A third of local authorities miss extranet security standards
02/04/2009
Only two thirds of the local authorities that were expected to meet the government’s Code of Connection, to enable them to be part of the Government Connect extranet system, have successfully met the data security standards.
The Government Connect Secure Extranet is intended to connect every local authority in England and Wales and allow for secure data sharing between central and local government. Each of the 305 local authorities had until 31 March to meet the Code of Connection standards but only 202 were successful.
Some 105 councils were initially exempt last year, but those who failed to meet the standards and had not secured exemption were told they would not be able to receive access to Department for Work and Pensions data.
The programme director for Government Connect, Philip Littleavon, says the situation is expected to improve over time, "based on progress to date we are expecting another 45 to be compliant by the end of April and all local authorities to be operational by September."
However, he added that many of the local councils had “underestimated the effort needed to become compliant or hit unexpected issues.”
The Government Connect Secure Extranet is intended to connect every local authority in England and Wales and allow for secure data sharing between central and local government. Each of the 305 local authorities had until 31 March to meet the Code of Connection standards but only 202 were successful.
Some 105 councils were initially exempt last year, but those who failed to meet the standards and had not secured exemption were told they would not be able to receive access to Department for Work and Pensions data.
The programme director for Government Connect, Philip Littleavon, says the situation is expected to improve over time, "based on progress to date we are expecting another 45 to be compliant by the end of April and all local authorities to be operational by September."
However, he added that many of the local councils had “underestimated the effort needed to become compliant or hit unexpected issues.”
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