Tag: Cabinet Office

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.

• New Biothreats Radar will scan biological threats to protect the public
• Biological Security Strategy will defend the UK from infectious disease outbreaks, antimicrobial resistance, and biological incidents and attacks
• Plan strengthens the UK’s thriving life sciences sector
• Backed by unprecedented investment of more than £1.5 billion per year

A new Biothreats Radar capable of scanning biological risks that pose a threat to the public will be key to the UK’s fight and preparation for future pandemics, the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has announced today (Monday 12 June).

The Radar will be led by the Government’s National Situation Centre and will bring together data from across government, existing independent advisory committees and wider expert groups who analyse biological risks and trends. It will centralise the data and actively monitor this information to provide decision makers with a comprehensive picture of known and developing biological threats.

This forms part of a new Biological Security Strategy published by the Government today to strengthen the UK’s defences against infectious diseases, biological attacks and antibiotic resistance.

The major new Strategy sets out clear actions on biosecurity, building upon the framework set out by the Government in 2018, and has been updated to reflect lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic. It outlines how the Government will tackle a wide range of threats head on –  from bioterrorism to animal and plant diseases – by 2030.

The Government is investing heavily in biological security, with spending now more than £1.5 billion each year. This funding underpins critical initiatives within the Strategy, including  identifying new diseases, incentivising responsible innovation in the biosciences, and progressing the pledge made by G7 leaders in Carbis Bay in 2021, known as the “100 Days Mission”, to accelerate new vaccine development.

Four pillars will underpin how the Strategy tackles biological threats:

Understanding the biological risks we face today and could face in the future;

Preventing biological risks from emerging or from threatening the UK’s interests;

Detecting and reporting biological risks early when they do emerge;

Responding to biological risks that have reached the UK to lessen their impact.

Alongside the Biothreats Radar, the Strategy sets out a number of commitments, including:

• Developing a National Biosurveillance Network to detect and monitor emerging biological threats to the UK
• Establishing a new UK Biosecurity Leadership Council, bringing together academic and industry leaders to help establish the UK as a world leader in responsible innovation
• Developing new UK-based microbial forensics tools and capabilities to support efforts to attribute biological incidents and deter the proliferation and use of biological weapons
• Working with industry to further UK efforts to achieve the 100 Days Mission – reducing the impact of future pandemics by making vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics available within 100 days of a future outbreak
• Formalising the leadership structures that oversee our biological security – including a lead minister who will report annually to Parliament
• Establishing a Biological Security Task Force in the Cabinet Office to coordinate UK-wide efforts on biological security, including exercising our response to future threats

The UK is already Europe’s leading biotechnology hub and these commitments will further bolster the UK’s strength in this area.

As set out in the recent Atlantic Declaration, the UK is also strengthening our bilateral collaboration with the United States on biological health and security, including through closer cooperation to tackle drug-resistant infections.

Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon Oliver Dowden MP, said:

Covid was the biggest peacetime challenge in a century, and we must be diligent in preparing for future threats on this scale.

This plan and our £1.5 billion investment per year puts us in a strong position to defeat the biological threats of tomorrow – from diseases to bioweapons and antimicrobial resistance. It’s a strong and ambitious approach: one that harnesses the sheer ingenuity of the UK’s researchers and scientists, and deploys our world-class crisis management capabilities to protect the people of the UK.

Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Dame Angela McLean, said:

The COVID-19 pandemic showed just how critical it is to have a coherent plan to both protect the UK from the increasingly complex range of biological risks and build on the UK’s strengths in vaccine research and development and life sciences. The new Biological Security Strategy will make an important contribution to our preparedness.

Head of Biosecurity Policy at the Centre for Long-Term Resilience, Cassidy Nelson, commented:

This much-needed strategy underscores the UK’s role as a global leader in enhancing resilience against biological risks. We welcome the goal to achieve resilience to the full spectrum of biological threats by 2030, and commend the use of built-in accountability measures to drive the implementation of the strategy. We now need sustained resourcing and prioritisation to achieve tangible improvements to the UK’s biosecurity capabilities on such an ambitious timeline.

Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, Dame Jenny Harries, commented:

The Biological Security Strategy and its commitment to developing a biosecure future means that we are in a strong position to respond to the threats of the future. Hand-in-hand with our partners in industry and academia, UKHSA will work across government to ensure that, through our commitment to achieving the 100 Days Mission, working with DEFRA to develop the National Biosurveillance Network and improving the UK’s pandemic preparedness, we keep the public safe.

The Strategy shows the Government’s continued progress in strengthening the country’s resilience and builds upon the UK Resilience Framework which officially made resilience a national endeavour for the very first time.

The Biological Security Strategy also follows the recent launch of the life-saving UK wide Emergency Alerts system which has transformed the country’s warning and informing capability; enabling Government and the emergency services to send an alert directly to mobile phones when people are in immediate danger.

• First ever policy campus established outside of London
• More than 2,400 government roles moved to Yorkshire and the Humber under flagship Whitehall reform programme
• New local graduate scheme will establish talent pipeline

A first-of-its-kind campus for government staff in key policy roles has been launched in Sheffield, as new figures show Yorkshire and the Humber have benefitted from more than 2,400 relocated roles.

It comes as the Cabinet Office announces today the pilot of a new regional fast stream, part of the government’s ambitious plans to bring jobs and drive local economic growth across the UK.

The scheme will prevent graduates having to leave the Yorkshire region to move into decision-making policy teams.

There are also plans for expanded policy apprenticeships and events to attract university-leavers within the city, providing greater opportunities for the young people of Yorkshire.

Traditionally most civil service teams based outside of London have been operationally-focussed, but the aim of the policy campus is to create a hub of core policy jobs, where people can advance their careers in key decision-making positions. Under these new plans, people will no longer have to move to, or work in, London to have a long and fulfilling career in the civil service.

This forms part of a broader strategy to ensure people from all regions and backgrounds are contributing to the creation of government policies. Levelling up the civil service in this way is key to ensuring it  reflects the communities it serves, whilst delivering on the Government’s priority to grow the economy.

New figures show that 2,400 roles have moved out of London and into Yorkshire and the Humber under the Places for Growth programme, and 12,000 have been relocated out of the capital and across the UK so far. The programme will move 22,000 government roles out of London by 2030, in a bid to harness the vast talent that exists up and down the country. It’s expected this will generate economic benefits for the region as well as government research has shown that people put around 50% of their incomes back into the local economy.

Latest relocation studies suggest a local economic benefit of £30 million per 1,000 roles relocated.

Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said:

This Government is delivering on its promise to level up across the country by ensuring that we create opportunities for people across the country.

This policy campus is a commitment to the people of Sheffield that local people will have a central role to play in the development of major national policies.

Relocating roles out of London and establishing skills clusters will provide a fantastic economic boost for the people of Yorkshire and the Humber.

This region has an immense array of talent and I’m delighted that we’re going to make use of it.

Around 1,000 civil servants working a range of departments including the Department for Education (DfE), the Home Office and the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) are based at the site.

The Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Transport and the Cabinet Office have moved the most roles to Yorkshire and the Humber.

637 roles have relocated into Sheffield, primarily in the Home Office alongside more DWP, DfE and Ministry of Justice jobs which have moved to the city under the scheme. Sheffield also has 75 senior civil servants based in the city, one of the highest proportions outside of London.

Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case attended the launch of the campus with senior officials from DfE and DWP on Thursday.

Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said:

For too long in the Civil Service, talented people wanting to build careers in specific policy areas within government have needed to leave their home town or city and move to the South East to get on.

Initiatives such as this are absolutely critical if we’re going to remove that barrier and spread fulfilling career opportunities across the whole of the UK.

We need people with a broad range of experiences, backgrounds and insights if we are going to deliver for the whole of the UK and initiatives such as the Sheffield Policy Campus will allow us to do exactly that.

The plans were undertaken in conjunction with the City Council, The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University and the combined authority with the intention of building a strong talent pipeline for policy jobs in the city.

The campus will enable better collaboration between departments with similar goals. For example, policy teams at DfE and DWP can work together on boosting skills and moving people into better paid work through initiatives such as the National Careers Service.

The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to establish sites around the UK which will see specific sectors or disciplines within government aligned with regions. Further announcements will be made in due course.

• New amendments tabled to the Procurement Bill to strengthen national security.
• Specialist unit to be established to investigate suppliers who may pose risk to national security.
• Amendment to allow bidders to be banned from sensitive sectors, while able to win contracts in non-sensitive areas.
• Procurement Bill, which will rip up red-tape and help small businesses, to have its Report Stage next week.

Stepped up measures to protect national security in government contracts are to be brought forward, the government has announced.

Yesterday the government tabled amendments to the Procurement Bill, ahead of its Report Stage in Parliament next week to include two new measures:

• Establishing a National Security Unit for Procurement. The new team, which will be based in the Cabinet Office, will investigate suppliers who may pose a risk to national security, and assess whether companies should be barred from public procurements.
• New powers to ban suppliers from specific sectors, such as areas related to defence and national security, while allowing them to continue to win procurements in non-sensitive areas.

In addition, the Government is committing to publish a timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment produced by companies subject to China’s National Intelligence Law from sensitive central government sites.

Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General Jeremy Quin said:

Protecting the nation’s security has always been the government’s number one job.

These new measures will protect our sensitive sectors from companies which could threaten national security and are a firm deterrence to hostile actors who wish to do Britain harm.

This builds on the robust rules within the Procurement Bill to hold suppliers to account and ensure that the taxpayer is protected.

The new National Security Unit for Procurement will  draw on a full range of expertise within government and  respond swiftly to emerging threats, such as companies looking to win public contracts in order to gain access to sensitive information or sites which could be used to compromise government and society. The specialist team will work across government, including liaising closely with our intelligence agencies.

To further strengthen the national security measures, the government is introducing new, context-specific mandatory debarments on national security grounds. This will mean that the government will be able to ban suppliers which pose a risk to national security from specific types of contracts.

The commitment to publish a timeline for the removal of relevant surveillance equipment from sensitive sites builds on action taken last year to halt the installation of new equipment on the government estate. It will provide the necessary reassurance that departments are removing surveillance equipment from sensitive sites.

Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart said:

The Procurement Bill puts the government in a stronger position to get the best deal for taxpayers, while prioritising growth by cutting red tape and removing barriers for small businesses.

It’s absolutely right we continue to look at ways to strengthen central government rules when it comes to national security and I have no doubt these additional measures will ensure the Bill delivers on its objective to have a robust, modern procurement process which delivers for the British people.

The Bill, which will have its Report Stage in the House of Commons next week, will make it easier for small businesses (SMEs) to win more of the £300billion of goods, services and works that the government buys each year.

The Bill introduces new rules to help the government procure in emergency situations, such as during health pandemics, ensuring that contracting authorities can act quickly and transparently to buy vital goods.

These simpler rules take advantage of freedoms now that Britain has left the EU, as well as strengthening the government’s ability to exclude suppliers who may have previously underperformed on government work. The rules will help exclude suppliers, both in the UK and overseas who are involved in modern slavery – further clamping down on this abhorrent practice.

The Bill also confirms that value for money remains paramount during contracting, whilst also encouraging buyers to take into account other relevant wider social and environmental considerations the supplier may bring.

Notes to editors:

• The new provisions will allow Ministers to consider the risk profile of a particular supplier, supported by the new National Security Unit for Procurement, and act accordingly. Certain types of contracts can be identified on the debarment list that the supplier must not be allowed to bid for. This can be identified by the type of goods, services or works or by reference to certain contracting authorities or locations.
• The new unit will be proactively monitoring the supplier landscape and will  recommend to Ministers which suppliers should be investigated for debarment; the outcome of that investigation may lead to an entry on the debarment list. The proactive approach will be highly advantageous in minimising the risk posed by some suppliers and will make it easier for contracting authorities to implement national security exclusions.
• We will also commit to publish a timeline for the removal of surveillance equipment produced by companies subject to China’s National Intelligence Law from sensitive central government sites. By committing to this timeline, we are providing reassurance and urgency around the removal plans.

The main benefits of the Bill are:

• Delivering better value for money – Supported by greater transparency and a bespoke approach to procurement, the Bill will provide greater flexibility for buyers to design their procurement processes and create more opportunities to negotiate with suppliers.
• Slashing red tape and driving innovation – More than 350 complicated and bureaucratic rules govern public spending in the EU. Removing these and creating more sensible rules will not only reduce costs for businesses and the public sector, but also drive innovation by allowing buyers to tailor procurement to their exact needs, building in stages such as demonstrations and testing prototypes.
• Making it easier to do business with the public sector – The Bill will accelerate spending with small businesses. A new duty will require contracting authorities to consider SMEs and we will ensure 30 day payment terms on a broader range of contracts. The Bill will also create a single digital platform for suppliers to register their details once so that they can be used for multiple bids.
• Levelling up the UK – While value for money will remain the highest priority in procurement, the Bill will require buyers to take account of national strategic priorities such as job creation, improving supplier resilience, and driving innovation. Buyers will be able to reserve competitions for contracts below certain thresholds for suppliers located in the UK, SMEs and social enterprises.
• Taking tougher action on underperforming suppliers – The Bill will put in place a new exclusions framework that will make it easier to exclude suppliers who have underperformed on other contracts. It will also create a new ‘debarment register’, accessible to all public sector organisations, which will list suppliers who must or may be excluded from contracts.
• Creating an open and transparent system – Everyone will have access to public procurement data. Citizens will be able to scrutinise spending decisions. Suppliers will be able to identify new opportunities to bid and collaborate. Buyers will be able to analyse the market and benchmark their performance against others, for example on their spend with SMEs.
• Effective emergency procurement – The Bill will allow faster competition processes for emergency buying, reducing the reliance on direct awards while retaining (and improving) the ability to act at pace in situations similar to the COVID pandemic
• Protecting national security – The Bill includes specific rules for defence and security procurements and provides flexibility for contracts to be upgraded to refresh technology to address gaps in capability. The Bill also has provisions to enable a contracting authority to exclude suppliers from procurements if they present a threat to national security. In addition, the debarment list can identify suppliers that must be excluded from certain contracts, as well as identify suppliers that contracting authorities should consider excluding from a procurement.
• Strengthening exclusion grounds – The Bill toughens the rules to combat modern slavery by allowing suppliers to be excluded where there is evidence of modern slavery, accepting that in some jurisdictions it is unlikely that a supplier would ever face conviction.