Archives for June 2015

EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING: FORGING A NEW FUTURE IN THE FACE OF AUSTERITY

Features, PublicNet: 29 June, 2015

With Local Authorities budgets across the UK reducing, Steve Smith of Welbeing discusses whether this could be an opportunity to create a new model for community alarm and telecare services which are person-centred and cost-effective

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PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS FEAR JOBS AT RISK

Headlines, PublicNet: 23 June, 2015

Public sector workers fear their jobs are at risk and are turning to the private sector to find employment, according to a survey of over 3,000 jobseekers conducted by totaljobs.

The research revealed that 64% of employees from the public sector fear that their job is at risk as a result of public sector cuts. With the economic recovery continuing, over half of respondents say they believe that the private sector offers a more attractive alternative and three quarter are happy to be approached with job opportunities even when they are not actively looking for work.

Despite this, over half of all jobseekers still think that the public sector offers an appealing career. Generous pay, pensions and benefits, as well as increased flexible working opportunities were cited as some of the most popular reasons.

However, candidates are becoming increasingly frustrated with the lengthy application process associated with the sector and the significant majority (61%) say that the search for public sector jobs has taken longer than they anticipated. Nearly three quarters say that they think that the public sector’s application process is the longest.

Ian Burke, director at totaljobs, said: “Jobseekers are reading the news about public sector cuts and inevitably feeling more cautious about a career in this line of work. However, it’s still an area that is popular with candidates thanks to benefits such as flexible working policies.

“The Conservative government has said that it will focus on making recruitment in the sector ‘more open’ and that it will ‘actively look for exceptional talent, especially in areas where capabilities are in short supply.’ With this in mind public sector employers looking to restructure and recruit the best talent must ensure that their application process is streamlined and easy to understand.”

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COST CUTTING IS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG WHEN DRIVING EFFICIENCIES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

Features, PublicNet: 19 June, 2015

Buying at the best price is important in cutting costs, but Nigel Crunden explains that it is only part of smart procurement.

A report by the chairman of the NHS Procurement and Efficiency Board, Lord Carter, has highlighted that ensuring every hospital pays the best price for their supplies could provide significant cost savings to be reinvested in frontline care.

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WATCHDOG CRITICISES INSPECTORATES FOR GO IT ALONE APPROACH

Abstracts, PublicNet: 17 June, 2015

An examination by the National Audit Office of inspectorates in the home affairs and justice sector has revealed a failure to link findings across inspectorate boundaries and an unhelpful independent approach to training.

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WHY THREATS FROM INSIDE ORGANISATIONS ARE SUCCEEDING

Features, PublicNet: 12 June, 2015

Data security is quite rightly focused on external threats, but many breaches of security do come from inside the organization. TK Keanini describes some of the steps that can be taken to protect the organization from the inside.

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UNIVERSAL CREDIT: THINKTANK CALLS FOR RETHINK

Headlines, PublicNet: 9 June, 2015

The Resolution Foundation has called for a rethink of the structure of Universal Credit before millions of families are moved onto the new system.

The thinktank argues that the policy focus in UC must shift from reducing worklessness to encouraging and supporting all members of a household into decent, sustainable work. Simply being in work is not enough; the objective must be to tackle endemic low pay. To do so, we make recommendations that would improve incentives and provide effective practical support to help people progress.

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ICT SERVICE DISAGGREGATION TO ACHIEVE COST REDUCTION EFFICIENCY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Features, PublicNet: 8 June, 2015

Simone Hume describes how outsourcing services to multiple suppliers can cut costs, boost efficiency and manage risks better.

Over the years many government departments and agencies have outsourced their ICT services to large System Integrator (SI) organisations, in some instances believing they had also outsourced the risk by doing so. However, outsourcing everything to SIs has been proven not to work on many levels.

The practice has led to: contract lock-in with departments paying a premium in both time and money for any ‘contract changes’; business risk in moving away from the chosen supplier leading to multiple extensions with no real competition; capital investment in physical infrastructure that becomes outdated and sub-optimal over the course of the contracts, requiring constant upgrades (in many cases legacy infrastructure becoming either over- or under-specified to meet an organisation’s changing requirements and a barrier to transformation); and an inability to take advantage of new technology and cost reductions; to name but a few.

The world, however, has changed. Government has woken up to the fact that having a small number of large SIs controlling billions of pounds of government ICT spend isn’t driving innovation or efficiency and, more importantly, isn’t delivering the new services UK citizens expect, need and deserve. So, what is the answer?

Disaggregation challenges

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