WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
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They want your help/views |
This week the editorial team highlights press releases, which provide readers with the opportunity to provide vital input for the future development of the ICT industry and its impact on society. Firstly, a suite of consultations from government seeking to reframe how we manage & handle packaging in the future will have implications for the future management of waste. The consultations which include a root & branch reform of the UK packaging producer responsibility system and a new plastic packaging tax, propose a major departure from the status quo. The deadline for responses is 12 May 2019. techUK: UK producer responsibility regime recast Not everything has to be made of plastic & end up in the Ocean Next the DCMS highlights that the World-first Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) will partner with the Cabinet Office’s Race Disparity Unit to explore potential for bias in crime & justice. Algorithms have huge potential for preventing crime, protecting the public & improving the way services are delivered. But decisions made in these areas are likely to have a significant impact on people’s lives and public trust is essential. In crime & justice, algorithms could be used to assess the likelihood of re-offending and inform decisions about policing, probation and parole. For example, some police forces have already started to use algorithms to feed into their decision-making - such as the Harm Assessment Risk Tool in Durham which is being used to assist officers in deciding whether an individual is eligible for deferred prosecution based on the future risk of offending. The CDEI last week set out its priorities in its first Work Programme and Strategy. This also includes plans for it to investigate how data is used to shape online experiences through personalisation and micro-targeting - for example where you search for a product and then adverts for similar products appear later in your browser. This review will explore where, how and why online targeting approaches are used, and their impact on members of the public. The CDEI is launching a series of nationwide workshops to investigate public views on the acceptability of micro-targeting. DCMS: Investigation launched into potential for bias in algorithmic decision-making in society techUK: The CDEI launches its first Strategy & Work Programme Keeping ‘control’ of AI & how will it be used? Projects lay the groundwork for a future of robolawyers and flying cars Lastly the ICO has published a call for participation; Building the ICO’s auditing framework for Artificial Intelligence. In a Blog, Simon McDougall, Executive Director for Technology Policy & Innovation, invites comment from organisations on the development of an auditing framework for AI. AI is one of the ICO’s top three strategic priorities and a new team is set to develop the ICO’s first auditing framework for AI. The framework will give us a solid methodology to audit AI applications and ensure we are transparent, fair; and to ensure that the necessary measures to assess & manage data protection risks arising from them are in place. The framework will also inform future guidance for organisations to support the continuous & innovative use of AI within the law. The guidance will complement existing resources, not least the ICO’s award winning Big Data and AI report. But we don’t want to work alone. We’d like your input now. We welcome your thoughts on the plans & approach we set out in this post. We will shortly publish another article here to outline the proposed framework structure, its key elements and focus areas. On this new blog site you will be able to find regular updates on specific AI data protection challenges and on how our thinking in relation to the framework is developing. And we want your feedback. You can leave us a comment or email us direct. |
Researched Links: |
ICO: A call for participation - Building the ICO’s auditing framework for AI A New Generation of Intelligence: National Security and Surveillance in the Age of AI Beesley Lecture - ‘Regulating the tech giants in the digital age’ |
Editor’s choice of other ICT items of note: |
techUK: Government gets moving on urban mobility services techUK: NAO Report on Progress of the 2016-2021 National Cyber Security Programme |
Will they ever achieve ‘Never Again’ |
CQC review of the first year of NHS trusts implementing the ‘Learning from Deaths’ national guidance. In 2016, the CQC looked into how acute, community & mental health trusts investigate & learn from deaths. This resulted in new national guidance. Here we report on our assessments of how NHS trusts are putting it into practice. We set out the findings of our original review in December 2016, when we published Learning, candour and accountability. Since September 2017, we have been assessing NHS trusts' implementation of national guidance on learning from deaths. This forms part of our new well-led inspections. Now that we have completed most of these inspections, we are setting out what we have found. Factors that enable good practice Our findings suggest the factors that help trusts to put the guidance into practice are:
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Researched Links: |
NO: Response to the CQC's Learning from deaths report National Guidance on Learning from Deaths - NHS England Learning from deaths - NHS England |
Editor’s choice of other Health, Social care & Homelessness related items of note: |
DHSC: Opt-out organ donation - Max and Keira's Bill passed into law NHS England: Campaign to bring more family doctors back to general practice MHRA: Three further batches of blood pressure & heart medication recalled from pharmacies NHS Confederation launches new network to strengthen the voice of BME leaders WAG: Emergency Department pilot scheme extended NHS England: Jo Cox Foundation backs campaign to end loneliness PC&PE: 'Children deserve better' than slow progress on social care NO: Ombudsman issues good practice guide for care providers LGA: Urgent investment needed to halt decline in children's health visitors |
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. Against this ambitious 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. |
Striking the right balance of rights & obligations is the key |
The country’s leading landlord organisation is campaigning to protect the rights of landlords to repossess their properties. This follows a recent court case in which a landlord’s attempt to regain their property was deemed invalid due to a dispute over a gas safety certificate. After initially being granted an order to repossess the property using Section 21 powers, the tenant successfully appealed on the grounds that they were not provided with a gas safety certificate prior to moving in. The judge in the appeal said that if the gas safety certificate was not served on the tenant before they took up occupation then a Section 21 notice could not be relied on to regain possession, and the situation could not be resolved by serving one after the moving in date. The RLA run courses on Gaining Possession for landlords. |
Researched Links: |
RLA: Landlords fight for repossession rights RLA: Landlord licensing schemes a ‘postcode lottery’ RLA: Fire kills – keeping your tenants safe Home Office: New campaign warns ‘it only takes one accident’ to start a fire MHCLG: Residents & landlords to team up to better communicate building safety issues ScotGov: Court ruling raises concerns over proposed roll-out of Right to Rent Good private rentals depend on co-operation of LA’s, Landlords & the RLA |
Editor’s choice of other Business / Commercial items of note: |
BEIS: Update - What support is available for my small business? NIC: Water shortage warning highlights urgency of resilience DWP: New pension scheme "could deliver improved returns for millions" Innovate UK: Creating the 5G network - apply for funding PC&PE: Flawed system leaves leaseholders at risk of exploitation UK Space Agency: Free satellite data available to help tackle public sector challenges Ofcom: Radio industry must tune in to diversity Action Fraud: Train up 'cyber security champions' to stop hackers, small businesses told |
There will always be some who need extra help |
Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children & Young People Board, Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, responds to the National Evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme. “Councils have played a pivotal role in making the Troubled Families Programme a success for some of the most vulnerable families, and we urge the Government to continue funding this vital service. This is one of the few remaining sources of early intervention funding for councils, with the Government’s Early Intervention Grant cut by £600 million since 2013”. |
Researched Links: |
LGA responds to Troubled Families Programme evaluation National evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015 to 2020: findings Brokenshire: hundreds of thousands of families helped to change their lives for the better |
Editor’s choice of other Policy & General items of note: |
MHCLG: Brokenshire announces funding boost for homeless veterans LGA: modern slavery referrals by councils soar ninefold RUSI: NATO's National Resilience Obligations CAB: Increasing numbers of small & newer energy suppliers delivering poor customer service MHCLG: Drivers to receive greater protection against rogue private parking operators DfE: Plans launched to boost quality of post -16 qualifications MoJ: Funding boost for victims of rape & sexual abuse Home Office: Government backed Stalking Protection Bill receives Royal Assent ONS: New suite of faster economic indicators announced IFS: Taking control: which taxes could be devolved to English local government? EC launches online tool for cartel leniency & settlements and non-cartel cooperation EC fines Google €1.49bn for abusive practices in online advertising |
Editorial reminder: Another imposition by the EC; But not just yet! |
State of the Union 2018: European Commission proposes to put an end to seasonal clock changes. ‘The EC is proposing to end seasonal clock changes in Europe in 2019, giving Member States the freedom to decide once and for all whether they want to permanently apply summer or wintertime. The legislative proposal seeks to ensure that any changes are made in a coordinated way between neighbouring countries so as to safeguard the proper functioning of the internal market and avoid fragmentation, which could arise if some Member States kept seasonal clock changes arrangements while others discontinued them’. A reminder to change your clocks next Saturday/Sunday night for what may be the last time if the EC gets its way at some point in the future. And it may all depend on whether we end up with ‘EU’s Vassalage deal’ or ‘WTO Independence’! Given Scottish historical ‘resistance’ to discussions about double summertime one wonders how the SNP would react to the possibility of Westminster making the choice to permanently apply summer- or wintertime as (to be fair) they would be the ones most effected by the change! |
Researched Links: |
State of the Union 2018: EC proposes to put an end to seasonal clock changes Summertime Consultation: 84% want Europe to stop changing the clock EU States Call to Postpone Abolishing DST Reasoned opinion on discontinuing seasonal changes of time recommended by Committee Could the UK work with two different time zones? - BBC News The hour has come to rethink when the clocks are changed - The Scotsman |
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Still a ‘hot topic’, with widely spread views, for those who put fingers to keyboard in order to ‘share their views’: |
Researched Links: |
DExEU: Confirmation of UK Government agreement to Article 50 extension 10DS: PM statement at the EU Council: 21 March 2019 DIT: UK signs trade continuity agreement with Caribbean countries DfT: Continued EU access for UK airlines, hauliers and bus & coach operators agreed DHSC: Healthcare advice for UK travellers in the event of a no-deal EU Exit HMRC outlines extension of Transitional Simplified Procedures ScotGov: Protecting cross-border healthcare WAG: No deal tariffs plan will impact Welsh ports WAG: New immigration rules will hit the Welsh economy finds report WAG: Consultation on environmental principles & governance post-Brexit launched PRA and FCA agree MoU with EBA PC&PE: EU Committee draws special attention to trade agreements with Israel & Switzerland techUK responds to European Council Brexit extension EU News: General Affairs Council (Article 50) Brexit: Council adopts a series of contingency measures for a "no-deal" scenario Ensuring the continuation of Erasmus+ activities in the event of no-deal Brexit ESMA’s application of the trading obligation for shares following a no-deal Brexit ESMA clarifies endorsement of UK credit ratings in case of a no-deal Brexit European Council (Art. 50) 21 March 2019 Civil Service: How the Civil Service has prepared for exiting the EU PX: The Speaker should allow a third meaningful vote on the Brexit deal OE: Clearing up confusion about Article 50 extension & No Deal as the “legal default” B4B: Ignore the nay-sayers – here’s why we’re still on course for a clean Brexit on 29th March B4B: No Deal is A Gentle Slope Not a Cliff-Edge B4B: Can we ever get a good Brexit deal? B4B: Brexiteers Must Not Snatch Humiliation from the Jaws of May’s Defeat B4B: The Withdrawal Agreement is an EU Trap B4B: There’s no such thing as ‘No Deal’: a WTO Brexit is the only rational choice B4B: The Political Declaration: a plan for subordination B4B: Theresa May should stop worrying about Northern Ireland B4B: Fact Checking the BBC Fact Checkers B4B: British friends, don’t miss Brexit! B4B: Where are we on the “Backstop? |
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