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USEFUL NCSC RESOURCES TO HELP YOU BECOME CYBER SECURE

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

We have recently become aware of several businesses being victim to cyber-attacks.

We would therefore like to remind you of the resources available from the National Cyber Security Centre. (NCSC).

The NCSC has recently published guidance on Protecting Internet-facing Services. Although it is aimed at Critical National Infrastructure, the content is still relevant to you and will hopefully be of interest and use.

The NCSC’s Publications Subscription Centre has also been updated. You are now able to subscribe to receive a broad spectrum of NCSC publications in one place, including threat reports and advisories and the NCSC Small Organisations Newsletter.

Follow the Cyber Security Pathway
A route the NCSC would suggest an organisation or individual takes through their products/guidance is outlined below, starting at the most basic messaging.

Cyber Aware – Cyber Aware is the government’s advice on how to stay secure online. It outlines six actions to take to improve your cyber security and offers a tailored plan for you or your business.
NCSC Newsletter – sign up link and description as mentioned above.
Small Business Guide – Explains how to improve your cyber security; affordable, actionable advice for organisations.
Top Tips for Staff & Cyber Security for Small Organisations E-learning – Cyber Security for Small Organisations and Top Tips for Staff are both designed to be integrated into your organisation’s training platform.
Exercise in a Box – A free online tool which helps organisations find out how resilient they are to cyber-attacks and practise their response in a safe environment. Exercises include from 15-minute micro exercises, 1-3 hour discussion based exercises and a 3-4 hour simulation exercise.
Response & Recovery Guide -Guidance that helps organisations prepare their response to and plan their recovery from a cyber incident.
Ten Steps to Cyber Security – Take things a little further: breaks down the task of defending networks into ten essential components. – 10 Steps to Cyber Security – NCSC.GOV.UK
COVID -19 Guidance – This guidance includes home working, video conferencing and moving your organisation from physical to digital
Early Warning – Is available to any UK organisation with a static IP address or domain name. Early Warning helps organisations investigate cyber-attacks on their network by notifying them of malicious activity that has been detected in information feeds.
Logging Made Easy – Is available to any UK Organisation. LME helps organisations to install a basic logging capability on their IT estate enabling routine end-to-end monitoring of Windows systems.
Supply Chain Security – The guidance will provide organisations with an improved awareness of supply chain security, as well as helping to raise the baseline level of competence in this regard, through the continued adoption of good practice.
Cyber Essentials – Cyber Essentials government backed certification scheme helps you to guard against the most common cyber threats and demonstrate your commitment to cyber security. As mentioned, a lot of government and some private contracts are now requesting Cyber Certification as part of their tender process. https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview

NCSC have recently launched the Cyber Essentials Readiness Tool – The Cyber Essentials Readiness Tool is a free, online resource that guides organisations through a series of questions related to the Cyber Essentials criteria to help prepare them for certification.
The tool asks questions about an organisation’s use of hardware, software, and boundary devices such as firewalls, as well as use of passwords and protections against malware and provides clear, non-technical advice for the user. Upon completion of the tool the user receives a tailored action plan that outlines the steps they need to take to achieve Cyber Essentials certification. This tool, developed by IASME on behalf of the NCSC – a part of GCHQ – was launched at the NCSC’s flagship conference CYBERUK 2021.

NCSC have recently released a few Threat videos. They can be accessed via the links below:

Ransomware: https://youtu.be/DWmMm5IhLDw
Phishing: https://youtu.be/NhaPVefCjDo
Security culture: https://youtu.be/Mz0VQx87xvc

Feel free to pass this information on within your business and wider networks.

NEW YEAR IMPORT RULES THREATEN FOOD SUPPLY DISRUPTION

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

The frozen food industry is warning of more disruption to food supplies when new UK import rules take effect on 1 January.

Richard Harrow, the chief executive of the British Frozen Food Federation says new border controls on animal and plant products from the EU could see major delays at ports in the New Year.

From 1 January 2022, importers must make a full customs declaration on goods entering the UK from the EU or other countries. Traders will no longer be able to delay completing full import customs declarations for up to 175 days, a measure that was introduced to cope with the disruption of Brexit.

Mr Harrow said: “Whilst the new UK rules will be introduced in stages, we are concerned that not enough planning has been done to ensure the new requirements are understood by everyone in the food supply chain.

“A good example of this is a new HMRC process called Goods Vehicle Management System (GVMS). The system is designed to enable HMRC to keep a track of loads containing meat and plant products in fast-moving roll-on-roll off ports such as Dover.

“The system requires haulage companies to pre-lodge the arrival of a load to the UK before it departs from the EU port of embarkation. Whilst many UK hauliers are well prepared for this change, we suspect many EU hauliers are not.”

He added: “Whilst the UK authorities have said they will not stop vehicles that do not complete all the documents correctly, this assumes the EU port will allow a vehicle without the correct paperwork to leave port.”

The UK imports five times the amount of food than it exports to the EU, so, the potential for massive delays and food supply issues in January is high.

Mr Harrow added: “We are still finding new elements of the process that our members are unaware of, or lack of clarity on what they need to do to comply with the regulations. With only days to go before the new rules, we remain concerned that January could be a fraught month for our members.”

Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2020

Posted on December 21, 2021November 7, 2025 by Sarah Collison

Sickness absence rates of workers in the UK labour market, including number of days lost and reasons for absence.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the sickness absence data in a number of ways. While the virus may have led to additional sickness absence, measures such as furloughing, social distancing, shielding and increased homeworking appear to have helped reduce other causes of absence, allowing the general downward trend to continue.

A high number of people in employment were on furlough during 2020; this means they were temporarily away from employment that they expected to return to. Furloughed employments, as reported in HM Revenue and Customs’s Coronavirus retention scheme statistics increased from the start of the scheme on 20 March to a peak of 8.9 million employments on 8 May 2020. The figures from 31 January 2020 show that the number of employments furloughed was 4.7 million.

Furloughing has impacted some of the measures used in this analysis. Individuals may have been asked to “shield” during the pandemic; we cannot quantify how many of these are employed and able to work from home, how many were furloughed or how many are otherwise classified. This group of people would normally have a higher sickness absence rate than the not shielding group; if fewer from this group are in work then they will be contributing less to the number taking days off because of sickness or injury and could be one explanation for the reduction in the sickness absence rate in 2020.

Homeworking became more prevalent in 2020, in April 2020, nearly half (47%) of people in employment did at least some of their work from home. This, together with government asking people to social distance and self-isolate may have led to less exposure to germs and minimise some of the usual sickness absences. Homeworking could also allow people to work when they were a little unwell, they might not have travelled to a workplace to work but feel well enough to work from home.

The total number of days lost because of sickness or injury and the number of days lost per worker both saw a significant fall in 2020. The data that feed into the total number of days lost and days lost per worker include furloughed workers; therefore, some of this fall will be because fewer people are in work to be taking days off because of sickness or injury. In addition, those employed but on furlough are included in the denominator for the number of days lost per worker but would not be contributing to the numerator.

The sickness absence rate, on the other hand, will not be affected by furloughed workers in the same way. This is derived as the total hours lost as a proportion of total hours worked. While there will be less hours lost and less hours worked, those contributing to both totals are consistent, therefore this measure should still be comparable over time. Since this measure is least impacted by the pandemic measures, it is therefore the most appropriate measure to use for sickness absence analysis to ensure comparability over time.

‘Minor illnesses’ account for over a quarter of all occurrences of sickness absence in 2020

KANTAR DATA – 52 WEEKS TO 28TH NOVEMBER 2021

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Neesha Ramsingh-Cleary

Members can now access the latest 52-week data courtesy of Kantar. Total frozen sales remain above the £7 billion level. However, we are now seeing a slight value decline against 2020 of 0.9%.

This is not overly surprising as our category enjoyed some amazing growth numbers throughout 2020.

If we compare the current market value to 2019 then we see sales up by nearly £814m which is 12.8%.

Across the nine categories reported by Kantar, four are still showing value growth with Ice Cream being the stand-out category at plus 2.4%.

We are also seeing a volume decline of -3%, and eight of the nine categories are also in decline with only ready meals showing a slight increase at +0.4%.

Average pricing has increased by 2.2% with eight of the nine categories seeing average price increases.

Only frozen vegetables are seeing a decline in average pricing of -2.9%.

Members can access our normal PowerPoint summary of the data here.

CHRISTMAS VEG PRICE WAR: ICELAND LAUNCHES ITS CHEAPEST EVER CHRISTMAS VEG FOR JUST 1p A PACK

Posted on December 20, 2021 by mel.matson@iceland.co.uk

All of Iceland’s fresh and frozen vegetables that are priced at £1 or under will be available for just 1p when shoppers buy three packs online.

Supermarkets have been battling it out to provide the cheapest vegetables for Christmas this year, but Iceland has blown the competition out of the water by launching its cheapest Christmas vegetables ever, undercutting other offerings by as much as 18p. This comes just in time for this year’s festivities, ensuring that customers don’t need to worry about the Christmas Dinner price inflations revealed earlier this month by Kantar**.

Shoppers can pick up the whole fresh and frozen vegetable job lot from Iceland Carrots (£0.79, 880g) and Iceland Sprouts (£1.00, 900g) to Iceland Parsnips (£0.79, 660g) now for just 1p each in the sale, making their Christmas Day celebrations cheaper and more delicious than ever before.

Customers can simply add three packs of their chosen Christmas vegetables to their online basket and enter the code ‘ICE1VEG’ when they checkout to receive their discount. The sale starts on Monday 20^th December and lasts until Tuesday 21^st December, so shoppers will have to act quickly to reserve their veggies.

All fresh vegetables included in Iceland’s offer will have ‘Best Before’ dates that fall after Christmas Day to ensure they’re fresh and ready for the big day.

Richard Walker, Managing Director at Iceland, said: “Christmas has become more important than ever this year, with families having lost out on precious time together last time around. That’s why we’re delighted to support our customers by cutting the costs of their festive feasts whilst also releasing a further 180,000 delivery slots between now and Christmas Eve.

“It isn’t just about winning the battle for the cheapest supermarket veg – we wanted to make sure that everyone is able to have a brilliant Christmas with their loved ones without having to worry about the monetary hangover that often follows.”

With supermarket delivery slots impossible to come by in time for Christmas, and other supermarkets having to cancel pre-booked slots, Iceland is pulling out all the stops to ensure it can get deliveries to as many families as possible in time for Christmas by releasing 180,000 delivery slots, available to book between now and Christmas Eve.

Full list of Christmas vegetables included in Iceland’s one penny sale:

Fresh Vegetables;

Iceland Carrots, 800g, 79p
Iceland Parsnips, 660g, 79p

Iceland Broccoli, 400g, 79p
Iceland British Brussels Sprouts, 500g, 79p
Iceland Savoy Green Cabbage, 1 unit, 79p
Iceland Curly Kale, 200g, £1.00
Iceland Green Beans, 220g, £1.00
Iceland Sugar Snap Peas, 160g, £1.00
Iceland Large Flat Mushrooms, 250g, £1.00
Iceland Closed Cup Mushrooms, 300g, £1.00
Iceland Farmers Market Button Mushrooms, 125g, 65p
Iceland Chestnut Mushrooms, 250g, £1.00
Iceland Brown Onions, 3 pack, £1.00
Iceland Red Onions, 3 pack, £1.00
Iceland Onions, 1kg, £1.00
Iceland Traditional Mash Potato, 400g, £1.00
Mash Direct Carrot Parsnip & Turnip Mash, 400g, £1.00
Iceland Baby New Potatoes With Herb Butter, 360g, £1.00
Iceland Carrot Batons, 300g, 70p
Iceland Stew Pack (Onion, Swede, Parsnip & Carrot), 900g, £1.00
Iceland Cut Soup Vegetables, 320g, £1.00
Iceland Garlic, 4 pack, £1.00

Frozen Vegetables

Iceland Garden Peas, 800g, £1.00
Iceland Button Sprouts, 900g, £1.00
Iceland Country Mix (carrots, peas, cauliflower, green beans), 900g, £1.00
Iceland Broccoli Florets, 800g, £1.00
Iceland Baby Carrots, 900g, £1.00
Iceland Cauliflower Florets, 800g, £1.00
Iceland Very Fine Whole Green Beans, 900g, £1.00
Iceland Floret Mix, 800g, £1.00
Iceland Petit Pois Peas, 600g, £1.00
Iceland Floret & Carrot Mix, 900g, £1.00
Iceland Mixed Veg 900g, £1.00
Iceland Sliced Green Beans, 650g, £1.00
Iceland Tenderstem Broccoli, 180g, £1.00

Supermarket Price comparisons*:

Tesco	Sainsbury’s	Morrisons	Lidl	Aldi	Iceland
Carrots 1kg – 19p	British Carrots 1kg – 40p	Carrots – 40p	Carrots 1kg – 19p	Carrots – 19p	Iceland Carrots 880g – 1p
Parsnips 500g – 19p	British Parsnips 500g – 42p	Parsnips – 55p	Parsnips 500g – 19p	Parsnips – 19p	Iceland Parsnips 660g – 1p
Savoy Cabbage -43p	Savoy Cabbage – 43p	Sweetheart cabbage – 59p	Red Cabbage (per kg) – 19p	Red/White Cabbage – 19p	Iceland Savoy Cabbage – 1p
Broccoli 375g – 49p	Frozen Broccoli Florets 1kg £1	Broccoli – 59p	unknown	unknown	Iceland Broccoli 400g – 1p
Cauliflower (each) 79p	Cauliflower – 79p	Medium Cauliflower – 99p	unknown	unknown	Iceland Cauliflower Florets 800g – 1p
Unpeeled Sprouts 500G – 19p	Brussels Sprouts 500g – £1	Brussels Sprouts – 99p	Brussels Sprouts 500g – 19p	Brussels Sprouts – 19p	Iceland British Brussels Sprouts 500g – 1p

The Fire Safety Act 2021

Posted on December 20, 2021January 9, 2026 by Sarah Collison

It is well know by now that following the fall out of the Grenfell Tower tragedy the existing fire safety legislation has been heavily debated and criticised at the highest levels with government and public encouraging an overhaul of fire safety laws that will protect and keep safe all relevant persons whether that be in residential or commercial premises.

The Fire Safety Bill was introduced by the Home office in March 2020 and although it has encountered many hurdles through its passage between both houses of parliament, the bill has now received Royal assent and has become an Act of Parliament – The Fire Safety Act 2021
So, how can Health & Fire Safety teams within organisations tasked with these responsibilities prioritise safety and security throughout their Fire Prevention strategy.
A Fire Risk Assessment continues to be a legal requirement and promotes the long-term safety of both building occupants, and the building itself, against potential harm from fire and smoke. Businesses can either conduct an assessment themselves or bring in specialist risk assessors to provide extra peace of mind.
Addressing current risk assessments, ensuring that they are detailed, and containing step-by-step documents which identify the on-site areas that present a fire risk with itemised actions to help prevent incidents, is essential.

The Fire Safety Act 2021 is intended to better clarify who is responsible for managing and reducing fire risks in different parts of buildings. If a fire event were to occur, making the Responsible Person recognisable to the emergency services will be essential.
Similarly, with the introduction of the legislation, preparing staff and Responsible Persons with the necessary fire safety training can support the emergency services in carrying out their job effectively, should a fire regrettably occur. This is because, if individuals know the evacuation plan, and are aware of the processes needed to evacuate residents and employees, the emergency services will be in the best position to put out the fire and ensure minimal damage occurs.

Over recent years, due to the increased workload placed upon Local authority Fire safety departments, the number of audits carried out on premises has reduced drastically. Because organisations are not reminded of their responsibilities by means of visits, some organisations slip in their testing regimes bringing additional risk to their staff and property.
Fire alarms often detect unidentified fires before any person on-site and are thus a critical first line of defence. Regular checks on their performance are an essential fire safety undertaking. Testing regimes differ for different pieces of fire safety equipment and systems and the bare minimum as laid down by individual standards should be maintained,
but the more checks completed throughout the year, the better.

As the threat of fire is a constant worry for any business owner, all designated Responsible Persons must ensure that the premises are compliant with the recent Fire Safety Act 2021. Responsible Persons and businesses should prepare now for the additional responsibility.
Updating assessments, ensuring evacuation procedures work, making sure fire safety systems work correctly and staff are adequately trained will hopefully ensure businesses are in position to comply with the new act.

Brian Dean, Primary Authority Manager

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

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Meet the Buyer events (retail & foodservice)
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Brussels Sprouts 500g – £1