The new coalition government set an early pace with the announcement of over £6bn reductions in spending for the current year, an emergency budget and some important re-ordering of priorities at the centre. But these are small beer compared to the scale of what is planned for the next few years.
The government has a responsibility to reduce the public sector deficit; but it equally has an opportunity to achieve a step change in public sector productivity and effectiveness. Appropriately, the body tasked with overseeing this work is called the Efficiency and Reform Group. The real test for ministers is whether they can both achieve the required savings and leave public sector organisations better equipped to deliver high-quality public services.
To kick-start the debate about how we do this, the MCA recently published a new report: 21st Century Government: Adding value, cutting the deficit. It sets out some outstanding case studies of the work that MCA member companies have recently completed with central government clients, helping to deliver significant cost savings along with much appreciated improvements in public services. Modern consultancy is less about writing impressive reports; our member firms are engaged in the practical world of delivery, efficiency and implementation. They make a real difference â€- not just in back office improvements but directly to frontline services.
Examples of work by consultancies to enhance frontline services include KPMG’s work with The Home Office (UK Police Forces) and Atos Consulting’s work with West Midlands’ Strategic Health Authority. KPMG’s pioneering work improved police performance, enhanced public satisfaction, and identified over £100million of operational efficiency savings across fifteen UK forces. And Atos improved A&E performance – reducing waiting times and delayed discharges whilst identifying 21 projects with potential recurring savings of nearly £50million over a three year period.
Management consultancy’s future role
In the immediate aftermath of the general election, of course, ministers have put severe constraints on this sort of ‘discretionary’ spending. Understandably, perhaps, they wanted to check what is being spent and why. There is wide recognition that central government’s consulting spend must be rigorously focussed on projects that generate a high-value return.
But no organisation, public or private, could afford to recruit and retain full time staff with all the capabilities and knowledge that is needed to undertake everything that needs to be done, particularly during a time of massive change and transformation. And every organisation, particularly those which are so vital to Britain’s success, should want to have access to the most skilled and best-informed outside advice, new thinking and assistance.
Consulting will, however, remain controversial until politicians are reassured that it delivers significant value and the whole industry lives up to the standards and levels of professionalism set out, for instance, in the MCA’s Code of Practice.
Here are three areas where change could generate real benefits â€- for the taxpayer and for the consulting industry.
Delivering more value
First, let’s make sure that consultancy work generates the best possible value for clients. Consultancies are being challenged to demonstrate that they deliver outstanding value for money and that they work, in the words of the MCA’s Code of Practice, by -putting their clients’ interests first.â€
So we want to see more emphasis on outcomes achieved and value delivered. There should be more rigorous testing of whether work can be done in-house before consulting is commissioned. And each project should be based on a clear statement of goals and the value expected from the consulting team.
MCA research suggests that the return on investment from consultancy is significant. On average, and across the range of work carried out by MCA member firms, consultancy generated benefits equivalent in value to £6 for every £1 spent. The majority of clients told us that the value to them was worth between two and twenty times fees paid. That’s where the focus of the new thinking about consultancy in the public sector should be.
Clarity between genuine management consultancy and interims
Second, we should end the confusion between genuine management consultancy and the use of interims or contractors as substitutes for full-time staff. Too often, these two are muddled; they are different services which meet very different needs.
Contractors and interims can provide a stop-gap when an organisation is finding it difficult to recruit full-time staff. Management consultants, by contrast, are better used on projects where speed of delivery is important, an independent perspective is valued, and where it would not be effective to hire in the expertise involved on a permanent basis.
Our research with member companies suggests that central government spent around £640m in 2009 on management consultancy. By contrast, nearly £1300m was spent on temporary staff, contractors and interim managers, often replacing full-time staff at an inflated price.
The blurring of the line between consultancy and staff substitution creates frustration within both government and the consulting industry, and is short-changing the taxpayer. It is true that each can provide real value when used appropriately; problems arise when there is a lack of clear thinking about the different roles that each should play. Too much money has been spent using temporary staff when a shorter and more productive consultancy project was what was really needed.
Work together
Finally, let’s work better together. Relationships between government clients and their consultancies need to be less transactional. Consultancies should be more ready to offer thinking and advice before a tender is issued; clients should be open to dialogue and debate with the industry and be prepared to share ideas on strategy and priorities much more readily. Both should routinely prioritise the transfer of skills and knowledge from consultants to their clients; a key objective of management consulting is to leave clients better equipped for their future.
A Treasury-sponsored report in 2009 celebrated the UK’s management consulting industry as a ‘world leader’. The Government will want to make good use of its services if they are to achieve the changes and savings implied by their recent announcements.
Taxpayers rightly demand both high quality services and value for money, including from consultancies. These changes will help to ensure that government and the consulting industry deliver them.
An IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) survey, released today, found that most people agree with the government’s policy to reduce safety camera funding, even though a significant majority are supportive of cameras in principle.
The survey of nearly 1,000 respondents* found that 44 per cent supported government proposals to cut central funding of camera operations, with 30 per cent unsure or expressing no opinion and only 26 per cent opposed. Conversely, safety cameras received a 70 per cent approval rating overall.
Kevin Delaney IAM Head of Road Safety, said: -A lot of people like the idea of a camera on their street, slowing the traffic and making their area safer, but feel cheated when they confront one on a main road or in a different area. Rather than being purely hypocritical, it suggests drivers are seeing the lifesaving effects of cameras, but resent being caught out by them.
-It is the exact opposite of Nimbyism – everybody wants one in their own back yard, but nowhere else.”
The figures show a big difference between the sexes, with 55 per cent of men supporting the switch-off, whereas only 33 per cent of women agreed. Women were 12 per cent more supportive of speed cameras than men overall.
Nearly half of respondents [49 per cent] believed revenue generation through fines was the main motive behind installing safety cameras, with 26 per cent feeling fines were not the motive. 26 per cent were either unsure or expressed no opinion.
Mr Delaney added: -The 11 year study shows that support has declined slightly over time, but that cameras have maintained a good level of approval overall among the motoring public. There are still many people who believe that safety cameras are primarily for raising revenue who need convincing that well placed safety cameras really do deliver fewer deaths and serious injuries.”
Residential Management Group (RMG) has worked successfully with staff and residents of Rosebery Housing Association Limited in Surrey to procure cleaning and grounds maintenance services that deliver real value for money, helping to make savings of 11 per cent for residents.
Says Jas Sidhu, Operations Director of RMG’s Public Sector Division: -We were instructed by Rosebery Housing Association to help them to procure the cleaning and grounds maintenance of all their 2,500 properties situated predominantly in Epsom and Ewell, and elsewhere in Surrey.
-Among the key priorities was to ensure compliance with best practice and relevant legislation, including OJEU, The Official Journal of the European Union, which is the central database for European public sector tender notices.
Over an 18-month period, RMG reviewed specifications and bills of quantities, addressed staff and resident involvement and trained them in the procurement process, and focused on improving services to residents, as well as ensuring value for money.
Sally Bayliss, Head of Housing and Customer Service at Rosebery comments: -The procurement exercise resulted in the contract being awarded to Connaught Environmental and achieving an overall saving of 11 per cent, which is an excellent outcome for residents.
She continues: -RMG assisted with implementation of the contract which has now been in place for a number of months. There has been a lot of positive feedback and compliments from residents during the first few months of the contract.
Honorata Rosser (Resident Board Member), Barry Chamberlain (Resident Board Member) and Peter Palmer (resident) worked closely with RMG to reduce costs for residents.
Barry Chamberlain comments: -The training on how to evaluate tenders was fascinating, informative and very professional and working with RMG was an extremely worthwhile experience. We’re very happy with the way the procurement process went and obviously delighted that it has resulted in savings on cleaning and maintenance.
Fellow Board Member at Rosebery Housing Association, Honorata Rosser, says: -RMG has helped us to make savings of around £35,000, which have been passed on to residents throughout our properties, which range from one bedroom flats to four-bedroom family homes, and also include four sheltered housing schemes for the elderly. We would definitely recommend them.
‘Whilst there are areas for improvement in the current policing arrangements, I am extremely sceptical that USA-style elected commissioners and an FBI-esque National Crime Agency are the answer to our problems. I have no axe to grind with the US or its system of government, but I do know its different from the UK, and not everything from across the Atlantic can be imported and transplanted here. Now is not the time to experiment with untried, untested and uncosted structures superimposed on UK policing. The Local Government Association (LGA) has summarised this: -In difficult financial circumstances, we have to ask if this is the right time to change structures through additional elections, which could cost the same as 700 police officers.”
‘I’m also absolutely convinced that the Government is moving with indecent haste on these initiatives. On Monday (26 July) it published ‘Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the people’ – as far as any commitments in the Coalition Agreement are concerned, the Government is not consulting on whether they should happen, but how best they can be implemented. I admire the Government’s resolve and sense of purpose but there are a whole range of alternative models and reforms that, at the very least, ought to be considered and debated. Colleagues from the Local Government Association (LGA) have some interesting suggestions, and whilst I may not agree with them on every detail they have a credible and legitimate argument. As far as I’m concerned the Government has not made the case for Commissioners – I sat and watched, like millions of others, three leadership debates on TV – during the recent election campaign and there wasn’t one mention of, or reference to, directly elected Commissioners, not one.
‘I do understand the Coalition Government’s desire to get on with introducing radical change, that’s perfectly natural but it has a higher duty and responsibility to govern wisely and well. Occasionally that may take a little longer but it will reap benefits in the long run, who wants to be associated with a disastrous policy that’s hastily conceived and implemented poorly? In my view there should be a much more wide-ranging and thorough assessment of the alternative models and current system before embarking on reform. Policing involves the state legitimised use of force, the right to deprive individuals of their liberty – it doesn’t get more important than this and its essential that the Government gets it right – hindsight doesn’t win any prizes or provide comfort to those who could be ill-served by these proposals.
‘I’m the serving Chair of a Police Authority and yes I’m facing abolition in the light of these proposals, but this is not the reason why I am speaking out. Its because I care passionately about policing in Kent. I’ve been privileged to serve on the Police Authority for almost 10 years now, and during my five years as Chair of the Kent Police Authority we have:
Rolled out neighbourhood policing across Kent and Medway. This includes 13 District based Task Teams to tackle
anti-social behaviour and crime
Reduced crime by over 30 per cent
Improved detections to near-record high levels
Achieved all this and more whilst having one of the very lowest levels of police council tax across counties in England and Wales
‘Now I think that’s a good track record, one that we can be proud of and a legacy that I want to protect. Those significant improvements have been led by a Police Authority of 17 members, made up of elected councillors and local people, appointed through a competitive selection process. I would argue that our successes are, in no small way, attributable to these complementary skill sets and the overriding tendency of local politicians to leave party politics outside, and concentrate on delivering the best possible policing for communities. All the powers ascribed to the Commissioner currently sit with Police Authorities, and in Kent, and elsewhere, we have shown that Police Authorities can be effective.
‘Fundamentally the Government’s problem is this – it is committed to introducing directly elected Commissioners but it doesn’t know how it will work in practice, or how it fits with the policing landscape as a whole. There’s too little substance, and too little detail, in its proposals to use them as the basis for reform. There are so many gaps, the case for taking the time to evaluate all the options, in a considered and measured fashion, is overwhelming.
‘I admit Police Authorities haven’t always got it absolutely right, and there is still a real challenge for us in terms of raising public awareness and visibility – but those problems are solvable given the political will. I think the Government’s rush to reorganise policing and ill-thought through structural reform, is foolish. Especially at a time when the police service is wrestling with the biggest financial crisis in living memory. The scale and scope of the proposed change will act as a massive distraction as the police service looks to drive through savings and efficiencies on an unprecedented scale whilst maintaining, and where possible improving, the service provided to the public. The Government’s proposed course of action, quite simply, doesn’t serve the best interests of local communities.
‘My personal plea to Ministers is to pause for a moment. Let’s reflect on the critical importance of policing reform, weigh the options up carefully, consult meaningfully with all shades of opinion and, in short, make every effort to get this right. Rapidly enacting reform and change isn’t an end in itself, the prize is for police reform that’s sustainable, sits comfortably with our British model of policing, and serves the best interests of local communities.’
The Liberal Democrats are taking advantage of Web 2.0 technology to help run their headquarters, improve communication within the party and share materials with campaigners across the UK. Using Huddle, the Liberal Democrats are connecting more than 1,500 party campaigners and volunteers at a local level to share central campaign materials. In the run up to the general election, there were more than 46,500 document viewings in the party’s online workspaces.
To help local candidates get elected and spread the party’s messages, volunteers can now work securely with other people online and access training documents and artwork. During the general election campaign, the Liberal Democrats’ Media Intelligence Unit, set up by the party’s press office, also established a 24 hour media monitoring rota so that press coverage could be analysed and media feedback recorded. All press articles were stored in Huddle to ensure that everyone could view the media’s response to the party’s campaign efforts.
Prior to deploying Huddle, the Liberal Democrats were relying on email and an extranet to communicate across teams. Recognising that the internal IT system was struggling to cope with the volume of emails and it was difficult to share files with people outside of the party, the Liberal Democrats chose Huddle to improve collaboration and connect with party colleagues, volunteers and conference organisers.
-It was becoming increasingly apparent that the party needed to replace its ailing extranet with technology that could be tailored for different teams,” said Sam Lockwood, Web & E-Communications Technology Manager, Liberal Democrats. -While Huddle was initially deployed for file sharing, we quickly realised that it has multiple other functions and groups across the party are now using it to manage projects, organise conferences and have discussions. Our Federal Conference Committee, which is responsible for running our two annual conferences, uses Huddle to manage and organise these events with external support staff. Huddle’s flexibility has enabled the party to realise the benefits of cloud computing and increase efficiencies. ”
The Liberal Democrats’ Policy Response Unit has set up an online workspace from which parliamentary candidates can access and search for required policy information. A workspace has also been established to meet the specific needs of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, so that members have access to Scottish policy briefings and responses.
-Recognising the value of using social media in politics following Barack Obama’s successful election campaign in 2008, the 2010 British general election saw all three mainstream parties use tools such as Twitter and Facebook to reach and engage voters,” said Alastair Mitchell, Co-founder and CEO, Huddle. -This year, we’ve already seen a big increase in government departments and organisations deploying Web 2.0 internally to boost communication and increase efficiency. The Liberal Democrats have placed Web 2.0 at the heart of party communications and we expect more organisations to follow suit and deploy tools that help them to work better together and save money.”
Huddle currently has 60 per cent government penetration, including customers such as the Home Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Inspector Tracy Day of Bedfordshire Police has won two competitions in the Bluelight Horse of the Year Show held at Aintree Racecourse over 23rd July 25th July.
Inspector Day (39) rode her horse Carrello to victory in the Novice Dressage and the Combined Training (Novice) competition (a mix of dressage and show jumping). She was pipped for top place in the Elementary Dressage by just two points. Riders from blue light services around the Europe took part in the Show which ran over three days.
Tracy started riding aged 4 and began competing in Oakley pony club events aged 10. This is the first year she has competed on her current horse. She joined the Police in 1993 and is now an Inspector based in Bedford.
Tracy said: -It’s great to have won these events and I’m really proud of my horse Carrello. This is the first year we have competed at Elementary level and we were beaten by a horse that normal competes above this level by 0.67% or two marks.
-Everyone was really friendly and the event was good fun. To compete in my uniform on behalf of Bedfordshire Police was a real privilege and I felt very proud to have done so, winning was a bonus and to be presented with prizes in a huge arena in front of hundreds of people was an amazing experience. I was particularly pleased because I won against the German competitors who are renowned for their dressage talent.
-Dressage is a great test of the bond between rider and horse and we have a great time working together in these competitions. The Bluelight Horse of the Year has only been running a few years but now attracts riders from blue light services from around the country.
Tracy explained the roots of dressage: -Dressage dates back to the Renaissance and develops a horse’s natural athletic ability and willingness to perform. The idea is to guide a horse through its routine with the minimal outward signs so it smoothly responds to the rider while they remain relaxed and it all appears effortless. It looks simple but it does require a great deal of work by rider and horse to make it look that easy!
The Blue Lights Horse of the Year show is a unique event created and supported by the Police, Fire and Ambulance services in Merseyside held at the world famous Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool, in their purpose built International Equestrian Centre.
London, 28th July 2010 Trusteer, the leading provider of secure browsing services, today announced that it has added financial malware disinfection to its Rapport service. In addition to preventing Trojans like Zeus, Silon, Bugat, DBJP and zero day malware from tampering with website communications and transactions, Rapport now removes malicious code that attempts to attack browser sessions. This new capability is being provided at no additional cost to all Rapport customers and end users. Trusteer will also submit any new (zero day) malware it discovers to all anti malware vendors in an effort improve notoriously low detection rates for crime ware.
Recent studies from Trusteer and other fraud detection vendors show that antivirus solutions detect only 10 percent of active financial malware. By sharing financial malware samples with all anti malware vendors Trusteer is helping to improve banking security for all customers including those that are not yet using the Rapport service. Trusteer’s unique technology discovers, captures, and validates zero-day financial malware weeks and even months before new attacks are addressed by anti-malware vendors.
Mick Paisley, Head of information security and business resilience for Santander commented, -The new financial malware disinfection tool that has just been added to the Rapport secure browsing service is fantastic news for our customers, Santander offer this complimentary service to all our retail banking customers and many of them have already taken advantage of this additional protection for their online banking.
Trusteer is dedicated to improving their Rapport service and Santander and Alliance &Leicester would encourage any retail banking customers who have not already done so to download the Rapport secure browsing service from our website as the protection it offers is superior to other secure browsing and malware removal tools that customers could have to otherwise have to pay a considerable sum to buy.
Paisley continued, -Through experience we have confidence that Trusteer is always ahead of the curve in detecting and protecting people from new forms of financial malware and their willingness to immediately share this valuable intelligence with all other antivirus vendors is to be highly commended for making online fraud harder to commit by criminals.
Zeus and other online fraud Trojans are increasingly being remotely reconfigured by criminals to deliver new, more targeted and more authentic looking attacks. For example, Trusteer recently discovered campaigns that use Zeus to exploit the familiar Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode security programs and launch regionally-focused attacks against specific banks. Rapport’s ability to block attacks from malware present on a machine and now to remove the malicious code provides the broadest protection for financial institutions and their customers.
-With the addition of its free malware removal capability Trusteer now provides the most comprehensive anti phishing and anti malware protection for online banking, said Amit Klein, CTO of Trusteer and head of the company’s research organization. -Rapport detects, alerts on, blocks, and removes financial malware at no cost for end-users, while it protects online communication with their financial institution. As an added benefit, Rapport can protect communication with an unlimited number of websites.
Rapport: Secure Browsing Service
Rapport from Trusteer is a lightweight browser security solution that prevents criminals from tampering with website communications and transactions, and protects against man-in-the-browser, man-in-the-middle, and phishing attacks. When a Rapport user browses to sensitive websites such as internet banking, Webmail, or online payment pages, Rapport immediately locks down the browser and creates a tunnel for safe communication with the web site. This prevents malware from injecting data and stealing information entered and presented in the browser. Rapport removes malicious code it discovers on protected machines. Trusteer also offers in-the-cloud reporting services. When unauthorized access attempts are detected by Rapport, these are analyzed by Trusteer fraud experts who provide actionable intelligence to customers.
Availability
Trusteer Rapport with financial malware removal is available immediately from financial institutions worldwide. Existing Rapport users will automatically and transparently receive the updated capabilities.
About Trusteer
Trusteer, the world’s leading provider of secure browsing services, helps prevent financial malware attacks through its Rapport and Flashlight services. Trusteer Rapport enables banks and online businesses to protect sensitive data such as account holder credentials from malware by locking down the browser and creating a tunnel for safe communication between the web site and customers’ machines. It also prevents phishing by validating site authenticity. Trusteer Flashlight allows remote, effective, and instant investigation of malware-related fraud incidents. Trusteer’s solutions are used by more than 60 leading financial organizations in North America and Europe and by more than 7 million of their customers. Trusteer is a privately held corporation led by former executives from RSA Security, Imperva, and Juniper. Follow us on www.Twitter.com/Trusteer. For more information about our products and services, please visit www.trusteer.com
The emergency budget has given us the first real indication of how and where the coalition’s major spending cuts are going to occur. Chancellor George Osborne has spelt out the agenda in recent weeks, explaining that, “decisive action to deal with Britain’s record budget deficit, estimated to be running at £149 billion annually with a structural deficit of £113.5 billion – is the top priority or else the country is on the “road to ruin”.
The new measures announced make it clear that the public sector has been singled out as a key area for cutting costs and making savings – a two year pay freeze for anyone earning more than £21,000 and a review of public sector pensions have been proposed, while in contrast a series of tax breaks and national insurance incentives have been made to try and stimulate private sector growth.
While departments won’t see their details of their individual budgets until October 20th, Mr. Osborne has stated that budgets for non-protected departments will fall by 25 percent over four years, a move that is likely to have escalated concern over whether wide-ranging cuts can be inflicted on the public sector without making redundancies, damaging services or the economy as a whole. As the government has already made high profile commitments to protect certain public services, including in health, education and policing, this 25 percent reduction has so far been defined purely in terms of eliminating waste. ‘Waste’ is clearly an important issue, and one that was highlighted by all major political parties during their election campaigns, but when it could refer to people’s jobs or public services, it’s easy to understand why there’s such concern over the cuts.
However, the truth is that there’s vast potential to reduce public sector costs simply by using existing government property more effectively – action that could even improve service provision. Delivering property efficiencies is a leading example of cutting waste, and although £170 million in property savings is already proposed for the current financial year, this figure doesn’t really do justice to the potential savings on offer. Done correctly, office estate transformation can deliver efficiency gains, improve the quality of the service that public sector employees are able to deliver, and make a meaningful contribution to Government’s sustainability targets.
For example, a significant contribution to the expense of government is the cost of running the 7.7 million square metres of offices that accommodates the UK’s civil service. New research conducted by specialist economic consultancy SQW suggests that substantially greater savings are achievable through deeper and accelerated implementation of best practice approaches to civil estate management. In particular, costs could be reduced by £1.4 billion per year within five years if the central government office estate was utilised more efficiently. Allowing for time to implement the necessary changes, this would amount to savings of more than £4.3 billion over the first five years. The savings relate only to the central government office estate that accounts for 10 percent of the overall £25 billion annual running cost of the entire public sector property portfolio.
More efficient property solutions would improve frontline service provision as well as achieving savings. This is possible by delivering a high quality working environment for staff and customers, resulting in higher levels of productivity, flexibility and customer satisfaction. They could also support cross-departmental strategies, which will help facilitate maximum savings across government.
Property efficiency solutions deliver an effective transfer of risk from the public to the private sector (where it can best be managed), and can offer savings to the taxpayer through contractual guarantees. One such example is the DWP estate, which has been managed by Telereal Trillium since 1998. Under the property efficiency approach and drawing on the DWP’s robust estate strategy, the size of the occupied estate has been reduced to 1.8 million square metres, a reduction of 0.8 million square metres (around 30 percent) that has been achieved despite a 2003 departmental merger with the Employment Service. The National Audit Office estimated that the DWP’s partnership with Telereal Trillium will eventually save around £780 million for the taxpayer.
And it’s not just financial savings that can be delivered through this approach. Substantial environmental and sustainability benefits can also be created through deepened and accelerated implementation of property efficiency solutions – for example, through reduced utilities consumption – thus allowing the coalition government to tick another box.
The budget cuts have provoked outcry in many quarters – indeed, the government always anticipated this would be the case. However, it’s clear that the pressure is now firmly on the coalition to demonstrate it can come good on its promise to protect frontline services, and the SQW research suggests there’s no better starting place than its own back yard.
Paul Seddon is a consultant for Expense Reduction Analysts, the UK’s largest cost and purchase management consultancy.
The £6billion of government cuts announced on 24 May were designed as a shockwave, a first taster of the real challenge that public bodies will be facing in earnest over the next few years. It is no secret that massive savings in public spending will have to be found if the public finances are to be turned around.
For years HM Treasury has emphasised to every public body, great or small, the need to find annual savings through improved efficiency and better procurement. Ritually, there have been announcements of saving after saving from new contracts. If all those announcements are to be believed, control of public spending has already been taken care of.
So why is there a savings crisis?
While all these claims of great savings have won politically valuable headlines, I believe the reality is different. Try putting the following question to those public bodies that have claimed a saving: -A year after the new contract was let, can you demonstrate how much money you have actually saved?
The first part of the truthful answer tends to be: -We don’t know, our financial systems are unable to provide the data to answer that question. The second is: -Our gut feeling is that we haven’t really seen the savings coming through.
In light of this, it can be argued that the last ten years have witnessed a phoney war on savings. However, the public sector now has no option but to get real, spend management needs to move right to the top of the managerial agenda in all public sector bodies.
The ownership of spend management at the top is absolutely key. It is not enough to appoint a procurement officer or ten and assume that savings will follow. Political leaders, chief executives and directors of finance must own their organisation’s strategy for spend management; and be seen by managers and staff throughout their organisations to be doing so.
By putting in place good contracts, procurement professionals can only make potential savings. These potential savings can easily be lost by non-compliant purchasing decisions made by budget holders who are usually distributed throughout service departments in public bodies. This is the area that needs most attention. Expense Reduction Analysts has reviewed spend analysis from a large sample of public sector bodies that clearly shows a huge potential for savings purely from tightening up purchasing discipline.
To realise actual savings, managers must exercise purchasing discipline, using contracts that procurement teams have put in place wherever possible, alerting procurement if their needs are not being met or are changing. Discipline about contracting needs to start right at the top of the organisation.
Key to realising savings is to manage spend, which starts with data analysis that identifies how much is being spent, on what and with which suppliers. Spending needs to be tied back to contracts and reviewed on a quarterly, if not monthly basis to check that contract terms are being adhered to. Spend being made outside contracts must be identified and then corrected for the future through normal management processes.
Spend analysis has been increasingly adopted in the UK public sector but its proper use as a tool for spend management is not yet widely understood, certainly not outside professional procurement management. It is the single most important key to unlocking savings from purchasing in the public sector. Spend analysis tools that get right down to line item data are now available and must be put to use as a structured part of management reporting, not just as an occasional -nice to have.
Alongside internal improvements in spend management, procurement teams generally need to get more commercial about contract decisions. In too many cases, procurement is there just to provide assurance that when contracts are tendered, the process does not fall foul of the regulations (such as the Public Contract Regulations 2006). This is not sufficient to ensure value for money.
Critically, there is much to be done to improve areas such as drawing up specifications for tenders. Far too many specs are drawn up on the basis of inadequate knowledge of either what outputs or outcomes are needed; or of what is the state of the art on the supply side. Without being able to tap into supplier innovation, the scope for savings is dramatically restricted.
However none of these suggestions about getting more potential savings will count for anything if indiscipline in day-to-day buying decisions persists. So to reiterate, the message for the new public sector world is that savings start at the top or not at all.
A wharehouse attached to Pingle Mill in Delph near Oldham was in danger of setting alight at the weekend.
James Cormode, 24, from Delph jumped in with a stick to put out the flames and stop the fire spreading to the building.
” I was at a barbeque when in the distance we spotted the smoke and realised the heather and grass was on fire and very close to the mill itself, I rang the owner of the mill, a friend of mine, and ran across the fields to see if I could do anything.
“the only thing I could do was to rip off a tree branch and start beating the flames out, it was very hot and smokey but I carried on until the fire brigade arrived by which time I had managed to get it out.
” It’s a bit ironic as I was turned down for the fire brigade, maybe they will let me in now, i’m just glad to have been able to help out ” , said James
The fire was further extinguished by the fire service using water jets and they remained on the scene until the last embers were out.
Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, who is also the Association of Chief Police Officers’ Finance and Resource portfolio lead, said:
“We are taking the necessary time to analyse the Government’s emergency budget to determine its full impact on police funding both at a national and local level. We will be in a better position to respond in greater detail once all the implications have been established.
“As a force though, and in line with most facets of the public and private sectors, we are abundantly aware that there will be some pretty tough times ahead while the economy recovers from this deep recession.
“However, as a result of the Capability and Capacity Review which I instigated on my appointment as Chief Constable in May 2007, together with the ongoing ‘Towards 2012’ service development programme, North Yorkshire Police is in a strong position and I will do all that I can to protect visible policing levels.
“This means that the high-quality policing service that our communities rightly expect will be maintained, and our determination to ensure that North Yorkshire and the City of York remains one of the safest and low-crime areas of the country will not waver in the face of this significant national challenge.”
-In the short term I recognise that steps must be taken to address the consequences of the recession. These understandably have been framed around a trade off between cuts in public spending and tax increases.
-The real challenge is to make every pound of money in the public sector a pound well spent. The public sector has many talented and committed people who are being constrained by the environment in which they work. An environment which stifles them in exercising their judgement, being enterprising and creating new solutions to the myriad of problems they face. Nitty gritty problems faced in delivering critical services to some of the most needy and most deserving in our society.
-I am however, concerned about the Chancellor’s planned cap on housing benefit and I fear the extent to which the poorest will be hit hardest by this and by other departmental cuts.
-The tax rises against cuts debate has to be broadened to cover real reform of how the public sector does its job. Not cosmetic restructuring of closing a quango here and rebranding a service there but a fundamental review of how millions of people are doing their jobs day in and day out. How can that talent be unleashed? How can they be set free to work more closely with the people who need their support, so that we invest in prevention as much as cure?
-Big Society is a concept with real potential – but great danger that 25 per cent cuts in public services prevent government departments and local authorities from investing in greater civic enterprise and resilience. This is where real fairness starts and ends – with the attitudes of the people as a whole, not with the imprecation of those in government.
-The fairest societies are the most healthy, for everybody, poor and rich. We need an investment in fairness, which is an investment in mutual support and responsibility. In the long term, this reduces the problems which require public sector intervention such as unemployment, educational underachievement and obesity.
-There is a danger that this budget results in an underinvestment in the empowering themes that will deliver efficiency and fairness – resulting in a medium to long-term rise in the social morbidities which cost the public purse so dear. We will only know whether we are eating the seedcorn in this way when we see how the government departments react to the reductions in budget – with imagination or with the traditional protection of existing structures.”
A record number of Coast & Country Housing employees have been working towards qualifications in the last 12 months.
More than 100 staff have been studying for a wide range of qualifications including NVQs, Institute of Leadership and Management credentials, Foundation Degrees, Chartered Institute of Purchase and Supply Diplomas, European Computer Driving Licences and Masters Degrees.
Employees, from maintenance technicians to customer service staff to service team leaders, managers and supervisors, have been encouraged to extend their skills and knowledge through training and development programmes.
For the first time, Coast & Country worked with the School of Health & Social Care from Teesside University to deliver a leadership course, which has been so successful it plans to repeat the programme in the next academic year.
Coast & Country, one of the largest regeneration and housing companies in the region is aiming to be the best social housing business in the country and last year launched a Journey to Excellence initiative to help achieve that goal.
A key part of this initiative was to examine how the company is organised, how it can excel in customer service and how it can play a key role in regenerating communities.
Part of this strategy is ensuring its staff are motivated and empowered to be the best and the increase in the number of staff undergoing training is a key component.
Iain Sim, Chief Executive of Coast & Country, said: -Part of our Journey to Excellence is ensuring that employees, throughout the whole of Coast & Country, are given the support and opportunity to broaden their knowledge and skills base to enable them to provide an even better service to residents.
-This is the largest number of Coast & Country staff to have studied for qualifications in one year. It has proved to be a great motivator with many, having had a taste of getting back in to education, keen to continue with their personal development and work towards further qualifications.
-A well-trained workforce is more confident and knowledgeable which translates in to improved support and provision for our customers.
The Government’s attitude to public sector pay and pensions is a worrying issue. David Cameron seems to be pushing councils awkwardly down a path they are already addressing. A reduction of payment in pensions will have a crippling effect on the economy and further increases in employee contributions will not serve as an effective solution.
There is a huge misconception about gold-plated pensions. Government is overlooking the fact that the average public sector pension is only £7,000, according to the TUC.
In terms of pay, progression does need to be managed on performance and contribution rather than length of service (at least for senior managers) rather than all employees being penalised due to poor decisions by government. We are seeing more councils moving towards such a setup in order to manage long-term costs.
The majority of bonus schemes have been removed in the public sector but further reviews of some elements of pay should be encouraged and managed so councils can move forward sensibly whilst the potential attack on pensions is misguided.
Geoff Pearce
Principal reward consultant
NorthgateArinso
i2, the leading provider of intelligence and investigation software, has formed a formal partnership with leading risk intelligence specialist, World-Check. As a result, i2 customers can benefit from the ability to access highly structured information and create actionable intelligence faster. A new solution was announced here today at i2’s Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) User Conference.
By preloading i2’s industry leading products, Analyst’s Notebook and iBase, with World-Check’s extensive database of Politically Exposed Persons (PEP’s) and heightened risk individuals and organisations, analysts have immediate access to the world’s most widely adopted open source research and the powerful tools they need to analyse the research in the context of a particular project or investigation.
-As the criminal and terrorist landscape continues to evolve the potential consequences of these threats grow significantly. Consequently, analysts find themselves with the daunting challenge of generating actionable intelligence for those who need it, fast,” said Guillaume Tissot, vice president of Product Marketing at i2. -Customers want secure access to high quality, trusted open source research, which has been rigorously vetted by one of the most respected risk intelligence providers and supported by i2’s unmatched visualisation capability. This enables organisations to make sense of this information blizzard — a powerful combination in the war against all forms of illegal activity.”
”The agreement with i2 represents a major step forward in the development and implementation of risk intelligence solutions. Our data sets fit perfectly within the i2 analysis and visualisation technology infrastructure,” said Dan Peak, CEO at World-Check. -Our two companies have the same commitment to pioneering innovation in our respective markets.”
With i2 and World-Check, customers can:
Access comprehensive research and powerful analysis:
Analyst’s Notebook and iBase will be preloaded with structured intelligence from the World-Check database.
Search results can be matched, analysed and visualised with Analyst’s Notebook and iBase.
Unrivalled coverage of Politically Exposed Person (PEP) and heightened risk entities.
Increase efficiency and enhance intelligence output:
Use World-Check data to supplement or enhance existing data while i2 products uncover hidden links and relationships within the data.
Add international intelligence to local investigations.
World-Check data is structured with more than 20 fields assisting in the identification of entities.
Organise and rapidly analyse vast quantities of high quality open source intelligence.
Improve operational decision-making:
Unmatched Always-on-Analytics and point of need alerting.
Research sources are included for verification purposes.
The partnership between i2 and World-Check marries 30 years of experience in developing intelligence software with 10 years of innovation in intelligence research. Available today, this turnkey solution provides analysts with the ability to search through more than a million highly structured profiles and open source intelligence from i2’s Intelligence-Led Operation Platform. The results can then be matched, analysed and visualised with i2 products, helping analysts create actionable intelligence, faster.
Commenting on the latest unemployment figures released today (16 June), Dave Prentis, UNISON’s General Secretary, said: -With unemployment on the up again it makes no sense to throw thousands more people on to the dole queues.
-Behind every statistic is a personal tragedy – cuts to public spending will have a huge impact on the local economy and will devastate communities and families.
-We face a lost generation of disaffected young people, struggling to get their first foot into work.
-Cutting hard and fast will risk a double dip recession. We need to protect public services and create opportunities for young people and the long-term unemployed.”
Chief Superintendent Lynn Hart has received a MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to policing.
Chief Superintendent Lynn Hart, Bournemouth and Poole Divisional Commander, said: “I’m honoured and humbled to be receiving this award as I go into my 36th year of service with Dorset Police.
“I couldn’t have achieved the award without the support of my family, colleagues – police officers, police staff and volunteers – and partner agencies. I am accepting the award on behalf of all of them.”
Chief Constable Martin Baker said: -This is a richly deserved recognition of Lynn’s achievements over a long and distinguished career in policing.
-She has risen to one of the most senior levels in the police service through her total commitment to the communities she serves and to the people that she leads and I am delighted both for her and the Force.”
Chief Superintendent Lynn Hart, 52, joined Dorset Police as a cadet in 1975 at the age of 17, and became a police officer in Bournemouth soon after.
While rising through the ranks of Dorset Police, Chief Superintendent Hart also worked in Poole, Christchurch and at Force Headquarters in Winfrith.
In 2001, she was promoted to superintendent in command of the former Eastern Division, and then to chief superintendent in early 2008 when she took on the challenge of merging the old Eastern and Western divisions to create the Dorset County Division.
Later in 2008, Chief Superintendent Hart moved to the conurbation to take command of the Bournemouth and Poole Division; the post that she remains in today.
Chief Superintendent Lynn Hart has lived in Dorset for her entire life, and currently lives in the Bournemouth area of the county.
Police have seized over 150 bottles and cans of booze from underage drinkers in a series of anti-social behaviour initiatives.
But instead of pouring the alcohol down the drain, the haul, which includes 74 bottles of lager, 63 cans of lager, two litres of vodka and 29 litres of cider has been donated by Rochdale South Neighbourhood Policing Team to care home residents at Springhill Hospice for their enjoyment.
The seizures have been by Rochdale South Neighbourhood Policing Team during Operation Quasar, an ongoing weekend anti-social behavior initiative for Rochdale Division. It sees mobile and foot patrols increased in hot spot areas such as Milkstone and Deeplish, Kirkholt, Castleton and Kingsway.
During the initiative police work in troubled spots with agencies such as the local authority, youth services and licensing officers and have used handheld cameras and mobile video units. Any youths found hanging around are stopped and accounted for and offered leaflets providing a list of activities they can take part in across the area.
Youths continuing to be a nuisance have letters issued to their parents and those ignoring the two warnings are then encouraged to sign into the acceptable behaviour scheme (ABS)*.
Police also work with licensed premises and shops in a bid to curb underage sales.
Sergeant Shoheb Chowdhury for Rochdale South Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “A staggering amount of alcohol was seized during the operation and a large amount had to be poured away. What has to be remembered is that with alcohol comes nuisance and anti-social behaviour.
-In the past there have been some serious incidents of anti-social behaviour and criminal damage which has been caused by youngsters getting drunk on the street. The success of this operation in recent times has resulted in a drop of youth related incidents, which is pleasing to see.
-Residents living in the area have been telling us about how pleased they are about the operation and the results. This is great news for the team and shows that the work we have put into the operation has paid off.”
Christine Webb, chief executive for Springhill Hospice at Broad Lane, Rochdale, said: -Once again the Rochdale South Neighbourhood Policing Team has supplied Springhill Hospice with a range of alcohol for use by our patients.
-We have two very well stocked drinks trolleys and our patients in the in-patient unit and in the day hospice are offered a drink prior to each meal by one of the volunteering team. The drinks that have been donated save a huge amount of money for us and of course our patients really enjoy the social benefits of having a drink.
-We are extremely grateful to Sergeant Chowdhury and his team for bringing the drinks to the hospice, they will be greatly appreciated by our patients.”
The world of hacking has evolved into two major varieties: industrialized attacks and advanced persistent threats (APT). There has been a lot of discussion around the validity of APT recently , some have even connected APT with panties. But APT is a real threat. So, what’s the difference between APT and industrialized hacking, and how should you respond?
Industrialized Hacking
Just as the Industrial Revolution advanced methods and accelerated assembly from single to mass production in the 19th century, today’s cybercrime industry has similarly transformed and automated itself to improve efficiency, scalability, and profitability.
What are the key characteristics of an industrialized attack?
It’s ROI focused. All parties involved work to increase the bottom-line. Similar to the way a business works to maximize gain with as little investment as possible.
It’s not personal. Automated attacks do not target specific individuals. Rather, they target the masses, both enterprises and users, using general selection criteria. For example, a botnet that drives mass SQL injection attacks or brute force password attacks will not discriminate between large or small organizations.
It’s multilayer. Each party involved in the hacking process has a unique role and uses a different financial model.
It’s automated. Botnets, armies of unknowingly enlisted computers controlled by hackers, scan and probe the web seeking to exploit vulnerabilities and extract valuable data, conduct brute force password attacks, disseminate spam, distribute malware, and manipulate search engine results.
Common attack types include:
1. Data theft or SQL injections. Data theft is most commonly administered through SQL injection. Between January and June of 2009, IBM reported nearly 250,000 daily SQL injection attacks on websites around the world. Imperva researchers reported the use and deployment of SQL injections as the top chat topic on hacker forums. For example, the 2009 assault against Heartland Payment Systems, which resulted in 130 million dollars of lost records, was attributed to SQL injection.
2. Business logic attacks. Recently, web application hackers have begun to develop attacks that target vulnerabilities in the business logic, rather than in the application code. Business logic attacks often remain undetected. In fact, most business logic vulnerabilities are hard to anticipate and detect using automated test tools, such as static code analyzers, and vulnerability scanners. Often, attack traffic resembles normal application traffic. Attacks are usually not apparent from code and are too diverse to be expressed through generic vulnerability scanner tests. A recent hack against Durex India highlights how this type of attack works.
3. Denial of service attacks. This type of attack is usually executed as part of a blackmail scheme that forces application owners to pay a ransom to free their application from the invasion of useless traffic. For instance, attackers will threaten to shut-down online gambling sites for a particular ransom.
Advanced Persistent Threats
Advanced persistent threats (APT) are driven, usually, by government agencies, or their terrorist counterparts. Rarely are APTs led by political or commercial organizations. However, in some cases, marginal threats do arise from obsessed individuals and legitimate commercial organizations. What are the key characteristics of APT hacking?
It’s very personal. The attacking party carefully selects targets based on political, commercial, and security interests. Social engineering is often employed by an APT.
It’s persistent. If the target shows resistance, the attacker will not leave, but rather change strategy and deploy a new type of attack against the same target. The attacker may also decide to shift from an external threat to an internal threat.
Control focused. APTs are focused on gaining control of crucial infrastructure, such as power grids and communication systems. APTs also target data comprised of intellectual property and sensitive national security information. Personal data, however, is of no interest. Surprisingly, APT hackers are not as concerned with costs or revenue. Thus large budgets may be thrown against individual targets with no -financial justification. How can you quantify state security?
It’s automated but on a small scale. Automation is used to enhance the power of an attack against a single target, not to launch broader, multi-target attacks.
It’s one layer. One party owns and controls all hacking roles and responsibilities. In fact, the most serious government organizations operate their own botnets (or at least take control of parts of botnets).
Advanced Persistent Threats vs Industrialization: How Can Security Professionals Respond?
The industrialized hacker wants money but also wants to keep costs down, it’s simply the -Tony Soprano, business model. If you have a web presence, you are a potential target for industrialized attacks, even if you are a small organization. You need to use timely updates on attack sources to quickly identify attackers. Since you are bound to be attacked, emphasis must be placed on easy management and operations, with protection against known vulnerabilities and common attack types, such as SQL Injection, XSS, and CSRF.
Advanced persistent threats, on the other hand, are much more sophisticated and require a -James Bond, approach to impede the Dr. No’s. Consider yourself a target if you hold sensitive information beneficial to governments. Key characteristics include:
.mil and .gov sites
DoD contractors
Infrastructure companies, including power and water
Individual CEOs or leaders of powerful enterprise or government agencies, or their staff
Personal information of possible targets, such as the Chinese freedom of speech activists in the recent Google case
If you have identified an APT, then you need to collect and review audit information with regards to accessing sensitive assets.
In both cases, you should protect both your site and customers by using a rapid procedure of scanning for security vulnerabilities. Additionally, deploying a web application firewall will provide you with a first and last line of defense. Considering, however, the more -James Bond – nature of APTs, you may also need a powerful, fully customizable solution that integrates with vulnerability assessment technologies.
About Imperva
Imperva, the Data Security leader, enables a complete security lifecycle for business databases and the applications that use them. Over 4,500 of the world’s leading enterprises, government organizations, and managed service providers rely on Imperva to prevent sensitive data theft, protect against data breaches, secure applications, and ensure data confidentiality. The award-winning Imperva SecureSphere is the only solution that delivers full activity monitoring from the database to the accountable application user and is recognized for its overall ease of management and deployment. For more information, visit www.imperva.com and follow us on Twitter @Imperva.
Rob Murdoch, Chair of the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) welcomed the further clarity given today by the Government on how existing welfare to work schemes will be replaced by the single Work Programme.
Mr Murdoch said -this is a significant step, and will help employment services providers to help many more thousands of long term unemployed people get off benefits and into work. ERSA members echo the Secretary of State’s commitment – we too are here to help people improve their lives.
-ERSA has been working closely with the Government on devising the new single scheme to ensure that it delivers what Iain Duncan Smith has set out, a back to work programme that -offers targeted, personalised help for those who need it most, sooner rather than later”.
-Introducing the Work Programme next year allows adequate time to put the new scheme in place and manage the transition. ERSA will continue to engage positively with Government to ensure that this transition is managed smoothly and to achieve the greatest possible value from a single scheme.
-We believe that working together we can ensure that the procurement exercise for the `Work Programme’ reflects the significant contribution and experience that our members have in delivering welfare to work schemes.
-We encourage the Government to create maximum flexibility, by allowing other Whitehall departments and local authorities to pool their budgets with DWP spending and deliver services through the single Work Programme.
-In honouring the 12 month notice period that ERSA negotiated as part of Flexible New Deal, we welcome the Government’s recognition that, should contracts be terminated, a full year’s notice is necessary to ensure a smooth transition and stability within the sector, in the best interests of jobseekers and long term value to the taxpayer.
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