Training aims to boost ‘technical and analytical skills’ of civil servants
Programme looks to reduce reliance on consultants
Review of departmental delivery signals Whitehall reform drive still in effect
Exercise led by Michael Barber suggests civil service shape-up remains a target for the PM
Inspectors to assess schools’ remote-learning set-ups
Education Scotland will examine how institutions across the country are responding to need for...
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Will local government transformation be set back by coronavirus?
Having long suffered from a scarcity of funding, councils could be forgiven for deprioritising investments in new tech. But public and private and sector leaders tell PublicTechnology that digital has never been more important.
Microsoft ‘a few weeks away’ from fixing issue affecting Scottish digital learning platform
Education Scotland stresses there is a ‘manual workaround’
Seven in ten civil servants want to work from home at least three days a week
Survey conducted by FDA union finds 97% of officials want option of working remotely
Government spends £87m on extra 460,000 laptops to support remote learning
Procurement documents show DfE awarded another deal to Computacenter in November
Cummings legacy little more than ‘rearranging some furniture’
Former head of NCSC Ciaran Martin believes that ‘war on Whitehall’ has ended – to minimal discernible effect
Birmingham University signs 10-year £15m deal for online learning
Institution retains incumbent supplier on long-term contract
Scottish Tech Army supports computing scholarships
Initiative to be delivered in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University
HMRC sees 12% spike in complaints during FY21 as customer service issues continue
November stats show another spike in call-waiting times and new struggles with answering online and postal queries
Privately educated twice as likely to gain a spot on Whitehall graduate scheme, data suggests
Success rate of 7% compares with 3% for state-educated applicants
Williamsons vows to ‘trust teachers rather than algorithms’ for GCSEs and A-levels
Education secretary also announces that schools must deliver at least three hours of online teaching a day
Children without laptops to be allowed to go to school
Guidance clarifies that those without access to devices will be considered ‘vulnerable’
HMRC seeks £125k leader for Making Tax Digital programme
Department seeks head to oversee possible expansion to cover corporation tax
Government ‘working towards’ publishing new digital strategy sometime this year
Plan was due to be published in autumn
The biggest stories of 2020 – part two
PublicTechnology completes our round-up of the most read and significant stories of 2020
NAO head on the challenges of assessing major projects via ‘fully remote auditing’
Gareth Davies also reveals his organisation’s penchant for online treasure hunts
HMRC head Harra on a year of ‘finding solutions to unprecedented problems’
Tax agency boss discusses the difficulty of relying on videoconferencing to care for staff during a tough time
Algorithm debacle saw eightfold increase in GCSE grades changed on appeal
Ofqual data shows almost 28,000 challenges were made
Was 2020 a watershed for public sector use of algorithms?
This year saw public protests about the use of predictive analytics in decision-making. As the technology becomes more widely used in many public services, PublicTechnology asks experts about the implications for government, the law – and the citizens affected
Chair of exam regulator points to ‘very difficult summer’ in resignation
Roger Taylor is to depart Ofqual claiming that organisation is in ‘good shape’ after moving on from algorithm fiasco
Cumbrian schoolchildren given ex-nuclear power PCs
Sellafield Ltd donates 500 machines to schools after ‘a quick clean down’
Review finds exams cannot be moved online in the near future
Regulator picks out five major barriers to remote assessment