Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
A new freedom of information request submitted to 583 has revealed that at least 954 fax machines remain in use across local councils, police forces, universities and fire services.
The request, submitted by eFax, also reveals that 149,262 faxes were sent and received in 2019 by these institutions at a total cost of £37,597.08.
Fax machines are most used within local councils with 511 machines present and 125,269 faxes known to be sent and received. The fire services are the least likely to be using the outdated technology, with just 30 fax machines in use.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced in 2018 that there would be a ban on ‘archaic fax machines’ from April this year. However, the research found that fax machines remain widely in use across multiple public sector organisations. More worrying is the lack of oversight afforded to faxing. Of the 137 public sector organisations with physical fax machines, 15 per cent do not know, or hold no record of, exactly how many are in use. Additionally, more than 70 percent have no insight into how many faxes are being sent and received each year.
Scott Wilson, director of service, eFax, said: “While faxing may seem like a communication method of a bygone era, in reality it’s still very much prevalent across a range of organisations. However, fax machines are a serious security risk and, while they’re unlikely to be hacked, they do present a major data protection issue. People leaving printed faxes on the machine for anyone to pick-up; or information sent to the wrong fax number are frequent occurrences. The lack of oversight into how fax machines are being used across the UK’s public sector elevates this risk, leaving data open to exfiltration right in the middle of the office.
“As we’ve seen in the NHS, simply removing faxing as a communication tool altogether is not as easy as it may at first seem. Organisations instead need to look at alternative technologies that keep the communication intact, but in a more modern and secure way.”
Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
Fireco is a one-stop shop for trusted and compliant fire safety solutions! Our comprehensive product range includes smart fire door closers and retainers, notification systems, as well as fire door installation and inspection services. With our cloud-based technology, we offer the convenience of remote monitoring and management of connected devices, ensuring efficient and effective fire safety measures. By choosing Fireco, you can trust that our solutions are tailored to meet complex compliance requirements and provide you with peace of mind.
UKREiiF has quickly become a must-attend in the industry calendar for Government departments and local authorities.
The organisers of the world’s largest dedicated hydrogen event, World Hydrogen 2024 Summit & Exhibition have announced it’s return to Rotterdam in May 2024, with an expansion of a whole extra summit day. Sustainable Energy Council (SEC) are partnering with the Government of the Netherlands, the Province of Zuid-Holland, the City of Rotterdam, and the Port of Rotterdam to host an extended, larger scale Summit in 2024, to expand the event to meet the surging demand.
At GeoEnergy Design, we're on a mission to disrupt the traditional way heating and cooling ha
Professor Harith Alani, director of the Knowledge Management Institute at the Open University explains how AI can be used for good and bad.
Alex Lawrence, head of health & social care, techUK sets out techUK’s Five Point Plan for CareTech.