Government Business 28.1

DRONES

FLOODING

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SUSTAINABILITY

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ISSUE 28.1

Business Information for Local and Central Government COVID-19

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PANDEMIC Where does local government currently stand in its fight against coronavirus?

PLUS: DATA SECURITY | G-CLOUD | GREEN SPACES | PROCUREMENT

PEOPLE MAKE PLACES

Places that Work Functional, well maintained environments creating the trust to safely return to work. www.uk.issworld.com enquiries@uk.issworld.com

FLOODING

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Comment

DRONES

SUSTAINABILITY

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ISSUE 28.1

Business Information for Local and Central Government COVID-19

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PANDEMIC Where does local government currently stand in its fight against coronavirus?

PLUS: DATA SECURITY | G-CLOUD | GREEN SPACES | PROCUREMENT

Positives for local gov There hasn’t been much over the last year, but there has been some positive news to local government this week.

The local government finance settlement has been confirmed, with muchneeded access to an extra £1bn for social care to help support vulnerable adults and children. On top of this, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced NHS reforms, with ministers seeking to advance the way in which councils and NHS services set up bodies that can make decisions about how to join up services. Although this has been happening for a number of years now already, having government backing can only be a good thing.

Although incredibly overdue, there is now central government funding available for the removal of unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in high-rise buildings, backed by an investment of £3.5bn, whilst the Cabinet Office has said that the government pledge to raise billions of pounds by selling off surplus land and buildings which were no longer needed by the public sector has been exceeded.

But, perhaps most importantly of all, as many as nine in 10 local authorities in England have now signed up to the community coronavirus testing programme to offer regular targeted testing for people without symptoms.

Follow and interact with us on Twitter: @GovBusiness

Whilst hospital data still provides stark warning against complacency, there is no denying that involving local authorities in testing and tracing in their communities has boosted the reach of the government’s programme, and with vaccine targets likely to be met the ongoing need for local assistance will only grow. Their unrivalled knowledge and connections must be properly utilised moving forward.

Michael Lyons, editor

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Business Information for Local and Central Government

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226 High Rd, Loughton, Essex IG10 1ET. Tel: 020 8532 0055 Web: www.psi-media.co.uk EDITOR Michael Lyons PRODUCTION MANAGER & DESIGNER Dan Kanolik PRODUCTION CONTROL Lucy Maynard WEB PRODUCTION & ADMINISTRATION Victoria Casey ADVERTISEMENT SALES Clive Beer, Steve Day, Bernie Miller, Vimla Stephen ADVERTISEMENT SALES SUPERVISOR Neil Haydon PUBLISHER Karen Hopps

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Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Contents

Contents Government Business 28.1 11

07 News

34 Drones

Local government finance settlement confirmed

The Department for Transport launched a call for evidence to help develop the government’s Future of Transport: rural strategy, which is looking at opportunities for drones to make deliveries in rural or isolated towns

for next year; multi-million pound investment to end unsafe cladding; and air quality improvements should be central post-pandemic

11 Covid-19 update It will soon be reaching the stage where the UK has been in some form of lockdown for a full year. So following 12 months of disruption,

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overwhelming pressures and unanswered questions, where does local government

37 G-Cloud 12 With G-Cloud 12 now on the Digital Marketplace, we take a look back at the cloud journey to date, beginning in 2012 to the latest iteration, released in September 2020

currently sit in its fight against coronavirus?

51 G-Cloud 12

16 Sustainability

On 28 January 2021, Government Business, alongside the Crown Commercial Service, hosted the G-Cloud 12 Summit

We share the advice of Linda Hausmanis, CEO of the IWFM, in which she discusses the ongoing opportunity to put sustainability at the centre of the ‘Build Back better’ agenda

22 Green Spaces Fay Holland, Policy & Research Executive at

55 G-Cloud 12 Romy Hughes, director at Brightman, outlines some of the many of the reasons why the public sector still shuns the G-Cloud and other frameworks

Groundwork UK, details the benefits of creating more and better green spaces which are accessible to the UK’s left behind communities

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24 Carbon Zero

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In many ways, the last 12 months has seen Oxford become a trailblazer in the race to reduce emissions, promote sustainability and show leadership in tackling climate change. Government Business explains why

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27 Flooding In recent weeks both the Environment Agency and the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee

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have warned about the poor flood defences that are leaving communities at great risk.

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So why are the warnings being ignored?

31 Data Security Paul Cahill discusses the lessons businesses can learn from Manchester United’s response to their own cyber attack, outlining best-practice tips for how to minimise the business and reputational fallout of such a breach

Government Business magazine

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www.governmentbusiness.co.uk Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature Any organisation that wants to achieve and maintain quality must embed risk in its systems from the very start. Designing processes and defining objectives will have to involve risk based thinking in order to maximise the chances of success.

To start with you need to consider what success looks like, and how it will be measured using key performance indications (KPIs). You should consider specific information relating to risks and opportunities when selecting KPIs, and ensure that performance against KPIs is reported in a way that allows you to develop and implement action plans when performance does not achieve the objectives.

Because risks can arise from a range of sources you should consider elements such as: • the needs and expectations of customers and suppliers; • the importance of individual products and services to the organisation; • the effectiveness and efficiency of processes and use of resources; • financial performance; By evaluating the risks and opportunities related to your plans for innovation you can evaluate the potential impact of changes and prepare action plans to mitigate those risks (including contingency plans). In short, the

timing for the introduction of an innovation should be aligned with the evaluation of the risks associated with it, balanced against the risks of not undertaking it.

As you design and roll our your processes the controls you put in place at various key points will vary depending on the level of risk that has been identified. The risks and opportunities you identify will need to be kept under continual review to ensure they have not changed due to the internal and external factors outlined above.

Addressing both risks and opportunities establishes a basis for continuous improvement of quality management system, achieving improvement and preventing negative effects.

Actions to address opportunities can also include consideration of associated risks. Actions taken to address risks and realise opportunities must be proportionate to the potential impact of the risk.

Evaluating risks will help you decide the actions necessary to achieve and sustain quality. You should consider the availability of resources and allocation of responsibilities to help achieve this.

Risk management cannot be simply a roll of the dice – taking the risk, come what may. Your risk appetite may be high in some areas but risks must be managed. Achieving, and sustaining, quality depends on effective planning and control. Taking risks must be a part of what you do, but never taking them blindly.

Risk management and quality go hand in hand.

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News

FINANCE

Local government finance settlement confirmed for next year is over and above the usual council tax support available for councils each year.

Residents will have the power to veto excessive council tax rises, with a referendum being required if councils propose raising the tax by two per cent or more, with extra flexibility for some authority types. Councils with responsibility for adult social care will be able to set a further three per cent increase, ringfenced exclusively for adult social care.

Jenrick will also extend the scheme that compensates councils for income lost during the pandemic from services including car parks, leisure facilities and museums, until June 2021.

The local government finance settlement has been confirmed for next year with councils to share £51.3 billion, an increase of £2.3 billion.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said that the £2.3 billion increase

on this year includes access to an extra £1 billion for social care to help support vulnerable adults and children. It is hoped that the funding package gives councils the resources they need to continue to deliver services and support their communities during the pandemic while protecting council taxpayers from excessive increases.

The government says that it will also enable councils to play a crucial role in our nation’s recovery in helping schools and local businesses to reopen safely and support the most vulnerable.

The announcement also includes confirmation of the final allocations for the £670 million fund to enable councils to continue reducing council tax bills for those least able to pay, helping households impacted financially by the pandemic. This

FINANCE

CLADDING

Additional support to help a small number of councils

Multi-million pound investment to end unsafe cladding

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has announced details of additional support to a small number of councils who are unable to balance their budgets for 2020-21 or 2021-22.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick said that this support is being provided on an exceptional basis and the decision to grant these requests follows a robust and challenging process to confirm that councils have taken all reasonable steps to manage pressures locally.

The councils, not named in the government announcement, will now need to undertake an independent assurance review focused on the council’s current financial position, sustainability and their ability to meet any of the identified budget gaps for 2021-22 without additional recourse to government.

It has been reported that the councils involved are Eastbourne, Bexley, Luton and Peterborough.

READ MORE

Robert Jenrick has revealed that the government will pay for the removal of unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in high-rise buildings.

In a bid to protect hundreds of thousands of leaseholders from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes, the government has unveiled a five-point plan which will provide reassurance to homeowners and bring confidence to the housing market.

Under the scheme, no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding.

Backed by an investment of £3.5 billion, the government will fully fund the cost of replacing unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in residential buildings 18 metres (six storeys) and over in England. This will ensure funding is targeted at the highest risk buildings in line with longstanding independent expert advice and evidence, with Home Office analysis of fire and rescue service statistics showing buildings between 18 and 30

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metres are four times as likely to suffer a fire with fatalities or serious casualties than apartment buildings in general.

However, the government has also said that lower-rise buildings, with a lower risk to safety, will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal with a generous new scheme offered to buildings between 11 and 18 metres.

The Housing Secretary also announced to the House of Commons plans to introduce a ‘Gateway 2’ developer levy, which will be targeted and apply when developers seek permission to develop certain high-rise buildings in England.

Additionally, a new tax will be introduced for the UK residential property development sector. This will raise at least £2 billion over a decade to help pay for cladding remediation costs.

READ MORE

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

The Hottest Tactical & EDC Products for the Counter Terror and Security Sector

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Streamlight® Inc., a leading provider of high-performance lighting devices, offers a range of high-quality products built with precision and performance, especially for law enforcement, fire & rescue and the military. Most important, Streamlight understands that when your life is on the line, you need to count on your flashlight to perform every time.

Streamlight continues to develop new tactical flashlights that you can trust, and approach new ideas, innovations and the ‘Brilliant Thinking®’ that sets Streamlight apart.

Compact, Rechargeable, High-Performance EDC Flashlight New for 2021, the Wedge™ is a new compact USB-C rechargeable waterproof EDC (everyday carry) flashlight that is ergonomically designed for clean pocket carry and to comfortably fit in your hand.

Featuring two lighting modes, it’s outfitted with an intuitive rotating thumb switch to provide tactile control over the Constant-On and THRO™ (Temporarily Heightened Regulated Output) mode for maximum brightness.

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Make The Brightest Decision with the Stinger® 2020 From clearing a room to searching for evidence, the Stinger® 2020 revolutionises the idea of a rechargeable, super-bright duty flashlight for police, military and other first responders.

Delivering 2,000 lumens and up to a 24-hour run time, the Stinger® 2020 features an anti-roll body design, non-slip side panels and an ergonomic shape for perfect grip. It also features dual power switches and an intuitive mode selector slide switch allow for flexibility in lighting intensity and run time.

Ultra-Compact that Packs a Punch In addition to EDC flashlights, Streamlight is introducing the TLR-7® sub, a 500 lumen compact rail-mounted tactical light designed for a broad range of sub-compact railed handguns. Like the original TLR-7®, it is designed to maximise visibility and targeting capability in a variety of tactical applications. Featuring an ambidextrous on/ off rear switch, the TLR-® 7 Sub also includes a safe off feature, locking it so it cannot be turned on accidentally.

Integrated Laser Features Streamlight also has updated the TLR® RM 1 and the TLR® RM 2, compact rail-mounted tactical lighting systems for long guns with an integrated red laser and two independent switches in one: push-button tail switch and remote pressure switch.

The TLR® RM 1 offers 500 lumens and the TLR® RM 2 provides 1,000 lumens. The sheer power and beam range of these models, along with their solid peripheral coverage and switch options, provide the security of knowing you’ll always have light in tactical and other applications.

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News

AIR QUALITY

Air quality improvements should be central post-pandemic

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has called on the government to address alarming levels of poor air quality in England.

In their latest report, the EFRA Committee highlights the ‘strong and established’ case for tackling air pollution, shown to disproportionately affect those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. MPs have urged the government to set tougher targets to lower air pollution if it hopes to reduce the health inequalities laid bare by coronavirus.

Drawing on evidence taken from health experts, local councils and campaign groups, the committee’s Air Quality report urges the government to firm up its commitment to clean air by amending the Environment Bill, primarily calling on the government to set a specific target to reduce particulate levels in line with World Health Organisation guidelines.

It also raises concerns that the current Clean Air Strategy, ‘lacks the ambition to fully address’ the challenges posed by poor air quality and that targets carried over

from EU law could be ‘easily amended’.

The committee also argues that the current Clean Air Strategy delegates too much responsibility to local authorities without sufficient resources to deliver, and without effective engagement from government.

Responding to fears that social distancing concerns may cause an increase in car use, the MPs call for a public campaign to encourage people to use public transport once the pandemic is over, seeking for further government investment in walking and cycling matches up to its rhetoric. While the committee welcomes the government’s pledge to a green recovery, including the ban of the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, it urges the government to make investments in the necessary infrastructure now.

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SOCIAL CARE

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Report makes NHS takeover of social care warning

Waste and recycling charges may have to be introduced

A new report has strongly argued that social care should remain being delivered by local authorities rather than giving increased control to the NHS or central government.

Commissioned by the County Councils Network, the report claims that only councils, working with the NHS and providers, can deliver the much-needed, wide-ranging blueprint for services that supports individuals to live as independently as possible. It says that a new blueprint for delivering social care in England could help tens of thousands of adults each year who need care and support to live more independent lives.

The report follows reports last year that the government was considering stripping councils of their responsibility for care services, exploring the option of care budgets and commissioning becoming the responsibility of the NHS. However, the CCN report outlines new ways of working and improved practices for local authorities, care providers and the NHS in what care specialists Newton terms an ‘optimised local delivery model’ to help transform services for many of the 1.4 million people who approach councils each year for local authority arranged-care in England.

Newton says that this can be achieved through a mix of interrelated improvements, including better long-term commissioning of residential and home care; greater collaboration between councils, the NHS and care providers; investment in reablement services; maximising the use of the voluntary and community sector; and embracing digital transformation.

However, the report warns that this model can only be delivered if councils are given the clarity of a long-term funding model for care, due to be outlined in the government’s

long-awaited green paper, and services remain under local democratic control.

The Local Government Association estimate that by 2025 there will be a funding gap in adult social care of £3.6 billion just to maintain services.

For service improvements to be realised, Newton outline several ‘foundations’ that must be in place through the government’s long-awaited social care reforms. These include setting out plans for a long-term funding solution for adult social care. Parity of esteem with the NHS is also called for, with social care getting a more prominent voice in local decisionmaking, and more campaigning to raise the positive profile of the sector with the public.

David Fothergill, health and social care spokesperson for the CCN, said: “The evidence presented in this report is compelling: only councils, who know their populations and their providers, have the means to deliver improved social care services to keep people independent for longer. Social care is best delivered as a local service and local authorities have the connection to their communities to truly transform local care for the better.

“This report recognises that if government finally delivers sustainable funding for councils, we can work with health partners and care providers to deliver improved commissioning and financial benefits which could be reinvested in local services. In exchange for more funding and local decision making over services, a new co-designed performance framework could also help provide reassurance to government that these improvements are being met.”

READ MORE

New research has revealed that the majority of local councillors believe waste and recycling charges will have to be introduced to meet proposed standardised collections.

Commissioned by BECG and Cavendish Advocacy, the research found that alongside the financial implications around household waste collections, the findings also identified councillors’ top concerns to be resident confusion and how to manage housing differences.

One key proposal under the Environment Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, is to standardise waste and recycling collections across England. The government hopes that by making these nationally consistent, it will be easier for everyone to know what can and cannot be recycled. By doing so, it will drive up the quantity and quality of what can be recycled, and reduce the amount of waste that cannot be recycled.

The research found that while councillors were positive overall about the waste and recycling proposals a significant minority (27 per cent) did not believe that standardising collections would boost recycling. Just over half (52 per cent) of councillors said they believed standardising collections would increase recycling rates in their area, while almost three quarters (73 per cent) were confident that their local authority would meet government targets of recycling 65 per cent of municipal waste by 2035.

READ MORE

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

How to fake the water cooler moments in a remote office Remote working appears to be the new norm for office staff. So with staff at home, how can organisations ensure that employees continue to feel connected?

Working from home has become the new normal for many employees, managers and entire organisations in the past year. We have had to rearrange our homes, lives, our mindset and get used to this new way of working.

It has had its advantages; no long commute, more time with families, flexibility and even money saved on lunches and takeaway coffees! But with those advantages also comes with it disadvantages and challenges.

It is now not as easy to communicate with direct managers, or with other team members. So how can we try and emulate those ‘water cooler moments’ that we so desperately need to keep employee engagement going from strength to strength?

Use video regularly Video conferencing (Zoom and Teams) has become extremely popular, and to some a necessity. They can seem awkward at first, with some getting used to the settings, sound, what backgrounds they use and becoming less self-conscious when seeing your own face.

But these videos can make a huge difference.

You will feel more connected to your team after seeing their faces, allowing for more interaction and improving ideas and creativity.

Water cooler moment: Customise your background (or even put something up on the wall behind you). You could have a team competition once a week to see whose is the funniest!

Virtual water cooler chats We use the term ‘water cooler chats’ for the type of interaction that happens such as bumping into each other in the lift, a chance meeting in a corridor, or of course by the

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water cooler (if your office has one!). When your team members can’t go to a physical space, bring those moments to your team with virtual chats. This could be a scheduled ‘natter’ every day at the same time for 15 minutes to discuss anything, from sport and television to families and celebrity gossip.

Water cooler moment: Some video communication platforms have the ability to allow the host of the meeting to split into ‘rooms’. Why not assign some members of the team into breakout rooms so that they can get the chance to know each other and chat in a less intimidating way.

Virtual happy hour It’s not just the interaction at work that we are having to learn to deal without, it’s the after work social elements in many cases too. Why not schedule ‘happy hour’ meetings after work hours for those who want to meet socially? It’s a great opportunity for making lasting connection with those that we work with. Choose a smaller-sized group to make it feel less business-like.

Water cooler moment: Come up with a social idea: cocktail night, a pub-style quiz, or maybe a book club. If you have a structure in place, it can remove any awkwardness and let employees connect on a more casual level.

Award of the week We all like to gain recognition for our hard work and show appreciation for others’ efforts.

This is something that was regularly a ‘water cooler moment’, discussing good work that has been recognised company wide. MHR’s People First platform enables employees to give recognitions to their colleagues and celebrate

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT | www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

success. This is a great way to increase employee motivation, even without the water cooler moments to encourage each other.

Water cooler moment: Why not have an ‘award ceremony’ at the end of the working month? The whole team could attend virtually, and the ‘winner’ of that month could receive something in the post for their achievements.

Find your virtual table football In many businesses, especially those that are creative, they have breakout areas for employees to relax. These include table football, fruit machines and even ping-pong tables. These were introduced for relationship building, as they allow people with different backgrounds and interests to bond over a shared experience. So how can we recreate this virtually? Play retro video games; card games over video or even take part in virtual quizzes.

Anything that takes you away from work for a while and helps to relax and enjoy yourself.

Water cooler moment: Split into partners within your team and have competitions. It can be good to bring out the competitiveness in your colleagues sometimes!

We may be seeing the new normal as remote working – but for the time being, let’s not lose those ‘water cooler moments’ by utilising any digital help that we have access to.

The People First platform enables us to feel connected as a team – and organisation – so that we don’t lose momentum through these new ways of working. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.mhrglobal.com

Covid-19

Local government and the ongoing pandemic It will soon be reaching the stage where the UK has been in some form of lockdown for a full year.

So following 12 months of disruption, overwhelming pressures and unanswered questions, where does local government currently sit in its fight against coronavirus?

As we head to print, the local government The funding announcement coincided with finance settlement has been confirmed the revelation that additional support from for next year with councils to share £51.3 the Ministry of Housing, Communities billion, an increase of £2.3 billion. Local & Local Government will be given to a Government Secretary Robert Jenrick told small number of councils who are unable the Commons that the funding package to balance their budgets for 2020-21 or will provide councils with the resources 2021-22. It is believed that the councils they need to continue to deliver services involved are Eastbourne, Bexley, Luton and and support their communities during the Peterborough, all of whom will now need pandemic while protecting council taxpayers to undertake an independent assurance from excessive increases. review focused on the council’s current Part of that resource financial position, sustainability should be targeted and their ability to meet any of towards helping the identified budget gaps for Over £2 3 schools and local 2021-22 without additional million f u businesses to recourse to government. n d h i n as been g reopen, when On the issue of to 60 c allocated government finance, the TUC recently volunta ouncils and advice says it is reported that increasing ry grou safe to do so, and demand for self-isolation p s across England to support the support is leaving local most vulnerable. authorities facing large vaccine to boost take up It is believed that funding shortfalls. The selfJenrick will also isolation payment scheme extend the scheme was introduced by government that compensates on 28 September 2020, offering councils for income lost a one-off £500 payment for those during the pandemic from who need to self-isolate because of services including car parks, leisure coronavirus but cannot work from facilities and museums, until June 2021. home. Demand for self-isolation

payments is significantly outstripping the available funding, as 70 per cent of applicants end up without financial support. This is putting pressure on local authorities to either fill the gap themselves, reject applications from low-paid workers who need financial support to self-isolate or, in some cases, close schemes altogether. Local authorities have been using discretionary grants to support applicants who do not meet the strict government-set criteria for the main self-isolation scheme.

Last month, the government announced an additional £20 million to local authorities to cover the cost of the Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme, to ensure people continue to have access to the support they need to stay at home and reduce the transmission of coronavirus. This includes an additional £10 million to enable local authorities to continue making discretionary payments to people who fall outside the scope of the main scheme, but who will still face hardship if required to self-isolate.

Testing progress Latest government data shows that more than three million people were tested by NHS Test and Trace over the last reporting E

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The government announced a new £120 million fund for local authorities to boost social care staffing levels in January, alongside £149 million grant system to support increased testing in care homes who according to the latest evidence are more likely to suffer long-term impacts and poor outcomes from coronavirus.

Each of the 60 councils have developed their own plan to improve communications with these groups including helplines, school programmes, workplace engagement, phoning those in at risk groups as well as training sessions to help people provide information and advice.

This has contributed towards nine in 10 local authorities in England having now signed up to the community testing programme to offer regular targeted testing for people without symptoms. The government says that 232 local authorities are now rolling out community testing, covering a population of around 42 million people and identifying thousands of positive coronavirus cases in people not showing symptoms, who could be unknowingly spreading the virus.

Designed and implemented by local authorities, community testing programmes are designed based on local authorities’ in-depth knowledge of the local area. Local authorities are currently being encouraged to target testing at people who are unable to work from home during the national lockdown. Cabinet ministers have been tasked to encourage their sectors to take up the offer of rapid workplace testing.

So far, 112 UK organisations across almost 500 sites have joined government backed rapid testing. The government has now widened the criteria for joining the workplace rapid testing programme from businesses with more than 250 employees, to businesses with more than 50 employees.

Covid-19

 week, the highest number ever in a single week. In total, almost 21.8 million people have now been tested at least once since NHS Test and Trace was launched, equating to a third of all people in England.

Of those people who took their tests in-person, at either a local or regional test centre, nearly all (97.6 per cent) received their results the following day, while the median turnaround time for home test kits was just 35 hours.

The main reason behind the increasing success of the NHS Test and Trace programme is the involvement of local government and the expansion of the test sites. With more than 850 test sites in operation, including 484 local test sites, people are travelling a shorter distance than ever before to get a test. The median distance travelled for a test is just 2.0 miles, a record for the service, compared to 5.1 miles as recently as September.

Local tracing has also vastly improved.

The NHS COVID-19 app has now been updated with the capability to alert users in postcode district areas where there is a variant of concern to provide additional messaging to users, for example that they may be eligible for surge testing, even if they don’t have symptoms and where to find more information.

More importantly, more than 300 local authorities have joined forces with NHS Test and Trace to launch local tracing partnerships, combining specialist local expertise with the data and resources of NHS Test and Trace.

These partnerships enable NHS Test and Trace to go further in supporting people who have tested positive for coronavirus and tracing their recent contacts.

Towards the end of January, over £23 million funding has been allocated to 60 councils and voluntary groups across England to expand work to support those most at risk from coronavirus and boost vaccine take up. The funding is specifically targeted at areas with plans to reach groups such as older people, disabled people, and people from ethnic minority backgrounds

To date, over 2.2 million lateral flow tests have been carried out by local authorities for community testing programmes, with over 44,000 positive cases found so far.

Care homes and carers There has also been sizeable funding announcements for the social care sector.

A month ago, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Minister for Care Helen Whately announced a new £120 million fund for local authorities to boost social care staffing levels, alongside £149 million grant system to support increased testing in care homes. It is hoped that increased testing will, in turn, increase workforce capacity.

The funding can be used to: provide additional care staff where shortages arise; support administrative tasks so experienced and skilled staff can focus on providing care; and help existing staff to take on additional hours if they wish with overtime payments or by covering childcare costs.

The £120 million fund is in addition to the ring-fenced £149 million announced in December, which will be used to support rapid testing of staff testing and facilitate visits from family and friends where possible.

The funding followed news that the NHS has now offered the coronavirus vaccine to residents at every eligible care home with older residents across England.

Unpaid carers have also been given a recent boost, with Helen Whately announcing that unpaid carers across the country who do not live with the people they care for can now benefit from free PPE through a new national scheme. Following a successful pilot scheme to establish the distribution method and logistics, free PPE is now being made available to ‘extra-resident’ unpaid carers who need it, so they can continue to keep themselves and those they care for safe from coronavirus if they have to move between households.

However, the issue of PPE has not been wholly positive. The Commons Public Accounts Committee has said that the Department for Health and Social Care’s decision to prioritise hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic meant social care providers were left exposed by lack of PPE. Having spent billions on goods and services without competition, the Department of Health and Social Care is reported to have spent over £12 billion on 32 billion items of PPE between February and July 2020. So far, it has identified items worth hundreds of millions of pounds which are unusable for their intended purpose, at further risk to taxpayers’ money. The majority of this shortfall was at the detriment of care homes. L Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Procurement

How the sustainable domino effect can help government In this blog Andrew Smith, Pillar Lead Research - Environment and Sustainability at CCS, reveals some of the ways government can achieve sustainability To achieve sustainability within government completed goal, what these changes are will feel like moving a mountain with a is yet to be decided as indeed that has teaspoon, it is possible but it will be a long to be done from the grassroots level for and hard journey. As said by one of the each area, it would be wrong to suggest most brilliant men to walk this earth, Albert that the port city of Liverpool would be Einstein, ‘persistence is the most powerful the same as a more service based city force on earth, it can move mountains’. like Guildford or that the Ministry of The tasks seem endless, almost as if it Defence (MoD) and the Health and Safety is too much to start, it is as if we have Commission’s requirements are identical.

10,000 items to cover and we are currently But this is where they are similar, all have at number three, this is made worse by buildings, lights, car parks and use IT so in each task having their own sub set of some areas we are in fact all the same. additional problems and multiple questions all that require in depth answers.

Sustainable domino theory But with persistence and a This short article is about my willingness to make some Sustainable domino theory and tough decisions, all how one decision in one Sustain sustainable goals can area can have a positive a b l e procure be achieved. To make effect in another, helping ment it less intimidating, achieve an overall goal. i n volves a we need to look When you mention higher at a number of government the d e g ree of colla small changes that initial thought is boratio add up to a larger just bureaucracy and n

en betwee gagement n al in a supl parties pl chain y

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wrapped in bureaucracy with a side order of bureaucracy stopping anything from happening, in reality, it is run and staffed by some truly dedicated people that have the want and wish to make things better for everyone in their area. Albeit all are similar no single area is the same so therefore no single sustainable solution will be the fix, but a change in one area may be the answer to another. For the purpose of this article, I will look at just a small part rather than all of the authorities responsibilities The first thing that people think of when it comes to carbon net-zero is power. Looking at this from one aspect would be a move to a green sourced power supply, maybe including carbon offset certificates. In an ideal world, it would be a mix of solar and air source heat pumps, if the property is in a more rural area and has the available space then a small wind turbine would complement the building’s requirement.

Theoretically, this could create an off-grid generation of supply. This is where the

including the CO2 produced in the process of manufacturing the paper and envelopes including the delivery to the distribution wholesaler and subsequent deliveries to the supplier and eventually to the end user, the CO2 and NO2 produced just on the journeys that would be heavily reduced just by using a system that is already in place.

I agree there is also an argument on the CO2 emissions from the datalake created from the servers but the idea is to use systems in place rather than using new paper and materials, or that it could be counteracted by the reduced use of printing toner and the electricity required to run the printers. The health of the local citizen is better as the air is cleaner, you can promote your town or city as a clean and healthy place to live and work. This is the absolute definition of the Sustainable Domino, a change to save some money has larger knock on effects, all for the better.

It is no surprise that we all have to look towards a circular economy in order to stop the reliance on a limited resource of natural materials, but as always in sustainability, every question is subsequently answered by two more questions. Even the example I have mentioned here is only the start of what needs to be done by all of us, but it is a start, one of many steps that we all need to begin with.

Right now it is procurement’s time to shine, the world has changed and one thing that Covid-19 has brought to the attention of all is being greener, the call for a greener rebuild and how air quality improved during the lockdown reducing pollution levels is testimony to the how having a green agenda for projects is not just a good thing to have but more importantly, it is the right thing. Procurement can help achieve this target goal but it is down to all of us to look into each project and see how it can be improved, we need to stop the phrase of ‘business as usual’ and embrace the thought process of reimagining everything with a green sustainable tint to it.

Sustainable procurement We are often asked two questions, first what is sustainable procurement and second what is the sustainability aspect of this procurement.

For sustainable procurement a simple definition is, to procure in a sustainable way, looking beyond short-term needs and considering the longer term impacts of each purchase. Sustainable procurement is used to ensure that purchasing reflects broader goals linked to resource efficiency, climate change, social responsibility and economic resilience. Think of this similar to a solar installation where the initial outlay is high but the benefits both financial and environmental are easily higher, the same can be said for LED lighting systems, the long term benefits outweigh the set up costs.

Sustainable procurement involves a higher degree of collaboration and engagement between all parties in a supply chain, this is nothing but a

positive outcome as the supply chain has embraced sustainability and most have a policy in place for how they can prove their commitment to the environment and even wider to include social values.

As for the second part in what part is the sustainable aspect of this procurement takes a change of thinking.

Over the years procurement professionals have looked at the costs along with service levels and KPI’s in order to achieve value for money, we are very good at it. Now we also need to include the additional requirement of sustainability. This is where the domino effect can come into play, by looking at the wider implications of a single decision in a positive light. A simple change of lights in a building to LED, leads to a reduction of power from a grid that may be supplied by a fossil fueled power station. The lights last longer so reducing the requirement for repairs or replacement which for street lights can cause a small bit of disruption along with vehicles running and polluting.

This reduction means less pollution, less pollution will result in healthier citizens, healthier citizens will help in the promotion of your area as a clean and healthy place to live and work, more people come into the area boosting the local economy.

The business case for the style of LED lighting can now cover both the cost savings and the environmental impact.

This would take a lot of work to imagine how changing a light bulb can lead to this, but if the estates team did this for the building then installed solar on the roof or used a solar topped car park the building becomes more self reliant, the EV car chargers are powered by the solar panels, encouraging people to have electric cars which has the knock on effect of reducing car related pollution along with any pollution from a power station.

Prevention instead of cure is a phrase that has done the rounds a number of times, sustainability is exactly that. A council making a decision to close off an area to traffic to reduce pollutants can have a positive domino effect on the area, as the chances of citizens young and old developing breathing related issues can drastically reduce, and all of the health care required in the treatment for these illnesses is no longer under the same pressure, so less trips to a hospital will mean less car journeys, less pollution, less illness, less lost productivity and so on.

A multi area approach to sustainability is going to be required, yes there are the standard changes required like paper reduction, LED lights and renewable energy, but the wider picture has to be taken into account by the local area, by making the towns and cities cleaner and sustainable the effect will be felt not just by the local area or the local economy but indeed by the whole country, after all we all breathe the same air. L

Procurement

differences come in, the MoD has plenty of land that can have wind turbines a local authority building would require solar, both have renewable just different ways of achieving the same result.

Lights, computers, administration and building waste are all areas that need to be readdressed. Lights can be changed to LED systems both within the main buildings along with the street or car park lights.

The benefit is that they have a much lower per hour cost mixed with better longevity, plus they are much brighter than previous energy saving bulbs. If this is mixed with some intelligent controllers the streetlights can be dimmed at certain times of the night, i.e. 2am to 5am saving power, after all, it is a waste when you see lights on in an area that has no movement at all, we are just burning electricity for the sake of it.

With computer systems, laptops are more environmentally friendly than desktop systems, in this new world of working from home a laptop is a requirement and will need to communicate with a main server.

Having a server system located off site would help to remove another section of power requirement from the building thus reducing the building CO2 further, even more so when it is hosted in an environmentally friendly situation. One aspect of administration is the number of paper letters sent to households. The majority of citizens now have email addresses so a simple email would be ideal and at zero cost. There are the exceptions where some will need to continue with physical letters, but as time moves on more and more are using email as a main source of communication.

Electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular along with charging points that are being installed all over the Country, local shops and supermarkets have seen the business benefits of having chargers for customers, link these chargers to clean air zones and pollution level reduction can have other wider benefits. Data produced by both the NHS and the British Lung Foundation (BLF) have shown significant improvements in air quality during the lockdown, that asthma sufferers found their symptoms were better and that we all noticed a cleaner environment. The BLF reported that ‘one in six people living with lung conditions in the UK say their symptoms have got better because of the fall in toxic air pollution since lockdown’.

None of the ideas mentioned here are new, the plans are in place, the technology is available and getting better all the time. Take the postage letters mentioned earlier, if email is used then there is a cost reduction on printing and postage stamps, more to the point the larger effect will be, no printing required, no paper for the letter or envelope, the postage van being run for deliveries is less so reduced vehicle pollution, no envelopes in the recycle bin or letters being shredded and placed in the standard rubbish bin. This will bring in less waste to be dealt with so less landfill (which produces its own high level of greenhouse gases). What about the wider elements

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Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Sustainability

Lockdown and the shift to sustainability in the workplace We share the advice of Linda Hausmanis, CEO of the IWFM, in which she discusses the ongoing opportunity to put sustainability at the centre of the ‘Build Back better’ agenda The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the global Even before the crisis hit, the sustainability perception of the workplace on its head. agenda had begun to move on considerably.

The mass transition of huge swathes of the Increased media and public attention on workforce to a home working set environmental challenges led many up has raised much debate as councils to declare a climate to the value of a physical emergency, millions of people Even office space – and caused to take part in global employees and employers climate strikes, and the before the alike to embrace an government to pass corona evolving concept of legislation committing hit, the virus crisis the workplace as the country to nets u agenda stainability more than a simple zero carbon emissions had be 9-5 destination. by 2050. Businesses g un to mov As we settle into swiftly followed, with e o conside n the ‘new normal’ and many setting their own rably look ahead to the future, science-based targets to much has been made of the achieve net zero emissions, need to ‘build back better’: and putting in place new, longtaking action towards more term sustainability strategies. ethical businesses and a fairer, equitable, The crisis has only acted to accelerate more inclusive and sustainable society. these trends. The unprecedented economic

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shutdown presented a silver lining in the form of a positive effect on environmental conditions and pollution levels – and the experience firmly proved that dramatic behavioural changes can be achieved at scale. The monumental shift in attitudes, approaches and expectations mean sustainability in the workplace is set to remain firmly on the agenda, even as the crisis passes. In laying plans for future workplaces, organisations must therefore consider sustainability of utmost importance.

With buildings accounting for approximately 40 per cent of global energy demand, it is not surprising that most workplace and facilities managers in the UK already take responsibility for sustainability within their organisations and have done so for many years. The recently launched IWFM Sustainability Survey 2020 in partnership with Inenco found that an increased number

Sustainability

of FM professionals see sustainability as ‘extremely important’ to the organisation compared to 2018. These professionals are uniquely placed to make a difference to the sustainability agenda because they are the glue in organisations, marrying the needs of owners, occupiers and the supply chain to create energy efficient, productive and pleasant workplaces.

Workplace and facilities managers are already on the frontline of reducing carbon emissions from the built environment. This includes making more effective decisions regarding heating and air conditioning, lighting and building insulation. With more than a third of CO2 emissions linked to our homes and workplaces, simple actions such as turning off lights when you leave a room and recycling where possible are as of much importance at work as they are at home.

However, as increased demand for flexible working begins to shift the role of the traditional office space, it’s important that organisations recognise sustainable and ethically run workplaces extend far beyond just the built environment. Employees increasingly expect their employers to set an example in sustainable living, embedding sustainability goals into the heart of any organisation. Workplace and facilities managers play a critical role in establishing these strategies and creating positive environments that will attract and retain the strongest talent.

Encouraging behaviour change It’s also important to note that the sustainability agenda goes beyond just

The monumental shift in attitudes, approaches and expectations mean sustainability in the workplace is set to remain firmly on the agenda, even as the crisis passes. In laying plans for future workplaces, organisations must therefore consider sustainability of utmost importance environmental challenges to include economic and social impact. Applying the full sustainability agenda ensures a full, holistic impact of the workplace. The IWFM Sustainability Survey 2020 revealed there has been a huge rise in the perceived importance of social value (articulating the value of sustainability impacts in economic, social and environmental areas, particularly locally) and well-being in recent years, with areas such as equality and diversity and training forming a key part of organisations’ sustainability strategies. We’ve already begun to see more businesses establish initiatives that encourage behaviour change; from food and nutrition advice to mindfulness and volunteering. The rising number of employees working remotely has arguably accelerated the importance of such activities as organisations realise responsibility for employee well-being does not stop at the office door. Indeed, our recent survey revealed that over two-thirds of respondents believe their sustainability policies and

targets will change as a result of the pandemic – with increased emphasis placed on areas such as remote working, travel, wellbeing and video conferencing facilities.

As we move towards the future and begin to lay plans for the future structure of our workplaces, it is critical that organisations take sustainability and social values seriously, if they are to attract and retain the best talent. Workplace and facilities managers are representatives for change and hold the key to driving forward ways in which office spaces can continue to adapt, with the aim of becoming more productive and sustainable in a post-Covid world. Organisations that fail to recognise the role sustainability plays in the workplace, risk long-term reputational damage – and decision makers must consider it as a core working practice and policy if they are to thrive in a post-pandemic world. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.iwfm.org.uk

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature Written by George Brasher, managing director, UK & Ireland, HP Inc.

Thriving with purpose: Moving towards a circular economy in 2021 In a circular economy, businesses aim to ensure that every process is as efficient as possible.

What does this mean for an organisation like HP? George Brasher explains just about reducing negative environmental impacts of your business, it’s about systematic changes that grow business and economic opportunities and provide societal benefits.

Behind all of our efforts to build a more sustainable economy lies a stark and unavoidable reality, our consumption levels will not allow our current economic models to ever be sustainable. According to research by the United Nations, waste generation will drastically outpace population growth by more than double between now and 2050.

Put simply: the traditional linear ‘take, make, dispose’ production model is no longer viable.

To build an economy that works for people and the environment, we must find a way to use less, waste less and recycle more. This model is known as the ‘circular economy’.

But the move to a circular economy isn’t

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Only a circular economy can deliver true sustainability In a circular economy, businesses aim to ensure that every process is as efficient as possible.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that in a circular economy,’economic activity builds and rebuilds overall system health. The concept recognises the importance of the economy needing to work effectively at all scales – for large and small businesses, for organisations and individuals, globally and locally’.

At HP, the strategy to build a circular economy involves; repair, reuse and recycle.

These principles can be traced back all the way to 1992, when HP launched its ‘Design for Sustainability’ programme. For every unit of output - whether a physical product or a service - inputs (such as physical materials or energy) are kept to the minimum required to achieve the desired output. Additionally, when a product reaches the end of its useful life, it is broken down and recycled in a way that keeps as much material out of landfill as possible.

A key part of this effort is to embed sustainability into all aspects of the product’s or service’s lifespan – from ideas planning and the design process, to the physical logistics

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and launch. For example, from the moment a product team sits down to draw the first sketch, they should think about the amount of energy and raw materials required to make, run, and then dispose of that product, as well as how much material can be recycled.

Another crucial element in the drive to create a circular economy is the creation of new business models and the reform of supply chains. By switching to contractual (i.e. as a service) rather than transactional models, businesses can work more closely with customers to ensure that products are kept out of landfills.

With this in mind, HP has repaired and re-used over 4.6 million hardware units and recycled over half a million tonnes of hardware and printing supplies – with a goal to recycle 1.2 million tonnes by 2025. Almost one million plastic bottles a day are converted into ink cartridges, via recycling plants in Nashville (USA) and Thurnau (Germany).

Furthermore, HP’s Instant Ink - a monthly subscription service delivers ink straight to your door before you run out (and includes a recycling scheme) - decreases the carbon footprint associated with ink purchasing and distribution by 73 per cent compared to traditional cartridge purchases. Moving to a contractual model also allows customers to automatically transition to newer and more energy-efficient products and services as these

become available, rather than waiting until they can afford an upfront capital outlay.

The process of building a circular economy is also made easier by the creation of new industrial technologies such as 3D printing and the Internet of Things (IoT). When manufacturers use HP 3D printing technology, for instance, they can reuse up to 80 per cent of the surplus printer powder from any job, cutting waste and resource usage.

Using IoT technology to engage in predictive maintenance reduces breakdowns and cuts energy and material waste, by up to 20 per cent.

Help the environment, the economy, or both?

In recent years, HP has been implementing various business initiatives to not only increase the sustainability of its supplies, but to also improve the socio-economic lives of communities. A country in which HP has been particularly prevalent is Haiti - a unique place yet unfortunately susceptible to tropical storms, not to mention the devastating 2010 earthquake.

As a result, Haitians have limited access to clean, running water, relying on bottled alternatives instead. Haiti also experiences ocean gyres which lead to more plastic washing up on Haiti’s beaches, equating to increased plastic pollution on land and in the surrounding Caribbean Sea. Collecting this single-use plastic is an obvious necessity.

However, removing that plastic to be recycled in another country represents a missed economic opportunity for the people of Haiti.

That’s why HP partnered with recycledplastic supplier Lavergne, material reclamation monitor First Mile, and the non-profit organisation WORK to find a better solution.

Together they planned to recycle more of Haiti’s ocean-bound plastic, but also process the waste material in country before using it in ink cartridges, consumer notebooks, mobile workstations and other HP products.

The first ink cartridges made with recycled plastic from this scheme hit the market

in 2016. Since then, HP has diverted approximately 1.7 million pounds (771 tonnes) – equivalent to over 60 million bottles – of ocean-bound plastic from Haiti.

HP didn’t stop there. Having identified an opportunity to expand its efforts in Haiti, it partnered with NextWave Plastics, an initiative to create the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chain, to invest $2 million into the installation of a hightech ‘washing line’ at the recycling facility.

This would increase the amount of plastic processed while simultaneously boosting its value on the open market — bringing in much-needed income opportunities for locals.

The washing line, completed in August 2020, sees plastic collected on Haiti’s beaches by members of the local community be shredded, washed with hot water and detergent, rinsed and then spun dry, to be later turned into HP products and supplies.

When at full capacity, the new system can process an estimated 10 to 20 million pounds of plastic a year, ten-fold the old plant’s yearly capacity of just one to two million pounds, directing even more bottles and other waste materials away from the ocean and into HP products. By keeping the system local, it creates income opportunities, at the plant and a wider network of beach plastic gatherers, for more than 1,000 Haitians, who are often women providing for their families.

We already have the tools we need Many of the tools we need to build the circular economy are readily available to us. And many businesses are already harnessing them to make their own supply chains more sustainable.

However, it is not enough for businesses to simply adopt these tools and practices themselves. It’s crucial for companies to collaborate with partners across the entire value and supply chain. For example, businesses can join initiatives such as the aforementioned NextWave Plastics.

HP has also worked with Smart Freight Centre, a specialist in reducing emissions from road

Advertisement Feature

Many of the tools we need to build the circular economy are readily available to us, and many businesses are already harnessing them to make their own supply chains more sustainable. However, it is not enough for businesses to simply adopt these tools and practices themselves. logistics. As part of HP’s commitment to a 10 per cent cut in GHG emissions by 2025, the collaboration has already helped increase shipping efficiency for HP laptops being transported from Asia to Europe by 31 per cent.

This has been instrumental in increasing the proportion of HP laptops shipped by rail from two per cent to 25 per cent. Rail is an energy-efficient mode of transport, emitting, on average, 76 per cent lower emissions than heavy-goods vehicles travelling the same distance with the same load. For any company that’s serious about playing a role in building a sustainable post-Covid economy, a multimodal transport strategy should include rail.

Take-back and recycling services and programmes can also be quickly implemented by businesses to keep waste out of landfill and within the circular economy. Multiple industries participate in programmes that reward consumers for returning old products and packaging, from fashion and beauty to food and technology.

British drugstore Boots, for example, is trialing a recycling scheme in which customers can deposit their empty beauty, health and dental products in store, in exchange for reward points.

As well as the national 5p plastic bag charge, many UK supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, are encouraging customers to recycle plastic bottles via recycling vending machines, again in exchange for vouchers.

On top of the Instant Ink service, HP’s range of recycling programmes includes HP Planet Partners, a business hardware and supplies recycling scheme for PCs, printers and print consumables, and HP Indigo Take Back, a used-consumable scheme for commercial customers of HP Indigo digital presses.

With more and more technology users making choices based on their principles as much as the products and services presented to them - environmental impact is now a key buying factor. If they are not already doing so, companies now have no choice but to urgently rethink their business models.

Moreover, these goals and values are not just crucial for a company’s bottomline, they are critical for securing the future of our planet and its communities - which is a purpose every single one of us must embrace in 2021, and beyond.

Everyone is constantly learning with sustainability; it is an ever-evolving topic.

Consumers, businesses, regulators, and governments are all on the same journey and it is important to work smartly and collaboratively in order to thrive. L FURTHER INFORMATION https://www8.hp.com/uk/en/hpinformation/global-citizenship/index.html

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Procurement

Procurement cards - benefit every time you buy Paul Allison, Deputy Director of the Financial Services Group at Crown Commercial Service, explores how greater use of procurement cards can provide fast and tangible benefits for all levels of government This can take the form of spending The usual winter stresses, combined with on a traditional physical card, the coronavirus pandemic and the process through a lodged card, or with the of transitioning to our new relationship with increasingly popular virtual card. the EU means the pressure on government, both local and central, is growing day by Why not benefit when you buy? day. More than ever before, using finite The government spends around £290 billion resources as efficiently and effectively on public procurement every year. This as possible is an absolute necessity. accounts for around a third of all public Both this winter, and during the coming expenditure and includes months and years, as government spending on everything from at all levels continues to tackle constructing schools, the pandemic, there is a roads and hospitals to clear and urgent need for The the delivery of crucial solutions that can rapidly g overnm back office functions provide impactful and e nt spends and the IT solutions tangible results. a round £290 b that enable them.

For this reason, at procure illion on publi With spending Crown Commercial on a variety of Service we are This acc ment every ye c categories - even encouraging all ou ar. a third onts for around in times of crisis departments, arm’s fa - clearly a fact of length bodies and expend ll public life for all levels local authorities iture of government, it to consider how to makes sense to make extract the maximum each and every pound possible benefit from every you spend work for you, your purchase they make by paying suppliers and the wider UK economy. through a procurement card.

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The power is in your hands Whatever you’re buying can be purchased with a procurement card, meaning you have unlimited chances to benefit.

Their unlimited scope - they can be used to purchase anything from accommodation and training to printing and stationary - means you can enjoy the following benefits every time you buy:

Save money – the National Audit Office found that using a card typically saves around 35 per cent in transaction costs, or £5 per transaction, compared with traditional methods.

Save time – purchasing with a procurement card means your finance team doesn’t need to raise POs or process invoices, freeing up staff time.

Enjoy more control – easily set or update transaction limits for both staff and suppliers, while a bespoke reporting suite allows you to monitor purchasing in real-time, meaning you can track every penny that’s being spent.

Actively generate funds – prompt payment generates impressive discounts from

Procurement

suppliers who, on average, are willing to offer a three per cent discount for being paid just 15 days earlier. You receive an annual rebate from your card provider and the more you spend, the more you recoup.

Strengthen your supply chain – suppliers get paid within four days by the card provider meaning your supply chain and business resilience are strengthened. Something that’s especially important during Covid-19. The faster payment isn’t at your expense – the cards work on a buy now, pay later basis.

Start benefiting today Whether you’re already using procurement cards and want to further harness their power, or if you want to introduce them into your organisation, you can quickly and easily start seeing the benefits.

Already using procurement cards?

The increased spend many government bodies see during the final quarter of the financial year is the perfect time to start spending more on your card programme.

If, like most, your organisation already uses procurement cards, we recommend that you conduct a thorough review of all current and future purchases to see where there’s an opportunity to spend more on cards.

Despite their unlimited scope, many organisations use cards for a narrow set of purchases – every purchase not made by card is potentially losing you time, money and control while weakening your supply chain.

We also recommend that you work with your Finance Department and card provider to integrate payments into your existing procurement card programme and talk to all of your suppliers. If they don’t accept card payment, highlight that they will be paid earlier and ask them to speak to their bank to enable card payments.

If, like most, your organisation already uses procurement cards, we recommend that you conduct a thorough review of all current and future purchases to see where there’s an opportunity to spend more on cards New to procurement cards?

If your organisation is not currently using procurement cards, or are interested in switching providers, contact our team today. You can also find out more about the agreement on our Payment Solutions web page.

It’s quick and easy to integrate procurement cards into your organisation.

You can start saving time and money, strengthening your supply chain, generating additional funds, and enjoying increased financial control within weeks. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.crowncommercial.gov.uk

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Green spaces

A green recovery through communities, nature and jobs Fay Holland, Policy & Research Executive at Groundwork UK, details the benefits of creating more and better green spaces which are accessible to the UK’s left behind communities At the end of last year, the Prime Minister set out his ‘10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’. The ambitions in the plan covered energy, transport, buildings nature and carbon capture and were intended to set out the government’s stall in the run up to the UN climate summit due to take place in Glasgow next November (COP26).

To make these ambitions a reality, we need local communities up and down the UK to understand not only the threat that climate change presents, but how the transition to net zero will affect them – and how a greener way of doing things can change their lives for the better.

While talk of carbon capture might seem abstract to most people, changing the way our homes are heated and how we get around will – at some point – be material concerns for us all. If these changes are not

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planned and orderly there is a risk that they will exacerbate inequalities (the pandemic has demonstrated what happens when big social changes are made in a disorderly way). Last year’s citizens assembly on climate change demonstrated that when people are equipped with information and time to consider and discuss it, there is no shortage of appetite for climate action.

Lower carbon lifestyles Some of the developments we’ve seen over the last year may hold a clue to the way forward. The government funding for emergency transport measures in 2020 led to more low traffic neighbourhoods popping up in towns and cities across the UK. By closing residential streets to through traffic, the schemes reduce air pollution and make more space for people to walk and cycle, making

local journeys safer and more pleasant.

While a noisy minority have objected to the schemes, they’ve proved popular with the public and demonstrated that different ways of doing things are possible.

The government should continue to invest in initiatives like this, that encourage us to adopt lower carbon lifestyles while making our neighbourhoods greener, healthier and happier.

Making more space for nature in our local areas is an important way of doing this.

Green infrastructure lowers carbon emissions and increases our resilience to extreme weather such as flooding and heatwaves.

It’s also vital to our health: spending time in green spaces boosts mental health and wellbeing and our parks and playing fields provide safe and pleasant spaces to exercise for people of all abilities, whether

Acro countryss the range o , a wide have be f initiatives e to conn n developed to natu ect people re i local ar n their eas

Creating community hubs Across the country, a wide range of initiatives have been developed to connect people to nature in their local areas. For example, Groundwork’s Wellies in the Woods programme works with young families to build their confidence exploring nature together, managing risk and learning through outdoor play. The Better Place Bradford project is all about involving local people to develop safer and healthier outdoor spaces for expectant parents and families with children under the age of four to enjoy. Future Proof Parks brings together young people aged 16-24 and Friends of Parks groups to improve their local green spaces. While many activities have had to be paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, young people have stayed engaged through developing social media pages for parks, researching their history and identifying the species of plants and wildlife they see on

Much of the emphasis in the conversation about green jobs is on roles in low carbon energy and manufacturing, but there is huge opportunity to create jobs repairing and enhancing our natural environment their walks. This has benefited the Friends of Parks groups, but the young people have also benefited, reporting that the activities had helped them manage their mental health through a really challenging time.

Initiatives like these have the potential to be replicated and scaled up and contribute to communities’ recovery from Covid-19.

Green spaces can also become community hubs. Groundwork manages community gardens across the UK which provide opportunities for people to come together, learn new skills and improve their health and well-being. When we visited some of these ‘green hubs’ for our Growing Spaces report early last year, volunteers told us how spending time in the community gardens had helped them develop their social networks, regain their independence and build their confidence. Some of the spaces are used for wellbeing courses and as places that people experiencing poor physical or mental health can be referred to through ‘social prescribing’. The NHS’s increased emphasis on prevention and social prescribing offers new routes into green wellbeing activities for people experiencing or at risk of poor health.

The local authority is often a key strategic partner in the running of these hubs.

Where services such as adult education, health advice services are ‘co-located’ with community gardens, it helps to maximise funding and buy-in from strategic partners.

It also helps residents to feel that these services belong to them. When a service is offered in a place that is familiar and that they come to for recreation and social activities, it removes some of the anxiety around asking for help. @theGrange is based on the Grange Park estate, one of the most deprived parts of Blackpool. The local council leased the building to Groundwork in 2018 and the centre has quickly become a vibrant hub of community life. The outdoor space has been developed into Grow Blackpool, a community farm where volunteers benefit from the therapeutic effects of working together in the outdoors while growing fresh produce for use in the community café. Blackpool Council provides core funding, including for the library and adult education services, and other organisations operating from the centre bring in rental income. Additional income is generated through grants and partnerships to deliver projects and activities at the hub.

Net zero ambitions Investing in climate action also has the potential to counter some of the economic effects of the pandemic, by creating high

Green spaces

they’re taking a gentle walk, training for a marathon, or playing with young children.

Currently, our access to parks and green space is highly unequal. Surveys show that people on lower income and people who are black, Asian or from minority ethnic backgrounds are less likely to have green space close to their home. Analysis has found that 2.69 million people do not have a green space within a ten-minute walk from their home and this is likely to increase with population growth over the next five years. We urgently need to increase the amount of accessible, high quality green space in urban communities, and put in place support for people to develop their confidence spending time in nature.

quality green jobs in a range of industries.

The government estimates that its 10 Point Plan will create up to 250,000 jobs. We are calling on the government to put in place support and training to ensure that these jobs are accessible to the people who need them most – particularly young people who have been among those most likely to lose their jobs in the pandemic. The Kickstart programme is an important first step towards this, but without conditionality to ensure that the roles created are low carbon there is a risk of leaving young people with skills which will soon become redundant.

Much of the emphasis in the conversation about green jobs is on roles in low carbon energy and manufacturing, but there is huge opportunity to create jobs repairing and enhancing our natural environment.

The sector has united around the concept of a National Nature Service, which would create entry level roles in conservation and land management. These jobs are ‘shovel ready’ and would be among the most accessible roles, providing opportunities for people to learn on the job and develop skills which would enable them to progress in the sector or transfer to other roles.

Of course, if we are to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, every organisation must be run in a way that is low carbon and protects our natural world.

To achieve this, we need to ramp up training in carbon literacy and environmental awareness across the board, making every job a green job. Sustainability should become a core employability skill, valued by employers. Government should use the levers at its disposal to incentivise public and private organisations to value sustainability skills, for example through the public procurement framework and providing more support for SMEs to reduce their environmental impact and transition to low-carbon technologies.

We start 2021 in a fresh lockdown, looking ahead to what will no doubt be a challenging year on many levels. But it will also be a year of opportunity for climate action. The decisions we make about the kind of recovery we want will have far-reaching implications for our ability to meet our net zero commitments and build stronger, fairer and healthier communities. Empowering communities to shape a low carbon future, making access to green space more equal, and investing in green jobs are important next steps. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.groundwork.org.uk

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Zero carbon

The path to zero carbon: tracking progress in Oxford In many ways, the last 12 months has seen Oxford become a trailblazer in the race to reduce emissions, promote sustainability and show leadership in tackling climate change.

Government Business explains why At the start of December, Prime Minister has been accused of making bold statements Boris Johnson announced a new ambitious and then leaving it to financially-struggling target to reduce the UK’s emissions by at and overwhelmed local authorities to least 68 per cent by 2030, compared to determine how they are going to meet 1990 levels. The target is the first set by Whitehall’s targets in their areas. Here, the UK following its departure from the EU, we look at how the Oxfordshire region is something that the government claims progressing its zero carbon plans. demonstrates the UK’s leadership in tackling climate change.

Oxford City Council Over the past decade, In many ways, the last 12 Oxford the UK has cut carbon months has seen Oxford city cen t emissions by more than become a trailblazer in the r e h a s een a h s any similar developed race to reduce emissions, per cen istoric 59 country and was the promote sustainability t drop in first major economy to and show leadership pollutio legislate for net zero n durin air in tackling climate lockdow g emissions by 2050. change. In December n Scientists have broadly 2019, following the advice welcomed the news but of the Oxford Citizens’ have urged the Prime Minister Assembly on Climate Change, to impose policies to back up his Oxford City Council set out the ambitions, as currently the UK is slipping next steps it would take to become a zero behind its existing targets. The government carbon council and city. As part of this, the

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city council pledged a Climate Emergency Budget that committed over £1 million additional operational funding and £18 million of capital investment to address the climate emergency – on top of £84 million of ongoing investment to tackle the climate emergency in Oxford and countywide.

Seeking to become net zero as a council in 2020, the authority delivered a Zero Carbon Oxford summit, involving the major organisations responsible for the majority of emissions in the city to see how collaboration can help develop a shared vision, forum, and plans to set a course towards a Zero Carbon Oxford.

Since that declaration lockdown has been imposed, and restricted many plans for the majority of the last year. In some ways aided by this, Oxford city centre has seen a historic 59 per cent drop in air pollution.

Independent experts from Ricardo Energy and Environment modelled what air quality would have been like without lockdown

Oxford City Council’s cabinet has also approved its Air Quality Action Plan 20212025, which will see the council become the first UK local authority to set out a citywide air pollution reduction target to decarbonising its power for heating systems across its buildings and its fleet vehicles. It has since announced proposals to reduce carbon emissions its key sites across the city, after being awarded up to £10.9 million from BEIS’ Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund, whilst upgrades have been made to the on-street electric vehicle chargers in the Go Ultra Low Oxford project, which will give members of the public the ability to use the chargers for the first time.

Continuing on the topic of transport initiatives, Oxford, alongside Coventry, was announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps as becoming the first part of the UK to run all-electric bus services. The Transport Secretary said that the cities are developing business cases in an Englandwide competition to switch an entire town or city’s bus fleet to electric vehicles.

Dependent on a successful business case, each area could be awarded up to £50 million to not only replace its entire fleet of buses with all-electric versions, but to also install new infrastructure, such as charging stations, and pay for electric grid updates.

Oxfordshire The drive to reduce carbon emissions and clean up the air has also been a key priority for Oxfordshire County Council, which took delivery of three new electric buses in March last year. The county council has already taken a strong lead and committed to being carbon neutral by 2030, and the 100 per cent electric minibuses are part of a strategy that will see the council replacing as much of its

Zero carbon

measures in place and compared this with the actual measurements obtained at sites across the UK. The assessment found a 59 per cent reduction in toxic nitrogen dioxide in Oxford as a direct result of the lockdown measures.

To maintain that momentum, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council will introduce a Zero Emission Zone, which will see diesel and petrol vehicles discouraged from entering Oxford city centre in stages between 2021 and 2036.

The council’s cabinet has also approved its Air Quality Action Plan 2021-2025, which will see the council become the first UK local authority to set out a citywide air pollution reduction target. The new Air Quality Action Plan 2021-2025 outlines a list of 30 actions that Oxford City Council and its partners will take to improve air quality in Oxford City between the years 2021 to 2025. The authority has set its own voluntary target for 30 µg/ m3 of NO2 to be achieved, by 2025 at the latest- going beyond the current legal target set out by the government of 40 µg/m3.

Among the 30 actions are plans to: working with schools to promote active travel; increasing the amount of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Oxford; expand the city council EV fleet; improved energy efficiency measures in the city’s housing stock; encourage the development of local heat networks; Controlled Parking Zones; and Bikeability lessons for students.

Additionally, the council’s 4th Carbon Management Plan for 2021/22 to 2029/30 Plan outlines the intensification of the council’s decarbonisation ambition, with the authority aiming to achieve an average annual (absolute) emission cut of 10 per cent (approximately 530tCO2e) every year until 2030 – doubling its current business as usual rate of reduction of a five per cent year on year reduction target.

In a statement this month, Oxford City Council said that its main focus of activity to achieve this will be to effect a rapid switch

vehicles fleet with zero exhaust emission alternatives as possible. The vehicles can travel up to 100 miles on a single charge and spend the morning and evenings taking children to and from school and the rest of the time they are used as part of the not-for-profit Oxfordshire Comet service.

In November 2020, residents in the district of Bicester were the first to take advantage of a multi-million pound electric vehicle park and charge site scheme, supporting the switch to driving electric cars by making it easier to charge them. The £5.2 million Park and Charge Oxfordshire programme is amongst the first of its kind in the UK and is being delivered by a consortium of local partners including Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

By 2025 an estimated 25,000 battery electric vehicles will be driven on Oxfordshire’s roads. To meet with this demand, a further 23 car parks have been selected for the project in the county, including in Kidlington, Banbury and Bicester.

These will be rolled out later in 2021.

More recently, Oxfordshire County Council revealed that residents in the Headington area of Oxford will soon be able to rent an e-scooter as part of a trial to allow residents to both travel in a socially distanced manner and cut carbon emissions. The launch is part of a 12 month trial led by Oxfordshire County Council and Swedish e-scooter operator Voi Technology, and follows the government decision to legalise rental e-scooters earlier this year, to support a green restart of local travel.

Other measures Statistics released by Recycle Now show that through lockdown, Britain has become even more environmentally aware, with nearly nine in 10 households saying they regularly recycle. Just over a year ago, Oxfordshire was named the best performing county council waste disposal authority in England for the sixth year in a row. Overall, 58 per cent of household waste was recycled in Oxfordshire in 2019-20, compared to 57 per cent the previous year. The national average was only 44.8 per cent. Individually, the five district and city authorities in Oxfordshire have also achieved excellent results above the national average.

The Oxford Environmental Partnership of the Oxfordshire district, city and county councils has a target to increase recycling to 70 per cent by 2025. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.oxford.gov.uk

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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CORONAVIRUS

STAY HOME SAVE LIVES The new Covid-19 variant is spreading fast.

It is putting people at risk and renewed pressure on our NHS. Everyone must stay home. If it’s essential to go out, remember Hands Face Space.

Find out more at gov.uk/coronavirus

Flooding

Poor flood defences ignored for too long In recent weeks both the Environment Agency and the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee have warned about the poor flood defences that are leaving communities at great risk. So why are their warnings being ignored?

Amid all the news of coronavirus and as those where there is a high risk to life lockdown across the UK, the issue of flooding and property if they fail, were judged to be has been ignored, overlooked and pushed in such a bad condition they were almost down the pecking order of importance. Whilst useless. This means that more than one in understandable that the pandemic response 20 of the country’s crucial flood defences is as urgent as it is necessary, the winter were in disrepair in 2019-20, the highest of 2020-21 has again brought proportion in years. This rose to nearly devastation and disruption one in 10 in the regions battered to communities by the recent Storm Christoph across the UK Experts have warned that More th an predominantly as the UK faces an increased one in 2 0 the consequence risk from more extreme and o f t country he of poor flood unpredictable weather flood d ’s crucial defences and owing to the climate e in disre fences wer insufficient emergency. Major floods funding and had been expected every the hig pair in 2019-2e attention to 15 to 20 years in the last hest pro 0, p o change the century but in the past r t i o i n n years situation. decade this has shortened Towards the to every two to five years. end of January The Unearthed analysis most of Britain was found that 3,460 of England’s placed under a weather most important flood defences were warning for snow and ice judged by the Environment Agency to be Brough about in the aftermath of Storm in a poor or very poor condition in 2019-20.

Christoph, which caused at least 600 This accounts for 5.9 per cent of the total, homes to be flooded as two months’ worth the highest proportion in years, up from four of rain fell in 48 hours in some areas. per cent in 2017-18. Of the 3,460, 791 were Released as the recovery from the storm judged ‘very poor’, meaning they had ‘severe began, the Environment Agency warned defects resulting in complete performance that thousands of England’s vital flood failure’, essentially rendering them useless. defences were in such a state of ruin last The Environment Agency has said it needs £1 year they would fail to protect communities billion a year to build and maintain England’s from extreme weather. The investigation flood defences, significantly more than the found that more than 3,400 of England’s £5.2 billion announced by the government ‘high consequence’ flood assets, defined for 2,000 new projects up to 2027.

Vague flood defence objectives The warning from the Environment Agency, which is a non-departmental public body, was followed by equally damning reports from MPs on the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, who argued that the government’s vague flood defence objectives are leaving English homes and businesses vulnerable to climate change.

Their February 2021 report urged ministers to commit to a clearly defined flood resilience objective, ensuring better protection of the 5.2 million properties currently at risk from flooding. The report stresses the urgency of the task, and highlights the need to provide longterm funding for the maintenance of existing and new flood defences, to match its capital commitment. Following the committee’s consultation with representatives from floodhit communities, the report also examines the mental health impacts of severe flooding, calling for an action plan addressing this alongside the economic and physical effects.

Among its recommendations, the committee says that the government should set out clearly defined objectives for a level of flood resilience which will protect homes and businesses in line with climate change projections, including ‘seriously re-examining’ the National Infrastructure Commissions’s recommendation of a nationwide standard.

Additionally, Neil Parish, chair of the EFRA Select Committee, said that the government should provide local authorities with the resources they need - including for dedicated trained staff - to effectively factor climate E

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Flooding

Major floods had been expected every 15 to 20 years in the last century but in the past decade this has shortened to every two to five years  change projections into local planning decisions, thus avoiding development in areas at risk from flooding.

A call for evidence The only action that has been taken by Whitehall so far is a new Call for Evidence to look at changes to the flood funding formula to benefit frequently flooded communities, and ways to increase the uptake of property flood resilience measures so that homes and businesses are better protected.

Reports claim that under the new Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs plans, insured households that experience flooding would not only claim money to cover the damage caused, but could also receive additional funds to build back better and make their homes more resilient. Floods Minister Rebecca Pow said that, combined with a record £5.2 billion government investment over the next six years in new flood and coast defences, hundreds of thousands properties will be better protected.

The consultation covers changes to the Flood Re scheme, a joint industry/government initiative, designed to reduce insurance costs for thousands of households by passing on the flood risk element of home insurance to Flood Re and charging a set premium to households based on council tax bands. Since its launch in 2016, over 300,000 households have benefited from Flood Re, with four out of five households with prior flood claims seeing reductions in their insurance premiums by more than half. L

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Providing the confidence and capability to adopt the cloud

A common challenge for our customers has been how to provision new or replace faulty devices for staff working from home with no access to office locations.

The answer to this conundrum according to Microsoft is Autopilot; a collection of technologies to facilitate the configuration of devices sent direct from manufacturer to end user with only an active internet connection and an Azure AD user account for that out-of-box experience (OOBE). We’ve been looking closely at Autopilot for the last few years waiting for the solution to mature to a level we feel comfortable with. “So is it

ready?” I hear you ask, well depending on your requirements the answer is now more frequently a ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ or ‘not quite’.

For organisations with no Active Directory, strict security requirements and who haven’t invested in SCCM it can be an excellent fit. It’s a cost-effective solution to provide organisations with cloud platform to enrol devices direct from manufacturer whilst maintaining cenralised configuration and control.

For those organisation whom it’s been a step to far to date there are options to leverage Autopilot as an initial stepping stone to providing a full corporate managed device

using your existing management infrastructure whilst providing the end user with that nice out-of-the-box (OOBE)experience they are looking for. Oh, and the bonus is that they can rebuild their own device if they experience a fault from home at any time!

Our solutions use a combination of Microsoft Autopilot and Fortinet to enable devices to ship direct to staff, the configuration process automatically starts and runs through until the users prompted to login. At this point a secure VPN connection is established and the device performs some final configuration ensuring the device operates as any other corporate device they are used to. Just as if your friendly deskside engineer has handed it over to you ready to go with all the software you need installed!

If you’re looking for some advice and guidance on how you could leverage AutoPilot within your organisation, you’re interested in seeing a demo or you want to discuss how we overcame some of the short comings of AutoPilot to meet our customers needs the please get in touch. L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01438 567551 info@ogelit.com www.ogelit.com

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Consultancy

Data security

How to respond to a data breach and come out unscathed Paul Cahill discusses the lessons businesses can learn from Manchester United’s response to their own cyber attack, outlining best-practice tips for how to minimise the business and reputational fallout of such a breach Customers of high-profile businesses The Club’s apparent swift action is likely should be able to trust that their personal to have a net-positive impact on future information is kept safe, and that adequate brand reputation, with a key tenet of data data protection and security measures protection being that companies regularly are in place – as well as a certain legal review and update their procedures in obligation to protect that information, and order to ensure that their systems, and the to update immediately if this should have data they hold, are protected to the been compromised in any way. best of their ability at all times However, Manchester – which the Club did well.

United’s relative success Reports suggest that is the exception which the Club worked with Forwar proves the rule: many expert advisors and plannin dbusinesses fall short had rehearsed for g a nd risk ass of best practice in the risk. They were e s s ment is key t the aftermath of able to identify o a bus a cyber attack. the attack and i n e b ss eing ab The Club has shut down those le to protect understandably systems that i t s e not released much may have been a data lf from leak official information vulnerable. Due to about the attack itself the processes that or the security measures they had in place, that it has in place, but there it seems that the Club have been reports of the type was able to take swift action of steps taken and how those steps that prevented the loss of data, thus might have helped mitigate the risks. removing themselves from the risk.

Steps businesses should take to minimise damage potential We are informed that IT experts at the Club had prepared for this attack by segmenting their data. This meant that affected areas could be isolated in the event of an attack.

It is likely that these steps, alongside other protective measures, were taken following the UK National Cyber Security Centre report was released in July, which highlighted the fact that cyber criminals were specifically targeting Sports Clubs.

The preparations that the Club had made would have allowed them to react more quickly to the threat and reduce the extent to which data was exposed to the hacker.

This is something that other businesses, big and small, should learn from.

Taking swift action is key when dealing with a cyber attack. Locating what systems have been affected and shutting those systems down is the first port of call. A business must then identify what data has been compromised and contact any individual who has been affected by the breach. They should also consider whether the ICO should be informed. E

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Data security

Businesses should ensure complete transparency when disclosing the details of the breach as that can help them to regain their customer’s trust. They should also be clear about what, if any, steps they have been able to take to minimise the effects of the breach

 It is however fair to say that good preparation and awareness of the possible risks is what allows a business to respond quickly when it suffers this sort of attack, and businesses must be proactive when they consider cyber security and data protection.

What local authorities must learn from the Manchester United data breach It is imperative for local authorities to implement suitable protocols and procedures that can be followed in the event of a cyber attack. It is also important that they understand the possible risks. This should allow local authorities to take the necessary steps to reduce the amount of data that can be stolen and inform any parties affected.

1 - Understand the risks 2 - Plan suitable safety protocols 3 - Isolate your data 4 - Shut down the affected systems 5 - Contact individuals affected

Where businesses fall short of best practice in terms of data safety Quite often, data is breached due to human error. Businesses often do not have policies and procedures in place to prevent these types of mistakes. Simply double-checking email attachments or external mail would prevent many data breaches. It is also important to conduct regular security health checks. Ensuring that security policies are up to date, new risks are assessed and security software is well managed will all help to protect against data leaks.

It is also sensible to take precautions against reputational fallout following the data breach. The way that Manchester United handled the incident certainly appears to have saved them from reputational damage, and the same steps can be taken by other businesses who find themselves in the same position.

If a local authority suffers a data breach then the best thing that they can do is be honest with any affected parties about what has occurred, and how they are dealing with things. Informing all parties affected promptly will allow them to take necessary steps to protect themselves (i.e. cancel any bank cards, check credit reports), but will

also demonstrate that the organisation understands the seriousness of the issue.

Businesses should ensure complete transparency when disclosing the details of the breach as that can help them to regain their customer’s trust. They should also be clear about what, if any, steps they have been able to take to minimise the effects of the breach.

To summarise, forward-planning and risk assessment is key to a business being able to protect itself from a data leak. Whether that be through human error or through a sophisticated cyber-attack, having the relevant best practice in place and ensuring that data is segmented will surely help to minimise the impact. Following a data breach, transparency is key. Go above and beyond in communicating the necessary details with your affected customer base. This will help to protect the organisation’s reputation in the event of a leak, and will ensure that you come out the other side (relatively) unscathed. L

Paul Cahill is Data Breach Solicitor at Fletchers Data Claims.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.fletchersdataclaims.com

Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Drones

Drones: The new mode of transporting goods and supplies The Department for Transport launched a call for evidence to help develop the government’s Future of Transport: rural strategy, which is looking at opportunities for drones to make deliveries in rural or isolated towns The coronavirus pandemic, and resulting look at how drones could be used in their lockdown across the UK, has changed communities, examining the potential the face of the way in which people for public service delivery, commercial communicate, shop, work and travel. Perhaps opportunities and environmental impacts. not as noticeable as the increase London used the project for safer in delivery vans on the road, infrastructure inspections The or as frequent as new and helping the capital’s Univers users to digital meeting emergency services, as ity of Sout rooms, has been the was also the case in quiet revolution in Preston, whilst in trial be hampton c a fully automated Bradford drones m e of its ki the firs drone deliveries. supported the n t d a nd aim benefit Drone deliveries delivery of better e d are set to be worth quality housing and IoW by patients on t to he speedin £42 billion in the energy efficiency. g up th delivery UK alone by 2030, The West Midlands, e o f m and, although far which boasts e d i cal supplie more prominent across two international s Asia than in Europe, the airports, analysed the technology has been slowly use of drones around progressing for the last few years. the world class ‘UK City of At the start of 2018, five ‘pioneering’ Culture 2021’ and Commonwealth cities were selected by Innovate UK to design Games events. Meanwhile, in Southampton how drone technology could operate in studied the use of drones in port safety, complex city environments to address local blue light services and offshore logistics. needs, as part of the Flying High Challenge.

Bradford, London, Preston, Southampton Drones and medical supplies and the West Midlands spent five months At the start of last year, trials of drones to work with the Flying High team to delivering medical supplies gained fast-

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR LOCAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT | www.governmentbusiness.co.uk

tracked approval to commence given the urgent need during the coronavirus pandemic. Southampton and Portsmouth were awarded £28 million of government funding to develop a Future Transport Zone.

As part of that initiative, £8 million was earmarked for testing drones, and how they might be used for delivering goods in the years and decades ahead. This saw a trial taking place looking into using drones to transport medical supplies across the Solent to the Isle of Wight to support the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The University of Southampton trial became the first of its kind and aimed to benefit patients on the Isle of Wight by speeding up the delivery of medical supplies. It will use a UAV drone designed and built by the university for Windracers, to transport medical supplies to St Marys Hospital from the mainland via the Solent Airport. Solent Transport is advancing part of its four-year drone project, which will look to develop an air traffic management system to oversee the safe movement of both manned and unmanned aircraft in shared airspace.

Various types of unmanned aircraft will be trialled to see how these could improve the movement of medical supplies between the

Rural transport strategy Also in November 2020, the Department for Transport launched a call for evidence to help develop the government’s Future of Transport: rural strategy, which will look at how the benefits of transport innovation can be enjoyed by everyone, including those living and working in rural areas. The distance between a person’s home and their nearest mass transport hub is often around

Drones

three hospitals in Hampshire – Southampton General Hospital, Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth and St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight. The project intends to increase efficiency, reduce costs and transportation time of medical supplies between NHS locations.

That project paved the way for many more to gain funding as the pandemic continued to restrict businesses operating in their normal circumstances. Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi, now Vaccine Minister, announced in November that 20 winning ideas will receive a share of £7 million funding, with one successful project seeing investment provided to Dock-to-Dock, based in Cardiff, which is developing a pilot project to deliver goods between Bristol and Cardiff using a hydrogen-powered electric aircraft, and further funding for APIAN Limited, based in Essex, which is creating and building a drone to deliver medical supplies like coronavirus blood and swab tests between NHS hospitals and labs in response to the pandemic, protecting key NHS staff and the wider public from coronavirus transmission.

Particularly suited to the greater distances in rural areas, drone deliveries could cut down delivery times and help to reduce pollution, allowing rural locations the potential to be a trailblazer for low-carbon deliveries areas is key to this. Particularly suited to the greater distances in rural areas, drone deliveries could cut down delivery times and help to reduce pollution, allowing rural locations the potential to be a trailblazer for low-carbon deliveries. L

five miles in rural areas, making it a major barrier to accessing public transport and services. The call for evidence looks at how linking different digital platforms together could create a more seamless experience for people, allowing them to plan, book and pay for travel all in one place, and to link journeys over multiple modes.

Opportunities for drones to make deliveries in rural or isolated towns and

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G-Cloud 12

The start of the cloud: Tracing G-Cloud back to its origins With G-Cloud 12 now on the Digital Marketplace, we take a look back at the cloud journey to date, beginning in 2012 to the latest iteration, released in September 2020 In February 2012 the CloudStore was whilst celebrating its launch, Chant and his launched, marking a big step change in the team were already looking ahead to the way that suppliers and buyers do business next version of the G-Cloud framework, on ICT services in the public sector. writing that he was aiming to make Operating like an App Store, it developments that were ‘more meant that a full selection dynamic, allowing monthly As of over 1,700 services, refreshes to bring onboard is alway s from some 257 suppliers, new services or new the case became available for suppliers’, and make high w it h implem everyone to see in a speed change possible. projects entation user friendly and easily Just before announcing searchable catalogue. his retirement, Chant save tim , the need to e In his blog post wrote in a blog on a n d money remains detailing the the government’s a launch, Chris Chant, G-Cloud website that for proc challenge ure programme director for chief information officers management the programme, who then (CIOs) and fellow civil rs retired that following April, servants were ‘hiding behind said that CloudStore was very the comfort blanket’ and had much just the first version of the to change how they buy IT. Citing organisation’s plans for cloud procurement, himself as an example, Chant said IT leaders suggesting that it would possibly be seen had been taking the ‘easy path’ for years, in the future as the ‘Alpha release’. Even by agreeing expensive contracts with big

IT suppliers, therefore ‘failing to innovate and thereby causing end users to suffer’.

Chant was not only the only one criticising methods. Despite the G-Cloud plan calling for 50 per cent of new government IT spending to move to cloud computing services by 2015, and aiming to reduce government IT costs by £200 million per year, a report released in May 2012 claimed that the government may miss its cloud computing targets because of a lack of enthusiasm from public sector IT staff.

CloudStore prided itself in its infancy on making it cheaper and easier for public sector organisations to choose and buy ‘off the shelf’ IT services, such as email, word processing, enterprise resource planning and electronic records management, but Smart Savings 3, G-Cloud Progress, commissioned by VMware, showcased how 59 per cent of the IT staff surveyed for the report said they were undecided on whether to use CloudStore to buy cloud services. The main reasons were fears for being tied in to existing E Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Both the CloudStore and the Digital Services Store were to be replaced by the Digital Marketplace, providing one place for the public sector to buy digital and IT services and be the new home for G-Cloud services  contracts, concerns about security and a lack of understanding about cloud technologies.

Tracking changes in the cloud’s past The Home Office’s Denise McDonagh took over from Chant at the start of May 2012, with G-Cloud team planning to launch the second version of the cloud within that time frame (Gii). The change would incorporate a new approach where the department would be able to add new suppliers and services on a quarterly basis at a minimum. Built as part of the government E-Marketplace and using an existing government platform, the catalogue was still made up of the services from the first iteration and included the services from the first round of the G Cloud OJEU. In mid-May, the benefits for buyers were outlined as improved search engine capabilities that allowed for free form search alongside the ability to filter on G-Cloud attributes, plus the ability to view supplier service definitions, terms and conditions, rate cards and other useful documents, compare

services and standard configuration prices side by side, and purchase through the store (if you’re registered to use the eMarketplace). For suppliers, it meant the ability to make changes to CloudStore entry directly, a more open and fairer marketplace through side by side service comparisons, and quicker and easier payments.

Furthermore, the value of the total procurement possible through Gii was increased from £60 million to £100 million and would run for 12 months not six.

Although the limit of the contracts remained 12 months, contracts could run up to 24 months in exceptional circumstances. Once it opened for business, Gii had over 3,000 services available from 458 suppliers, double that of the first version. Of the 458 suppliers, 75 per cent were SMEs, a key part of making supplying to government simpler and opening up a more competitive marketplace. The first agreement, Gi, closed on 13 November 2012.

Covering buyer needs The government announced that it would be carrying out a review of the effectiveness of government ICT framework agreements

in October 2012, meaning that all new planned frameworks, including proposals for Giii, were paused. At the start of 2013, the green light was given to G-Cloud. Both the G-Cloud framework and the CloudStore celebrated their first birthday in February 2013, although plans to produce Giii by April are already looking unlikely to be met.

McDonagh again reiterated that G Cloud was ‘a game changer for the way government buys, manages, delivers and operates IT’.

Discussing 12 months of operations, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “In just 12 months, G-Cloud has shown itself to be a model for efficient public sector IT procurement, establishing a dynamic marketplace for cloud-based IT services. We have simplified the procurement process through G-Cloud to make it more accessible to a wider range of companies, leading to more choice, better value for the taxpayer and growth for the economy. Suppliers are asked what they can offer government, rather than being issued with complicated specifications that stifle innovation. This is the way we want government IT to be – simpler, quicker, cheaper and focused on matching solutions to business requirements, reducing waste and cutting costs.”

Having survived its first year, sales then appeared to increase with nearly 1,000 invoiced purchases, sales of over £18.2 million to the end of March 2013 and McDonagh writing in May that the Home Office alone was putting through more than £6 million of orders due to the success of the CloudStore. With the Public Expenditure Cabinet Committee E Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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 having agreed to put in place a Public Cloud First mandate for central government, whereby departments had a target to achieve 50 per cent of new IT spend on cloud and 25 per cent use of SMEs by value by 2015, G-Cloud iii went live on 4 May alongside the launch of a new CloudStore. With the commencement of the third procurement iteration, the CloudStore now offered more than 800 suppliers and more than 7,000 services across all types of cloud service models, including public, private and hybrid.

No longer stand alone Now that Giii was live, Denise McDonagh, the government’s G-Cloud director, signalled that it was right for G-Cloud to continue moving to ‘business as usual’, especially now that there had been three procurement frameworks successfully launched, as well as the CloudStore improvements, acceptance of the Public Cloud First mandate across central government and sales rising close to £22 million to the end of April 2013.

Therefore, responsibility and instruction for G-Cloud moved across to the Government Digital Service (GDS) at the beginning of June 2013. The previous month had seen the publication of the Major Projects Authority’s (MPA) annual report, revealing the performance of the government’s most expensive and important projects for the first time. Amongst other things, the report highlighted some concerns about how the G Cloud programme was resourced, leading to GDS to increase the budget for the programme and to nearly double the size of the team working on the next iteration of the service - G-Cloud 4.

At the start of August 2013, the Cabinet Office and GDS announced that G-Cloud 4 had been launched and welcomed the next procurement round for applications to join G-Cloud. In a blog post to mark the launch, the Digital Marketplace team said that improvements in the new agreement included clearer instructions on how to apply for suppliers new to G-Cloud, as well as clearer instructions on how to carry forward services for suppliers already on Gii or Giii.

The department also highlighted the benefits of the Government Procurement Service (GPS) eSourcing suite for responses to mandatory questions to meet procurement regulations and the GDS Service Submission Portal to make it easier for suppliers by ensuring documentation is a mandatory upload so there is no possibility of suppliers failing compliance for non-submission of documents.

This made the process of uploading documents to the CloudStore simple.

The opening of G-Cloud 4 also marked a further increase in sales. By the end of October 2013, there were 1,183 suppliers, 83 per cent of this being SMEs, as well as more than 13,000 services, and an impressive £44.7 million in sales up to September the same year. Approximately 63 per cent of these contracts were agreed with SMEs. More milestones paving the way for 5 October 2013 also saw the CloudStore reach another milestone, with sales figures having exceeded the £50 million mark, reaching £53.5 million by the end of the month. The percentage of spend on SMEs rose again, up from a reported 55 per cent to 58 per cent in the space of six weeks. A further rise of £10 million was recorded in November, with just shy of £63.5 million held in sales.

In total, 70 per cent of the number of sales were through central government; with 30 per cent through the rest of the public sector. Total sales recorded towards the end of December 2013 reached £78 million.

The end of 2013 also revealed the share of public sector IT business SME suppliers win, with 56 per cent of total public sector spend by value through the G-Cloud framework going to SME suppliers. The SME percentage share of central government IT spend including through G-Cloud was even higher at 68 per cent. This is in stark contrast to the 10.5 per cent of central government spend in 2012/2013. As well as sales, a Digital marketplace blog of the same time predicted that savings of between 25 per cent and 75 per cent are not uncommon when using SMEs. Entering the new year, Francis Maude gave

a speech at the Sprint 14 event setting out plans for a further £100 million to be spent with SMEs offering digital services by the next General Election, which happened to be in may the following year. Despite the obvious successes, and plans for G-Cloud 5 (G5) beginning to take shape, research carried out by the 6 Degree Group in early 2014 claimed that nearly 90 per cent of local authorities had still not heard of G-Cloud.

The GDS therefore set about sharing success stories from users and increasing awareness of G-Cloud across the wider public sector.

G5 started accepting submissions in February and went live in May 2014 with 1,132 suppliers. The lots remained the same as previous framework iterations: Lot 1: Infrastructure As A Service (IaaS); Lot 2: Platform As A Service (PaaS); Lot 3: Software As A Service (SaaS); and Lot 4: Specialist Cloud Services (SCS). G5 brought the total number of suppliers on CloudStore to 1,518 and over 17,000 services, 9,236 of them new and 88 per cent of which were SMEs.

By July, G-Cloud sales figures broke the £200 million barrier with a total spend of £217,455,674.39. CloudStore revealed that £116 million of this was with SMEs. The same month it was announced that the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead would be the first UK local authority to move to an entirely cloud-based infrastructure, with the authority spending just £100,000 setting it up. The solutions used to establish this included services bought through the G-Cloud framework.

G-Cloud 12

Crown Commercial Service is looking to create a new commercial agreement covering cloud hosting services, which will likely launch next year and initially sit alongside the more generalist G-Cloud vehicle

The next challenge Both the CloudStore and the Digital Services Store were to be replaced by the Digital Marketplace, providing one place for the public sector to buy digital and IT services and be the new home for G-Cloud services. The idea of the Digital Marketplace was initially conceived to simply replace, feature-for-feature, the existing CloudStore, but as G-Cloud developed the brief and requirements also progressed. E

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 With total sales reaching over a quarter of a billion pounds, the next iterations of the G-Cloud and Digital Services frameworks were given a launch date of the end of October, with the aim of getting the new frameworks in place as early in 2015 as possible (February 2015). The lots for G-Cloud 6 (G6) remained exactly the same as they were for all previous iterations, looking at Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, Software as a Service and Specialist Cloud Services to support transition to SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. At this point G-Cloud had been a resounding success, delivering a groundbreaking commissioning framework that provides businesses of all sizes the same opportunity to offer commodity cloud services to government. It helped create a transparent and competitive market that opened up barriers to entry for small and medium-size businesses. In August, sales continued to grow at a fantastic rate and hit £314 million. £168 million (53 per cent) of sales were with SMEs. The previous July, when G-Cloud moved into GDS, monthly sales were averaging £8 million. By August 2014, monthly sales have increased to £27 million – nearly two and half times more. The Crown Commercial Service also introduced

a new tool (BravoSolution) as part of G6 to improve the G-Cloud procurement.

This iteration saw 1,453 suppliers, up by over 15 per cent on G5 applications and 10,827 new services added to the Digital Marketplace. It also saw 516 new suppliers added to the framework, bringing the total number of suppliers on the Digital Marketplace to 1,852 (87 per cent SMEs), with 19,966 services available. By the end of the year, sales reached over £345 million, averaging £27 million a month. Nearly three yers on from the introduction of G Cloud, the department prided itself on the knowledge that 53 per cent of total sales by value and 61 per cent by volume had been awarded to SMEs. Crown Commercial Service then opened submissions for G-Cloud 7 (G7) at the end of August 2015. The G6 framework was due to end at the beginning of February 2016, but was extended several times to ensure that existing suppliers had time to apply to be on the G-Cloud 8 (G8) framework.

New suppliers keep arriving G7 services went live on the Digital Marketplace on 23 November 2015, meaning the public sector now had access to more services and suppliers of different sizes across

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G-Cloud 12

If Spark works, the Crown Commercial Service will see a £20 million spend in the first year with 70 per cent of that spend being with SMEs

the UK. G7 attracted a higher number of new suppliers than any previous iteration of the G-Cloud framework. Crown Commercial Service now boasted of 709 new suppliers on the G7 framework, 95 per cent of which were SMEs. There were 516 for G6, 89 per cent of those being SMEs. The total number of suppliers on the G-Cloud framework (G6 and G7) now stood at 2,566 and the public sector now had access to 22,080 services.

The Digital Market Place also began working more closely with Crown Commercial Service and the Government Legal Department (GLD) to find an efficient, legally compliant way for G-Cloud suppliers to update their services.

As of March 2016, the total sales made through G-Cloud since its inception four years ago surpassed the £1 billion mark. This total was helped by a significant number of sales, totalling £47 million, for the first month of 2016. This continued use of G-Cloud suggests that the public sector was becoming increasingly involved with cloud based services, products and consultancy, quashing previous views regrading adoption, and also proving that government organisations had become accustomed to choosing the framework to procure these.

The average deal made in January 2016 was £14,329, with the largest deal made between Deloitte and the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust for £1 million of undisclosed cloud services. This was followed by a £530,000 deal between the Ministry of Justice and Liberata, as well as a £400,000 contract between Maindec and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The G-Cloud framework agreement continued to offer off-the-shelf, pay-as-you-go cloud solutions which span the same four ‘Lots’: infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, software as a service, and specialist cloud services. Infrastructure as a Service covers the provision of processing, storage, networks and other fundamental computing resources that allow the consumer to deploy software, such as operating systems and applications. This is effectively providing organisations with the capability to control their own operating systems, storage and deployed applications, without managing the underlying cloud infrastructure.

Platform as a Service operates slightly differently, in that it provides the consumer with the capability to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages, libraries, services, and tools supported by the provider. The consumer has control over the deployed application and possibly configuration settings for the application hosting environment, but does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure, which includes network, servers, operating systems and storage.

Software as Service provides consumers with the capability to use the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure.

These applications are generally accessible from various devices through a client interface, such as a web browser (think web-based email), or a program interface. Consumers may have limited ability to manage user-specific E

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Increased procurement confidence August 2016 saw the 8th version of G-Cloud (G8) go live on the government’s Digital Marketplace. Targeted at easing the procurement of cloud computing based information technology services by public-sector bodies, the G-Cloud consists of a series of framework agreements

with suppliers, from which public sector organisations can buy services without needing to run a full tender or competition procurement process. It aims to offer simplicity and ease the procurement burden.

Suppliers sign up to frameworks on the Digital Marketplace, a government online procurement store in kind, from which anyone in the public sector can select their services accordingly. The development of the G-Cloud was the government’s response to the potential efficiencies of the cloud and the need for the public sector to achieve more while spending less money. According to government statistics of the time, G8 attracted the largest number of suppliers since the creation of the G-Cloud, with 94 per cent of the 757 new suppliers being a SME. Over half of the £1.3 billion spent through the G-Cloud has gone to SMEs as of June 2016.

Cyber Security Services, NetApp Private Storage as a Service (NPSaaS), Storage as a Service (STaaS), Backup as a Service (BUaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) powered by Cisco and Amazon Web Services (AWS) solutions listed on the framework, making these available to UK public sector organisations.

Paula Johnston, head of Public Sector at Node4, said: “A number of public sector organisations are increasing their use of cloud services due to its flexibility and cost savings. G-Cloud 9 makes it easier for organisations to check which types of suppliers meet the CCS approval criteria and readily engage with them. Being a G-Cloud 9 supplier means that public sector services have better access to Node4’s solutions to run mission-critical systems and services.”

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 application configuration settings, but the underlying cloud infrastructure, including network, servers, operating systems, storage and most individual application capabilities, are controlled by the provider.

Lot 4, Specialist Cloud Services, continues to support the design and implementations of cloud based services and is split into a number of sub-categories: business analysis, legacy to cloud rationalisation, design/consultation, transition management and service management.

Business analysis is the provision to offer skills to identify and analyse organisational needs and how transferring some or all existing IT systems to cloud based systems could increase efficiencies and savings.

Legacy to cloud rationalisation is where suppliers offer the skills to identify which parts of a legacy system or infrastructure could be migrated onto a cloud based system.

This kind of service is usually reserved for organisations that have identified potential efficiencies in moving to the cloud, but require some additional support in how to design and implement this transition.

The provision to offer cloud based system designs inclusive of iterative design, development and ongoing maintenance of existing cloud services falls under the design/consultation sub-category of Lot 4.

These designs can include the specification of what a solutions could/should look like, and consumers can then purchase that solution ‘off the shelf’ via other Lots or designed by teams and development sourced from other frameworks. Once a customer had a system design in place, they could then call on suppliers to handle the transition management, in which they manage the actual transfer of services onto the cloud based system, including the the on boarding and off boarding of data, the migration of existing services between data centres and end user training.

Customers could also use the G7 to find a supplier that offers continuous service management of their cloud solutions. This would likely include service integration, management of multiple cloud solutions and the integration of cloud and noncloud services. Additionally, cyber security consultancy is also available on the framework, but this service varies considerably between suppliers based on their area of expertise, meaning that consumers should carefully consider if a supplier matches their specific needs. Services excluded from the G7 framework include co-location services, non-cloud related services, products or consultancy, bespoke digital project build services and hardware.

Alongside Digital Outcomes and Specialists, the G-Cloud framework is transforming government procurement. These two frameworks mean government can buy the right technology and services from the right suppliers at the right price On Cloud 9 The G-Cloud 9 framework agreement, launched in May 2017, was the latest iteration of the framework which allowed UK public sector bodies access to cloud computing services via a compliant procurement vehicle. New iterations of the framework were considered at a varying frequency of six-12 months, depending on the demand for and/or availability of new services as the IT cloud market develops.

Launched with 2,847 suppliers, G9 underwent several changes with the aim of providing a more flexible maximum contract length.

Earlier versions of G-Cloud were designed to run parallel with its predeceasing agreement by design. However, G9 was run as a single framework, requiring all aspiring and existing suppliers to have registered to offer services. This means that buyers and suppliers would be able to use one set of contracts for all their G-Cloud services. G7 and G8 were removed from the Digital Marketplace when G9 service went live.

Meanwhile, Tony Singleton, best known for creating and developing G-Cloud, announced the day before G9 launched that he was to leave the civil service after 35 years.

In a blog post on the Government Digital Service he said he would be looking for ‘new challenges’ that would involve ‘helping the public sector turn ideas into reality’. Singleton said his period in government had seen ‘incredible change’ that continues to gather pace, but that more dynamism is needed.

Mike Bracken, the former head of the GDS, called Singelton ‘the man who, more than anyone, defined the digital transformation for public servants’ in a Twitter message.

Node4 was one of the companies awarded a place on G9, with the N4 Private Cloud,

UKCloud was another vendor that celebrated its approval to the agreement. The company committed to delivering more for less on G9, offering further cost reductions across its service catalogue, including its Cross Domain Security Zone (CDSZ), which predicted price falls of up to 50 per cent.

Simon Hansford, CEO, noted: “As a committed supporter of G-Cloud, we welcome the latest iteration which promises to be the best yet, thanks to the comprehensive consultation process undertaken by the Government Digital Service and CCSe. As a supplier to the framework since the very beginning, we are delighted to continue our tradition of releasing several new and enhanced service offerings on the innovative new G-Cloud 9.”

Reaching for G-Cloud 10 The 3,505 suppliers on the G-Cloud 10 framework, which expired on 2 July 2019, gave central government, local councils, NHS trusts and other public sector bodies a way to purchase cloud-based services such as web hosting from a single, central website. There were 649 more suppliers than featured on the previous iteration of G-Cloud 9 (this time there are more than 700 new suppliers on the new iteration).

G-Cloud 10, which would eventually prove to be worth £600 million, remained for use by the UK public sector to buy cloud computing services covering hosting, software and cloud support on a commodity based, pay-as-you go service.

Alongside the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework, the G-Cloud framework is transforming government procurement.

These two frameworks mean government E Issue 28.1 | GOVERNMENT BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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 can buy the right technology and services from the right suppliers at the right price. By making procurement clear and simple, they are opening up the marketplace to suppliers of all sizes and from all parts of the country. They are creating a level playing field that means that all private sector enterprises can be involved in helping government work better for everyone.

Discussing the G-Cloud 10 framework agreement last year, Oliver Dowden, Minister for Implementation, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, delivering innovative solutions in partnership with the public sector, fuelling economic growth and supporting the delivery of efficient, effective public services that meet the needs of citizens.

The success of G-Cloud demonstrates how we are breaking down the barriers for SMEs who want to supply to government.”

G-Cloud 11 At the start of July last year, G-Cloud 11 was launched. At that point, 4,200 suppliers were awarded places on the agreement with over 90 per cent of them small and mediumsized enterprises. More than 31,000 services became available for customers to access, subject to a process of additional assurance.

During their journey to the cloud, public sector organisation IT departments will need to refine their IT delivery models, based on an improved understanding of cloud technology and its potential At the London-based G-Cloud 11 Summit, organised by Public Sector Information in January, suppliers demonstrated their vast range of innovative services to public sector buyers, offering modern, flexible, low maintenance systems to help councils deliver improvements to the way they deliver services. But, delegates agreed that, as is always the case with implementation projects, the need to save time and money remains a challenge for procurement managers.

For the new iteration to be a success, G-Cloud 12, it’s the kind of products and services that will be found on G-Cloud 12 that will matter. Agility, flexibility and ultimately speed will be real winners as councils’ race to improve their services and find efficiencies.

Chris Farthing, CEO of Advice Cloud, explains: “It all comes down to planning and delivering to the buyer exactly what they need in the least amount of time.

Buyers can help this process run smoother by talking to their [potential] suppliers upfront, as well as talking to others who’ve used the technology they are choosing.”

The culture of the companies providing the technology matters too. Suppliers now recognise that it is simply not enough to stop working hard to offer great service just by winning a slot on the G-Cloud marketplace list. Once listed the real work starts.

Farthing adds: “Make sure you begin the planning process right from the start. Digital transformation in councils requires a large number of new human capabilities as well as technology ones.

This is expensive, and they can’t afford to get it wrong. Support your customers from the very beginning so that together you can affect genuine change.”

The role of SMEs That is not to say that the G-Cloud 11 framework did not provide a great platform for selling into a market desperate for this kind of support and it is hoped that under the 12th iteration of G-Cloud, entrant SMEs - which are often in a strong position to spend more time and effort on hardwon contracts - will be given more support to win digital marketplace business.

Over 90 per cent of all suppliers listed in the G-Cloud 11 framework are SMEs, a healthy amount indeed. Yet just 44 per cent of contracts awarded went to SMEs as they continue to struggle to win the business of G-Cloud spend as hundreds of new suppliers join with every new iteration. A classic case of supply outstripping demand.

Moving forward, the outlook is somewhat different. Crown Commercial Service recognises the importance of the SME

marketplace in the G-Cloud framework structure. As a result, it is working hard to develop an understanding of SMEs and how buyers can work with them.

Georgina Maratheftis, head of local public services at techUK, argues: “The public sector needs to harness the expertise and innovation that SMEs can bring in order to ensure that public service delivery keeps pace with demand and expectations. By adopting a more strategic approach to market engagement and engaging with industry outside the procurement cycle, the number of SMEs winning contracts can be significantly increased and they can be in a position to enjoy the contract success rates currently seen by tech giants.

Foster the partnership ecosystem and evangelise through your networks.”

Additional developments Each iteration is an exercise in improvement.

Under G-Cloud 12, service definition documents will be mandatory, making it easier for buyers to compare and contrast what is on offer. At the same time, it is hoped that this measure will incentivise suppliers to up the quality of their listings, says the CCS, as documents are essentially a guidance for buyers.

Contracting issues are also being ironed out. Suppliers and buyers alike have long been confused by complicated and prolonged legalities, which only serve to delay the delivery period of infrastructure.

Simplifying the process will – it is hoped – bring transparency and clarity to an historically convoluted sector. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.crowncommercial.gov.uk

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Supporting the journey to become ‘fit for the future’

Dwilde consulting will help to support your organisation on your journey to become ‘fit for the future’, but what do we mean by this?

We will support your organisation on its journey to become fit for the future by helping you clarify direction, target investment, re-imagine service delivery to unlock the potential of technology and digital as an integral part of your business plans to maximise operational effectiveness and meet your strategic objectives.

Our work on digital in place design, technology enabled independent living, digital

and technology strategies and re-imagined front doors for digitally integrated service delivery all support public services to reshape themselves to deliver together successfully in places that are fit for the future. Technology and digital are integral to business plans and service delivery, not apart from them, and by bringing them together you will maximise returns on your business investment and improve the quality of life, work, learning and leisure for our residents and businesses.

David Wilde, managing director of Dwilde consulting, has over 34 years of experience working in central and local government leadership spanning policy, large scale operations, strategy, technology, digital and whole service transformation. Alongside David we have a great and diverse team with wide ranging experience across the change elements that make whole service transformation effective and successful. We can help with communications, workforce design, programme management, technology design, research and digital capability as part of turning the ambition to action and delivery.

In shaping direction and embracing digital, we can help to take you through the process of what may or may not be working your business for the short term and the long term and correcting this, stepping back, and looking

at your business as a whole and stripping it back to the bare bones, overlaying what technology can offer and rethinking service delivery with the customer at the centre to ensure change is worth it. It could be really a simple solution, yet sometimes we get stuck in our old ways of thinking and executing tasks and a fresh look at services from the outside, with the benefit of experience from elsewhere, can make all the difference.

So, ask yourself this: do you add technology to our business for efficiency without redesign or are you rethinking how we can do things with the customer at the centre and with digital and technology as the enabler for a much better experience?

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Three simple steps to improve cyber security

We all take precautions against burglary but we are not so good when it comes to cyber attack protection. Research has found that there is a one in four chance of a cyber security breach compared to a one in 50 chance of burglary. Cyber attacks are inevitable and the Covid pandemic has heightened the likelihood of organisations falling foul of cyber criminals. Doing little or nothing to offset the risks and hoping that a cyber attack ‘won’t happen to me’ is not a responsible option.

We should be paying more attention to cyber attacks than burglary – it’s more common and the damage is usually much greater. Taking precautions doesn’t need to be complex, costly or confusing, if you are organised and use a cyber security policy management approach to guide you. Here are three simple steps for better cyber attack protection:

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Education and awareness training – email phishing scams are still one of the most common cyber attacks. Reports highlight that 65 per cent of attacks use phishing and that 94 per cent of malware is delivered via email. Help employees to identify the techniques cyber attackers use in emails by providing cyber awareness training.

2.

Provide a practical guide – on what to do if in the event of an attack. Avoid apportioning blame, instead reward reporting events. Cyber security policies guide employees on how data should be collected, processed and stored and what to do in the event of a data breach or information security incident.

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Get certified – Cyber Essential’s Plus (CE+) is the National Cyber Security

Centre’s assurance scheme aimed at helping to protect UK organisations from the most common cyber threats.

The scheme sets out basic technical controls for organisations to use, which are then annually assessed. It lays a foundation of policies and procedures to mitigate against threats that can impact operations. It’s also a great way to build trust with suppliers and customers.

Now more than ever before it is time to be prepared and create a robust, best practice guide to prevent and respond in the event of a data breach, with the help of modern online CSPM technology.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0808 189 3226 www.cysureservices.co.uk

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G-Cloud 12

Reviewing the recent G-Cloud 12 Summit On 28 January 2021, Government Business, alongside the Crown Commercial Service, hosted the G-Cloud 12 Summit platform that lends itself well to the topic in hand. And thanks to excellent guidance from G-Cloud Summit supporter, Crown Commercial Service (CCS), experts in the field of G-Cloud and our friends in the sector we were delighted to bring thislive event to your home office – or wherever you happen to remotely be!

The G-Cloud Framework’s Digital Marketplace, all online, has enabled five billion pounds worth of spend in the last eight years, and was and remains the main Lockdown has forced us all to conduct most tool to help you and your government of our business interaction and organisations get the best value opportunities online. While spend from IT budgets. some of us are not as G-Cloud 12, the positive about this major latest iteration of the The eve lifestyle change, many Framework, went live n t conclud of us are and have in September 2020 adjusted accordingly. and is made up of Chris Faed with Here at Public Sector more than 4,000 r t h ing providin Information, we suppliers, all of g some myth b understand that whom have usting a business must go on demonstrated d v o i n c e purch and so the decision their commitment agreem asing to bring you the to working ents G-Cloud 12 Summit with government 2021 was an easy one. organisations to For this reason, the showcase the benefits event was held entirely online and cost effectiveness of with an easy-to-use and accessible their software and systems.

G-Cloud Summit 2021 G-Cloud Summit 2021 helped to reveal the opportunities on offer and the many ways to ease the procurement process.

Sponsored by OnlyOffice, the G-Cloud 12 Summit was hosted by Tony Singleton.

With a strong commercial background, Tony is an experienced Programme and Operations Director and sits at Board level for organisations that deliver business transformation and digital services.

Throughout his career he has played a major role in transitioning citizen facing content from government websites to Directgov, E Tony Singleton hosted the event

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G-Cloud 12

The G-Cloud Framework’s Digital Marketplace, all online, has enabled five billion pounds worth of spend in the last eight years, and was and remains the main tool to help you and your government organisations get the best value spend from IT budgets

of Cambridge. He holds an MA (Hons) in Classics from the University of St Andrews.

His talk was supplemented by Mike Isherwood, chairman of British APCO. Mike, who has completed his studies with MIT on Artificial Intelligence, Digital Transformation, Technical Strategy and Systematic Innovation, is passionate about using technology to improve public safety around the world and spoke to us about how artificial intelligence can be used to make multicultural and multilingual societies more inclusive.

 built the Government Digital Service (GDS) as a ‘Whitehall start-up’ to become an established organisation and transformed the way the Public Sector buys IT and digital services by redesigning G-Cloud and helping to create what is now known as the Digital Marketplace. These achievements and many others in this field were recognised in 2014 when he was awarded the OBE. Following Tony’s introduction, Kevin Todd, Commercial Agreements Lead - G-Cloud, Crown Commercial Service, led a session on moving from G-Cloud 12 to the next iteration.

Kevin has extensive public sector technology category and procurement experience across 14 years with the Financial Conduct Authority and Crown Commercial Service.

Prior to this Kevin worked in the technology sector with British Telecom, covering a range of roles from complex application support, service management and managing

Advice Cloud The event concluded with Chris Farthing, managing director of Advice Cloud, providing some myth busting advice on purchasing agreements and holding a summary discussion with Tomny Singleton.

Prior to setting up procurement consultancy and G-Cloud specialists Advice Cloud in 2014, Chris had been involved in Public Sector procurement for more than 20 years in sales, management and consultancy roles.

He has worked for the likes of DEFRA and The Metropolitan Police Service to name a few. Chris has extensive experience in local government working with Brighton and Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, Croydon Council and many more. L

outsourced support contracts. During his time with Crown Commercial Service, Kevin has worked within the Technology Pillar and spent the past 2.5 years as the lead of the Cloud and Hosting team.

SMEs Henry Rex then led an online session on how SMEs can use G-Cloud to boost business.

Henry is Associate Director for Government and Health at techUK, the leading UK technology trade membership organisation.

He is responsible for managing strategic relationships across Whitehall and the NHS, working with individual departments and cross-cutting government functions to promote better engagement between the public sector and the tech industry. Prior to joining techUK he worked as the Policy and Communications Officer in the Centre for Science and Policy at the University

FURTHER INFORMATION gcloudsummit.co.uk

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G-Cloud 12

Five reasons why many in the public sector still don’t embrace G-Cloud Romy Hughes, director at Brightman, outlines some of the many of the reasons why the public sector still shuns the G-Cloud and other frameworks The G-Cloud, along with the many other framework agreements, were initially developed to keep procurement and suppliers at arm’s length. The aim was to create a level playing field which would stop government projects being awarded to the same large suppliers, again-and-again, irrespective of their performance. In turn, this removal of ‘cosy’ relationships would allow public/ private sector business to be conducted on purely objective terms, delivering better value and a better quality of service to the taxpayer.

But the G-Cloud framework, among many others, continue to see much lower adoption than they should, with many major procurements still bypassing the framework agreements altogether. But why is this?

Below are the five most common reasons we hear from our public sector clients when they have chosen not to use a framework.

1: ‘It wasn’t built here’ Ultimately, the public sector likes to work with its own systems and people. In some sectors there is still a general mistrust of private companies, or the ideological feeling that profit should never touch the public sector. There is no room for ideology in procurement. Achieving the outcome in the most effective way should be the only ideology to work by. In most instances the private sector has proven itself to be the most efficient, cheapest and effective way to deliver services.

2: ‘We have strategic suppliers already’ The framework agreements

are seen as artificial barriers to doing business, because that is exactly what they were designed to be. They were put in place to remove existing relationships from the procurement process so that contracts would be awarded on an entirely objective basis. That is fair enough, but it ignores how people actually do business. Ultimately, people want to do business with people, not frameworks.

It also presupposes that business relationships built on years of shared experiences have no value in a business transaction, when in reality it is very important. Trust is an In most important factor in i n stances the priv choosing a supplier which cannot be proven ate sector ha s i t s determined in a e l f most ef t framework. E ficie o be the

and eff nt, cheapes ect t deliver ive way to services

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G-Cloud 12

 3: ‘No one likes change’ As reliably as the sun will rise and set each day, you will find that most people will avoid change if they can. Change is uncomfortable, risky, unpredictable. But change is also necessary and inevitable. While most people naturally resist change, they will accept it if they understand why it is necessary.

The G-Cloud and other frameworks were not introduced to make life more difficult, but that is often how they are perceived by those in procurement. The government needs to make the case that the change introduced by the frameworks is worth it.

4: ‘Each framework is costly to review’ Given the complexity of each framework agreement, no public sector organisation would risk signing up to one without their lawyers reading it first. G-Cloud’s Framework agreement spans 62 pages, while the basic call-off contract is 77 pages long – and this is before any contractspecific terms have been added.

Multiply this by each framework that the public sector buyer is expected to use and it is not hard to see why many would simply choose to write their own terms. Why would you invest in legal advice for each and every framework when you can simply pay the same lawyer just once to write terms which address your specific needs?

5: ‘How do we know if its genuinely the right approach?’

Building on the last point, each framework must be individually assessed to

The G-Cloud in particular is often criticised.

Given the 5,224 suppliers on G-Cloud 12 alone, there is a pressing need for the matchmaking capabilities of the platform to be overhauled. determine if it offers good value. This is a time-consuming process which many organisations simply don’t want to do, so they leave the frameworks on the shelf.

Given the number of frameworks and the government’s propensity to continually introduce new ones or renew existing agreements (why the need to renew G-Cloud each year?) it becomes very difficult for organisations to know if they deliver good value or not.

These five points address the most common reasons why many in the public sector remain reluctant to even consider using a framework agreement in the first place. Yet this article has not addressed the elephant in the room – the poor experience that many buyers have when they actually attempt to use one.

The G-Cloud in particular is often criticised for being unwieldy and difficult to navigate, and largely ineffective at matching public sector requests with the most relevant suppliers. Given the 5,224 suppliers on G-Cloud 12 alone, there is a pressing need for the matchmaking capabilities of the platform to be overhauled. Even if we could

address the five points raised in this article and convince the public sector to use it, we may find that their poor experience will be another reason to stay away.

We do not disagree with the sentiments of our public sector customers here who have shared their experiences with us, however, these issues are not insurmountable, and the goals of the frameworks remain something to strive for. Ultimately, the frameworks need to be better at efficiently and objectively matching government buyers with appropriate suppliers.

We believe this can be better achieved by reducing the overall number of frameworks to simplify the market for buyers, overhauling the online marketplaces (with a particular focus on their matchmaking capabilities) and introducing a sustained communications campaign to educate the public sector on how to get the best out of them. By doing this I believe the frameworks can have a much more positive future. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.brightman.uk.com

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A ‘can-do’ approach to digital transformation B

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FIRE & SECURITY SYSTEMS

Security and fire systems for all types of premises Alexatech Integrated Systems Ltd has bespoke expert design knowledge bringing together many years of experience providing its clients all their requirements, from design through to project management for any proposed scheme for fire alarms and security systems. Alexatech also provides preventive maintenance.

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HIGHWAYS

New easy to install Cycle Lane Separator bollards Leafield Highways has launched a brand-new Cycle Lane Separator (CLS) bollard range that is easy to install, durable and maintenance free. The range has been designed and manufactured in-house in Wiltshire for a highly visible separation between cycle lanes and traffic lanes. There are three different styles available: CLS Bollard; CLS Modular Island; and CLS DB Island.

The CLS bollard features a reflex material base combined with a rigid MDPE post, ensuring the bollard will withstand multiple impacts and will return upright without any damage and replacement costs. The two RA2 (high intensity) reflective bands are recessed to further reduce the potential damage with vehicle impacts. Available in a wide choice of colours and multiple heights.

Fixing options available in shield, asphalt and concrete anchors.

The CLS Modular Traffic calming island featues a flexible polymer post allowing the bollard to withstand multiple impacts and return upright

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into the modular traffic calming island base system. The two recessed areas for 360-degree RA2 (high intensity) reflective bands will also reduce vehicle impacts. Available in various colours, heights and lengths.

The CLS DB Island features a vulcanised rubber ‘DB’ base, a flexible polymer post ensuring the bollard, with two visible reflective RA2 (high intensity) bands, will withstand vehicle impacts. Available in two heights and lengths.

The reflector material for the CLS bollard range has been purchased and manufactured in accordance with the CE marketing standard.

Cities, including Bristol, Liverpool, St Helens, Ealing, North Tyneside, Bradford and Birmingham, currently have Leafield’s new CLS Bollard range.

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