Working with the public sector – what you need to know
As an Insider you can write for our blog free of charge. Here business owner and affiliate Robyn Banks from Adavista
“So you want to work with the Public Sector…
Just as we all started to get our heads around “data protection”/”GDPR” – European and UK versions, and “freedom of information” – the Government announced through the Queen’s Speech on 10th May 2022 that they have reforms in the pipeline. However, to date, I am struggling to find any details on the proposals and it wont be law for a couple of years, so I have time…
BUT this is what I do know! – it will become easier for small business (presumably sole traders) to tender for contracts with public authorities, such as schools, NHS trusts, councils etc. This is good news and should reduce the amount of bureaucracy involved.
If this is something that you are interested in exploring for your business, then we should have a chat because;
The first thing you need to do is discover if the public authority you think will be interested is actually able to work with you. I had a client who was a complimentary therapist. Whilst he was adamant that the Trust would benefit from his services for their patients, the Trust ended up taking him to the ICO who in turn took him to Court.
All of this could have been avoided as I found out from the Trust that they have a policy of never working with complimentary therapists – regardless of what the services are.
The new legislation may make this kind of policy obsolete to open up opportunities for sole traders in all fields.
BUT until then, its best to find out first!
We can make a “Freedom of Information “Request on the public authority and find out. They are not allowed to charge for providing the information when it is a small amount of information as this would be. They cannot hide the information without very specific reasoning. If you would like to take this further, then don’t attempt to go it alone. It’s much easier employing someone like Adavista who are experts in ensuring this is handled in a way that can progress the opportunity to work with the public sector.
I can appreciate that many aspects of my work can seem daunting. Insiders will tell you that within a few hours and for often a very small budget Insiders have been able to ensure their company is legal, secure and handling data correctly. This then can be very advantageous to business growth too.“
To learn more about how Robyn and her company can support your small business to ensure you are compliant and not at risk from fines (Did you know not being registered with the ICO can lead to a £400 instant fine?) click here.
As an Insider you get a discount to work with Robyn’s company, greatly reducing the cost to becoming a fully compliant small business owner. Robyn is also an active mastermind group member so is often on hand for instant advice too!
