UK is undecided about closing borders against COVID mutation
Tomorrow (26 January) the COVID 'O' meeting is expected to be a moment of decision-making about border policy, as the more infectious South African and Brazilian COVID mutations continue to circulate.
Allocating green belt to employment land
Andy Jansons, Director of Jansons Property discusses, explores the logic behind releasing Green Belt land for employment sites in tandem with releasing land for the construction of housing in the same area.
UK Home Office loses 150,000 arrest records due to tech problem
According to The Times, 150,000 arrest records were accidentally erased - including fingerprint, DNA and arrest histories.
China begins second COVID lockdown of 22 million people
As new cases rise to 138, China begins a second COVID lockdown for certain regions - impacting a population of 22 million people, just as the WHO team arrives to study the virus.
UK Government to offer vouchers after food parcel failure
Footballer and child hunger campaigner Marcus Rashford highlighted ongoing food parcel failures, leading to yesterday's decision to revive the food voucher scheme.
When COVID-19 hits a community that survived genocide
Nishat had a conversation with founder of The Lotus Flower, Taban Shoresh, who started this organisation after surviving ISIS in her homeland of Kurdistan, Iraq.
5,500 public sector organisations will gain access to local data
Over 5,500 public sector organisations now have access to Ordnance Survey information, as part of the Geospatial Commission’s Public Sector Geospatial Agreement.
UK’s pandemic policy described as not “the best in the world”
The science and technology committee report describes the outcome of the UK's pandemic policies as not the "best in the world" via an assessment of how science guided decision-making.
Time for government to ‘Move-On’ with strategy to keep rough sleepers safe
Tony Perkins, Chief Executive at LHA London Ltd, calls on the Government to provide more emergency shelter to the homeless during the new lockdown and bitter cold weather.
Ensuring UK border resilience in a post-Brexit world
Jean-Sebastien Connell, Consultant at Atkins, discusses the need for a security and resilience strategy for UK borders in a post-Brexit world
With the UK border...
Only 2% of Britain’s courthouses are fully accessible
In April 2020, the EHRC found that people with disabilities may struggle with pandemic adjustments to legal proceedings - but just how accessible were Britain's courthouses, before COVID-19?
Key trends for the public sector in 2021
Peter Ford, Public Sector Industry Principal at Pegasystems, explores some of the top trends for the public sector in 2021 which include chatbots, intelligent automation and citizen data scientists.
Tech giants froze President Trump’s accounts as extremists broke into Senate
Twitter and Facebook froze President Donald Trump's accounts to discourage the extremists who broke into the Capitol Building - but was it too little, too late?
Government allocates £4.6 billion in new lockdown grants to support businesses
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000 amid third UK lockdown.
UK brings in Tier 4 restrictions for South East and London
As of midnight tonight (20 December), London and the South East will enter strict Tier 4 restrictions - which includes no household mixing over Christmas, and no commuting to work.
Government communications: Listening to the hardest to reach people
Nadine Smith, UK Director, Centre for Public Impact, explores why the Government must learn to listen to the communities they so desperately want to share public health information with.
The future of cities in Europe
Here, Open Access Government considers the future of cities in Europe, including the opinions of Anna Lisa Boni, Secretary-General, Eurocities.
How data can unlock a Government-led pandemic recovery
Natalie Taylor, MD Public Sector at Foundry4, explores how UK Government can use data as a tool to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why businesses need to use 2021 to draw a line under unethical practice
Philip Turvey, executive director at Anglia Research, outlines why businesses need to use the return to normality as an opportunity to draw a line under unethical practice in 2021.
Shaping of post-COVID-19 EU: Only with organised civil society!
Christa Schweng, President, European Economic and Social Committee details the shaping of post-COVID-19 EU and argues that this is only possible with an organised civil society.