Annual report from leader of 500 specialist judicial representatives across England and Wales reveals that digital and IT is changing the delivery of both physical procedures and legal administrative operations The chief coroner has cited the “significant impact” that digital technology has had on the profession. In his annual report to parliament, His Honour Judge Thomas Teague KC identified a number of ways in which tech has changed both the hands-on work of performing autopsies as well as the legal and administrative duties required by the role. “As technology has developed there has been s ..read more

The Government Communication Service has published a new strategy to help 7,000 staff across the civil service embrace new ideas and take a ‘systemic approach’ to innovation in their work The Government Communication Service is gearing up to release a new strategy setting out how teams can “innovate with impact”, using data and technology to transform work in an ethical way. It said the plan, which will be named the Innovating with Impact Strategy, will be an “important step” in embedding a culture of innovation across GCS, by equipping teams with the skills, tools and frameworks to capitalise ..read more

Department retains specialist firm to help explore how data science models and insights could inform the content of mandatory weekly meetings between work coaches and new claimants of out-of-work benefits The Department for Work and Pensions is undertaking a six-figure programme of work to experiment with using data and analytics to help direct the “interventions” made by Jobcentre staff working with benefit claimants. The DWP last week entered into an initial 18-week contract with Cardiff-based firm Butterfly Data. The specialist tech provider has been brought in to deliver the initial discov ..read more

After a string of recent high profile attacks on Westminster MPs, sessions are being organised to help Scottish counterparts better understand their security responsibilities and how to avoid major threats Members of Scottish Parliament are to undergo cybersecurity training following a string of online attacks and honey traps targeting politicians. The announcement comes after recent reports that a cohort of Westminster MPs had been targeted by China in several cyberattacks. The first briefing will take place on 22 May and will discuss personal security as well as the use of personal and parli ..read more

Almost two years before the digitisation programme expands to cover income tax payments, the department has begun a trial initiative and wants to work with tax agents to test processes HM Revenue and Customs has this week opened a near-two-year testing programme for the UK’s new digital income tax regime and is inviting volunteers to sign up and take the opportunity “to influence what the service is like in future”. The department’s flagship Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme has already been rolled out across all VAT returns, with implementation taking place in two stages: first in 2019 for f ..read more

The UK’s cyber intelligence agency has named former Barclays executive – who also spent a year advising the Cabinet Office on the first government cyber strategy – as its third ever leader The National Cyber Security Centre has unveiled Pwc senior manager Richard Horne as its new chief executive. Horne – who also served a lengthy stint at Barclays Bank, during which he spent a year on secondment at the Cabinet Office, advising government on its first cross-Whitehall cyber strategy – will become the third person to lead the NCSC since its establishment in 2016. He follows founding leader Ciaran ..read more

After one of its own units recorded a breach of the guidelines, the department is undertaking activities to build awareness and adherence to the rules, according to new permanent secretary The Cabinet Office is working with departments to improve compliance with spending controls following a breach by one of its own units, the department’s leader has confirmed. The department has taken action after the Government Property Agency broke the rules in a 2022-23 tender evaluation, Cat Little said. The GPA engaged with would-be suppliers to agree the final allocation of contracts before obtaining a ..read more

Police in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire wish to examine the possibility of self-guided online programmes for those that have committed the likes of minor criminal damage or antisocial behaviour A group of police forces in the east of England is seeking to explore the potential of deploying “electronic interventions” where low-level offenders could remotely work through an online rehabilitation or reparative programme. Forces in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire have issued a joint commercial notice outlining their intent to conduct a “preliminary market t ..read more

Dedicated salary structure for those in key tech roles – which has helped some departments pay staff more than £20m extra a year – is being recalculated, according to Cabinet Office minister Government’s specialised pay scale for critical technology roles is being recalculated to ensure departmental recruitment teams can keep up with “market trends”, according to a minister. First introduced about four years ago, the Digital and Data Pay Framework is intended to help government agencies to attract and retain personnel in key specified roles. Departments that have adopted the framework can offe ..read more

The UK’s new online safety regulator publishes its annual assessment on children’s media use, including revelations that a third of those aged between five and seven use the internet independently An Ofcom report has revealed that large proportions of children as young as five are using social networks and other online platforms without supervision. Ofcom’s annual study of children’s relationship with the media and online world has revealed around a quarter of those aged five to seven owns a smartphone, while more than three-quarters use a tablet. Almost a third of parents of five-to-seven-yea ..read more