WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
DHSC; Security comes at a price |
A new multi-£m Microsoft package will ensure NHS systems have the most up-to-date software with the latest security settings. The deal with Microsoft will ensure all health & care organisations are using the latest Windows 10 software with up-to-date security settings to help prevent cyber attacks. Since 2017 the government has invested £60m to address cyber security weaknesses. A further £150m will be spent over the next 3 years to improve the NHS’s resilience against attacks. This will include setting up a new digital security operations centre to prevent, detect & respond to incidents. |
Researched Links: |
DHSC: Plans to strengthen NHS cyber security announced NHS Digital: Boost to NHS cyber security as new security measures announced NCSC advice to select telecommunications operators with national security concerns NCSC advice to telecommunications sector about ZTE LGA awarded cyber security funding PC&PE: Faster action needed on lessons of WannaCry attack techUK: PAC report calls for faster NHS action on cyber security NCSC; Is your business ‘at risk’? |
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GDS; Constant improvement a necessity |
Two items from the Government Digital Service on continually improving government ICT services. Firstly. over the past 5 years, the GDS has helped save over £1bn by working with departments to identify better & cheaper ways to deliver IT and digital products & services. One of the ways GDS have done this is through the spend controls process. Jointly, they make sure that they’re getting the best value from anything they’re building or buying. GDS have developed a new approach, which they have piloted with 4 departments and they are now ready to roll out the new spend controls process more widely. Secondly, GOV.UK is relied on by millions of people every day to access vital services & information. Material published on GOV.UK can move financial markets. GOV.UK is a vital part of our national infrastructure. A little while ago GDS learned that they had a few challenges with GOV.UK delivery. As the programme matured, it was time to step back & review their ways of working. By the beginning of last year, we noticed 4 problems that were affecting delivery:
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Researched Links: |
GDS: We’re improving the digital and IT spend controls process GDS: GOV.UK: a journey in scaling agile GDS: What’s coming up at Sprint 18 Return to in-house development, but have they the skills to deliver? |
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. Recent arrivals to the SME Supplier Locator service include:
Click here to find out more. |
Editor’s choice of other Health related items of note: |
PC&PE; A ‘cancer’ in our society |
The Public Accounts Committee finds Government still lacks data & systems to properly understand the crime, its victims & perpetrators - or how much money it spends tackling modern slavery. The Home Office introduced an ambitious Modern Slavery Strategy in 2014, but it has taken too long to learn what works in the system, to understand the complexities of the crime and to turn the strategy & the Modern Slavery Act into an effective & co-ordinated approach across government. Government does not yet have the data or systems to understand the crime, the demographics & circumstances of the victims and the perpetrators, making the digitisation of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) a priority. |
Researched Links: |
PC&PE: Modern Slavery - co-ordinated action critical to helping victims LGA responds to modern slavery report Modern slavery strategy - GOV.UK Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner Security Ministers commit to tackling modern slavery worldwide Commonwealth countries unite to stamp out human trafficking and child exploitation Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration 5 reports ~ LGA responds to National Crime Agency figures on modern slavery International human trafficking operation saves 39 from sexual exploitation Widening the fight against modern slavery LGA: Public 'the first line of defence' to tackle modern slavery amid rise in potential victims |
Editorial Comment; Time to return to the Supreme Court? |
The Remainers claim that we didn’t know what we voted for in the 2016 referendum, so is it time for the UK Supreme Court to clarify what ‘type’ of Brexit the majority voted for! After all, the evidence is clear that we were told by both ‘sides’ that Brexit would mean leaving the Single Market and EU Customs Area ('I'll pull UK out of the single market after Brexit' – POLITICO ~ BrexitCentral on Twitter: "Brexit means leaving the Single Market says ... ). Why should an unelected & unrepresentative HoL be able to change the outcome of negotiations from leaving the EU to effectively remaining in the EU and still paying £bns to Brussels each year and for what REAL benefit? We already have indications of how the EU will use its rules to put us at a disadvantage. (BfB: The GALILEO Spat: an Object Lesson for Ministers ~ BEIS: UK Space Agency leads work on options for independent satellite system ) ‘Improving’ legislation does not mean reversing the intent of it when a referendum was intended to give the Government the people’s mandate to implement a course of action. (Telegraph: The Peers vs the People power grab confirms the thesis that led to Brexit) We should also remember that it is a duty of the Government to negotiate treaties and, while Parliament may be expected to ratify them, it is the Government who will be held responsible for a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ treaty. However, in the current situation, will the HoL take ‘responsibility’ for the NHS not receiving the expected extra £100m per week (of approx. net £154m p.w. currently going to Brussels) after December 2020? Will the people be able to vote members of the HoL ‘out of office’ if they don’t like the outcome? (The UK's contribution to the EU budget - Commons Library briefing ... ~ IPPR: NHS bill set to rise by more than £50bn by 2030 ) Returning to the issue of “we were not told when we voted”, one notes that the HoC & HoL ‘Remainers’ are not highlighting the fact that the EC proposes to ‘eliminate all rebates (UK - £5bn p.a.) and to reduce from 20% to 10% the amount Member States keep when collecting (EU} customs revenues’ in the 2021 – 2027 budget period. Staying in the EU would cost us at least an additional £5bn a year – and that is before including other proposed future EC revenue raising plans such as;
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