Tag: Cabinet Office

• Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden announces new National Risk Register to help UK prepare for risks like energy security
• Government has declassified more information and published online tool to better prepare the public and businesses for potential risks
• Risks include disruption to energy supplies, as Register is launched by Deputy Prime Minister on visit to installation of world’s largest future offshore wind farm which will strengthen UK resilience

A register setting out the government’s latest assessment of key risks to the United Kingdom has today been published as part of ongoing cross government work to better prepare the public and businesses for the threats facing the country.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has unveiled the National Risk Register (NRR), an assessment of the risks facing the UK. The Register outlines 89 threats that would have a significant impact on the UK’s safety, security or critical systems at a national level.

This latest version of the NRR is more transparent than ever before and publicly shares previously classified information about a number of potential risks. These include:

• Disruption to energy supplies following Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine
• Malicious uses of drones to disrupt transport and other critical operations
• Threats to undersea transatlantic telecommunications cables used for internet and communications

The threat to global energy supplies is one of the new publicly listed risks in the 2023 Register. Dowden is launching the Register on a visit to Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool, hosted by energy firm SSE. It comes as the first of over two hundred 260m tall wind turbines is installed at Dogger Bank wind  farm, which will be the largest in the world when completed by SSE and its partners Equinor and Vårgrønn. Helping increase the UK’s energy independence.

The Government has robust plans in place for each of the different risks and is also urging businesses, local government and voluntary groups to play their part in helping plan for them. By publishing an online digital tool for the first time the Government is making risk details more accessible and easier to navigate.

The NRR’s publication is the latest example of this transparent “whole of society” approach to national resilience, set out in the recently published UK Government Resilience Framework and National Cyber Strategy. It also follows the recent launch of the UK-wide Emergency Alerts system.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said:

This is the most comprehensive risk assessment we’ve ever published, so that government and our partners can put robust plans in place and be ready for anything.

One of those rising risks is energy security. We’ve installed the first turbine at the future world’s largest offshore windfarm, which will provide secure, low-cost and clean energy for the British people – enabling us to stand up to Putin’s energy ransom.

Visiting Able Seaton Port, the Deputy PM will see the enormous wind turbine components being readied for loading onto a specialised floating platform, taller than the Eiffel Tower, which has been created to install the wind turbines onto the seabed,

When complete, 277 turbines will be capable of powering up to 6 million homes in the UK. The turbines include British steel manufactured in Wales and processed in Corby and Hartlepool.

The publication of the Register follows the Government outlining plans to tackle various risks outlined in it. In June, it published the Biological Security Strategy to strengthen the UK’s defences against biological threats such as infectious diseases. And we have also published the Resilience Framework, which strengthens the coordinating structures that the UK uses to prepare for emergencies.

Deputy National Security Advisor, Matt Collins, said:

A comprehensive understanding of the risks we face is critical to keeping the UK safe.  This edition of the NRR, based on the Government’s internal, classified risk assessment offers even more detail on the potential scenarios, response and recovery options relating to the risks facing the UK; ranging from terrorism to conflicts and natural disasters.

SSE CEO, Alistair Phillips-Davies said:

Dogger Bank is one of the biggest and most complex engineering and infrastructure projects anywhere in the world.  Our progress here with our joint venture partners Equinor and Vårgrønn, proves that offshore wind at massive scale is now mainstream and will help turbo-charge the transition to the cheaper, cleaner and more secure energy system we all want to see. It is action, not ambition, that will secure our energy future and this project shows action on a massive scale. But we will need many more Dogger Banks to achieve our goals and we look forward to working with government to bring forward more projects at pace.

Resilience First is made up of more than 600 major businesses operating in the UK across multiple sectors, providing the ways and means to drive resilience at scale.

Resilience First Chair and Board Director, Rick Cudworth, said:

We welcome the new National Risk Register – it’s a vital resource to improving the UK’s resilience and it really delivers on providing greater transparency as well as a developed and shared understanding of the risks we all face. Providing invaluable information, this document gives us the power to invest, prepare, and respond more effectively. With more detail than previously, and specific scenarios, assumptions and response capabilities set out, we encourage organisations and resilience professionals to use it to stress test and strengthen their own resilience as we all move forwards together.

Head of Risk Management Policy at independent think tank The Centre for Long-Term Resilience James Ginns commented:

We welcome the publication of a more transparent National Risk Register which recognizes the increasingly volatile risk environment we face, the imperative to increase our preparedness, and the pandemic risk posed by novel pathogens. It’s encouraging that the government is committed to further assessing and mitigating vulnerabilities to acute risks. We look forward to supporting their work in identifying and assessing chronic risks and related vulnerabilities, especially in AI and biosecurity, in order to reinforce our resilience.

• Crown Commercial Service agreement will support food producers, including SMEs, in accessing public sector food contracts
• Plans to drive up standards of food and drink available to the public sector including schoolchildren and hospital patients
• Initial stages of the agreement are estimated to attract £100 million worth of spend

New plans revealed today will help schools, hospitals and other organisations buy higher quality food and drink at better value for the taxpayer.

A single online portal will make it easier for public sector customers and small businesses by offering a simplified route to markets – opening up access to a range of food and drink suppliers for the public sector.

This has the added benefit of creating more choice for customers, while improving standards and providing better access to locally-sourced produce. Public sector procurement teams will also have the option to add their preferred SME suppliers to the agreement.

All suppliers available through the portal will have to adhere to the updated Government Buying Standards for Food, which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are set to update in due course.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Minister Alex Burghart, said:

Delivering better value for the taxpayer and driving up food and drink standards are key priorities for government.

This new system will deliver better quality food to our schoolchildren and care home residents, while creating a level playing field to help small businesses win more contracts from the public sector.

The government’s ambition is to further embed Government Buying Standards (GBS) to food and catering served through all public sector organisations. The framework will increase compliance with the GBS further.

This delivers a centralised option for purchasing food and drink and will be made available for the public sector across the UK. The agreement will enable public sector organisations to source healthy and high-quality produce in a consistent way – all their food and drink needs will be available in one place, providing a holistic approach to the ordering, fulfilment, consolidation and delivery of food produce.

By harnessing the collective buying power of customers across the public sector, the agreement is expected to significantly reduce costs and therefore help combat food inflation.

Crown Commercial Service (CCS), the UK’s largest public procurement organisation and part of the Cabinet Office, has worked with DEFRA to develop the new agreement. As part of that process, CCS has engaged extensively with SMEs to ensure the UK’s business community has directly fed into the plans.

Mark Spencer, Food Minister, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said:

The UK produces world leading quality food and drink, demonstrating excellence in animal welfare and sustainable production standards.

This is an exciting opportunity for the public sector to lead by example, showcasing our great food and drink and supporting small businesses. We look forward to working with CCS on the agreement.

Simon Tse, CEO of Crown Commercial Service said:

We’re delighted to be working alongside Defra to introduce better quality, seasonal and nutritious food into schools, hospitals and prisons.

As we continue to level up and grow the economy, this food solution will support public sector bodies in purchasing good quality food and help local and small businesses compete for public sector contracts for the first time, opening up economic opportunities across the country.

Crown Commercial Service has engaged with food suppliers and industry bodies from across the UK to develop its procurement strategy for the new agreement, which is expected to be open for business in Spring 2024.

The initial contract value is estimated to attract £100 million worth of spend over the 4 year contract period, which is a small proportion of the annual £2.1 billion public sector food spend. Public sector buyers are free to choose to buy from other buying organisations who provide food products through frameworks in a similar way.

• Commercial buying system, Atamis, has supported NHS teams to identify millions in potential savings in its first year
• 69% of all NHS organisations across the UK are benefiting from the digital system, with many more scheduled to onboard
• Identified savings could help money be reinvested into patient care

A Crown Commercial Service-funded digital platform used by the NHS has identified millions of pounds of potential savings in its first year, the government has announced.

Many NHS-affiliated organisations previously used different platforms to buy goods and services. These weren’t possible to integrate, meaning it has historically been difficult for buying teams in the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS to share insights and data between organisations in order to make effective commercial decisions.

The Atamis system, which brings together each element of the commercial process in one location, has removed burdensome manual processes and saved millions of pounds in administration costs. This has also freed up capacity in NHS teams while helping health services run more efficiently.

The platform currently holds a pipeline of £24bn and active contracts with a value of £108bn.

NHS services in North West London were able to identify £34 million of savings by grouping 9 organisations on the same e-commerce system. This has helped them to identify £34 million of potential savings in the past 12 months.

Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary Alex Burghart said:

To meet the Prime Minister’s goal of reducing national debt, we’re making efficiencies for the taxpayer.

This platform, funded by the Crown Commercial Service in the Cabinet Office, is a major force for good, helping public bodies like NHS Trusts identify significant savings across the country as we continue working to deliver on the Prime Minister’s commitment to cut waiting lists in the health service.

The roll out of the Atamis e-commerce system, which was enabled by £12.8 million in funding from Crown Commercial Service (spread over 3 financial years), has already seen 258 NHS organisations (69% of total) sign up with a further target of 90% by 2025.

In addition to supporting NHS organisations to identify savings, Atamis provides procurement teams with a unified view of the data, which can be segmented according to the need of the organisation, ensuring it’s easier for procurement and commercial teams to make informed decisions that ensure the best value for money for the taxpayer.

The Department of Health and Social Care said that CCS funding has proved ‘invaluable’ in enabling widespread adoption of the system – one of the 2 key technology platforms that provide the foundations for most of the Central Commercial Functions workstreams – by organisations. The target is to achieve a 90% onboard rate by March 2025.

Health Minister Lord Markham said:

I’m pleased to see the success so far of this digital platform, which is already helping NHS organisations across England identify savings opportunities.

We are committed to using the latest technology and new ways of working to increase efficiencies, save staff time, and deliver value for money.

Sarah Jewell, Deputy Director for partnerships at Crown Commercial Service says:

We’re delighted with the success of the rollout of the Atamis e-commerce system. This is a great step forward in bringing the commercial activities of the health service together in one place to increase the effectiveness and resilience of NHS procurement.

Jacqui Rock, NHS England Chief Commercial Officer

The NHS is one of the most efficient health services in the world, and finding further efficiencies to be reinvested into patient care remains a key priority. Atamis is an incredibly important tool to support procurement teams to do this, and it’s encouraging to see the progress we have made in just a year to help deliver significant savings and value for the taxpayer.

As guardians of taxpayer money, having a unified view of the commercial data landscape is essential, so I expect the remaining NHS organisations who haven’t yet onboarded to do so as a matter of priority.

Lee Jackson, Managing Director North West London Procurement Services

Atamis has been key to the development of ICS based procurement across North West London. We now have a robust 3rd party intelligence suite of which Atamis is the cornerstone. In the past twelve months we have integrated all data from all nine NHS trusts into the system and also the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. This has helped us identify and track savings opportunities worth £34.8m across our ICS.

Melinda Johnson, Commercial Director for the Department of Health and Social Care says:

CCS funding has been invaluable to DHSC, its Arm’s Length Bodies, NHS Providers, newly formed Integrated Care Systems, Integrated Care Boards and Commissioning Support Units.

• New Digital Secondment Programme to bring experts from top tech businesses into government
• AI to be harnessed to boost productivity
• Minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin gives speech on digitally-focussed reform priorities

DIGITAL gurus from the private sector will be parachuted into government departments as part of radical plans to turbocharge the technological skills of civil servants, Cabinet Office Minister Jeremy Quin revealed today.

Delivering a speech at respected think tank Policy Exchange, Minister Quin set out a number of measures which will drive forward the government’s plans to harness innovation and technology to make Whitehall run more efficiently.

The Minister demonstrated his clear intent to overhaul the way digital and data is utilised in government departments. This will start with a series of secondment programmes which are set to kick off in Autumn, beginning with the Digital and Data secondment scheme. Government will work with the major tech players, with plans to target FTSE100 companies in order to second digital experts into departments as well as giving civil servants the chance to spend time working within industry-leading businesses. This will then be expanded to other sectors such as science and engineering.

Minister Quin set out his ambition for the government to use AI confidently and responsibly, where it matters most, to improve public services and boost productivity. One example is the unit responsible for exploring Automation and Innovation in government, known as i.AI, who will become a permanent civil service team following a successful trial.

Another initiative is the creation of a Data Marketplace which will break down barriers to sharing data inside government. As we believe there is potential for government data to drive value and innovation in the economy, the government intends to make the marketplace available to third parties outside government, such as businesses and researchers by 2025.

In his speech, Minister Jeremy Quin said:

There are brilliant people in our Civil Service but I know there are many, as can be the case in any organisation, that feel frustrated and stifled by bureaucracy.

Alongside the Cabinet Secretary, I shared with Civil Service colleagues at Civil Service Live in Cardiff last week that we need every colleague to be calling out waste and inefficiency, determined to end the frustrations I know many share.

They can do so by more specialisation, more access to outside voices and fresh ideas, staying longer in post, delivering certainty on what we are seeking to achieve and benefitting from crisp evaluation on whether we have, while embracing the digital future which will transform all our working lives.

It comes as the latest efficiency drive, led by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, has published savings of £4.4 billion in the last financial year. The savings were made through central government teams, including more than £1.3 billion saved through  fraud prevention and detection, much of which came from advanced data analytics,  and more than £370 million of efficiencies found through modernising legacy IT systems.

The latest figures published by the Crown Commercial Service, an agency of the Cabinet Office who help procurement teams from different parts of government buy collectively, show a huge £3.8 billion in savings and commercial benefits achieved in the last financial year.

Minister Quin highlighted the need to address the skills deficit in the Civil Service, confirming his intention to oversee a streamlined recruitment process including a new digital platform for moving civil servants between departments seamlessly. This will allow the Civil Service to be more agile as different areas need more resourcing and is expected to save approximately £100m over the next 5 years.

There were also further commitments to increase transparency related to how the government evaluates its spending through the establishment of a publicly-available Evaluation Registry. This will be active across government from September 2023 and will be publicly available from March 2024.

Previous reforms have already shown positive results, with the Cabinet Office now on track to exceed its ambition for 50% of Fast Stream recruits to have a STEM subject background.

The Veterans’ Gateway, which has already supported over a million veterans, will be run by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), at the heart of government, next year.

The OVA will identify and carry out improvements to the service. The Gateway will benefit from being at the centre of government, utilising the OVA’s skills and data to streamline access to support and make more efficient referrals.

During the course of the next year veterans will be able to feed into the improvement project, including testing the service to make it as effective as possible for the ex-forces community.

It enables veterans and their dependents to access state and charity support services in areas including physical and mental health, financial support, assistance with independent living, housing, and employment.

Since it began, there have been more than a million visits to the Veterans’ Gateway’s online guides, which offer advice on everything from financial help to housing and there have been around 100,000 contacts for support on issues such as living independently or getting back into employment.

The service has also referred around 16,000 people for additional specialist help from organisations such as the Royal British Legion since it began. The current Veterans’ Gateway will continue to run as normal during the transition period.

If you are in need of support, visit www.veteransgateway.org.uk, call 0808 802 1212 or text 81212.

• Building on the lessons from the pandemic, a new system, known as GOV.UK One Login will allow people to access government services more quickly and simply.
• New system will mean that people need just one account, one username, one password and one identity check to use Government services such as signing your mortgage deed or requesting a DBS check.
• Over 1.5 million users have successfully proved who they are through GOV.UK One Login to access services. The programme will help save over £700 million over the next three years.

A new universal login is making public services easier to access online for more than 1.5 million people, it has been revealed today (Saturday 24 June).

The system, which builds on the lessons of the pandemic, allows users to have just one account, one username, one password and one identity check to use Government services such as signing your mortgage deed or requesting a DBS check, without having to repeatedly provide their information.

There are currently around 191 different ways for people to set up accounts and 44 different sign-in methods, wasting people’s time and costing the taxpayer money as departments have to pay to maintain duplicate login and identity services. Slimming this down into a single platform for logging in and accessing GOV.UK services will save over £700 million as well as people’s time and effort.

Over 100 public services will be using GOV.UK One Login by 2025, covering the vast bulk of all central government services.

Users can choose to use the GOV.UK One Login app, which has been developed and is available for download, to prove their identity when accessing services. The app allows a user to quickly, easily and securely verify their identity, using their smartphone.

GOV.UK One Login has already successfully been used by over 1.5 million users to prove who they are, while the app has now been downloaded two million times.

Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said:

For millions of people, GOV.UK and online public services are their main daily interaction with the government.

The public rightly expect government services to be fast, simple and easy to use.

That’s why I am pleased that the GOV.UK One Login programme will deliver on that promise, cutting down duplication and providing a single way for people to access public services.

This saves taxpayer time and money, while helping us reduce fraud and provide more efficient and effective services.

The service is being rolled out to all departments, with eight services currently operational:

• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS): Request a basic DBS check
• Department for Business and Trade: Licensing for International Trade and Enterprise (LITE)
• Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA): Apply for your vehicle operator licence
• Social Work England: Register to be a social worker
• HM Land Registry: Sign your mortgage deed
• Ofqual: Apply to be an advisor
• Modern Slavery Unit: Modern slavery statement registry
• HMRC Government Gateway, which has adopted the identity checking app early and is offering it to customers setting up Government Gateway credentials, as an alternative way to prove their identity to HMRC’s existing identity verification service.

To add further convenience for users, the GOV.UK One Login will allow users to prove their identity, beyond just using a passport or a driving licence, such as by using a biometric residence permit.

While the new system will make it quicker and easier for those wishing to access government services, traditional face-to-face services will continue, for those who wish to use them. There will also be help for those with low digital skills, through assisted digital and face to face options, giving more people the confidence to use GOV.UK One Login and access services.

GOV.UK One Login is being developed with data security at its heart, with protections in place to ensure user data is secure. It will help to reduce fraud against public services, operating a more secure system, and help to protect users from identity-enabled crime.

Further information on GOV.UK One Login can be found in this blogpost from Natalie Jones.