News

IT for government and public sector

• December 19, 2025 19 Dec'25

  European Commission renews UK data adequacy agreement, ensuring continued free flow of data

  Despite calls from some data protection campaigners, the UK's agreement to allow data movement with European Economic Area countries is extended until 2031

• December 19, 2025 19 Dec'25

  ‘Sensitive’ data stolen in Westminster City Council cyber attack

  London borough confirms that data breach affecting three neighbouring councils in a shared IT services operation led to personal information being copied by a third party

• December 19, 2025 19 Dec'25

  UK government confirms Foreign Office cyber attack

  Reports blame Chinese hacking group but minister insists the source of the attack is unclear

• December 19, 2025 19 Dec'25

  Government set for early 2026 court hearing over decision to approve Iver datacentre development

  A court date has been assigned for a legal action being brought against the government over its decision to grant planning permission for a datacentre in Iver

• December 18, 2025 18 Dec'25

  Post Office six years late to warn subpostmasters about Horizon defect

  Following pressure from Computer Weekly and forensic investigator, the Post Office has warned subpostmasters about Horizon defect potentially at large for over 20 years

• December 18, 2025 18 Dec'25

  The AI regulation gap: Is the UK’s pro-innovation approach enough?

  As AI advances, the UK’s pro-innovation regulatory stance faces growing scrutiny. With non-statutory principles at its core, can the framework maintain public trust and provide effective oversight?

• December 18, 2025 18 Dec'25

  Fortinet vulnerabilities prompt pre-holiday warnings

  Analysts track exploitation of two vulnerabilities disclosed last week by Fortinet

• December 18, 2025 18 Dec'25

  MHRA seeks views on healthcare AI regulation

  Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) wants to know how to regulate AI technologies in the NHS while keeping patients safe

• December 17, 2025 17 Dec'25

  Jilted Fujitsu replaced by Netcompany in HMRC relationship

  Troubled Fujitsu replaced by Netcompany on trading service as HMRC begins to move its outsourcing away from scandal-hit firm

• December 17, 2025 17 Dec'25

  ClickFix attacks that bypass cyber controls on the rise

  NCC’s monthly threat report details the growing prevalence of ClickFix attacks in the wild

• December 15, 2025 15 Dec'25

  Finance regulator wants mortgage brokers to use artificial intelligence

  UK regulator is to encourage mortgage brokers to use artificial intelligence and other technology

• December 12, 2025 12 Dec'25

  National Audit Office praises Bank of England after complex mega-project

  Public spending watchdog says the Bank of England’s core system replacement project offers lessons to other government departments

• December 12, 2025 12 Dec'25

  Digital Ethics Summit 2025: Open sourcing and assuring AI

  Industry experts met to discuss the ethical challenges associated with assuring AI systems, and how open source approaches can challenge concentrations of capital and power

• December 10, 2025 10 Dec'25

  Google DeepMind partners with UK government to deliver AI

  The partnership promises to provide scientists with access to advanced AI models, as well as help the government become more streamlined

• December 10, 2025 10 Dec'25

  UK government funds 80 digital skills schemes

  The £11.7m Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund will support projects across the UK to help people gain digital skills and access to devices

• December 10, 2025 10 Dec'25

  Error-prone eVisa system a precursor of digital ID

  Research highlights how the Home Office’s electronic visa system has used migrants as a ‘testing ground’ for the government’s wider digital ID ambitions

• December 09, 2025 09 Dec'25

  Microsoft patched over 1,100 CVEs in 2025

  The final Patch Tuesday update of the year brings 56 new CVEs, bringing the year-end total to more than 1,100

• December 09, 2025 09 Dec'25

  MPs maul digital ID plans in Parliamentary debate

  MPs brand the government’s digital ID plans ‘un-British’ and ‘an attack on civil liberties’ during debate on the controversial policy

• December 09, 2025 09 Dec'25

  Fujitsu underestimated Post Office scandal backlash

  Troubled IT supplier loses UK government megadeal despite internal confidence, as political pressure mounts

• December 08, 2025 08 Dec'25

  How police live facial recognition subtly reconfigures suspicion

  A growing body of research suggests that the use of live facial recognition is reshaping police perceptions of suspicion in ways that undermine supposed human-in-the-loop protections

• December 08, 2025 08 Dec'25

  Number of UK social care providers using digital records hits 80%

  Use of digital records in social care has doubled, as the UK government explores options to link digital care records with the NHS

• December 05, 2025 05 Dec'25

  Interview: Paul Neville, director of digital, data and technology, The Pensions Regulator

  Data, automation and artificial intelligence are driving the regulator to take new approaches to its work and how it supports the pensions industry, leading to improved experiences for everyone in the UK who has a pension

• December 05, 2025 05 Dec'25

  Jersey to get remote monitoring for vulnerable adults

  Jersey’s Family Nursing and Home Care (FNHC) hopes remote monitoring service will help keep people out of hospital and support care at home

• December 04, 2025 04 Dec'25

  NCC supporting London councils gripped by cyber attacks

  Three west London councils hit by a cyber attack continue to investigate as services remain disrupted nearly two weeks on

• December 04, 2025 04 Dec'25

  Constrained budgets left security teams short-handed in 2025

  With 2024 seeing surges in security funding cuts, lay-offs and hiring freezes, 2025 brought some relief for cyber pros, but constrained budgets are leaving security teams short-staffed

• December 04, 2025 04 Dec'25

  Home Office launches police facial recognition consultation

  The Home Office has formally opened a 10-week consultation on a legal framework for police use of facial recognition technologies, and will consider extending any new rules to police deployments of other biometric and inferential technologies

• December 04, 2025 04 Dec'25

  UK Space Agency pumps £17m into tech projects

  The agency is funding 17 different projects through its National Space Innovation Programme, including the design of an AI-powered satellite radar

• December 04, 2025 04 Dec'25

  Western coalition supplying tech to Ukraine prepared for long war

  Russia is deploying hybrid warfare against Europe as western nations supply critical IT and telecoms equipment to Ukraine’s front line

• December 04, 2025 04 Dec'25

  Fujitsu police contract ‘complicates’ Post Office investigation

  National Police investigation into Post Office scandal uses IT infrastructure provided by Fujitsu

• December 03, 2025 03 Dec'25

  NCSC and BT block a billion dangerous clicks

  A protective service jointly developed by the NCSC and BT has disrupted over a billion potential cyber incidents by stopping members of the public from clicking through to dangerous websites

• December 03, 2025 03 Dec'25

  Post Office avoids £1m fine over botched website upgrade data breach

  The Information Commissioner’s Office considered fining the Post Office £1m for a 2024 data breach that let subpostmasters down again

• December 03, 2025 03 Dec'25

  Post Office finally investigates Horizon defect, but investigator slams comms strategy

  Subpostmaster and investigator met the Post Office over Horizon defect raised six years earlier

• December 02, 2025 02 Dec'25

  UK prosecution of alleged Chinese spies was ‘shambolic’ says Parliamentary committee

  The Joint Committee on National Security Strategy reports that China was engaged in malicious cyber attacks against UK Parliament and democratic institutions

• December 02, 2025 02 Dec'25

  Use of digital ID in UK achieves statutory status

  A formal regime of certification and governance is now in place for digital identity services – just as the UK government presses ahead with its controversial plan for a national ID scheme

• December 02, 2025 02 Dec'25

  Post Office scandal could widen to thousands more branches after third system appeal

  Post Office scandal campaigner reveals she had her suspicions over a third Post Office system, as review of convictions based on APS/APT looks likely to bring thousands more subpostmasters into scope

• December 02, 2025 02 Dec'25

  Former Post Office legal boss won’t escape police reach

  Police say they will question those who evaded the public inquiry, naming former Post Office legal boss Jane MacLeod as an example

• December 01, 2025 01 Dec'25

  Mandatory digital ID paves way for surveillance and exclusion, MPs hear

  It is currently unclear how the UK’s government’s proposed mandatory digital ID scheme will help with its stated goal of curbing illegal migration and working

• December 01, 2025 01 Dec'25

  Google Cloud withdraws complaint with European Commission over Microsoft’s cloud licensing tactics

  More than a year has passed since Google filed a complaint with the European Commission, outlining its concerns over Microsoft’s licensing tactics, and now the internet search giant has withdrawn it

• November 28, 2025 28 Nov'25

  CCRC refers case based on third faulty Post Office system

  The latest Post Office prosecution to be sent to the Court of Appeal involves a third IT system in a 2001 case, after previous referrals for people convicted due to flaws in Horizon and Capture software

• November 28, 2025 28 Nov'25

  Budget 2025: Extra NHS IT cash welcome, but plan lacks clarity

  Industry and healthcare leaders are concerned that NHS tech funding is too focused on already approved platforms, fails to tackle core issues and lacks a clear delivery plan

• November 28, 2025 28 Nov'25

  UK government commits to Loan Charge settlement reforms in wake of independent review into policy

  The UK government has agreed to follow through on recommendations made by an independent review of how to resolve the Loan Charge that could wipe thousands of pounds off tax bills for those affected

• November 26, 2025 26 Nov'25

  London councils endure wave of cyber attacks, shared IT services hit

  Four London councils – Kensington and Chelsea; Hackney; Westminster; and Hammersmith and Fulham – have suffered cyber attacks, disrupting services and prompting NCSC-supported investigation

• November 26, 2025 26 Nov'25

  Budget 2025: £300m extra for NHS IT and a £1.8bn budget for digital ID cards

  The Autumn Budget contained little by the way of new policies in digital and technology, but handed out some cash to help progress in digitising public services and to support growing tech businesses

• November 25, 2025 25 Nov'25

  Antwerp court adjourns high-profile drugs case amid questions over Sky ECC intercept

  Defence lawyers ask court to adjourn after unexplained changes found in evidence files containing intercepted messages from Sky ECC encrypted phone network infiltrated by French and Dutch police

• November 25, 2025 25 Nov'25

  Big tech backers put Nordic AI bid into perspective

  Nordic countries declare plan to become world leaders in artificial intelligence by joining forces

• November 24, 2025 24 Nov'25

  Scotland digital strategy promises government app in 2026

  Joint local and central government digital strategy includes plans for a personalised public services app, ethical AI framework and increased public sector data sharing

• November 24, 2025 24 Nov'25

  Government launches GDS Local

  Councils will get support from a dedicated unit to transform local digital services, alongside an online platform for public sector digital and data professionals

• November 21, 2025 21 Nov'25

  Dutch voters grasp digital urgency better than their politicians

  A grassroots campaign has propelled digitally competent candidates into the Dutch parliament, despite party leaders placing them low on electoral lists

• November 21, 2025 21 Nov'25

  UK digital ID scheme cash will come from existing funds

  UK Parliamentary committee hearing reveals there will be no permanent government chief digital officer going forward, and digital ID scheme will be funded by existing budgets

• November 21, 2025 21 Nov'25

  Subpostmaster was told no jury would believe Post Office had ‘dodgy computer’

  Academic research says the wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters casts doubt on ‘golden thread’ of British justice, that people are innocent until proven guilty