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Polypipe, the UK’s largest plastic piping systems manufacturer, today (28 May 2013) hosted a special visit from the Minister of State for Business and Energy, the Rt. Hon Michael Fallon MP.
The MP for Sevenoaks toured the Aylesford facilities of the British owned company where he saw at first hand the significant investment and sustainable processes which have contributed to Polypipe’s organic growth in both the UK and overseas, despite the downturn of the construction industry.
Organised by the Construction Products Association, the visit gave Mr Fallon a true insight into British manufacturing and its commitment to innovation and quality standards in order to deliver sustainable and carbon efficient buildings and water management solutions which meet and exceed legislation.
The visit, hosted by Polypipe Group’s CEO David Hall and Commercial Director Adam Turk, began in the 14-acre site’s Centre of Excellence training facility where innovative products were demonstrated and the company’s unique Hydraulic Tower was explored. Mr. Hall then led a factory tour where he explained how the business’ technical support function, combined with a £100 million investment in equipment across its nine manufacturing sites in recent years, had played a key factor in the company’s resilience and organic growth. The resulting success includes contracts to supply plastic piping systems to many of the UK’s most prestigious construction projects, including London 2012.
After the visit Business Minister Michael Fallon said: -Industry figures show the UK construction products sector has an annual turnover of £40 billion, and employs 300,000 people in more than 20,000 companies. It provides materials to build everything from factories and offices to schools and hospitals – essential for both the economy and society at large.
“The Government is working with industry on an industrial strategy for construction that will set out a long term approach to give confidence to business for investment and growth. It also looks at how we can increase exports of construction products, particularly amongst small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
“Polypipe are already exporting to Africa and the Middle East and I want to help more companies emulate their success in rapidly growing markets. As a local MP it gives me immense pride to see such an outward looking company based here in Kent.”
Polypipe CEO David Hall added: -Polypipe has a long and proud tradition of British innovation and manufacturing and we are very grateful to Mr Fallon for the time and interest he has shown in our business. The market is extremely challenging but we remain as committed as ever to harnessing our expertise and investing in new product development to supply and support construction projects around the world.
Construction Products Association Chief Executive Diana Montgomery said: -We were pleased to welcome the Minister to the Polypipe site to show him first-hand an example of the economic impact, innovation and sustainable product development our industry is delivering on a daily basis. His support in championing UK construction product manufacturers and suppliers helps to underline the essential role which companies like Polypipe will play in sustaining the economic recovery.
For more information on Polypipe visit www.polypipe.com
In a rapidly moving digital economy and globalised world, governments and local authorities operate in an environment characterised by rapid economic change, rising security concerns and a more demanding electorate. As a result, they face an unprecedented challenge to deliver better and more cost-effective services to both citizens and businesses, providing the public with greater levels of accountability.
In the UK, these pressures are particular intense because of the current squeeze on public sector spending. In line with the digital inclusion agenda, councils and public sector authorities are having to deliver high-quality IT services and solutions not only to their citizens, but also to business and schools across their local area, while at the same time driving efficiencies and keeping costs low.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) is one of the trailblazers in successfully striking this difficult balance. Much of the council’s success as an IT pioneer has been due to the strength of its on-going partnership with solutions provider, Bull Information Systems, a great example of a public-private partnership working positively to create opportunity for the local community.
The original decision to opt to work with Bull followed a best value review of BMBC’s IT provisioning. Having assessed the results, the council decided that to enhance the service it offered to the borough’s businesses and residents it should seek a partnering arrangement.
By outsourcing its IT function, the council was aiming not only to minimise the increasing costs of the ICT function but also to provide a more reliable, secure, responsive and robust IT infrastructure. Further, it was looking to enhance the local economy through the attraction of additional employment into the borough as well as promoting and supporting the use of ICT within the local economy.
After an extensive tender process, the council decided that furthering these objectives would best be achieved by signing a partnership agreement with Bull. The partnership, which is set to run until 2021, involved the establishment of joint venture company, Tuscan Connects Ltd (Bull TCL), which is 20% owned by the Council and 80% by Bull. Running core ICT services, such as desktop and network support, and data centre services, Bull TCL has been created to reduce costs and increase employment.
Partnership in Action
One of the crowning achievements of the partnership so far has been the establishment of a state-of-the-art Tier 3 data centre to replace the council’s existing centre. The previous Tier 1 facility had not had significant investment for more than 20 years and was suffering from an inadequate technical environment with IT equipment that was rapidly becoming obsolete.
In addition to funding the new data centre with a capital investment of £1.5 million, Bull has worked alongside BMBC to create an environment which delivers business agility, flexibility and scalability to companies across the region. This has helped foster the development of a broad range of organisations from start-up entrepreneurs to leading banks to government organisations and schools and colleges, including the Building Schools for the Future programme. It is another excellent example of the benefits of the partnership approach to IT.
For many start-ups in-house IT systems act more as a brake on progress than a catalyst for development. Businesses that grow quickly on the back of a major contract win, for example, will need to take on additional staff and upgrade their office space at short notice. Traditional IT infrastructures invariably struggle to keep pace and small business staff regularly find valuable time is consumed dealing with IT maintenance and upgrade issues.
The quality of the technical infrastructure underpinning the Barnsley data centre provides local business with a much more flexible platform. The state-of-the-art cooling system and the fail-safe/reduction measure have improved the reliability and resilience of the council’s systems.
-Helping drive business success is certainly one of the guiding principles of Barnsley data centre, and IT systems are key to achieving this core goal,†says Philippe Vannier, chairman and CEO, Bull Information Systems. -Bull and BMBC share a belief that IT systems should be a positive enabler for businesses. Ideally, they should offer companies an environment which allows organisations to improve operational processes, drive workforce productivity and support innovative business models. By working in close partnership with BMBC, we are helping to put this important principle into action.â€
The purpose of IT in public sector organisations is often to facilitate different and more efficient ways of working and at times, as is the case in Barnsley, this can mean acting as the catalyst for change. For example, to reduce the cost of having staff based permanently in the office requires an infrastructure that is location-independent and provides a platform to allow for working behaviours to change. Bull TCL plays to this by providing a platform to the BMBC data centre that enables business customers to achieve consolidation, automation and transformation of services without loss of flexibility and control.
Building on the Legacy
The centre now provides a cost-effective, reliable and secure ICT infrastructure which has laid the foundations for improvements in both council services and further economic development in the borough. To date, successes include substantial cost and energy savings under the government’s efficiency agenda as well as the securing of commercial contracts worth several million pounds.
Critically, the centre demonstrates Bull’s commitment to invest and bring innovation into the region, to support local skills enhancement, community regeneration and create business opportunities as the borough embraces digital technology. The centre has excellent telecommunication links including direct connections into the Digital Region network, the first major regional deployment of ‘Superfast Broadband’ in the United Kingdom, which is actively attracting new investments and jobs into the South Yorkshire region.
The pioneering partnership has also attracted much attention from other UK councils who now have the ability to utilise the data centre facilities established. Data centre tenants also benefit from a highly-skilled support team from Bull, acting here as an end-to-end value added service provider, which includes staff working on an accredited service desk all the way through to third line support.
Managing the Journey
In setting up the data centre, Bull is effectively looking to guide local businesses on a journey from in-house, owner-managed IT architectures to hosting, co-location, virtualisation and full cloud computing. Ultimately, this will help transition IT from a cost to a driver of added value for the business. From the IT perspective, there are a range of key benefits for Barnsley’s businesses â€- from virtualisation and rationalisation of IT services to reduced server sprawl and from easier back-up and archiving to reduced time to meet business needs.
Bull’s presence in Barnsley also acts as a platform for another public sector partnership. Bull recently delivered a hybrid managed storage solution to Coventry University. Critically, the University was attracted by Bull’s proposal to split the storage capacity and manage it across two sites: not just at the Coventry campus but also in Barnsley: an approach which the university saw as the best option in terms of efficiently managing risk.
BMBC has been a pioneer council in recognising that high-quality information services and adopting a strong partnership-based approach are vital to operational transformation. With government cuts and an associated scaling down of services across the public sector increasingly impacting councils, it is likely that many more will see IT and partnering with private sector providers as a catalyst for business change.
Network access specialist, The Kenton Group, believes innovative technology is key to the success of the PSN (Public Services Network) Services framework, acting as a catalyst for improved working and public services across the UK. This announcement comes ahead of this week’s Public Services Network Summit, to be held on 2 May in London.
Since 2005, The Kenton Group has partnered with a number of PSN providers and collaborated in the build of over twelve PSN and educational networks across the country. The company is exhibiting at the event as a major technology supplier into PSN networks and continues to support the PSN Services framework by rolling out a number of complex PSN networks using a mix of LLU, EFM, Fibre, Wi-Fi and Ethernet services.
A part of its work on PSN the company has developed a range of products including its innovative ADSL regenerator, Sprint which increases the speed of DSL services (ADSL, ADSL2 and ADSL2+) by more than 50 per cent, delivering high-speed broadband to both existing served communities and un-served communities. Also developed, as part of its widening portfolio, is its Broadband Enabling Technology, which focuses on providing those without broadband access with a reliable connection and service, along with its MAR product range, which is targeted at providing services to traffic controllers, delivering local Wi-Fi services, and improving rural mobile coverage.
John Larkin, Managing Director at The Kenton Group said: -The PSN is an important part of the Government’s IT strategy to reduce infrastructure costs and increase efficiencies across the public sector. Our innovative products and service offerings enable us to support this initiative and we’re pleased to be involved in helping to improve services for communities across the country.
The Kenton Group is also pleased to announce its partnership with Allied Telesis, a world class leader in delivering IP/Ethernet network solutions to the global marketplace, ahead of the event. As such, The Kenton Group is championing the Allied Telesis Eco Friendly switches that are both environmentally friendly and help reduce energy bills by up to 50 per cent.
The Kenton Group has over 30 years’ experience designing and developing network access equipment and connectivity products and solutions for carriers, operators, service providers, enterprises, utility companies and government bodies throughout the UK and around the world.
If you are attending the Public Services Network Summit in London and would like to meet John Larkin, please contact Emma Johnson on +44 1636 812152, or email emma.johnson@proactive-pr.com.
For further information about The Kenton Group, visit at www.thekentongroup.com/, call +44 (0)1322 552 000 or follow @thekentongroup on Twitter.
Despite advances in IT technology and millions of pounds spent every year on fighting child sex abuse images online, some experts say police forces in the UK and worldwide are now “swamped” by the sheer scale of the problem.
GPSJ (Government & Public Sector Journal) has been told by industry sources that there appears to be a real lack of commitment from within government to force ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) and website owners to do more to block the increasing amounts of child abuse images passing through their servers.
Experts say there are a lot of “meetings” and a lot of “talks” taking place with very little actually being achieved, this has resulting in “cracks” forming within the current strategies employed to reduce child sex abuse images online.
Some UK law enforcement agencies do not have the remit to investigate certain areas of the internet and this is leading to a situation where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Experts say there should now be one overall law enforcement agency taking charge rather than the various separate agencies all working to different agendas.
With these cracks developing in the strategy it appears some ISP’s and websites are using this to their advantage with some turning a blind eye to any legal or moral responsibilities they have in removing child sex abuse content. Even when notified about illegal content they are still taking too long to block and remove it.
It is claimed some websites are failing to take action to prevent and remove illegal material, simple steps like blocking common search words used by paedophiles when seeking illegal content are not being implemented.
Whilst law enforcement agencies are wholly correct to investigate people downloading and distributing child sex abuse images online, it is also a disturbing fact that some sites are advertising and promoting illegal material on a regular basis. Seemingly free from any prosecution or regulation by the authorities.
Insiders say there should be a “duty in law” placed on internet service providers and site owners to take all reasonable steps necessary to remove and prevent links to abusive images of children – the technology already exists to do this.
One way illegal images are accessed and distributed is through torrents, these are a popular way for people to share files over the internet – by simply installing a piece of software known as a client onto a computer – users can then search for various files.
A torrent itself does not contain the actual files, it only contains information about the files, such as their names, sizes, folder structure, and hash values for integrity.
GPSJ surveyed the most popular torrent sites to see which, if any, blocked two keywords commonly used by paedophiles when searching for illegal images.
The ten most popular sites were compiled using the latest survey information provided by TorrentFreak, a weblog dedicated to news and stories about the Torrent protocol.
We discovered that two out of the top ten torrent sites surveyed advertised links to child sex abuse content when searched using two keywords commonly used by paedophiles. Even general searches for music and films sometimes resulted in links to child sex abuse content.
The link descriptions contained sickening references to the age of the child being abused, and the type of abuse being committed. Terms such as “baby-rape” and “toddler-rape” were common place.
These graphic descriptions left nothing to the imagination and would disgust most normal people.
CEOP (The Child Exploitation and Online Protection) agency initially told us the advertising of child abuse links “was not illegal”.
When we asked them if it was illegal for a website to be advertising child abuse links, CEOP said: “The sites are not illegal so there is no basis in law for stopping them trading.
“Whilst it is questionable ethically, it is not currently illegal to host a P2P link to a torrent containing indecent imagery. Importantly, these sites do not actually host the illegal material.”
We thought this if true was remarkable, especially after the recent Jimmy Savile scandal and a heightened awareness of child sex abuse in general.
John Carr, a government advisor on child protection and the former head of the IWF (Internet Watch Foundation) told GPSJ: “I don’t know who you spoke to at CEOP or how you put the question to them but there is simply no doubt that it is a crime to advertise the existence of child sex abuse images.
“If the link informs someone that this particular link will lead them to indecent images that is an advert. ‘Inform’ means the same as ‘advertise’.
“What else could it mean? We had to deal with this many years ago when I was on the board of the IWF.
“Why would someone post or provide a link if they did not intend to inform a third party. And by the way, strictly-speaking, it does not matter if, in fact, there are no illegal images at the other end of the click.
“But a link is probably illegal under several other headings also. The person publishing or carrying such a link would be making themselves part of the distribution chain of child abuse images, they might be aiding or abetting the distribution.
“There is just no question about this. These are matters for the police, but whenever I speak to police officers around the world they all say the same thing – we are being ‘swamped’.
“That’s a worry, the Crown Prosecution Services website covers this and it is not difficult to find.”
CEOP later issued a second statement to us saying: “The confusion to your question arose in terms of sites and environments which have multiple users on forums etc who provide content.
“If someone posts links or adverts within the site they are the ones in breach of the legislation even though the environment as a whole may be legal. In these environments it’s an ethical question around those who run them which I think is what we are saying.
“It’s a question around the level of moderation and responsibility those who manage the environment have.”
We asked CEOP if it would be a good idea for all torrent sites to block keywords used by paedophiles, they said: “This would be a simple and common sense approach to prevent the distribution of illegal material, especially with eight out of ten of the top torrent sites having already done this.
“Blocking is controversial in terms of censorship and freedom of speech grounds but is also extremely difficult from a practical point of view. Responsible sites will stop and report links to illegal P2P content but sadly this is not always the case.
“The international nature of the internet, across multiple jurisdictions means policing these environments poses challenges for law enforcement. However CEOP is part of the Virtual Global Taskforce which brings together law enforcement agencies around the world to close the net on offenders and those who facilitate the sharing of indecent images of children online.”
When we asked if the priority should be on the reporting of child sex abuse content CEOP said: “Yes. Such content is the result of contact sexual abuse suffered by real children on a regular basis. Reducing the availability of such material is a child protection issue.”
Most of the torrent sites we viewed had a huge amount of information on how to report copyright infringements but surprisingly very little on how to report child sex abuse content.
Professor John walker from Nottingham Trent University and Founder of Glass-Ceiling Research is a World Class Info-Crime, Cyber Security Researcher who has worked within the Covert Worlds of CESG, GCHQ, with the Security Services.
In an exclusive interview with GPSJ, Walker said: “Where Torrents are holding any materials of on an illegal nature, such as those which infringe Copyright, no matter the global location, these should clearly be dealt with in an expedient manner to redress the balance of legality, and have the materials, remove, and see the hosting organisation, and all involved brought to some form of justice.
“However, where the illegal materials are holding any form of images and material that portray the ‘Abuse of Children’, which are classified against either the COPINE or SAP Scales, it should be the expectation of every reasonable person that these should not only be removed, seized, but that ALL involved parties are brought to fully account for their actions.
“I would also except that the force of the law place pressure on such owner organisations, and hosting facilities to make available the information relating to any other access, download, of uploading in order to ensure that all involved parties and users [abusers] are also located, and again dealt with – in my opinion, such is the serious nature of such an offence, nothing short of this will suffice.
“To allow any site to freely host, distribute, or make available materials which are underpinning Child Abuse in this current age is simply put, totally unacceptable. It is however a topic in which I believe many incumbent professionals place into the tray of all to the difficult, and thus tend to avoid the subject in public.
“For myself, and any other reasonable person, we must accept that, such images should not be tolerated in any form, and let us not forget that behind every image are single, or multiple young person’s suffering real time abuse to satisfy a very deviant international public – and it cannot, and should not be tolerated.
Ernesto Van Der Sar, editor in chief of TorrentFreak told GPSJ: -It is technically possible to block keywords words and some torrent sites have been working with the attorney General in the USA to filter child abuse content for a number of years now.
“You would have to ask though why others are not blocking keywords.
“I would also add that blocking these searches does not prevent this material from being spread it just makes it harder to find.”
The IWF told us they do not have any power to block peer 2 peer sites as this does not fall within their remit.
A spokesperson said: “The Internet Watch Foundation is the UK Hotline for anyone to report images and videos of child sexual abuse. We’re able to take action against this content where the images and videos are hosted in publicly available areas of the internet. Peer to peer does not fall within our remit.
“Where we receive a report which falls within our remit, and we have assessed the report as containing potentially criminal child sexual abuse content, we work to get that removed wherever in the world it is hosted. Equally, we take action against adverts, advertising child sexual abuse content.
“Each month we supply our Members with a list of keywords used by those seeking child sexual abuse images online. Our Members can use it to improve the quality of search returns, reduce the abuse of their networks and provide a safer online experience for internet users. Our keywords list current contains 438 words associated with child sexual abuse content.”
Sources also told GPSJ of a website hosted in the United States that allows paid access to internet newsgroups, it also offers potential customers a free thumbnail view of the newsgroup images before they sign up to the service.
The site lists thousands of newsgroups many containing images, they are listed in order of most popular first, with the ones topping the list describing images that would be illegal on the COPINE and SAP Scales. These scales are used by law enforcement and industry professionals in grading the seriousness of child sex abuse images.
The newsgroup site also boasts that users can download images with complete anonymity with no records kept of users personal details or downloads, it also operates a referral service enabling users to make money by persuading others to sign-up to the service.
It is alleged that illegal images are remaining on this site for weeks or even months before being removed – when they could and should be taken down immediately.
A key concept in the fight against child sex abuse images is the widely accepted premise that the victims suffer once again every time an image of their abuse is viewed.
We believe if this sort of material is made much harder to find this will result in a reduction of the possession and distribution of these types of images.
GPSJ is calling on the government to make it illegal for any UK website to advertise links describing any form of child sex abuse content, and to put pressure on the IT industry to block sites accessible from within the United Kingdom which promote such content.
Background
As the East Midland’s principal unitary authority, Leicester City Council is the primary residential landlord in the area, responsible for a social housing stock of over 22,000 properties. To ensure that its properties are kept in the optimum state of repair, the Council employs a large mobile workforce of skilled trades operatives (bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, roofers, painters and decorators etc). This workforce undertakes all of the planned and reactive maintenance and renovation work on the properties, with job allocation and scheduling organised on a daily, and potentially, real-time basis.
Challenges and Objectives
All organisations suffer from inefficiencies and those organisations with skills-based mobile and field workforces probably suffer more than most. They are an expensive resource to run and their dynamics can cause inefficiencies to be more acute. Effective scheduling of time and skills is crucial to optimising their utilisation and maximising return on investment.
With 450+ operatives, Leicester City Council’s property-related scheduling task is immense. The challenge facing them was how to continue delivering cost savings through better workforce management at the same time as improving service levels to the public, enhancing working conditions for employees and reducing the overall environmental impact of the operations.
In order to adhere to the guiding principles of the Gershon review of public sector efficiency carried out for the Government in 2004 and embed a culture of efficiency improvement in its mobile workforce scheduling and management processes, Leicester City Council determined that automation of its underlying systems was clearly the way forward. The challenge was to achieve it without adversely impacting service levels. A further challenge was to provide a platform that would enhance the performance of its housing services within the context of the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment. This measures local authority service provision to local people and communities through a series of key indicators.
Integration with Leicester City Council’s existing Capita OPENHousing back office system for both reporting and work allocation purposes and Unit 4 Agresso stores solution for improved materials management was also an important objective.
-Achieving the right balance of efficiency and customer satisfaction is a difficult and complex problem which is magnified by the size of our workforce,” said Ian Craig, Head of Direct Services at Leicester City Council.
Solution
Following a stringent tendering process that involved the evaluation of a number of potential solutions, Leicester City Council chose Wheatley Associates’ GRASP browser-based appointment booking, work scheduling, tracking and mobile communications software solution for the automation of its mobile workforce scheduling and management requirements. Leicester City Council’s choice of GRASP was further reinforced by the successful implementation of an initial pilot project. In addition, Wheatley Associates has also integrated GRASP with Leicester City Council’s existing, Capita OPENHousing back office systems. This integration enables full synchronisation of work details in relation to the mobile workforce, including jobs booked, amended or cancelled through the customer call centre and visits made, work carried out and appointments booked in the field. An interface has also been developed to integrate GRASP with Leicester City Council’s existing Agresso stores and materials management system to facilitate the handling of remote stores requests, orders, booking and use reports.
-Our tender process was particularly tough to ensure we selected a system that would not only meet our immediate requirements but also provide further scope for the future. We are confident that Wheatley Associates’ GRASP solution will drive out inefficiency, improve productivity, scale to our workforce and concentrate on enhancing the experience of our tenants,” continued Ian Craig.
Once jobs are booked into the GRASP system, sophisticated algorithms enable the allocation of work to maximise the efficiency and productivity of the workforce. It does this using its detailed knowledge of all the operatives and their skill sets as well as tenant requirements and commitments. Leicester City Council’s work planners create the schedules on a daily, end-of-day basis for the following day although work can be dynamically re-scheduled and jobs re-sent to operatives as the day progresses on the basis of updates received from the field. They also have the ability to manually adjust schedules to make best-use of their domain knowledge, experience of specific situations and facilitate ‘must do’ repairs.
All of Leicester City Council’s operatives are equipped with smartphones, enabling their daily works orders to be dispatched directly to them in advance. The works orders include comprehensive information on who the tenant is, location, optimised routing, work to be undertaken and materials required as well as ancillary information relating to the nature of the work such as health and safety, environment and ‘at risk’ issues. Using their smartphones, operatives provide feedback directly into works orders on job progress through to completion, eliminating the potential for errors in the system caused by re-keying data. This also enables the work planners to respond dynamically to any issues and keep individual customers informed on the status of their appointments throughout the day. Appointments for any return visits can also be booked directly by operatives through their smartphones.
To further improve productivity, the assisted working functionality within GRASP’s team jobs capability has enabled Leicester City Council to achieve greater flexibility with regard to its implementation structures (ad-hoc, small teams and void teams) and implementation requirements (part-job assistance, dependent works orders and works at locations that are deemed a risk).
Leicester City Council has used the new assisted-working functionality in GRASP to manage a series of small, multi-skilled maintenance teams who predominantly, but not necessarily, work together. The operatives take responsibility for their own, individual time management and work load within the team context. Its ad-hoc team capability allows large, single trade jobs that could be undertaken by one person to be split into parts, so that an ad-hoc team of multiple operatives receive a portion of the job each. Leicester City Council has also been able to manage a separate void team capability specifically to undertake empty property refurbishments. The generally static nature of these teams and longer duration of works, allow them to share a tablet and still permit each operative’s start and finish times and any non-availability will be individually recorded.
The part-job assistance facility enables an operative to be scheduled to assist another for just part of a job for either trade specific or generic work. Each operative receives separate and individual job instructions. The dependent works order capability relates to jobs that require multiple, different skills at various points in the process. It enables operatives with the appropriate trades to be scheduled on the same works order in the order and at the times they are needed. The at risk location function allows an operative to be scheduled to assist another for the entire duration of a job in locations identified as being at risk. Again, each operative will receive individual job instructions.
-Achieving the right balance of efficiency and customer satisfaction is a difficult and complex problem which is magnified by the size of our workforce,” said Ian Craig, Head of Direct Services at Leicester City Council. -Our tender process was particularly tough to ensure we selected a system that would not only meet our immediate requirements but also provide further scope for the future. GRASP is enabling to drive out inefficiency, improve productivity, scale to our workforce and concentrate on enhancing the experience of our tenants.”
Results and Benefits
Leicester City Council’s use of GRASP for its housing repair and maintenance operations is already delivering considerable results in terms of improved productivity and improved quality of service to tenants.
GRASP’s work profiling capability has delivered significant efficiency savings throughout the mobile workforce management process. In the call centre, for example, the software suggests advantageous appointment slots to the call handler. First-time fix rates have been improved and the need for return visits reduced by ensuring that operatives have the appropriate skills to complete the job. With real-time feedback on job progress, additional resource can be quickly and easily applied to a job, if necessary or additional work issued if a job is completed ahead of time. GRASP’s use of the public mobile network infrastructure with fewer ‘dead spots’ than traditional private radio systems, has also improved mobile workforce communications. However, if a worker is in a dead spot, a full-offline capability allows them to continue to authenticate and review jobs, carry out work and record outcomes as data is automatically synchronised once a network connect is restored.
Leicester City Council is also exploiting GRASP’s ‘green’ credentials. With the automated distribution of works orders to the field operatives via their smartphones and data capture of job progress / completion details directly into the works orders, GRASP potentially delivers a truly paperless scheduling option. Route optimisation has also contributed significantly to better vehicle fleet management with reduced fuel costs and reduced wear and tear due to fewer journeys and less mileage covered.
The working conditions of the mobile workforce have also been improved, with GRASP facilitating a better work/life balance for employees with a move to more flexible working hours. Health and safety issues have also been addressed with appropriate responses on environmental, hazardous materials and social risks handled through advance warning to works planners, warnings delivered to operatives’ smartphones and automated scheduling of second workers for particularly high risk locations.
-Planning daily work schedules for such a large skilled mobile workforce, ensuring that the right people with the right skills are on site at the right time, is no easy task,” said Amrik Singh, Planning and Major Works Manager at Leicester City Council. -GRASP not only provides us with the basis for planning our work schedules but also enables us to respond dynamically to the changes happening in the field for all our operatives. GRASP’s integrated smartphone solution feeds information back in real-time directly to our works planners and supervisors, allowing dynamic decisions to be made quickly and easily. This is not only crucial to the overall efficiency of our housing repairs and maintenance operations and but also ensures tenant satisfaction, as the software also allows us to keep tenants firmly in the loop, communicating when work has been scheduled and when operatives are on their way to them.”
Leicester City Council’s implementation of GRASP is not just a scheduling tool but a platform for the continuing successful delivery of its services dependent on a mobile workforce. Once fully embedded in its operational culture, Leicester City Council plans to exploit its scalability, expanding its use beyond its housing repair and maintenance operations to a total of 1000+ mobile workers covering other Council departments including Social Services and the Clerk of Works.
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust will be the first to implement the full suite of CSC’s next-generation laboratory products to help meet the evolving demands and requirements of a modern pathology service.
Continuing a 20-year partnership, the trust has agreed a five-year extension of its current contract for CSC’s laboratory information system, and to adopting new modules as they become available. The implementation of the new cellular pathology solution is to be followed by an early adopter programme, which will see CSC and Salisbury partner to develop a new generation of blood transfusion, blood sciences, and microbiology solutions.
Dr Brian Moody, laboratory manager at Salisbury, said: -The core functionality and workflow of our current CSC pathology system is very powerful but opting for CSC’s next generation solution allowed us to use our existing products, while modernising the on-screen presentation, making the systems easier-to-use, more accessible.
The CSC’s new laboratory suite offers clinicians a simple, user-friendly interface that is easy to install as either a thin client or web-based solution sitting alongside and augmenting current laboratory systems.
Moody added: -We were attracted by the module-by-module approach as we didn’t have the resource to do a full ‘rip and replace’. The fact the solution was developed from a laboratory perspective meant we gained a lot of trust and respect for the CSC team by working with them, and felt involved at every stage of the process. Now we’ve seen the kind of enhancements available on the first module, we feel that there is nothing in the market that can rival the solution.
In addition the first module offers sophisticated new word processing functionality, allowing full and formatted reporting across all disciplines, supporting pathologist’s requirements to handle more data, more efficiently. The system also integrates with digital imaging solutions to display and capture detailed clinical images.
Caroline Mathews, blood transfusion laboratory manager at the trust said: -Being part of the pathology development group at the trust, allowed me to see the potential evolution of the product suite, particularly for the histopathy module and the benefits that it could bring to the organisation.
For example, the ability to customise our screens to show multiple sets of data means we can access both patient details and haematology results making sure we are working within the correct guidelines and using blood appropriately. Also, the new modern interface will help when training our younger pathologists who expect a system inline with today’s technological advances.
Nick Harte, CSC’s solutions director, said: -We are following a truly agile development approach across all pathology disciplines, allowing us to meet Salisbury’s and the wider market’s current and future needs in a timely and responsive manner. Our commitment to supporting an incremental replacement approach means our customers can access revolutionary new functionality in an evolutionary manner; there is no need for the service to suffer the disruption, cost and stress of a traditional system replacement.
For more information on CSC’s laboratory solutions, visit: www.csc.com/globalhealthcare
Robert Francis QC’s inquiry into the appalling failures in care at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust follows in the footsteps of some forty previous inquiries into the NHS in the last four decades – a point which he made in his opening address to the Inquiry. He also noted that his inquiry was investigating many of the same areas which the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry considered in detail some ten years earlier. He was clearly conscious of the danger of his inquiry not translating into real change within the healthcare system.
Mr Francis conducted an initial independent inquiry to consider the causes of the failings within the Trust and provide immediate recommendations relating to its management. The reasons which he has identified for the failings at the Trust were not new. Previous inquiries have concluded that breakdowns in NHS care, as were experienced in Stafford, were the product of organisational change, weak leadership, poor culture, and inadequate systems and processes. He was subsequently charged with the more significant challenge of conducting a full public inquiry into the role of the commissioning, regulatory and supervisory bodies within the broader NHS framework in the failings at Stafford to identify why these failings were not identified and remedied sooner. Given the implication that the system was not sufficiently robust to identify similar failings elsewhere in the country, it was clearly appropriate that Mr Francis undertake this second inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 providing him with both powers to seek and receive evidence and requiring the examination of the evidence to take place in the full gaze of the public and press.
The inquiry process itself meets one of the inquiry’s primary objectives – to introduce transparency and encourage accountability. The individuals and bodies called to account for their actions are forced to consider the lessons to be learnt from their experience. However, it falls to the Chairman to draw together all the evidence to come up with a coherent set of recommendations. Mr Francis faced particular challenges in this inquiry in that having considered the evidence concerning the events of 2005 – 2009, by the time his report was published in February 2013, the NHS had been subject to major structural reform further to the Health and Social Care Reform Act 2012 and the Government had already introduced various relevant measures ahead of his report. Despite this, he has formulated 290 separate recommendations which the Government has confirmed it will consider over the next month before it issues its formal response.
From this point, the chairman of an inquiry has limited ability to follow up upon his recommendations. The obligations under the Inquiries Act 2005 simply stop at the point that a report is published. The Act imposes no obligations upon the Government to implement the recommendations or even respond to the report. This issue has been addressed by previous inquiry chairman. In particular, following his inquiry into child protection measures following the Soham murders, Lord Bichard committed to undertaking a follow up report six months after his initial report reviewing the extent to which the recommendations had been implemented. However, such an approach requires the further report to be accommodated in order to meet the terms of reference. He also persuaded the Government to report regularly to the House on progress with the recommendations.
Mr Francis has taken a slightly different approach. His first two recommendations relate to accountability for the implementation of the remaining 288 recommendations. He has recommended that each and every relevant healthcare organisation consider the recommendations, decide how to apply them to their work and announce as soon as possible which recommendations it will follow. This is to be followed by these organisations issuing annual reports concerning progress with these actions. He has also challenged the Parliamentary Health Select Committee to take oversight of the decisions and actions announced by those organisations which are accountable to Parliament. It will be a matter for the Committee, rather than Government, whether it will fulfil this function.
Both mechanisms introduce accountability for recommendations relating to the activities of specific bodies. However, there are other recommendations relating to the structure of the NHS, such as the re-shaping of the respective roles of Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Monitor, which can only be implemented by a change in law. Ultimately, therefore, the impact of Mr Francis’ recommendations will depend on political will and public pressure. Given the wide public interest in the NHS providing safe care to patients, it is hoped that Mr Francis’ report will not be shelved and forgotten.
E: ecarter@kingsleynapley.co.uk
www.kingsleynapley.co.uk
T: 020 7814 1255
Fibrelite, the world’s largest manufacturer of lightweight composite access covers has supplied 190 trench covers (FM45) to be installed at a state of the art Shopping Centre; chosen for their health and safety benefits. This contemporary retail development once finished will have a floor space of 1million sq ft and a forecasted footfall of 23 million visitors in its first year.
The consulting engineers specified Fibrelite’s easy to remove and replace trench covers for this project to allow safe and easy access to cable ducts that run across the majority of the site. For this project B125, C250 and D400 load rated panels were all used in lengths of 800, 1000, 1400 and 1600mm.
Benefits include:
– Lightweight covers enabling easy and safe manual handling
– Wide range of sizes and loadings available
– Anti-slip properties equivalent to a high grade road
– Will not corrode
– Zero re-sale value to the scrap market so will never be stolen
David Holmes, Fibrelite’s Technical Director says -Our composite trench access covers are proven to be ergonomically safe for men and women to replace. The design of the covers allows them to be lifted by our FL7 lifting aids. These allow the operator to remove and replace the covers without bending over or trapping fingers, thus maximising the safety of the lifting technique”.
-As well as the safe lifting and replacement design, our trench access covers are designed as a ‘fit and forget’ product. The maintenance free ‘FM45’ is perfect for covering large areas, gullies, trenches and ducts where frequent access may be required. This is why our covers were specified for the shopping centre. The cable ducts [which are covered by the trench covers] need to be easily accessible, something the Fibrelite FM45 allows”.
With a head office in Yorkshire and manufacturing facilities is the UK, US and Malaysia, Fibrelite is recognised internationally as an innovator in composite technology. Fibrelite has been at the forefront of composite technology since 1980 and was the very first company to design and manufacture composite covers.
www.fibrelite.com
Children from Manchester have learnt about the consequences of taking and sharing sexual pictures and video content of themselves, as part of this year’s Safer Internet Day, Tuesday 5th February.
They took part in a series of ‘mock’ courtroom trials, debating the legal and ethical implications of ‘sexting’ in a joint event by, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, Manchester Safeguarding Children Board and Manchester Healthy Schools.
In 2012, the CEOP reported that 1 in 5 of all reports into the law enforcement organisation related to the distribution of ‘self-generated’ indecent images *1. Indeed, with IWF also reporting that 88% of self generated, sexually explicit online images and videos of young people are taken from their original location and uploaded onto other websites *2, sexting is a growing trend which is putting young people at risk online.
With smart phone ownership increasing among 12-15 year olds, with six out of ten (62%) now owning one *3, this now gives children more opportunities to easily communicate with strangers online and share images on the move.
Using the characters from CEOP’s First to a Million education film, which follows a group of teenagers in their battle to reach a million views online through their increasingly outrageous films, young people from Manchester Voicebox run by Manchester Healthy Schools were asked to prepare a number of cases looking at the legal and ethical repercussions of participating in risky online behaviour, with sentences being proposed after the cases have been heard using the current UK legislation available. The outcome of the event will then be shared with schools across Manchester.
The event in Manchester coincides with CEOP’s national call to action asking parents to get more involved in what their children are doing online. It follows the announcement of an alarming new trend identified by the Centre that child sex offenders are increasingly targeting children solely for the purpose of online abuse with fewer reports this year resulting in an offline meeting for abuse.
Additionally, new research highlights a deadly combination of factors leads to some children being particularly at risk from online grooming. Parental or carer involvement in a child’s online life can make the crucial difference between a child being protected, CEOP and University of Birmingham research says. *4 and risk-taking by young people, such as engaging in sexualised chat and sending explicit images – is the key factor in their vulnerability to grooming and potential contact with child sex offenders.
However, children whose internet activities are monitored and who have an open dialogue with their parents/carers about what they do or see online are better protected from grooming and more resilient to the techniques used by offenders.
Jonathan Baggaley, Head of Education at CEOP:
Pictures and videos can now be shared online in an instant and even on the move by young people. It’s very easy to upload something that you’ll regret later without thinking and run into all sorts of problems.
We know that young people in these situations often don’t know where to turn for help when things have gone wrong. It’s important they don’t feel isolated or alone when this happens.
We are delighted to be working with young people across Manchester to explore these issues and hope that the discussions and debates they have will help other young people in thinking twice before they act.
Ian Rush – Independent Chair – Manchester Safeguarding Children’s Board:
Online sex abuse doesn’t yet have the same kind of profile in terms of public awareness as other forms of child abuse. Yet this *5 report shows it is every bit as major a challenge.
We are taking this issue very seriously in Manchester which will hopefully make everyone; parents, teachers and most importantly, children and young people themselves, aware of the very real dangers and need to take every care when using the Internet and providing information about yourself.
*1 Sample of 2,293 reports received from the National Center for Missing and exploited Children in November 2011. CEOP Threat Assessment of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, 2012.
*2 IWF research, October 2012
*3 Ofcom, Children and Parents: Media use and attitudes report. October 2012
*4 Whittle, H; Hamilton-Giachritsis, C.; Beech A.; Collings, G. (2013) A Review of Young People’s Vulnerabilities to Online Grooming. Aggression and Violent Behaviour Journal. Vol. 18. Issue 1 www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135917891200122X
*5 Whittle, H; Hamilton-Giachritsis, C.; Beech A.; Collings, G. (2013) A Review of Young People’s Vulnerabilities to Online Grooming. Aggression and Violent Behaviour Journal. Vol. 18. Issue 1
The government’s G-Cloud procurement framework is reaping rewards for web specialist Ixis, which has recently secured another major contract following their appointment to the second stage of the programme, G-Cloud II.
Ixis, which specialises in Drupal open source content management, has used its position in the G-Cloud framework to good effect by securing a major contract to provide managed hosting and support services to health and care watchdog the Care Quality Commission.
The Warrington-based firm was also selected for the second stage of the government purchasing programme, G-Cloud II which aims to introduce cloud-based services into central government, local authorities and the wider public sector.
Ixis joined the G-Cloud II framework as an accredited supplier in three categories – platform as a service (Paas), software as a service (Saas) and specialist cloud services – and have been added to the CloudStore database, which allows public sector procurement managers to search for relevant suppliers against specific criteria.
Mike Carter, co-founder of Ixis, said: -G-Cloud demonstrates how the UK government is embracing the benefits of the cloud as it attempts to streamline and future-proof its operations. We are uniquely positioned to support government organisations as they improve their digital services in line with the Government Digital Strategy, and prepare for the Cabinet Office ‘Digital by default’ service standard for all digital services, due to be launched in spring 2013.
-Our recent contract with the Care Quality Commission will play a critical role in the delivery of digital services to the health and adult social care sector. Our appointment demonstrates the trust in our ability to provide agile, iterative, digital development methodologies and the security of our robust hosting platforms.
Henry Cook, Programme Director for Business Improvement and Head of Digital Communications at Care Quality Commission, said: -The G Cloud framework is a valuable tool and we’re really pleased to have sourced and procured the web management services we require from it. This project is crucial as we expand our online presence and it will enable us to be much more responsive as we develop customer facing services.
Ixis recently announced a 50 per cent growth in turnover having secured a significant project with the British Council via the G Cloud procurement framework as well as several other high profile clients including TSL Education and VSO.
For further information about Ixis and its services, please visit www.ixis.co.uk
The Government should be much clearer about what it means by choice in public services, according to a new report published recently by the MCA (Management Consultancies Association). And ministers should launch a massive campaign – through new Choice Concordats – to increase the information that is provided to citizens, explain the available choices and improve understanding of their consequences.
The MCA’s report is a contribution to the debate sparked by David Boyle’s review for the Cabinet Office into the barriers to choice in public services. Choice in Public Services: Making Choice Real is based on the insights and ideas of a host of the country’s leading experts from within MCA member firms, and was written by Paul Connolly.
The report highlights two key proposals:
First, it will help policy-makers and the public if everyone is clear about what types of choice are being offered and why. The MCA paper suggests a new typology revolving around concepts such as ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ choices. Horizontal choices are where users can select from different suppliers of a particular service (e.g. choosing a new GP or school) and vertical choices are where people choose from a menu of service options that are available. The paper also discusses the role of personalised budgets, commissioning and the expression of preferences.
Alan Leaman, Chief Executive of the MCA said:
Reform of public services is bedevilled by the fact that the same words are used to convey very different meanings, even within the same government documents. While the language we propose may need to be adapted, these clearer distinctions will help create good policy, dispel muddled thinking and increase public understanding and support for reform.
Second, choice involves reciprocal responsibilities. The public may need to share greater personal information in order to access more personalised services. The MCA proposes a series of Choice Concordats, in which the citizen’s rights and obligations are explained far more clearly.
Naresh Mohindra, Tata Consulting Services, said: -If people want a service that is personalised, they must be upfront about disclosing information about their circumstances and needs.
Alan Leaman added: -At the moment, choices are too often hidden from view, and the comparative data which we need to make sense of them is not available. Information, relentlessly offered, is vital if people are to make effective choices, or even to make choices at all. And it must be explained how citizens can benefit from the choices that are provided.
Phil Dungey, Atos Consulting, added: -Information on government websites often reflects government structures, not the needs of users.
The report also highlights examples of where management consultants have worked with government departments to deliver better choices to the users of public services and often saved money as well for the taxpayer.
Link to the report: REPORT
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During the final quarter of 2012, temporary labour usage among Local Authorities decreased by only 0.1%, when compared to the same period in 2011. The minor decrease shown in Comensura’s Government Index was the lowest quarterly decrease in 2012 and signals a trend for minor increases of up to 2% in temporary labour usage in 2013.
The research, gathered by Comensura, the supply management specialists, revealed increases in the use of temporary labour in the public sector in IT, sales/marketing, legal and professional.* These job categories saw increases in the last quarter of 2012, compared to the same period last year, up 34%, 33%, 31% and 19% respectively. Meanwhile, there have been decreases in the use of temporary workers in roles for call centres (-34%), construction (-23%), transportation (-36%) and hospitality (-40) since the same time last year.
Jamie Horton, Managing Director at Comensura, said of the results, -This is a transition period in an age of austerity. The initial reaction to spending cuts was a blanket cut in the use of temporary labour in Local Authorities. However as time moves on and the cuts move deeper, redundant roles or vacant positions appear to be being filled with temporary workers. We don’t expect this trend to change any time soon as the economic climate makes it difficult for organisations to gain authorisation for new permanent staff.
-The trend reflects the private sector, where a 5.5% increase in turnover from temporary and contract business drove the growth of the recruitment industry in 2012, however the pressure on Local Authorities to keep a hold on temporary worker spend is significant.”
From a regional perspective, London and the South East’s usage of temporary labour was flat. Meanwhile the North West, South West, Wales and West Midlands all increased usage on temporary labour in the last quarter of 2012. Some areas of the country have differing policies on temporary labour usage. While Local Authorities in the East Midlands have reduced temporary labour usage by 27%, Local Authorities in the West Midlands have adopted a different approach, increasing temporary labour usage by 31%. Virtually all the reduction in temporary labour usage in the East Midlands came from two job categories – light industrial and office/admin/clerical whereas the increases in the West Midlands came from volume increases in office/admin/clerical (which more than doubled) and social care.
Mr. Horton continued, -Some Local Authorities have replaced temporary resources with fixed term contracts in an attempt to save money. While this is an encouraging sign that Local Authorities are thinking smarter to meet demand amidst spending cuts, it’s important that effective workforce planning measures are in place to ensure spend is managed in the long-term.”
The Comensura Government Index shows the usage of temporary labour across 79 of Comensura’s clients in England and Wales during 2011 and 2012. The Index is distributed on a quarterly basis and uses a variety of metrics to measure the usage of temporary labour including Full Time Equivalent (FTE), the reasons for hire, job class, age and gender.
*Includes HR, procurement and other managerial roles
ByBox, the UK market leader in field service solutions, has won a contract with the UK’s leading integrator of wireless and conventional network systems, Ensign.
Ensign specialises in providing secure wireless network and mobile computing technology systems, offering a wide range of devices for the purpose of data collection solutions, portable printing, Voice Picking systems and RFID applications. It has a wide customer base, including blue chip manufacturing and retail customers from the top 10 in their field as well as warehousing, pharmaceutical, aerospace and automotive.
The two companies are well-matched as each has unrivalled experience in their respective industries and both focus on providing innovative services tailored to their customers’ needs.
Operating 365 days a year, the ByBox Tech Courier service offers a four hour, eight hour and next business day technical swap out, fix or collection of machines and components, which provides a crucial service to Ensign.
Many of Ensign’s customers operate systems where it is critical there is as little downtime as possible. So it is essential that faulty equipment is replaced or repaired quickly.
With access to field service technicians across the UK, the ByBox Tech Courier Service assists Ensign in meeting tight Service Level Agreements. Moreover, ByBox offers a complete solution thanks to its unique software platform Thinventory which gives total visibility of the supply chain at all times.
As well as mobilising an engineer to carry out a particular job, Thinventory can pinpoint the location of the nearest available part and also manage the return of faulty parts. These are either routed back to the repairer or sent to the ByBox in-house repair centre. Additionally, if parts are under warranty, they can be sent back to the manufacturer for compensation.
Mark Garritt, Managing Director of ByBox, said: -We are delighted to be working with Ensign and look forward to a long and productive relationship.
Like ByBox, Ensign has an unmatched reputation in its field and places great importance on understanding its customers’ exact requirements then providing solutions which are cost-effective and efficient.
Jennie Handley, Customer Services Project Manager at Ensign said: -Ensign aims to deliver the best service possible, and we have found in ByBox a partner that is equally focused on providing services of the highest standards. Over the years that Ensign has been dealing with ByBox, we have always found them cooperative and willing to adapt to the ever changing requirements that our customers are faced with.
ByBox Tech Courier is just one offering from ByBox, the company that has transformed the efficiency of overnight delivery to field service engineers with its unique model of delivering in-night pre 8am to a sophisticated and ever expanding network of lockers, 365 days a year.
With more than 18,000 lockers at 1,500 locations, many at convenient locations such as supermarkets, petrol stations and train stations, ByBox operates by far the largest and most sophisticated locker network in the UK and has an enviable first-time delivery success rate of 99.77%.
Lockers are secure and only accessible by key or code. Once a delivery is made, an email or text alert is sent to the recipient who can then collect the required item. The whole system is underpinned by ByBox’ unique software platform Thinventory that gives complete visibility of the supply chain at all times.
ByBox is already enabling companies to save significant amount of time and money: Thinventory allows them to run extremely lean inventory, freeing up valuable working capital, and there is less need to splash out on multiple urgent same-day deliveries. Orders can be placed with ByBox as late as up to 11pm for delivery the next day.
The ByBox approach is so popular that the company has grown to a £57 million turnover in little more than 12 years and ByBox has now developed a consumer solution that will revolutionise the home delivery marketplace. myByBox allows consumers to collect their internet orders at a locker if they are unable to receive deliveries at home or at work; ensuring they never miss a delivery.
Useful links: www.bybox.com
www.ensign-net.co.uk
Fibrelite, who specialise in the design and manufacture of composite watertight underground containment systems including fully watertight access covers is delighted to announce the following RIBA CPD Providers Network material is now available to book as a CPD seminar:
Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) Composite Manhole and Trench Access Covers: A Safe, Light Alternative to Metal and Concrete and a Solution to the Metal Theft Epidemic
Accredited Fibrelite Seminar Content Overview:
- Introduce glass reinforced plastic (GRP) composite
- Explain the differences between resin transfer moulding (RTM) and other types of GRP composites
- Improve knowledge of the benefits of GRP composite
- Explain where GRP composite can be used
- Highlight the best applications for GRP composite
- Introduce how and why GRP composite is used as an underground access cover
- Explain the benefits of GRP composite for underground access covers
- Show why RTM GRP composite is specified as an alternative to metal and concrete
- Explain what is important when specifying GRP composite as a material for access covers to underground services
For further information and to book your CPD seminar, please contact Scott Dyson on +44 (0)1756 799 773 or by email scott@fibrelite.com
The Big Give – a national scheme to encourage charitable giving at Christmas – will match on-line donations and double the value of contributions to relieve the trauma of armed forces veterans, on December 6, 7, 8 from 10:00am each day. Donations can be made on-line to PTSD Resolution (reg. charity No. 1133188) via the link www.ptsdgive.co.uk
PTSD Resolution has a network of 200 counsellors nationwide to provide support to resolve military trauma, with a success rate of 8 out of 10 cases for veterans who complete the programme (Source: PTSD report 2012).
Symptoms of military trauma include flashbacks, nightmares and depression. Without appropriate help the result can be family breakdown, homelessness, criminality and even suicide.
According to PTSD Resolution chairman Colonel Tony Gauvain (retired): -PTSD Resolution offers fast help, with an average of just five counselling sessions required on an outpatient basis. No referrals are needed. PTSD Resolution is a very lean organisations: there are no salaried staff or premises: funds are used for therapy and to provide support and information on the help available”.
For further information: PTSD Resolution www.ptsdgive.co.uk. Tel 0845 021 7873. e-mail sb@ptsdresolution.org
A man has been threatened with an ASBO by an Oldham Council official who thought he was recording their telephone conversation.
Stuart Littleford who is the editor of GPSJ, said he contacted the Credit Control Section at Oldham Council earlier today, over a long running dispute about an alleged Council Tax debt, which he has always denied he owes.
He said: I called to try and resolve a matter which has been going on since 2005, I was explaining to the gentleman on the phone why I didn’t owe the money when he suddenly asked if I was recording the call. He then referred to an email I had sent the previous day in which I stated I had recorded some calls in the past but only to prove I had not been ignoring the matter as they had threatened legal action.
When I refused to tell him whether or not I was recording this conversation, he said I was ‘breaching his human rights’ and he would have to end the call, I replied that I was making a genuine enquiry and there was no reason for him to do that.
He then told me I was committing a ‘criminal offence’ and that all future correspondence to his department should be kept to letters from now on and not done over the phone. He then stated they could look to seek for an ‘ASBO’ against me.
The gentleman then refused to talk anymore and put the phone down.
I can’t believe I have been threatened with an ASBO for doing nothing more than responding to an official letter sent by Oldham Council and trying to resolve the matter with them. I would be interested to know if they ask everyone who contacts them if they are recording the call and then use this as an excuse to put the phone down or threaten them with an ASBO.
I have never heard of this happening before and I have been left feeling like a criminal. If I had been rude or abusive I would have understood him wanting to end the call, but this was a polite call and all very business like.
This man is paid to take calls from the residents of Oldham, his attitude is not acceptable, there are plenty of people looking for work these days who would jump at the chance of his job in my opinion.
Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), it is not illegal for individuals to tape conversations provided the recording is for their own use.
Home secretary Theresa May announced in May 2012 that ASBOs were being abolished and replaced with Criminal Behaviour Orders from 2013.
Oldham is one of the few local authorities still using them.
Legal advisor Cleland Thom commented: ‘It’s incredible that an Oldham Council official in a public role would be stupid enough to think that someone recording a phone conversation warranted an ASBO.
‘To get an ASBO, you have to prove someone has persistently behaved in a way that causes people harassment, alarm or distress.
‘Anyone can record a phone call, provided they make the recording themselves. It strikes me that Oldham Council need to give their staff some basic customer service training!’
A spokesperson for Oldham Council said: -Oldham Council will not comment until any outstanding investigation into a complaint or appeal is completed.
September’s annual TUC Conference in Brighton welcomed for the first time UK based global data capture specialist DRS Data Services Ltd, to showcase their Elections offering including manual and electronic counting and electronic voting.
Whether balloting on the subject of Public Sector Pension Reforms, electing council members or undertaking general membership engagement, Trade Unions are under pressure to deliver time critical, accurate and secure results in the most resourceful way possible.
DRS was able to share with TUC delegates recent successful and cost efficient electronic election service projects for the National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), demonstrating why the company has become a trusted partner to governments and local authorities worldwide and now UK Trade Unions.
As the leading national authority concerned with art, craft and design across all phases of education in the UK and as a constituted Trade Union, the NSEAD has utilised DRS’ flexible, comprehensive end-to-end service for an industrial action ballot and most recently in their presidential election, incorporating the 2500 strong membership.
With two decades of national and local political election management experience, including in Europe, North America and Africa and with trusted expertise in managing UK elections including the 2012 GLA Mayoral Election, DRS has a dedicated service team with the skills to develop individual timetables to fit with each Trade Union constitution and the knowledge to support and assist with governance requirements.
DRS’ non-government elections specialist Simon Thomson, explains; -DRS has earned a reputation as a trusted election services partner, not only because we can deliver complex, time critical yet flexible projects, but perhaps more crucially for Trade Unions, at a time of austerity we can offer them a choice of supplier that they may not have had previously, that is cost efficient, high quality, reliable and secure.”
DRS has over 40 years experience in delivering data capture projects around the world, specialising in examination and assessment processing and election and census solutions. Systems are implemented using the Company’s extensive expertise in document design, printing, award winning scanning and image capture technologies, software, logistics, project management and consultancy.
Visit www.drs.co.uk for more details.
Work is well underway to increase the generation of renewable energy in Shropshire with a recent project to supply photovoltaic (PV) systems for schools across the county.
As part of its pledge to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, Shropshire Council has signed up to the national Carbon Trust Carbon Management Programme.
The Council’s comprehensive plan of action aims to reduce emissions by 35 per cent by 2014, by undertaking various carbon reduction initiatives and increasing the generation of renewable electricity and heat in Shropshire through its Renewable Energy Delivery Programme.
This includes several projects ranging from the installation of solar photovoltaic panels to biomass wood pellet boilers in schools and other Council buildings throughout the county.
One of the most significant renewable energy projects has been the recent design and installation of bespoke photovoltaic systems for 16 schools over 17 sites across Shropshire by SolarTech Ltd, one the UK’s leading renewable energy specialists.
With 725 kWp* of PV arrays (approximately 3000 solar panels) having been installed, the initiative is expected to generate 580,000 kWh of electricity per year and save the schools an estimated £60,000 per year in energy bills.
This ambitious £1.3 million project was completed in just four weeks to enable Shropshire Council to meet the deadline to receive the government’s higher rate of Feed in Tariff, which was only available up until April 1st 2012. (After that date, the original 32.9p/kWh tariff dropped to a lower rate of to 15.2p/kWh).
SolarTech acted as principal contractor and was responsible for the survey, design, installation, and commissioning of the bespoke PV systems for each of the schools. This included the installation and fitting of solar arrays to both pitched and flat roof schools. The project involved structural and asbestos surveys, liaising with Building Control and planning departments as well as providing all the relevant documentation for the Distribution Network Operator (DNO).
The energy output and consumption of each school is now measured by a web based PV monitoring system, also installed by SolarTech, which will provide the necessary data to obtain payments under the Feed-in-Tariff.
It will also form the basis of a schools web portal, which will enable the schools to bring sustainability to life in the classroom and to teach how greener energy can help the environment.
This has been a highly successful project thanks to the experience and expertise of SolarTech, who were highly responsive and proactive in designing and installing 17 bespoke systems and liaising closely with the various parties involved, in order to keep within what has been an extremely challenging timeframe, said Robert Wagstaffe, Project Manager for Shropshire Council.
Under the higher rate Feed in Tariff, it is anticipated that the Council will recoup the costs of the initial installation within approximately ten years, whilst benefiting from the income over the following 15 years.
Each school will also benefit from lower day-to-day electricity bills through their ability to generate their own free electricity, as well as having a state-of-the-art renewable energy installation, which is future proofed against any energy price increases.
Over all, it is estimated that the combined PV systems could cumulatively save over 300 tonnes of CO2 annually, which will also result in significant savings in the Council’s ‘carbon tax’ liability under the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme.**
SolarTech is highly experienced in providing bespoke solar PV solutions, which are designed to maximise the carbon reduction, energy efficiencies and long term cost savings that both public sector and private sector organisations can make under the Feed in Tariff, said Shaun Taylor, managing director of SolarTech.
Schools are certainly one of the public sector organisations that have much to gain through the nationwide drive towards solar energy.
In addition to the 3,000 solar panels already installed in schools across Shropshire, there are also plans to install solar panels at a further 20 to 30 Council owned properties.
As part of the Council’s programme, wood pellet boilers have also been installed in two schools and a possible further 20 boilers where feasible at other schools, which are reliant on expensive oil heating systems throughout Shropshire, are scheduled for this year.
By using innovative techniques to save energy and improve the way it deliver its services, the Council is making its buildings as energy-efficient as possible to significantly cut carbon emissions over the coming years.
Councillor Cecilia Motley, Cabinet Member at Shropshire Council with responsibilities for Carbon Reduction and Sustainability said: – We recognise our duty to play our part in decreasing our carbon footprint in Shropshire and we have set ourselves a high target to push us to do the best we possibly can.
It’s great to see our schools being the first to receive solar panels and benefit from using solar energy. I am sure many children at our schools will get a lot out of seeing how renewable energy is generated.
Using energy more efficiently and harnessing our viable renewable energy resources will not only help our environment, but in these times of increasing energy costs will reduce consumption and bring financial savings.
The Council will also be looking at greater use of renewable energy to generate electricity through ground source heat pumps, solar hot water panels, small-scale wind generation and the possible installation of a hydro-electric system on the River Severn in Shrewsbury.
For more information contact SolarTech Ltd, Unit 2 Sterling Business Park, Top Angel Road, Buckingham Industrial Estate, MK18 1TH.
Tel: 0845 838 2477. Fax: 0845 838 2439 Email: info@solartech.org.uk Web. www.solartech.org.uk
* It estimated that each of the installations will produce 28,200 to 39,600 kWh of electricity each year
** CRC Energy Efficiency scheme, an initiative aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting emissions in large public and private sector organisations: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/pollution/126698.aspx
Public sector industries are some of the best in Britain when it comes to a healthy work-life balance, according to a new poll of graduates. Confidential career review site TheJobCrowd.com asked 3000 graduates in their first three years of employment to score their company on a range of criteria including responsibility, progression opportunities, colleague interaction, training, work-life balance and benefits. Public sector industries came second overall for work-life balance and also scored particularly highly for colleague interaction, responsibility and role enjoyment. The results paint an upbeat image of public sector work and should tempt more university leavers into exploring careers in this sector in future. Network Rail topped the list for the industry with Tube Lines coming a close second and Transport for London third. Science and Technology Facilities Council, Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory, Civil Service Fast Stream and the Bank of England were also included in the list of the top 100 graduate employers. The vast majority of those polled (79%) said they would definitely choose to do the role again – which reflects extremely positively on their employers. A graduate on the Civil Service Fast Stream commented: -We’re given flexible working hours meaning you can get your work done when you’re at your most productive. There’s a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, my colleagues are great and I’ve already been given lots of training and development opportunities. A graduate from Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory added: -There is a real sense that the work you are doing really matters since you are working to support and inform major decisions that will make a huge impact on the UK.” Firms from 17 different industries were featured in the list which comprised of a mixture of established multinationals and smaller employers. The survey asked graduates about the realities of their day to day roles, rather than to predict how they believed the role would be, differing significantly from other graduate recruitment studies. Keren Mitchell, co-founder of TheJobCrowd.com, says the results show public sector work provides a great option for those keen to enjoy both time at work and an active social life. Mr Mitchell said: -The industry came second overall for work-life balance which shows that whilst the jobs are challenging, graduates are not expected to do excessive hours during the early years of their career. Public sector work also scored particularly highly for responsibility which shows graduates are allowed to really get stuck into their roles, learning new skills and taking on larger tasks as early as possible. We spoke to thousands of graduates and have found that public sector work as a whole featured great colleague relationships, fulfilling roles and real responsibility from day one, which will appeal to ambitious university leavers. Co-founder Natasha Freeman, says she hopes the information will provide greater insight for graduates set to enter the working world for the first time. Natasha said: -What we want to stress is that this is data collected from people actually doing the roles. All of the information was collected anonymously and therefore respondents gave a warts and all assessment of their employer and their role which we think will be invaluable to those planning their first steps in the working world. The full ratings for each transport company in the Top 100 guide can be viewed at: TOP 100 GUIDE
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