Good practice example: Chelmsford CC
As part of our aim to continuously improve our training, the Information Assurance & Cyber Security
Engagement Programme (IACSEP) team regularly undertake follow up interviews with organisations
that have received training to find out how the organisation has developed. Recently we’ve been
talking to Chelmsford City Council who had a training session in October 2013 to find out what they
have been doing over the past 12 months.
The IACSEP training at Chelmsford occurred at a time when the organisation was making a big push
to raise awareness on information risk and security issues. The Council has been thinking up
innovative ways of developing its staff to make a real difference in people’s conscious and
subconscious behaviour.
One of the main drivers for development in information assurance within the Council has come from
the development of their Information Management Group (IMG) which meets on a quarterly basis.
This group consists of the SIRO, IAOs and others involved in Chelmsford's information governance
framework. The meeting is used to consult on policies, to discuss issues, develop solutions, and ask
questions directly to the SIRO. A dedicated intranet section has been created to set out the role of
IAOs, IMG and Information Governance roles and relevant policies. This is all summarised with the
Council’s overarching Information Governance Strategy.
The IMG has been key to the development of a number of schemes that could be widely used by a
variety of organisations. This enables local authority services to recognise the importance of policy
developments and understand how they relate to their own work. A major area for development
was identified by the IMG as risk to the organisation from people and culture, and therefore the
organisation must do more to develop this.
One recommendation from the IMG was to hold an Information Awareness Week for staff within
the Council. This event was designed to raise awareness of information risks and security for all staff,
and to show how the Council can get more value out of information by managing it appropriately.
The week was designed to be as engaging and dynamic as possible to ensure maximum attendance
in an attempt to change the behaviours of staff. The week was packed with TV show themed games,
keynote talks and prizes to teach staff the fundamentals of information assurance in a way that
would last long in their minds. The clever angle was that each activity looked at the learning from a
personal and a professional angle, showing that skills are transferrable and do not stop when you
walk out the office at the end of the day. As well as helping staff protect information in their own
personal lives. The week had a real impact with around 150 individuals attending events and a 98%
satisfaction rate of the week as a whole.
To launch the Information Awareness Week, The National Archives delivered a briefing with one of
their delivery partners to engage the organisation on the key principles of information assurance in
Management Team Information Assurance breakfast session which included Directors and senior
managers. As well as embedding learning at the top of the organisation, this gave a top-down
message of the importance of information assurance and security which was a great undertone to
the week.
Underpinning this, all staff members have been placed into categories referred to as gold, silver or
bronze based on their role with data as part of the framework for staff training in Information
Assurance. These categories define the level of training required by staff, allowing them to structure
their learning and ensure relevance to the level of information responsibility that they have. This
also links into the Council’s Information Awareness Programme. Already, over 500 staff have
achieved this status by undertaking the required level of training. The work so far has been a great
success but there is always more to be done to ensure our gains and the awareness developed is not
forgotten.
If you would like to know more about Chelmsford CC’s work; feel free to email Mike Read.