Councils’ consortium decides on software framework
Kent County Council has finalised a framework contract for software products and associated services on behalf of the Central Buying Consortium (CBC), a collection of large local authorities – mainly counties – in the south of England.
The three lots in the framework cover Microsoft products, security and commercial off-the-shelf software. Better known names among the companies winning a place on the contract are Civica and Agilysys, while others include Bytes Software Services, Software Box, Insight Direct and Phoenix Software.
The contract notice contains no estimated value, but says that CBC procures goods and services worth approximately £750 million per year.
HMRC takes anti-money laundering supervision online
HM Revenue & Customs has said it is working on an online system for anti-money laundering supervision, due to go live next year. It will provide an alternative to the existing system which relies on the post for registration.
The department said the new system will make it possible to carry out all registrations, renewals, updates and payments online, and reduce errors and rejected applications which will be instantly flagged up.
It said the system has been developed with a selection of customers and that it is still obtaining their feedback to refine it.
Government sets up gender pay gap website
The Government Equalities Office has developed an online tool to show the gender pay gap by occupations. Currently in beta, the tool makes it possible to discover the average earnings for men and women in different jobs, and shows how many of each work in different roles.
It has been launched before large employers will have to begin reporting on their gender pay and bonus gaps from April of next year. It uses the latest data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings by the Office of National Statistics.
Minister for Women and Equalities Justine Greening said: “If we are to help women to reach their potential and eliminate the gender pay gap, we need to shine a light on our workplaces to see where there is more to do to. This tool will empower both men and women to challenge this issue in their profession and help people to make more informed decisions about their career.”
Image from GOV.UK, Open Government Licence v3.0
