Richard Johnstone
Civil Service World
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Richard:
Royal Statistical Society award to recognise organisations leading the way on trustworthy stats
New award will recognise bodies that have adopted Office for Statistics Regulation’s trustworthiness, quality and value pledges outside official stats → Read More
Which public sector organisations are leading the way on smart working?
The nominees have been revealed for the 2019 Smarter Working Awards, with 12 government organisations recognised for their achievements in driving smart working transformation across the civil service and wider public sector. The awards, which are organised by the Government Property Agency, will recognise best practice in the civil service as part of its aim to create working environments that… → Read More
Military research unit looks to ‘get faster on cyber and AI’
The head of the government’s military research arm has claimed that the organisation is looking to better support the UK’s defence and security agencies by boosting its capabilities in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Gary Aitkenhead, chief executive of government military research unit the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, said that, for the armed forces… → Read More
PM waives fee for settled status applications
Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire/PA Images Prime minister Theresa May has announced that the government will cancel plans to charge a £65 fee for EU nationals to apply for settled status in the UK. In a statement to the House of Commons this week, the prime minister (pictured above) said that she had listened to concerns from MPs and civil society groups that the fee could create a barrier for EU… → Read More
Border tech and UK sat nav among projects boosted by government’s £2bn Brexit prep package
Credit: seniorplanning.org/CC BY 2.0 The government has allocated £2bn worth of funding to help departments improve their preparedness for Brexit, with the Home Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Revenue and Customs set to receive the largest amounts. The money has been distributed following a needs-based analysis of what departments must do to prepare for Brexit,… → Read More
Some government departments spending over half their budget with outsourcers, report finds
Credit: Daniel Catt/CC BY-SA 2.0 One third of all government spending is with outsourcing companies, with four departments spending more than half of all their revenue with outside firms, an Institute for Government report has found. The analysis found that government spends £284bn with external suppliers, and the think-tank said it showed the government procurement could not easily be abandoned… → Read More
Government seeks new major projects chief
Credit: Paul Heartfield The government will hold an open competition for the new head of the government’s project delivery authority after it was announced that current chief executive Tony Meggs would leave to chair Crossrail. An Infrastructure Projects Authority spokesperson told PublicTechnology sister publication Civil Service World that Meggs, who has led the IPA since it was formed in… → Read More
Government to help build local industrial strategies
Credit: Louise Haywood-Schiefer The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has confirmed that the government will work with communities across the country to develop local industrial strategies by the end of March. The department reiterated its plan to support the development of local plans in a statement on Monday. The commitment comes as BEIS faces what the National Audit… → Read More
DCMS leader Sue Owen to step down
Credit: Louise Haywood-Schiefer Dame Sue Owen, the permanent secretary of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, is to leave the department, it has been announced. In a statement, DCMS said Owen would step down after a 30-year career in Whitehall that also included senior posts in the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for International Development, and HM Treasury.… → Read More
Government database to track KPIs of top contracts in post-Carillion shake-up
The Cabinet Office has revealed it is developing plans to require suppliers to reveal more information about their financial health as part of the government changes following the collapse of Carillion. These plans will include collating in a pan-government database information regarding up to five key performance indicators (KPIs) of major contracts with external suppliers. Whitehall commercial… → Read More
Government bans use of phrase ‘fake news’
The government has taken steps to stop civil servants using the phrase 'fake news' in official documents as it is a “poorly-defined and misleading term”. In its response to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s inquiry on disinformation and 'fake news', government agreed with the conclusion reached by MPs that the term ‘fake news’ is bandied around with no clear idea of what… → Read More
Cyber security centre reveals active defence of government tech
The government’s National Cyber Security Centre has revealed details of the steps it takes to protect government and public sector technology, as part of its work to shield the UK economy from threats. The NCSC’s annual report highlights details of its active cyber defence programme, which is a collection of services that aim to protect the UK from the high-volume commodity attacks. The NCSC… → Read More
Government transformation projects ‘promise too much at the outset’ – IPA chief
The head of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority has said that many government transformation projects start out on an “extremely ambitious” footing and set improbable goals and timescales. To help improve the initiation of major schemes across government, the IPA has produced guidance for departments on how to get projects approved in the 2019 Spending Review. In an interview with… → Read More
DWP expands behavioural science unit
The Department for Work and Pensions has launched a recruitment drive for four posts in its behavioural science team – and for the first time will open up the roles to applicants from outside the civil service. The department’s behavioural science team works across disciplines to address the problem that “sometimes government departments make decisions based on inaccurate assumptions about… → Read More
HMRC customs system rolled out to first wave of importers
Credit: Ralf Roletschek/CC BY 3.0 HM Revenue and Customs has begun to roll out the new customs system that will be able to deal with the expected increase in declarations after the UK leaves the European Union. The first stage of the rollout of the Customs Declaration Service, which has been in development since 2013-14 but was expanded after the UK voted to leave the EU, was hailed as a… → Read More
Government major projects unit gets operations chief
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has appointed Alison Baptiste as director of operations to lead the joint Treasury and Cabinet Office agency’s work on helping Whitehall departments deliver the government’s biggest schemes – including its technology transformation projects. IPA chief executive Tony Meggs announced that Baptiste would join from early October, leading the team which… → Read More
MPs voice lingering concerns about Customs Declaration Service
Credit: PA The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has said that they need further evidence that HM Revenue and Customs' updated customs system will be ready in the event of the UK leaving the European Union with no deal in March next year. In a letter to HMRC chief executive Jon Thompson, committee chair Meg Hiller said she was writing to express the committee’s concerns about the… → Read More
HMRC customs platform ready for no-deal Brexit, NAO report finds
Credit: Matt Faber/PA Archive/PA Images The new customs system being developed by HM Revenue and Customs should be ready for a no-deal Brexit, a report has found. A National Audit Office progress report on HMRC’s new Customs Declaration Service (CDS), which is being developed to replace is existing Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system, found HMRC had mitigated some of the… → Read More
Brexit demands force HMRC to put digital-transformation projects on hold
HMRC has told MPs that it plans to delay or pause 39 IT projects and other reforms as part of its wide-ranging transformation programme, with elements of the flagship Making Tax Digital scheme among the areas to be stopped. According to a report in The Times, HMRC has provided details of the results of the reprioritisation exercise chief executive Jon Thompson announced last October to MPs. At… → Read More
Report finds little progress in ensuring ethical standards among government outsourcers
Civil servants working in professions across government need to have “greater moral courage” to highlight ethical breaches and irregularities in outsourced services in order to drive up standards, a review has found. In a report examining government measures to protect and enforce ethical standards in outsourced public services, the Committee on Standards and Public Life concluded that not… → Read More