Government departments 'failing to budget for IT training'

16:30 10th February 2009

Government departments are not taking into consideration IT training when setting up their budgets, it has been claimed.

Figures resulting from a Freedom of Information request submitted to the government found that only one in nine government departments had a specific budget to provide IT training to staff on security issues.

The figures suggest more work needs to be done by public bodies to implement IT training courses and ensure that managers are aware of the dangers of a lack of knowledge on IT within their staff.

IT training on security issues is of particular importance in government departments, where sensitive information can be at risk of hackers and criminals if it is not properly secured.

Recent figures published by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) have revealed that the number of data breaches in government and private organisations has increased over the past three months, demonstrating the need for staff to be highly trained to reduce the risk of such breaches occurring in the future.