Three-quarters of top 200 state-educated

Monday 18th January 2010 at 11:14

Nearly three quarters of the top 200 civil servants went to state school, according to new
research published by the Cabinet Office.

The research has been released to coincide with the government’s official response to an
Alan Milburn-led taskforce on widening access to the professions.

The survey information also found that the senior civil service contained proportionally
fewer independently educated staff than most comparable professions, including the
judiciary, FTSE 100 chief executives and MPs.

The Cabinet Office has also used the opportunity to claim success in improving diversity in
the civil service more generally.

“When you look at these figures, along with existing research, you see that our top leaders
not only come from a more representative set of schools than those in many other
professions, but they are more diverse in terms of gender, especially compared to those at
the top of the private sector,” cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell, himself a product of the
state sector, said.

The department pointed out that the proportion of women in the senior civil service has
doubled since 1996 and the proportion of ethnic minorities has increased by almost a half
since 1997.

In response to one of the Fair Access Commission’s recommendations, the Cabinet Office
has agreed to survey entrants to both the senior civil service and the graduate fast stream
on their socio-economic background.

And there will be an extension of apprenticeships and internships inside government, with
specific numbers to be finalised in April.
http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/three­quarters­
of­top­200­state­educated/

Report questions Whitehall structures

Monday 18th January 2010 at 11:31

Claims that the centre of government is 'fragmented' and 'dysfunctional' are among the
findings of a report based on interviews with senior officials.

The new study, published by think-tank the Institute for Government (IfG) and entitled
'Shaping Up: A Whitehall for the Future', claims there is a 'conspicuous lack of a single
coherent strategy for government as a whole', and calls for improved coordination between
Downing Street, the Treasury and the Cabinet Office.

The report also says the prime minister's office has too much power in relative terms. 'The
office of the British prime minister holds a concentration of formal power greater than that
of almost any other country in the developed world,' the authors conclude.
 'In contrast, the fragmentation and lack of coordination at the centre of the civil service -
the Treasury, Number 10 and the Cabinet Office - leads to an administrative centre that is
relatively weak. This curious situation has created a strategic gap at the heart of British
government, which inhibits the ability to set overall government priorities and translate
them into action.' But the report makes clear that many of the senior civil servants,
interviewed anonymously, are 'ambivalent' about the prospect of a more powerful centre of
government.

'While they wanted stronger leadership, they were also concerned about the potential for
micro-management and poorly co-ordinated central initiatives,' the report stated.

It quoted one official as saying: “I think making the centre bigger would be a disastrous
thing to do, because what that would do is mean that you’ve got a bigger problem to
manage.”

Sunday newspapers reported damaging comments about Number 10 made by one

departmental director-general, though left out of the IfG report. “What comes out of
Number 10 is lots of barmy ideas,” the unnamed official allegedly said. “It's the worst
possible kind of policymaking, which is 'here is a problem, let's have a kneejerk reaction to
it tomorrow on what we’re going to announce', and quite frankly the less contact with
Number 10 the better.”

Speaking to the BBC this morning, one of the report's authors, IfG research director David
Halpern, said the UK now conferred a lot of power on its prime minister, “but we haven't
really modernised the way Whitehall operates around him or her”.

Halpern called for the Cabinet Office to take a stronger role in setting strategic direction for
the whole of government – losing extraneous policy functions such as social exclusion - and
ministers to lay a more active role in the governance of their departments, particularly
through executive boards.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said the department would study the report, but rejected
the suggestion that the centre of government was badly coordinated, citing the reaction to
the financial crisis.

“We do not accept the conclusion on Cabinet Office, Number 10, and HM Treasury
coordination,” they said.

"For example, over the last 12 to 18 months we have worked very closely together and
with other departments to develop and drive the government's policy response to the
global recession, through the establishment of the NEC (National Economic Council) and its
supporting secretariat - indeed, there has been unprecedentedly close coordination
between the Treasury and Cabinet Office in this area."

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/centre­of­
government­dysfunctional­report/
 Cuts are 'non-negotiable': Darling
Tuesday 19th January 2010 at 11:38

People should be in “no doubt” about Labour’s commitment to spending cuts, Alistair
Darling has said.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the chancellor said he has repeatedly made clear
that spending would have to be cut to reduce the large deficit.

"That does mean that, in terms of public spending, there will be cuts to some programmes;
some programmes will be cut themselves; there will be some postponements, and people
should be in no doubt about our commitment," he said.

Borrowing this year is expected to reach £178bn as the government makes up for the
shortfall in tax revenue, leading the Tories to insist they would begin spending cuts
immediately if they won this year’s election.

But Darling also said the Tories risked costing the economy up to £26bn by bringing in
spending cuts too early.

"If you bring the whole thing forward a year it would cost you, it would mean you'd have to
take another £25bn, £26bn out of the economy," he said.

"The difference between us and the Tories is that I think you need to do it on a timescale
that is deliverable, and you've got to do it in a way that doesn't end up damaging either
the social fabric of the country or the economic prospects of the country."

Darling also defended the decision not to hold a comprehensive spending review last year,
arguing that it would not have been sensible “while there is so much uncertainty around”.

He also refused to confirm or deny reports that internal Treasury calculations had
suggested that plans to ringfence spending on hospitals, schools and the police would
necessitate 17 per cent cuts across other departments.

“The Treasury has hundreds of forecasts and hundreds of permutations. The only figure
that matters is when we actually fix the figure for each department and we have not done
that yet.”

Shadow chancellor George Osborne last week warned that the failure to implement cuts
immediately was damaging the UK's credibility on international credit markets.

"There is a clear and present danger that the world will lose confidence in Britain's
economic policy,” Osborne said.

"And yet the pre-Budget report actually increased public spending in the next financial
year, starting in April.”

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/cuts­are­non­
negotiable­darling/
 Research questions 10-day invoice claim
Tuesday 19th January 2010 at 11:02

Government departments are not living up to a pledge to pay small firms within ten days,
according to new research.

Credit reference company Graydon said a survey of 320 enterprises supplying government
found that 98 per cent had an invoice not paid within the ten-day period promised by
business secretary Lord Mandelson last year.

And 60 per cent said they were paid more than 30 days after the date of their invoice –
suggesting that many departments are failing to meet standard business practice.

Martin Williams, managing director of Graydon UK, said the government’s intention was
laudable, but added: “Unfortunately it's now apparent that ministerial willpower hasn't
been enough to inject more speed into the machinery of the public sector.”

"Government agencies may point to issues [in] securing payments from their own
customers as a reason for these continued delays. This may be a valid concern in many
cases but in truth this merely serves to underline the need for these public sector bodies to
become more efficient at collecting monies owed and managing their debtors efficiently."

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – which announced
the original policy – insisted it was being implemented. “This is happening. The latest
figures show 19 out of 20 central government invoices are now paid within this time,” the
spokesman said.

"That's £107bn of invoices paid to business within ten days by central government since
June 2009. Figures across the rest of the public sector are improving."

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/research­
questions­10­day­invoice­claim/

Questions over NHS differences

Wednesday 20th January 2010 at 12:27

There are "striking and troubling differences" in health care between the four countries of
the UK, a new report said today.

The Nuffield Trust examined health services in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland.

The trust - an independent charity that carries out research into health services - found
Scotland had the highest rate of spending on the NHS, as well as the highest rates of
hospital doctors, GPs and nurses per person.
 Scotland also had the highest levels of poor health but, in contrast, the report found the
NHS in England spent less, had fewer health staff per head of population, but made better
use of its resources with higher activity levels.

The report highlighted some of the differences in health policy between the four countries,
with Scotland having introduced free personal care while prescription charges have been
abolished in Wales.

Jennifer Dixon, director of the Nuffield Trust, said the marked differences in crude
productivity of staff in the three devolved nations when compared to England raised
"challenging questions"

Dixon said: "Some of the differences and trends may be because of the historical
differences in funding levels, which are not directly related to policies implemented after
devolution.

"But some will reflect the different policies pursued by each of the four nations since 1999,
in particular the greater pressure put on NHS bodies in England to improve performance in
a few key areas such as waiting and efficiency, via targets, strong performance
management, public reporting of performance by regulators and financial incentives."

A Scottish Government spokesman said the report was based on data that was "at least
three years old and is out of date".

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Department of Health said: "Devolution allows each
country to have the freedom to make decisions about the health needs of their population
and to focus on disease prevention, health promotion and health services in a way that is
best for their public."
http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/questions­over­
nhs­differences/

Statistician appointed to Home Office job

Wednesday 20th January 2010 at 11:53

The Home Office has appointed a leading statistician to be its new chief scientific adviser, it
was announced today.

Bernard Silverman, professor of statistics at Oxford University, will stand down as

president of the Royal Statistical Society to take up the role from April 1, a Home Office
spokesman said.

Home Office permanent secretary Sir David Normington described Silverman – who has
previously advised the Ministry of Defence and Department for Transport – as “highly
respected and experienced in his field of mathematics and statistics and a distinguished
fellow of the Royal Society".

Silverman replaces Professor Paul Wiles, who held the post for ten years and also led the
government’s social research profession. Silverman paid tribute to Wiles and said he was
“delighted” to be appointed to the post.
 Vice president of the Royal Statistical Society Dr Andrew Garrett said the appointment was
a “recognition of [Silverman’s] immense knowledge and expertise in the field of statistics”.

"We are also delighted that this means a leading statistician will be able to ensure that
statistics is at the core of scientific opinion for this major government department."

The Home Office’s treatment of statistics came in for criticism last year, when a watchdog
– the UK Statistics Authority - accused the department of releasing "selective" knife crime
figures.
http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/statistician­
appointed­to­home­office­job/

Anger over FCO currency shortfall

Thursday 21st January 2010 at 12:18

Opposition politicians have expressed outrage at news that the slump in the value of
sterling has led to cuts in counter-terror funding in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Foreign Office (FCO) minister Baroness Kinnock told the Lords yesterday that the fall in the
value of the pound had led to a shortfall in funding for programmes in Afghanistan and
Pakistan.

"Programmes in Afghanistan in counter-narcotics have been cut, capacity-building to

prevent conflicts in Africa, counter-terrorism and radicalisation in Pakistan, the list goes
on."

She added: "It is a fact that counter-terrorism and radicalisation projects in Pakistan and
elsewhere have been the subject of these cuts that the Foreign Office has been obliged to
make."

The FCO is trying to deal with a shortfall of £110m, a figure expected to grow in 2010-11,
due to fluctuations in sterling.

The problem has been exacerbated by the 2007 ending of the overseas price mechanism,
an agreement between the FCO and Treasury which meant the latter department filled
funding gaps caused by currency fluctuations.

Baroness Kinnock’s admission came just hours after the prime minister declared the border
region between Pakistan and Afghanistan to be the "number one security threat to the
West".

Asking an urgent question in the Commons today, shadow foreign minister David Lidington
said the government had been “indifferent to the point of negligence” about the impact of
currency fluctuations.

Lidington added: “Isn’t it time for the government to come clean and announce which
programmes it is cutting as a result of the currency exchange debacle?”
 FCO minister Chris Bryant said that spending on counter-terror programmes in Pakistan
had gone up in successive years, but admitted that the fall in currency values meant that
the government could not be as “ambitious” as it had hoped.

He added that FCO permanent secretary Sir Peter Ricketts had already “openly and clearly”
confirmed the shortfall caused by currency changes in evidence to the Commons foreign
affairs committee.

“There has never been any attempt to obfuscate or hide this from the public. There are
ongoing discussions with the Treasury,” Bryant said.

Bryant also denied there was a list of embassies due to be closed as a result of currency
problems.

But Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey said the government was “clearly
not up to the task” of defending the country from terrorism.

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/anger­over­fco­
currency­shortfall/

Data website launched

Thursday 21st January 2010 at 11:05

A new website containing 2,500 free datasets has been launched by the government.

Data.gov.uk contains a range of datasets that are open to use, in the hope of stimulating
innovative software tools.
The website was developed by World Wide Web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee and academic
Nigel Shadbolt.

It forms part of two government initiatives: ‘Digital Britain’, which aims to encourage
technological innovation, and ‘Smarter Government’, the strategy for Whitehall reform
which also promised increased access to publicly-held information.

Digital Britain minister Stephen Timms said the website opened up opportunities for
business. “By allowing industry to use data creatively they can develop new services and
generate economic value from it,” Timms said.

Berners-Lee said making data available for re-use was an important way of increasing
“accountability and transparency”.

“Government data should be a public resource,” he said. “By releasing it, we can unlock
new ideas for delivering public services, help communities and society work better, and let
talented entrepreneurs and engineers create new businesses and services.”
http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/data­website­
launched/

Skills scheme 'mismanaged'

Thursday 21st January 2010 at 10:36

The government’s skills training scheme for workers has been “mismanaged”, with
“unrealistic targets”, a committee of MPs has said.

The Commons public accounts committee said the programme had supported 1.4 million
learners by last summer, around five per cent of the workforce, but the MPs complained
there had been "serious weaknesses" in the way it was managed by the Learning and Skills
Council, which comes under Lord Mandelson's business department.

In the first two years of Train to Gain, the scheme underspent by £151m against a budget
of £747m, said the MPs.

Half of employers whose staff received training under the scheme said they would have
arranged similar training without the public subsidy, said the report.

The government was also accused of "discourtesy" by the committee after announcing a
new national skills strategy as the MPs were holding hearings on Train to Gain.

Committee chairman Edward Leigh said the programme had been “mismanaged from the
outset”.

"In the face of evidence of what was achievable, targets for the first two years were
unrealistically ambitious. The number of learners, the level of demand from employers and
the capacity of training providers were at first all overestimated,” Leigh said.

"By the third year, demand for training, fuelled by substantially widened eligibility for the
programme and by the recession, had increased to the point where the programme could
no longer be afforded.”

Skills minister Kevin Brennan said the programme had been “crucial” for workers,
employers and the broader economy.

“We remain committed to this valuable programme. This is particularly important during a
recession, which is why the government responded quickly and flexibly to adjust the Train
to Gain offer,” Brennan said.

"We don't agree that our targets for Train to Gain have been unrealistically ambitious.”

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/skills­scheme­
mismanaged/
 IT contractors strike over pay
Friday 22nd January 2010 at 11:16

IT workers supplying a number of government departments are due to take part in a 24-
hour strike over pay and job losses.

More than 1,000 Hewlett Packard staff who work on contracts for the Department for Work
and Pensions and Ministry of Defence, as well as private sector customers such as General
Motors, are expected to take part today.

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka said the dispute
was over job losses and the imposition of a pay freeze last year and again this year.

"Strike action is not a step that our members take lightly," he said.

"They have worked hard to help the company deliver fourth quarter revenues of .8bn yet
have been slapped in the face with job losses and a pay freeze for two years running.

"It is disgraceful that staff should be treated in such a way as they shoulder greater
workloads to help generate good profit levels.

"The company need to start valuing staff and recognise the crucial part they play in its
success by giving guarantees on job security and a fair pay rise."

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/it­contractors­
strike­over­pay/

Nuclear future not certain

Friday 22nd January 2010 at 11:05

The government got a good price when it sold British Energy, according to a report from
auditors, but it is not clear that the sale will guarantee the building of new nuclear power
stations.

British Energy, the largest independent energy generator in the UK, was sold to EDF
Energy for £4.4bn in January last year when energy prices were at a peak, the National
 Audit Office (NAO) report published yesterday said.

The government's primary aim in the sale was to hand over a number of British Energy
sites to a firm that would be able to use them for new nuclear power stations, without the
need for a public subsidy.

The NAO report said the Department of Energy and Climate Change did not seek, and EDF
did not offer, any binding commitment to build new nuclear power stations as a condition
of the sale. But the deal "has improved the prospect of investment in new nuclear power
stations," auditors said.

NAO chief Amyas Morse said it "remains to be seen" whether the new nuclear power
stations will be built. "The Department of Energy and Climate Change now needs to make
real progress on its contingency plans should EDF be unwilling to build new nuclear power
stations," he warned.

The NAO report also notes that the government is still responsible for funding any shortfall
in the future cost of decommissioning British Energy’s existing nuclear power stations.

The Shareholder Executive did not carry out a formal assessment of the impact of the sale
on the risks that taxpayers might have to bear if, for example, the new owner operated
British Energy’s power stations in a way that required earlier decommissioning, auditors
added.

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/nuclear­future­
not­certain/

Noms savaged by Lords

Friday 22nd January 2010 at 10:32

Reforms to the Probation Service have left it worse off, a former chief inspector of prisons
has claimed.

Lord Ramsbotham said probation officers were in the minority in the National Offender
Management Service (Noms) and had been left under-resourced and entangled in red tape.

A former adviser to Tony Blair, a former chief inspector of the police and a former lord chief
justice also weighed in during yesterday's debate to criticise the reforms which brought
together the Probation and Prison Services.

Crossbencher Lord Birt, the former BBC director general who went on to advise the prime
minister at the time the justice reforms were proposed in the early 2000s, said the civil
service had failed to "drive the agreed implementation plan", leaving progress in the hands
of "section interests" with little appetite for reform.

Noms, along with the now abandoned NOMIS computer system, promised end-to-end
offender management, but the reform programme has been hindered by technical
problems and many have claimed that it has increased bureacracy, rather than reduced it.

Lord Ramsbotham said a Ministry of Justice survey found probation officers spent only 24
per cent of time on direct contact with offenders, either face-to-face or over the phone.

Another 41 per cent was spent writing reports or letters on computers, and 35 per cent on
other administrative duties or travel.

The crossbench peer said: "There can be no more damning indictment of the government's
failure to provide probation with the vital resources of people and time.

"It explains why probation officers tell you that some have caseloads in excess of 100 and
that they can spend no more than 15-30 minutes a week with medium-risk offenders,
often having no time for others."

He continued: "Government is fond of telling us how much worse things were in 1997.

"I do not deny, nor does the Probation Service, that all was not well with the way it
functioned at that time.

"But all the bureaucracy and red tape I have described has been imposed on probation
since 1997.

"No-one has suffered more from micro-management than probation, illustrated by the fact
that there is now an external, an internal and a Noms auditor permanently present in each
area probation chief officer's office on top of all the other time-consuming obligatory
reports and returns, audit and inspection."

Lord Ramsbotham also expressed concern about the way the Prison Service dominates the
new Noms organisation - of the 4,270 people employed in Noms, there were only 113 who
had previously worked for the Probation Service, he said, "none of whom are in any senior
position or in any of the main units".

"Working with offenders in the community is not the same as working with them in prison
and needs different training and skills," he added. To put the direction of probation policy
in the hands of people more familiar with the Prison Service was "seriously unwise", he
warned.

Lord Birt said that, as well as civil servants not pushing the reforms through properly,
ministers had failed to take charge of the changes.

He identified a 'revolving door' of ministers who were either not interested or "did not stay
long enough to get a grip".

While there had been some benefits to the new system there had been an "emasculation of
the probation profession and ethos - the precise reverse of the original intention".

Lord Dear, a former chief constable and Inspector of Constabulary from 1990 to 1997,
said: "To improve policing one of the best things you could do would be to improve the
quality of the Probation Service."

But he said the creation of Noms had led to a "rapid downward spiral and very rapid
disintegration of morale within the Probation Service".

He pointed to the case of Daniel Sonnex who was jailed last year, along with Nigel Farmer,
for the brutal murder of two French students.

Lord Dear said the probation officer in Lewisham who had been responsible for Sonnex at
the time of the murders had only been in the job for nine months but had a caseload of
127 cases.

"Ten years before a similar probation officer would have been carrying 30 or 35 cases," he
said.

"In that office, of the 22 probation officers only one had more than two years' experience,
the IT system didn't work, there was a high sickness rate - and we are told that in all, this
was a very unusual set of circumstances.

"I don't believe that. I believe that there are cases one could find if one lifted lids up and
down the country that would certainly begin to approach that sort of thing."

He referred to a "tick box-driven culture" and "a preoccupation with bureaucracy".

A former member of the Noms management board, Labour peer Lord Rosser, said the
Probation Service was "moving forward", and praised the dedication and commitment of
staff.
 The reforms had "contributed to giving us a Probation Service which regularly achieves
virtually all the targets it has been set... and delivers a service which has resulted in a
reduction in the frequency of reoffending," he argued.

However, former lord chief justice Lord Woolf, a crossbencher, said the good work carried
out by the Probation Service was "despite the havoc that has been wrought with their
profession over the years", not because of it.

Lord Tunnicliffe, speaking for the government, defended the reforms and said the
government wanted to free probation officers from "unnecessary bureaucracy".

Probation Service funding had increased by 70 per cent in 12 years while caseloads had
increased by 53 per cent, he added.

"We have continued to prioritise investment in the Probation Service. In 2010/11 a

probation budget of £870m, announced in 2009, is a good settlement," he said.

"The budget provides an additional £26m above our original planning assumptions.
Directors of offender management are working with probation chiefs to ensure this
additional funding is targeted on the front line.

"The settlement equates to a reduction of 2.7 per cent year on year. That is at the lower
end of saving requirements across the public sector."

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/noms­savaged­
by­lords/

Civil Service London launched

Friday 22nd January 2010 at 12:05

The last English regional civil service network has been established, with the launch last
night of Civil Service London at an event hosted by the Government Office for London.

Like the other regional networks, Civil Service London is intended to bring together civil
service departments, agencies and offices based in the region to work collaboratively on
five main issues: opening up civil service vacancies to all grades and departments, and
linking units shedding staff with those recruiting; better estates management; staff
benefits and discounts; the promotion of volunteering schemes; and the management and
coordination of apprenticeship schemes.
 The network was launched by cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell and Department for
Culture, Media and Sport permanent secretary Jonathan Stephens, who’s been tasked with
leading its development.

Speaking to Civil Service World at the event, O’Donnell stressed the huge scope for the
regional network to develop into areas such as policy coordination:

“We don’t know where it will go,” he said. But the strongest initial interest has been in the
freeing up of recruitment across grades and departments.

“People are particularly keen on the job vacancies side,” said O’Donnell. “Vacancies will be
advertised across the region. A lot of people are interested in changing their area of work,
but they want to stay in the same travel-to-work area.”

There is also a lot of potential to improve the civil service’s use of office space and property
in London, said O’Donnell, and “you really need local knowledge to do this. You need to get
the key managers together, talking about how their business is changing; then all this
information gets shared.”

Asked why it has taken so long for the civil service to begin to coordinate its operations at
a regional level, O’Donnell replied: “All the best ideas look obvious when you bring them
forward. Our government is set up with different departments, and it’s those constitutional
barriers that we’re trying to break down.”

http://www.civilservicenetwork.com/latest­news/news­article/newsarticle/civil­service­
london­launched/

THE WEEK'S TOP PUBLIC SECTOR STORIES

Met didn't take victims' claims seriously

Failure to act allowed attacks to continue and ruined lives, the IPCC says

'England has the best NHS in the UK'

Ratio of health staff per head of population, waiting times and productivity are superior, says report

'We need courts in shopping centres'

Manchester's Arndale Centre could be the first to feature a court

Doncaster attacks 'were preventable'

Council failures meant boys slipped through net, says report

'Only a 2.2 will do to be a teacher'

Tory leader David Cameron adopts a 'brazenly elitist' approach to teaching
Government guilty of 'siloed thinking'
There is no single coherent strategy for government within Number 10

'Cut costs by managing PFI risks better'

We need a transparent system that can deliver value for money, says Tim Byles

Local government pensions 'in mess'

There will be a black hole of £60bn next year, the Liberal Democrats have warned

Labour 'not delivered on dementia'

NAO says strategy was full of fine words but these have not yet turned into action

Prisons are not working, MPs insist

Community-based sentences would have a much greater impact on reoffending

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_features.asp

E­government ­ Friday 15th January  

Leading e­government news and features for the IT professional   

ICO gets power to fine £500,000

The Information Commissioner can issue the penalty for serious data breaches

'Significant progress' in data security

The way in which government handles and values personal data has changed

NPfIT legal bill nearly reaches £40m

Money spent on legal firms to draft the NPfIT contracts has reached £39.2m

Wales plans its own health records

All the information on a patient will be visible to staff on a secure online portal

Poor to get free laptops and internet

Low-income families will be able to follow their child's progress at school

Manchester Corridor goes for fibre

Organisations in the area may benefit from speeds reaching up to 100mbps

York commissions high-speed fibre

The fibre network will boost public services and have 10Gbps bandwidth

DVLA increases database revenue

It has projected £9.2m in revenue from selling driver data to private companies

Online search for schools services

A widget has been created to search the school and family services database
Lib Dems to have youth Twitter chat
Leader Nick Clegg will have an online public meeting focusing on youth issues

Features: 

Ready for digital democracy?

As the government moves forward with its plans for universal
broadband and increased online public services, Intellect's
Melissa Frewin asks whether everyone will be willing and able to
use digital public services

It'll get worse before it gets better

Tight financial constraints threaten to further undermine public
confidence in the public sector's ability to safeguard personal
data, delegates at Public Service Events' Data Protection
conference were told. Mike Lowe reports

Government must fill in broadband 'not spots'

As the government works on Digital Britain plans for universal
high-speed broadband, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Tavish Scott discusses how modern technology may be adding
to the communication challenges in remote areas

http://www.publicservice.co.uk/topic_section.asp?topic=e-government