The head of the United Kingdom Civil Service, Simon Case, is facing pressure from Ministers to bring forward his departure date, amid anger over a series of damaging leaks and briefings.
In a sign of how low relations between the Government and Mr Case (pictured) have sunk, the Cabinet Secretary has been privately accused of failing to get a handle on leaks about donations funding clothes for Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer and his wife, and rows involving the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Sue Gray.
It is understood that Ministers and senior officials of Sir Keir’s office have become so frustrated with the leaks, including on internal appointments and donations, that they have raised informal complaints in meetings.
Mr Case is expected to leave his job in January, but there has been no formal announcement.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “We take the unauthorised disclosure of information very seriously and take appropriate action where necessary.”
There have been embarrassing briefings about Ms Gray allegedly preventing access to Sir Keir, including on security matters, which has been denied, as well as her alleged push to fund a rebuild of Casement Park in West Belfast.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Italy, Sir Keir rejected suggestions that questions around whether he failed to declare donations of clothes for his wife, Victoria, could have been avoided if the Government had a corruption adviser.
“There’s a massive difference between declarations and corruption. Declarations are about declaring properly so you and everybody else can see properly-made declarations,” he said.
Mr Case is expected to say he intends to leave in the New Year owing to health reasons. Once the departure date is fixed, a formal process can begin, including the involvement of the Civil Service Commission.
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Chaos greets Canadian three-day office return
OTTAWA (September 15): Canadian Federal Public Servants have begun their mandated three days per week in the office, amid traffic chaos, lack of office space, and simmering tensions.
It appears that a Government-inspired publicity campaign spruiking the benefits of office working have done nothing to quell workers’ resentment.
In May, the Federal Government announced workers must return to the office for at least three days a week — previously it was two — starting in mid-September. Executives must now be in the office for at least four days a week.
Unions have been vowing to fight the ruling ever since it was announced.
Workers in the National Capital Region faced traffic snarls, lack of office space, and parking, and a flare-up over spending at downtown businesses.
Radio Canada contacted some 15 Federal Departments about the return. Some acknowledged they couldn't meet the demand for office space.
Public Servants who contacted CBC Ottawa said they haven't been able to find seating close to their own teams and had experienced problems with a desk--booking system.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) National Capital Region Chapter initially issued a call to its members to "buy nothing" in the downtown when they returned to the office, based on the idea that the move was part of a strategy to boost businesses in the central business district.
"The needs of the downtown core shouldn't fall on the backs of workers and the Federal Public Service," the union said.
"How workers spend their money on in-office days will send a clear message to politicians."
The PSAC encouraged members to pack a lunch and shop in their own neighbourhoods as much as possible.
Ottawa Mayor, Mark Sutcliffe hit back, saying downtown businesses were not responsible for decisions about back to work.
"They've suffered significantly as a result of the pandemic. Let's keep them out of the line of fire. Let's support them and support a thriving downtown," Mr Sutcliffe said.
Vice President of PSAC's Chapter, Ruth Lau MacDonald later retracted the union’s original statement.
"I want to be very clear we are not calling for a boycott of downtown businesses, and I apologise for the impact and confusion this miscommunication has caused," Ms MacDonald said.
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Ministry to test Japanese Councils’ security
TOKYO (September 19): Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is planning to test the security of Local Government computer networks with a series of mock cyber-attacks next year.
The measure is aimed at strengthening Local Governments’ security by checking system vulnerabilities. The Ministry sought funds for the project without specifying the amount in its budget request for the year starting in April 2025.
It follows the recent attack on media and digital business group, Kadokawa Corporation, which was hit with a ransomware demand after personal information of some 250,000 people was stolen.
Local Governments’ computer systems are equipped with measures to prevent network intrusions when they detect unauthorised access or suspicious emails.
The security was enhanced in response to a system breach that struck the Government’s Japan Pension Service in 2015.
There are worries that residents’ personal information would be compromised if vulnerabilities are left unnoticed in the security systems of Local Governments.
The Ministry hopes to identify any weaknesses in so-called penetration tests that simulate attacks via the internet. The tests will be modelled on similar checks conducted on Central Government Agencies.
In a statement, the Ministry said the tests would be conducted in a way that does not affect resident services.
It will ask participating Local Governments about their problems and requests before the targets and methods of mock attacks are decided.
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Judge says bets on US election can go ahead
WASHINGTON (September 16): A Federal judge has overturned a prohibition on gambling on the results of United States elections imposed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
In November, the CFTC was sued by New York-based Kalshi, which operates a predictions market that allows users to bet on the outcome of various events, from the volume of recorded bird flu cases to the number of cars produced by Tesla.
Kalshi filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a CFTC decision preventing it from offering bets on whether the Democratic or Republican parties would control the two chambers of Congress.
Judge Jia Cobb has now ruled in favour of Kalshi, denying a CFTC motion asking he delay his decision to allow it time to appeal, which means betting can begin at once.
The debate over whether betting on the elections should be allowed in the US runs back decades. At the moment, the practice is illegal under the laws of numerous states, like Texas and Nevada, but not everywhere.
The CFTC has so far refused to grant gambling platforms a license to offer odds on election results, amounting to a de facto ban.
Organisations that lobby against the legalisation of election betting claim the practice would encourage meddling by malign actors.
Chief Executive of non-profit organisation, Better Markets, Dennis Kelleher said the trust and confidence of Americans in the election system was already at a very low point.
“The last thing we need is for people to be incentivised to interfere with the election process. There can be no doubt, when there are hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, people are going to be incentivised to engage in conduct that interferes with the elections,” Mr Kelleher said.
The CFTC did not respond to the judge’s ruling, but in a previous statement, Chair, Rostin Behnam said betting involving political events ultimately commoditised and degraded the integrity of the American experience of participating in the democratic electoral process.
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NZ targets missed on crime, education
WELLINGTON (September 18): New Zealand’s Coalition Government is missing two of the nine Public Service targets it set itself when coming to office..
In its first quarterly report marking progress on the goals established in April, the Government has identified education and reducing violent crime as the biggest problem areas.
A target of 20,000 fewer people ending up as victims of a violent crime has instead recorded 30,000 more victims, as of June.
As of term four last year, schools recorded just 22 per cent of Year 8 students at the expected maths level, and 47 per cent at the expected reading level.
Progress has been made, however, in emergency housing, school attendance, and shorter stays at hospital emergency departments.
Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon acknowledged the targets were "deliberately ambitious", saying these results showed they would be challenging to achieve, while insisting the Government was up for it.
"Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, law and order, work, housing, and the environment by 2030," Mr Luxon said.
“We have made particularly good progress on emergency housing. Our plan to get children and families out of motels and into a home is working.”
However, he accepted the target of reducing violent crime was of particular concern with the results showing almost 30,000 more people had experienced it based on the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey.
"It adds fresh weight to previous data from police, which showed a concerning rise in reports of violent crime in recent years. It is also further proof that the previous soft-on-crime approach has emboldened offenders and created a crime wave that will take a much tougher approach to stop," Mr Luxon said.
The next update on how the targets are tracking is expected before the end of the year.
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Mexican militarisation push continues
MEXICO CITY (September 19): Mexican lawmakers from the ruling Morena Party are preparing to pass legislation that amends the Constitution, allowing the National Guard to be placed under military control.
They are seeking to do this before President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ends his six-year term on October 1, delivering a much-desired farewell gift to the 70-year-old leader.
Morena’s leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Ricardo Monreal, said a vote on the reform proposal that Mr López Obrador sent to Congress in February could be held in the next few days.
Morena and its allies have a super-majority in the Chamber of Deputies that allows them to change the Constitution without the support of opposition parties.
In late 2022, the Congress approved a Bill backed by Mr López Obrador that paved the way for the National Guard to be placed under the control of the army.
However, the Supreme Court ruled in April 2023 that the transfer of control from the civilian Security Ministry to the army was unconstitutional, a decision that angered the President, who argued that the National Guard needed to be under the control of the military to prevent corruption and guarantee the force’s professionalism.
Government critics and some human rights organisations say the transfer is another example of the militarisation of Mexico that has occurred during the current Government.
Human Rights Watch has warned the Government’s militarised security policy risks facilitating abuses by security forces while failing to reduce violent crime.
Mr López Obrador has relied heavily on the armed forces during his term, using the different branches of the military for public security, infrastructure construction, and the management of ports, airports and customs offices.
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AI failure hitting public sector productivity
LONDON (September 14): Research by the Global Government Forum (GGF) has revealed that while Public Servants worldwide face a pressing productivity challenge, many Government organisations are lagging on the adoption of technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to drive improvements.
The GGF’s new report, Solving the Public Services Productivity Puzzle, found that nine in 10 officials believe their organisations face productivity challenges, with 56 per cent characterising it as significant or very significant.
Featuring examples from Government organisations in Canada, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Singapore, the report explores the scale and nature of the productivity challenge and the strategies being deployed to tackle it.
In the survey of Public Servants, the biggest reasons cited for the productivity challenge were limited staff (81 per cent), difficulty in meeting new demands (80 per cent), limited budget (73 per cent), and a backlog of work (69 per cent).
The results also revealed significant untapped potential. Despite 80 per cent of respondents expecting technology to have a significant impact on productivity, just 31 per cent had seen technology introduced to boost productivity within the past year.
The survey revealed that 44 per cent of respondents expected AI to boost productivity in their organisation.
However, a third said they did not know whether it would, suggesting a greater role for education, training and experimentation.
The report found the productivity challenge facing Government organisations was significant and complex, concluding: “Addressing this requires a multifaceted approach that leverages the latest technology while also taking into account human and organisational factors.”
It said an essential foundation was for Government organisations to create a culture for innovation so that teams could experiment with technologies, such as AI, which offered significant potential to boost productivity.
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SA public sector demands ‘unaffordable’
PRETORIA (September 12): The South African Government rejected a demand by public sector workers for a 12 per cent pay increase, saying it is unaffordable, and offering three per cent instead.
General Secretary at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council, Frikkie de Bruin said the demand by Public Service unions would require R140 billion ($A12 billion) and be "totally out of budget".
In addition to the 12 per cent increase Public Servants are seeking a R2,500 ($A210) increase in their housing allowance. They have also called for a danger allowance to be raised to R1,000 ($A84) from the R597 ($A50).
Mr De Bruin said talks would resume in the first week of October ahead of Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana’s mid-term Budget update, expected on 30 October.
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Another election for Senegalese voters
DAKAR (September 16): Senegal’s President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye has dissolved the Opposition-led Parliament, paving the way for a snap legislative election six months after he was voted in on an anti-establishment platform.
Mr Faye said the election would take place on November 17 and asked voters to give his party a mandate so that he can carry out the “systemic transformation that I promised”.
Analysts said Mr Faye’s political party, PASTEF, had a high chance of securing a majority given his popularity and his margin of victory in the March Presidential Election.
The Benno Bokk Yaakar Opposition, led by former President, Macky Sall condemned the move, saying Mr Faye had convened Parliament under false pretences in order to announce the dissolution.
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Bureaucracy attracting young Filipinos
MANILA (September 13): The Philippines Civil Service Commission (CSC) says more Filipinos are recognising the benefits of joining the Public Service and of working in Government generally.
Commission Chair, Karlo Alexei Nograles said the highest interest was coming from the younger generation who saw how Government carried on during the COVID-19 pandemic, while private offices were forced to shut, leaving employees without salaries.
“During the recent Civil Service examinations, half of the examinees were between 18 and 25 years old,” Mr Nograles said
“It showed many from the new generation are really keen on becoming a Civil Servant.”
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Belarus condemns ‘Pokémon Go spies’
MINSK (September 17): The Belarus Defence Ministry has accused the once popular mobile game, Pokémon Go, of being an instrument of Western intelligence.
Head of the Ideological Work Department at the Ministry, Alexander Ivanov claimed the game was used to collect information about Belarusian aviation near Minsk, at its height of popularity nearly a decade ago.
“Where do you think there were the most Pokémon at that time? On the territory of the 50th air base, where the runway is, where there is a lot of military aviation equipment. That’s where there were the most Pokémon. Is this not intelligence information?” Mr Ivanov asked.
He brought up Pokémon Go during a discussion about objects most likely to be targeted by spies during a television talk show.
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality game, released in 2016, that allowed its millions of players to use their smartphones to capture digital Pokémon (make-believe animals with superpowers) in the physical world.
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