information Security Incident Management Policy and 22% do not consider reports and KPIs for information security breaches. |
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ICO survey shows many councils have work to do to prepare for new data protection law ICO Blog: Information Governance Survey: What councils need to do now Previous CO Blog about ‘GDPR’ posted by Jo Pedder, Interim Head of Policy & Engagement |
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| Unfortunately it is human nature not to admit failure / mistakes |
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Plans published last week will prohibit discrimination against whistle-blowers when they apply for jobs with NHS employers. The plans also strengthen the legal recourse whistle-blowers can access if they believe they have been discriminated against because they appear to have blown the whistle - with appropriate remedies if their complaint is upheld. These changes were a recommendation from Sir Robert Francis’ Freedom to Speak Up review, which found a number of people struggled to find employment in the NHS after making protected disclosures about patient safety. |
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DH: Government to extend protections for NHS whistleblowers Not all problems / mistakes occur in hospitals The fact that the numbers are ‘statistically small’ is NOT comforting |
| How to help the ‘casualties’ of modern society |
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An analysis of ONS suicide prevalence statistics for 2011 to 2015 has been carried out to gain a better understanding of factors that influence suicide, in order to inform the government’s Suicide Prevention Strategy and help identify where inequalities exist amongst different groups. To coincide with this, Public Health England (PHE), Business in the Community (BITC) and Samaritans have joined forces to produce toolkits for employers on how to prevent suicide and how to minimise the impact when it does happen. |
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DH: New data reveals suicide prevalence in England by occupation |
| 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. |
| That’s the point; one needs to make the effort to talk to other people – even strangers at the bus stop |
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Most lonely people will not talk to friends & family. The social networking site Gransnet surveyed over-50s who described themselves as lonely. The vast majority of those who had not discussed their loneliness said close friends & family would be surprised or even astonished to hear that they feel this way. Revealing how loneliness doesn’t only affect those who are alone, 93% of survey respondents admitted it’s possible to feel lonely even when you have a partner or family. Granset provides an opportunity to discuss anonymously, with 82% of users agreeing that talking about feelings of loneliness is much easier online when they are unidentified. |
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Age UK: Over half of lonely older people have never talked about it |
| It sounds like the responsible managers should have been fired for ‘gross misconduct’ rather than fining ‘innocent’ shareholders |
| Thames Water Utilities Ltd (Thames Water) has been fined an unprecedented £20,361,140.06 in fines & costs for a series of significant pollution incidents on the River Thames. These offences were caused by negligence and led to the death of wildlife and distress to the public. |
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EA: Thames Water ordered to pay record £20m for river pollution WWF comment: Thames Water fined a record £20.3m for polluting the Thames |
| Longer life is both a blessing and a challenge to society |
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Two reports have been published that will help inform the government’s review of the State Pension age which is due in May 2017. No new changes to State Pension age will come into effect before 2028 and the government is committed to maintaining a State Pension that is fair for all generations and helps to provide for the cost of living in retirement. Part of this commitment to fairness includes providing 10 years’ notice of any changes to the State Pensions age. |
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Age UK responds to the Cridland Review DWP: Future life expectancy to be considered in first State Pension age review PC&PE: Scrap the state pension triple-lock, says Committee Pension Change – Go online for all the answers TUC: 3m part-time women workers excluded from workplace pensions |
| A nuclear future |
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RUSI's UK Project on Nuclear Issues (UKPONI) programme is now welcoming applications from young practitioners and emerging experts to present at its annual conference, which is taking place on 01 June 2017 at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London. UK PONI encourages presentation proposals from graduate students, emerging technical specialists, and early career professionals who will have the opportunity to present their work to a broad audience of nuclear experts and gain the chance to present at US Strategic Command at Omaha as part of the US PONI Conference Series. Please send presentation proposals to ukponi@rusi.org by Wednesday 29th March. |
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| Let’s concern ourselves with negotiations on trade & the economy first, so as to be able to fund everything else |
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Government Brexit plans are showing a lack of ambition for equality & human rights standards, EHRC Chair David Isaac has warned. Publishing a 5 point plan on how Britain’s status as a world leader on equality & human rights can be maintained and strengthened after we leave the EU, Mr Isaac has called for the government to set out its vision for a fairer Britain once we leave the EU and demonstrate how it will take a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a shared society and heal the divisions exposed during & since the referendum campaign. |
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EHRC: Brexit plans lack ambition for equality & human rights |
| Counting down to 2021 |
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In preparation for the 2021 Census, the Office for National Statistics carrying out a census test of more than 200,000 households in England & Wales on 9 April 2017. The test is designed to check that systems & services are working correctly, while also trying out new questions that may be used in 2021. Included in this test are proposed new questions on sexual identity and volunteering. ONS will be testing its census on 100,000 households across 7 selected local authorities. In these areas census officers will be out encouraging & offering help to households yet to respond. There will also be a test of another 100,000 randomly-selected households across the rest of England & Wales, as well as a test of 8,000 households on the Isle of Wight of how well ONS can support anyone with difficulty going online to fill in their census questionnaire. |
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| A major ‘softening’ in EU’s tone, but still unrealistic in parts |
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The UK should leave the EU on terms that are not "better than EU membership" whilst ensuring the strong ties between regions & cities are maintained for the benefit of all citizens, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) said recently. This message came during a debate with Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, and was contained in a resolution adopted by EU local & regional leaders on 23 March 2017. It also called for regions in the UK and the rest of the EU – particularly local & regional governments in "the Channel & North Sea areas” – to be able to continue cooperation through EU platforms and expresses hope that British universities can keep playing an "active role" in educational programmes. The CoR – the EU's assembly of local & regional governments - considers that the future relationship between the EU and the UK should be based on a balance of rights & obligations, a level playing field and should not pave the way for dismantling the single market and freedom of movement. The CoR recognises the financial impact the UK's departure will have and suggests using this as an opportunity to reform the EU's budget so it better takes into account the needs of local & regional governments. It warns that the UK's Great Repeal Bill – where the UK plans to transpose EU law into domestic law "wherever possible" – must be closely monitored so that "fair rules on standards & competition" are preserved. The EU's chief Brexit Negotiator added that; "When a country leaves the Union, there is no punishment. There is no price to pay to leave. But we must settle the accounts ". The CoR also calls for an EU-UK deal that would see the UK continue to pledge contributions into the EU's budget up to 2020, to limit the impact on on-going programmes & projects. The statement also highlights legacies of collaboration between the EU and the UK that the CoR would like to see preserved. |
| Editorial comment: Could the CoR proposals form the basis of a settlement deal whereby the UK formally leaves the EU in 2019, without paying a £50m ‘divorce bill’, but continues to pay all (or the part that ‘stays’ in the EU) of the ‘annual members fee’ until 2020 (end of current 5 year EU budget period), while maintaining the same existing access to the single market up to the end of that period, but without freedom of movement? This would perhaps also facilitate an additional year for trade negotiations. |
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EU News: EC registers European Citizens' Initiatives regarding Brexit PC&PE: Don't forget the Crown Dependencies in Brexit talks, say Lords PC&PE: UK payments to EU budget could end but political consequences would be profound CBI: Overseas talent helps fuel Britain's creative excellence Hypocrisy of EU as it blames UK for its own ‘intransigence to negotiate’ |
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More news, opinions, documents, claims & counter-claims; |
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Audit Scotland: More work needed in managing historic change in public finances |
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