Beckie Smith
PublicTechnology.net
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Beckie:
No.10 seeks computer scientists, software developers and 'super-talented weirdos'
Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire/PA Images “Unusual” computer scientists, data scientists and software developers are among those being sought to work in No.10 alongside “weirdos and misfits” in a recruitment drive led by Boris Johnson’s top adviser, Dominic Cummings. In a job advert posted on his personal blog, Cummings said he wanted “unusual mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists,… → Read More
Ian Diamond appointed national statistician
Credit: Pixabay Sir Ian Diamond, the chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee, has been appointed as the UK’s next national statistician. Diamond succeeds John Pullinger, who retired at the end of June. Since then, deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow has been in the role on an interim basis, after the initial recruitment process failed to fill the £160,000-a-year position.… → Read More
Capita-led recruitment project hamstrung by Army’s ‘antiquated IT system’, MPs told
Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire/PA Images The Ministry of Defence and the Army made “bad mistakes” in their handling of an underperforming contract with the outsourcing company Capita to recruit armed forces personnel, MPs have heard. Errors included insisting that the outsourcer used an “antiquated IT system” to handle recruitment, Lt Gen Tyrone Urch, commander of the Army home command group,… → Read More
BEIS maintains 75% smart meter coverage 2020 target
Credit: PA The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has said it will look again at how much its smart meters programme will cost, amid warnings that a predicted overspend could rise still further. The department also claimed that it can still achieve its target of rolling out smart meters to three-quarters of UK homes by the end of next year – but admitted that this could be a… → Read More
Defra offers £140k for leader to helm post-Brexit transformation
Credit: Nick Ansell/PA Wire The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is seeking a chief operating officer to help transform the department after Brexit. The role, which comes with a salary of up to £140,000, will open up in March when Betsy Bassis becomes the new chief executive of NHS Blood and Transplant. It comes with responsibility for “leading fundamental change in the… → Read More
Government suppliers to be asked to demonstrate sustainability
Government departments will be asked to consider the environmental implications of major procurements and suppliers will be expected to demonstrate their sustainability credentials as part of an increased focus on providing greater social value through procurement processes. A long-awaited resources and waste strategy for England published by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural… → Read More
UK nearing ‘cliff edge’ on post-Brexit police data sharing, MPs warn
Credit: Cam Adams MPs have urged the Home Office to prepare for the possibility it will face a “cliff edge” in the exchange of data needed to protect public safety after the Brexit transition period, in a report that warns existing arrangements for leaving the EU could compromise the UK’s security. The UK has yet to negotiate access to EU-wide criminal databases used by police and intelligence… → Read More
HMRC praised for use of public consultations on Making Tax Digital programme
Credit: PA A group of peers tasked with scrutinising draft finance legislation has praised the way HM Revenue and Customs used public consultation to develop its Making Tax Digital for VAT initiative. In a letter to chancellor Philip Hammond, Lord Michael Forsyth, chair of the Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee, welcomed HMRC’s publications of the penalties and interest provisions for the reform… → Read More
'Optimism bias' hampers transformation projects, says NAO chief
Government departments should ease off on their pursuit of “world-leading” reforms in favour of more modest projects that are "just good enough to deliver the required benefits", the head of the National Audit Office has said, in a bid to reduce the number of over-ambitious major projects that fail to deliver their objectives. Amyas Morse also called on Treasury teams responsible for assessing… → Read More
Border IT systems face no-deal Brexit threat
Credit: PA The National Audit Office has warned that 11 out of 12 critical IT systems at the UK border are at risk of not being ready if the UK leaves the European Union in March without a deal. The government’s Border Delivery Group, the cross-departmental body leading on border planning, has given amber ratings to 11 IT systems, meaning they are “at risk of not delivering on time and to… → Read More
Home Office reveals extending life of Airwave network will cost more than £1bn
A three-year extension to the emergency service communication network Airwave caused by delays to its replacement will cost an estimated £1.1bn, the Home Office has confirmed. In a tense hearing in which MPs questioned whether the upgrade represented value for money, Home Office permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam also confirmed the cost of replacing equipment needed to maintain the existing… → Read More
PAC chair ‘concerned and disappointed’ by delays to Customs Declaration Service
Credit: PA MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are “disappointed” about delays to HM Revenue and Customs’ updated customs system, and are not convinced the agency is ready for a no-deal Brexit, its chair has said. Committee chair Meg Hillier (pictured above) wrote to HMRC permanent secretary Jon Thompson this week expressing her concern that the Customs Declaration System would be delivered two… → Read More
ICO asked to clarify role on algorithms
The chair of the Science and Technology Committee, Norman Lamb, has written to the Information Commissioner’s Office to seek clarity on its role in overseeing the use of algorithms, PublicTechnology sister publication Civil Service World has learned. Lamb wrote to the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, after receiving the government’s response to the select committee’s May report on the… → Read More