Archive
UK — Open Data White Paper: Unleashing the Potential
Open Data White Paper: Unleashing the Potential
Source: Cabinet Office
Today we publish our Open Data command paper, which sets out how we’re putting data and transparency at the heart of government and public services.
We’re making it easier to access public data; easier for data publishers to release data in standardised, open formats; and engraining a ‘presumption to publish’ unless specific reasons (such as privacy or national security) can be clearly articulated.
From the Prime Minister down, central Government is committed to making Open Data an effective engine of economic growth, social wellbeing, political accountability and public service improvement.
UK — Tackling Fraud and Error in Government: A Report of the Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce
Tackling Fraud and Error in Government: A Report of the Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce
Source: Cabinet Office
This report sets out an ambitious but focused delivery programme that seeks to reduce levels of fraud and error across Government. We must continue to work together to support the national fraud strategy ‘Fighting Fraud Together’, and demonstrate the significant financial benefits that can be made in reducing the harm of fraud and error in the public sector. The Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce will continue to drive forward this activity over the next few years, helping to facilitate collaborative working between central and local government, and the public, private and civil sector in order to enhance our approach.
+ Full Report (PDF)
The August riots in England – understanding the involvement of young people
The August riots in England – understanding the involvement of young people (PDF)
Source: Cabinet Office
This report has focused on the question: “Why did young people get involved in the riots?” It identifies various motivations, influencing factors and decision-making processes which affected young people’s behaviour. The findings are complex but a clear picture emerges. Although there were differences in the way events unfolded in different areas, the underlying factors and issues were very similar:
- The riots had no precedent in young people’s experience: it was “a day like no other”, when normal rules did not seem to apply and for some “moments of madness” led to atypical behaviour.
- Young people’s involvement in the rioting – what they actually did – can be classified into four main categories: watchers, rioters, looters and non-involved. Some young people moved through different types of behaviour during the riots: for example, curious watchers who went out to see what happened got caught up in events and become opportunistic looters.
- A set of initial motivations for involvement can be identified as directly related to how young people expected to benefit from their actions: excitement; “free stuff”; getting back at the police.
- How and whether young people acted on these motivations depended on situational factors that related to “on-the-night” group processes and dynamics, peer pressure and what young people saw happening around them.
- Young people also “brought with them” an additional set of influences: individual factors including previous history of criminality and involvement with the police; factors that related to the attitudes and attachment to family and community; and wider societal factors such as local youth provision, poverty and materialism.
Decisions about whether to get involved were based on what young people thought was right or wrong; and whether they felt the benefits to themselves outweighed the risks. These decisions were influenced by all the above factors. The range of factors identified affected decisions in different ways for different people: someone who initially saw the actions as justifiable, could end up deciding the personal risk was too great to get involved; someone who was initially unsure about taking part could end up deciding the chance of getting caught was minimal and so get involved.
Young people in unaffected areas reported a set of contextual factors that could have resulted in them making the same decisions as those in the affected areas. But, crucially, some key facilitators (such as less obvious inequality in Sheffield) were missing, or important inhibitors (such as resistance of local communities) were present, meaning that riots did not take place.
UK — Independent Transparency and Privacy Review
Independent Transparency and Privacy Review
Source: Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office has published an independent review of the impact of transparency on privacy, in line with an announcement made by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, in December 2010.
The review was commissioned to inform the Government’s approach to the release of data as part of the Transparency Agenda. It was led by Dr Kieron O’Hara, a Senior Research Fellow in electronics and computer science at the University of Southampton and an expert in the fields of privacy, trust and web science.
+ Summary and Recommendations (PDF)
+ Full Report (PDF)
UK — Role of the Telecommunications Industry in Emergency Planning
Role of the Telecommunications Industry in Emergency Planning
Source: Cabinet Office
The Telecommunications industry play a crucial role in helping to ensuring a secure and resilient United Kingdom. There is a strong industry lead in this area with the Electronic Communications Resilience and Response Group (EC-RRG) [DN: Please link to the page created today entitled: The Electronic Communications – Resilience and Response Group (EC-RRG)] providing a forum for the telecommunications industry to discuss resilience issues. They also maintain the National Emergency Plan for the Telecommunications Sector and are responsible for the National Emergency Alert for Telecommunications (NEAT).
UK — Food Procurement Reporting
Food Procurement Reporting
Source: Cabinet Office
In June 2011, the coalition Government set out an agreement which included a commitment by the Government to “ensure food procured by government departments, and eventually the whole public sector, meets British standards of production wherever this can be achieved without increasing overall cost”.This is supported in the Defra Business Plan to drive sustainable food procurement by theGovernment and the public sector.
UK — Eliminating Public Sector Fraud: Counter Fraud Taskforce interim report
Eliminating Public Sector Fraud: Counter Fraud Taskforce interim report
Source: Cabinet Office
The Counter Fraud Taskforce interim report outlines early successes in the Government’s drive to fight fraud against the public purse.
The Taskforce has taken a fresh approach; by overseeing a series of pilots to show how quickly fraud could be reduced if we focus on delivery rather than strategy. The pilots have already saved £12 million and expect to save £1.5 billion over the next 2 – 4 years as they are rolled out more widely.
+ Full Report (PDF)
UK — Giving White Paper
Giving White Paper
Source: Cabinet Office
We believe that everyone can make a difference. So we want to empower and encourage more people to get involved; support each other and create the change they want to see. In the White Paper we set out three core strands of activity where we want to work with partners to make giving as easy as possible, make giving as compelling as possible and give better support to those that provide and manage opportunities to give – be they charities, community groups or others
One measure we are trialling is whether charitable advertising on Government websites is effective.
+ Full Paper (PDF)
See also: Giving Green Paper
UK — Unshackling Good Neighbours
Unshackling Good Neighbours
Source: Cabinet Office
Report and accompanying press release of the Independent Task Force established to consider how to cut red tape for small charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises.
UK — Better Choices: Better Deals
Better Choices: Better Deals (PDF)
Source: Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Cabinet Office
This document aims to show how consumers can become empowered to make better choices and get better deals. It is about helping consumers to get better value, better customer service and better support when making choices or seeking help. By empowering consumers, Better Choices: Better Deals can also contribute to long term growth. More active consumers mean that our best and most innovative businesses benefit most, helping to improve overall economic performance.
Many of the changes set out in Better Choices: Better Deals would have been impossible a decade ago.The internet, smart phones and new data management methods have increased the information available to consumers.This has created new opportunities for consumers, which we want to support.
These technological changes have also given businesses more information about their customers’ shopping habits. In some areas, businesses know more about customers’ spending habits than they do themselves – with detailed knowledge of how they use their phone, or how likely they are to go over their overdraft limit.
Better Choices: Better Deals is about putting customers in charge: in charge of their own personal data which can be used to inform their purchasing decisions and lifestyle choices.
UK — Consultation – Keeping the Country Running: Natural Hazards and Infrastructure
Consultation – Keeping the Country Running: Natural Hazards and Infrastructure
Source: Cabinet Office
The Critical Infrastructure Resilience Programme has published for consultation the Guide – Keeping the Country Running: Natural Hazards and Infrastructure. This Guide has been developed in response to the earlier consultation in 2009/10 on the Strategic Framework and Policy Statement for Critical Infrastructure.
The Guide will support infrastructure owners and operators, emergency responders, industry groups, regulators, and government departments, and help them work together to improve the resilience of critical infrastructure and essential services. The Guide provides advice on:
- identifying and assessing risks from natural hazards
- standards of resilience
- business continuity and corporate governance
- guidance for economic regulated sectors
- information sharing, and
- understanding interdependencies.
The purpose of this consultation is to seek wider views from government, regulators, industry groups, infrastructure owners and emergency responders. We would particularly like to hear views on the practicality of the guidance contained within the Guide and any opportunities and barriers to implementation.
+ Full Document (PDF)
UK — Growing the Social Investment Market: A vision and strategy
Growing the Social Investment Market: A vision and strategy
Source: Cabinet Office
This document sets out the Government’s vision of a thriving social investment market where social ventures can access the capital they need to grow, allowing them to do more to help build a bigger, stronger society. We also set out a strategy for achieving the vision, explaining how Government and others can act, including the key role of the Big Society Bank as a wholesale investor and champion of the market.
+ Full Document (PDF)
UK — Pandemic Flu – National Framework
Pandemic Flu – National Framework
Source: Cabinet Office
The National Framework is aimed at guiding and supporting integrated contingency planning and preparations for pandemic influenza in health and social care organisations and more widely across government and public and private sector organisations. It provides detailed information on the likely impact of an influenza pandemic and sets out some of the key assumptions for use in response planning.
Additionally, it describes the Governments strategic approach to responding to a pandemic and the arrangements within which organisations responsible for planning, delivering or supporting local responses should develop and maintain integrated operational arrangements.
The National Framework builds upon and supersedes the UK health departments’ UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan, published in October 2005, expanding it to cover a more comprehensive range of impacts and responses.
UK — The cost of cyber crime
The cost of cyber crime
Source: Cabinet Office
The overall cost to the UK economy from cyber crime is £27bn per year, according to the first joint Government and industry report into the extent and cost of cyber crime across the UK, launched today by the Office of Cyber Security & Information Assurance in the Cabinet Office and information intelligence experts Detica.
With society now almost entirely dependent on cyber space, developing effective strategies to tackle cyber crime requires a better understanding of its impact. Its breadth and scale have been notoriously difficult to understand and past attempts to set cyber crime policy or develop strategies have been hampered by a real lack of insight into the problem.
“The Cost of Cyber Crime” report reveals that whilst government and the citizen are affected by rising levels of cyber crime, at an estimated £2.2bn and £3.1bn cost respectively, business bears the lion’s share of the cost. The report indicates that, at a total estimated cost of £21bn, over three-quarters of the economic impact of cyber crime in the UK is felt by business. In all probability, and in line with worst-case scenarios, the real impact of cyber crime is likely to be much greater.
