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 Transformation and flexibility are the two headline themes of Utility Week Live, which returns to the NEC in Birmingham on 23-24 May 2017 bigger and better than ever.
Today’s utilities need to rise to the challenges of changing models of consumption and competition, the demands of sustainability and extreme weather, and political and economic upheaval: all these require a new approach from the essential businesses delivering water, gas and electricity to UK homes and businesses. Transformation and flexibility are therefore not optional for utilities, but the key to survival and success.
Utility Week Live 2017 will bring together these businesses with their supply chains and wider stakeholders to explore the new models of thinking and operating that are demanded by this challenging environment.
With last year’s show featuring more than 100 speakers, 150 exhibitors and 3,000 delegates, the 2017 version promises to grow this still further.
The pan-utility keynote conference will feature top utility leaders debating themes including resilience and decision-making amid uncertainty (including the potential impact of Brexit), skills, sustainability and new business models. ‘Meet the regulator’ and ‘meet the buyer’ sessions will give delegates the chance to pose questions to Ofgem and Ofwat, and for utilities to engage with major energy and water users.
Meanwhile, seminar sessions will once again take place in individual theatres on the show floor dedicated to Water and Energy, and there will be a new Customer Theatre for retail and customer-focussed topics.
Essential show features include the Innovation Zone (organised in partnership with the Energy Innovation Council); the Drilling & Tapping competition, including the World Water Cup (in partnership with the Institute of Water), the Streetworks Village, the Network Zone and the Outdoor Demonstration Zone. To mark the opening of the non-household retail market for water we will also be introducing the Water Retail Pavilion (co-hosted with our sister show edie Live), where water retailers can meet the major business buyers of water.
“After the success of last year, I am extremely excited to announce that Utility Week Live 2017 has launched,” said Amanda Barnes, Chief Executive of Utility Week Live. “It is a great opportunity for the multi-billion pound UK utilities industry to gather over two lively days of networking and come face-to-face with the key decision makers across the gas, electricity and water sectors.”
The Utility Week Live exhibition, technical seminars and keynote plenary sessions are all free to attend, while a paid ticket will be required to gain access to the keynote conference and panel discussions.
www.utilityweeklive.co.uk
WATER THEATRE SESSIONS INCLUDE: Preparing for PR19; Innovation in water; Energy efficiency opportunities; World class water; The circular economy and resource recovery; EU and environmental legislation policy update; Market opening: working with retailers; Water resources and energy from sludge; A sustainable water industry for the future – 2020 and beyond
ENERGY NETWORK THEATRE SESSIONS INCLUDE: Regulation update; The future of innovation; The storage revolution; The data driven network; The future of gas networks; The network of the future; Future heat; The connected customer and the network of the future; Innovation and cross vector thinking
CUSTOMER PROGRAMME THEATRE SESSIONS INCLUDE: Energy retail and the post CMA landscape; The connected customer; Putting customer service at the heart of water companies; Understanding the implications of next day switching; Meeting the needs of vulnerable customers; Smart metering and business transformation; Community energy; Delivering gold standard customer service
KEYNOTE THEATRE SESSIONS INCLUDE: Decision making in the face of uncertainty and turbulence; Smart utilities and their role in smart cities; Meet the Regulators – a Q&A session with Ofgem & Ofwat; Innovation: Digital utilities and the customer interface; Sustainability and climate change resilience; Meet the Buyers – a Q&A session with major energy and water users
Show features
The Innovation Zone: Organised in association with the Energy Innovation Council, this popular feature will showcase the latest game-changing innovations for the gas and electricity industries via technical pitches and live product demonstrations.
Drilling & Tapping championships including the World Water Cup: In partnership with the Institute of Water, the Drilling and Tapping competition sees teams racing against the clock to complete a simulated household connection to a water main. This year the contest incorporates the World Water Cup, with visiting teams competing from the USA and the Netherlands.
The Streetworks Village: The interactive streetworks village will involve a wide range of streetworks solutions providers demonstrating their products on a patchwork of specially-constructed streets.
Water Pavilion: Co-hosted with Utility Week Live’s sister show edie Live, the Water Pavilion will bring together water retailers and major business buyers of water.
The Network Zone: Come along for insights and networking into the wholesale energy market from Network, the dedicated title for electricity, gas and heat distribution professionals.
The Outdoor Demo Zone: Take a breath of fresh air while watching live product demonstrations outdoors from a host of Utility Week Live exhibitors.
Statistics
£791 million: The expected spend by visiting companies in 2016 with exhibitors at Utility Week Live.
The show is attended by 100% of Britain’s water companies, energy companies and network operators.
 David Taylor & Nicola Perry – Leading the Flogas Rural Housing Development Flogas Britain, one of the UK’s leading liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) providers, has created a specialist Rural Housing Development Team, to further strengthen the support it gives to rural, off-grid housing developments.
The team’s core focus will be to help off-grid housing developments operate “as if” they were on the national mains gas network, by creating a miniature gas grid that provides an uninterrupted supply of LPG directly into individual homes, from bulk storage tanks located on site or underground.
Part of DCC Energy, the leading oil and LPG sales and distribution business in Europe, Flogas has been building rural miniature gas grids – often referred to as ‘metered estates’ – for over 30 years, and operates hundreds of them across the UK.
The launch of the Rural Housing Development team sees Flogas expand its offering, increasing the expertise it can give to rural housing developers, architects and home owners, and recognises the rapid growth of the rural house building sector.
The team will consist of specially trained, dedicated experts who will fully manage the LPG installation process from start to finish, from the site appraisal and planning stages, through to system specification, design, installation and aftersales maintenance. Their aim will be to make it as easy as possible for developers, architects, installers and specifiers to build off-grid homes with low cost, efficient and environmentally friendly energy for heating, cooking and hot water. They will also work with existing estates to convert them from oil or solid fuel to LPG, with full project management to ensure a seamless transition.
By operating on LPG as opposed to oil or solid fuels, home owners can make huge cost savings, and reduce their carbon footprint by up to 50%, which from a developer’s perspective will make the homes easier to sell.
In addition to providing hassle-free solutions during the build phase, Flogas will also provide customer service that is second-to-none to the eventual house purchasers. LPG will be delivered via the UK’s largest LPG depot network and storage tanks will be fitted with full telemetry, ensuring supply to the homes is never interrupted. Additionally, each property will be fitted with an individual smart meter to ensure all billing is based on actual readings for that property rather than estimates, and home owners will benefit from competitive pricing, transparent billing and online account management tools.
Nicky Perry, Business Development Manager at Flogas, said: “We’ve been working with rural housing developers for more than 30 years, so we’re delighted to be creating this specialist team to further strengthen the support we can give them.
“We pride ourselves on being experts in energy, and with a wealth of LPG experience, the new team will be able to provide even more tailored solutions to help house builders in rural areas reap the rewards of a more secure, efficient and economical fuel supply.
“Our aim is to make life as easy as possible for both the developers and subsequent home owners. We’ll deal with everything, so developers can focus on building the properties, and home owners will feel like they are on the national grid, enjoying cheaper and greener energy than they would with solid fuel or oil
She concluded: “As space in urban areas becomes progressively limited, we’re seeing more and more homes being built in rural areas, away from the national gas grid. There is therefore a bigger demand for rural heating solutions than ever before; and with home owners looking to keep costs and emissions as low as possible, metered estates are becoming increasingly popular. Our new Flogas team is looking forward to being at the heart of it.”.
Developers interested in finding out more can visit: www.flogas.co.uk/metered-estates-developers or call 0800 313 4720
 Matthew Wort Following Philip Hammond’s first (and last) Autumn Statement yesterday, Matthew Wort, Health and Social Care expert and Partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP commented:
“Philip Hammond says social care is a problem for the next parliament, but the crisis is now.
What do you value more, your wi-fi or your relatives and friends who need care and support? This is the question posed to the general public today as Philip Hammond refused to acknowledge social care in his Autumn Statement. While the Government seemed happy to invest in virtual connectivity, dropping business rates for super fast broadband, the sector that relies on personal connection has been ignored.
The Chancellor declared that social care is a “problem for the next parliament” and he couldn’t be more wrong. It is a crisis now, and it is a crisis that needs answers now. Directors of Adult Social Services accept that 1.6 billion was needed to maintain care at current levels, so given that social care providers now also need to find funding for a 30 pence rise in the National Living Wage services look set to only go one way.
By putting its head in the sand, the government sends a worrying signal to the health and social care industry and a confirmation that the government is no longer focused on improving an industry that is relied upon by at least 2 million of the most vulnerable people in our society.
Sadly, this is no surprise, following Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to mention social care in her 7,000 word Conference speech last month. Not only are the Conservative Party not dealing with the social care time bomb, they’re not even interested.
The sector needs to come together with one voice ahead of the next budget and we all need to make clear what we value more our elderly relatives, those people living with physical or learning disabilities or a faster internet connection?”
 Following the Autumn Statement, Councillor Ray Puddifoot MBE, London Councils’ executive member for adult social care, said:
“The Autumn Statement did not acknowledge the pressures facing adult social care services up and down the country. In London alone the cumulative funding shortfall for adult social care will be at least £800 million by the end of this Parliament.
“Failing to address growing demand for and additional financial burdens on adult social care services will place further strain on the NHS, weaken the care market and deprive vulnerable people of essential care, resulting in poorer general health and services that are not fit for purpose.
“There is still time for government to act by supporting London’s case for devolution of powers and responsibilities linked to the capital’s health and care system. This will make it possible for London to transform services through quicker and deeper integration of health and care services, which is critical to the long term improvement of health of Londoners and sustainability of services.”
If you are involved in managing and maintaining a city’s assets and infrastructure, GIS and engineering projects, join this webinar to learn how the new Reality Lens tool-suite can help visualise, map and measure your infrastructure direct from your desktop, delivering real cost savings and productivity benefits.
When: Tuesday 4th October 2016……2pm-3pm BST (one hour)
The webinar includes an introduction by Andrew Coote – Director WhereConsulting, which will focus on GeoSpatial solutions in Urban Planning.
HERE has been capturing highly accurate geospatial data for more than 30 years and leads the way in the deployment of next generation reality capture to provide lidar-enabled 3D map imagery. Capturing over 700 thousand new points per second, this high-precision geospatial and 3D point cloud data is now available for managing Enterprise applications through HERE’s new product called Reality Lens.
Reality Lens is a unique and scalable tool for infrastructure asset management, GIS and engineering projects that enable you to access complete urban environments. In the webinar we will describe how the map and measure features allow you to locate and gauge your assets with centimetre precision or visualise future constructions.
Webinar highlights:
- An introduction by Andrew Coote – a respected industry leader in the application of geospatial solutions within local Government and urban planning.
- A detailed look at how HERE has used its leadership in 3D imagery and reality capture to create Reality Lens and how it can make a key contribution to city infrastructure planning and management.
- An interactive demonstration of the Reality Lens tool using live London data
Who is the webinar aimed at?
People involved in the provision of UK public service or transport infrastructure, utilities, and construction or urban mobility projects – we will demonstrate how Reality Lens can deliver productivity benefits and real cost savings by reducing transportation or data collection costs.
Register now by clicking the box below:
For more details on HERE reality Lens go to: realitylens.here.com
 Exhibition from 2014-2105 The EEM Supply Chain Showcase takes place in Nottingahm on 29 & 30 September 2016.
EEM Ltd is free to join, not for profit organisation supporting 63 public sector organisations in finding best value products & services through collaborative procurement. EEM secure contracts with 100’s of suppliers and manufacturers, covering all aspects of repairs, maintenance and construction on behalf of our 63 members which results in best value rates and efficiency savings.
EEM Ltd procures all Contracts and Frameworks through the EU creating a compliant and efficient service for the Public Sector reducing both internal and external costs through being a free service.
As a not-for-profit organisation, EEM donates any operating surplus back to the members for the member to use for community projects.
In September 2016 EEM shall be distributing £144,000 in Community Donations, examples of the amounts to be given are: Nottingham £44,213.34, Chesterfield £10,660.67, Mansfield £6,053.93 and Derby 10,794.76.
EEM Supply Chain Showcase 29 & 30 September 2016
What: A 2-day exhibition style and networking event with up to 73 exhibitors supporting the Public Sector (Repairs, Refurbishment and New-build).
Exhibitors: Manufacturers, suppliers and contractors relating to construction and maintenance of social housing and other public sector property.
Invited: All UK public sector organisations, including Housing Providers, Authorities, Universities, Hospitals and the Blue Light Services.
Why: To meet with manufacturers, distributors and contractors who have been procured through an open EU process and to identify efficiency savings through aggregation and volume procurement at no direct cost to the Public Sector.
Where: Trent Vineyard Conference Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2PX
 The 2-day event is split into the following themes:
Day 1: Thursday 29th September 2016: 10.00am – 3.00pm Planned and responsive repairs and maintenance.
Day 2: Friday 30th September 2016: 10.00am – 3.00pm New Build Development and associated services.
Day 1 – Repairs & Maintenance.
Tickets: Free to all Public Sector bodies and Housing Providers. Free entry, Free Coffee and Free Lunch.
For more information and to register please visit: www.eemshowcase2016.eventbrite.co.uk
 Gary Plant, MD, Altius By Gary Plant, Managing Director of supplier assessment and compliance specialist Altius
With stiffer sentencing guidelines for health and safety, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences now in force for England and Wales, public sector organisations should tighten up health and safety compliance.
While organisations may have robust procedures internally, what about health and safety processes of those delivering your outsourced services. It’s necessary to ensure compliance across your entire supply chain.
New sentencing guidelines, which came into force on 1 February 2016, aim to create a consistent, fair and proportionate approach to sentencing organisations or individuals convicted of corporate manslaughter, health and safety and food safety and hygiene offences.
Hitherto, guidance for the courts in dealing with less serious health and safety and food safety offences has been lacking. The comprehensive new guidelines cover the most commonly sentenced health and safety offences and food safety offences in England and Wales.
According to the Sentencing Council, this could cover: “a building firm that causes the death of an employee by not providing the proper equipment for working at height, a restaurant that causes an outbreak of e. coli poisoning through unsafe food preparation, a manufacturer that causes injury to a new worker by not providing training for operating machinery or a gas fitter whose sub-standard work leads to the risk of an explosion in someone’s home.”
 Altius Exigo software screen shot Large organisations (taking into account turnover or other measures of financial health) committing serious offences could feel the full force of the changes in higher penalties. The Sentencing Council has stated that some offenders will be subject to higher penalties, particularly large organisations responsible for more serious offences. But it says that fines will be “fair and proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the means of offenders.” As such, the guidelines set out sentencing ranges that reflect the varied levels of risk of harm that can result from such offences.
The guidelines provide a starting point and a range of possible fines dependent on the seriousness of the offence and how culpable the offender is judged to be. This could range from minor failings in procedures to deliberately dangerous acts. For serious health and safety breaches, individual company directors could face prison sentences and heavy fines.
The new guidelines mean there is nowhere to hide when it comes to facing up to health and safety breaches and even if procedures and policies are robust in your own organisation, you could face exposure from suppliers. It is critical for organisations to scrutinise their health and safety policies, training and compliance, and ensure that risk is assessed across the entire supply chain and standards are applied and continuously monitored.
It’s more crucial than ever before that organisations have robust compliance procedures. This might mean swapping archaic spreadsheet-based compliance systems for more agile compliance software systems that provide total supply chain visibility and a complete health and safety compliance audit trail that is easily accessible and retrievable should a company end up defending itself.
Altius’ managed compliance services and software solutions help public sector organisations to manage compliance across their entire supply chain.
Request a free demo of Altius’ Exigo compliance software system that makes health and safety management easy
Further information www.altiusva.com
 Gary Plant_Managing Director – Altius Vendor Assessment By Gary Plant, Managing Director of supplier assessment and compliance specialist Altius
External suppliers can help public sector organisations reduce cost, boost efficiency and improve quality. But the flip side is that they can also bring liability in the guise of delays, problems, waste, extra cost and adverse PR.
Here’s 10 possible warning signs that you might need to run a supplier health check.
- You don’t have perfect 20:20 vision of your suppliers, contractors and service providers.
Supply chain blind spots are a common symptom of sickly supply chains. Ask yourself: Do you have full visibility of your suppliers and contractors? Are you able to plot trends and spot weaknesses by mapping the full historical data? Do you have sub-contractors in your sights?
- You have data overload.
Have the simple spreadsheets you set up years ago grown enormous and complex? Do these spreadsheets align with your other back office systems? Can you use the information collaboratively. How easy is it to turn the information into useful management reports and instantly retrieve requested data? If you are relying on manual processes to manage a large supply chain, chances are that you will be drowning in data.
- You’re taking no chances and audit everyone.
There’s no doubt that seeing something with your own eyes gives you an extra degree of confidence, but it’s expensive and often ineffective. The frequently audited supplier can becoming proficient at passing audits. Audits can be a very powerful tool if used sparingly and positively, but when overdone they become a drain on both supplier and client.
- Your cyber defence and data protection strategy is still on the to-do list.
One of the newest threats to your supply chain is going to get bigger and more sinister in years to come. Failing to ensure that your suppliers are cyber-compliant and data protection measures are in order can leave your business open to catastrophic breaches of data and large associated fines. Make sure a comprehensive cyber defence and data protection strategy is in place and regularly update to combat the latest threats.
- You don’t have clear accountability lines for assuring subcontractors.
A common concern among managers is that while they’ve got good assurance that their suppliers and contractors are in good shape, their visibility of the next tier down of the supply chain is poor. The natural tendency is to want to gain assurance of that tier and beyond too. These conscientious managers often start the process of getting to know who the sub-suppliers are and start checking them, but the process is long and complex so it isn’t always completed. Sometimes they will insist sub-suppliers are chosen from an approved list. But when things go wrong, the first tier supply will rightly point out that you, the client, said that the sub-supplier was OK. With the best intentions, you’ve taken away their responsibility and accountability to manage their suppliers.
- Your insurance bill is eyewatering.
Rising insurance premiums may be a signal that there’s risk lurking among your outsourced services and your insurer doesn’t believe you have things under full control. By demonstrating that you have a grip on supplier compliance, you should see premiums fall.
- Team members are tightly stretched
Have you got too many people bogged down in non-value added, reactive activities? Are you under-using their skills to manage a clunky supplier compliance process? Wouldn’t it be better to utilise their talents for value added activities, such as developing supply contracts, rather than supervising and ‘policing’ them.
- You worry about legal action.
If things go wrong with outsourced contracts, how easy would it be to defend your actions? Have you got a full audit trail of all the up to the minute evidence available to instantly view and download anytime and anywhere?
- You’re asking too much from supplier assessment.
Is your supplier assessment tailored precisely to the risk each supplier represents and proportional and reasonable? Are your suppliers asked to jump though unnecessary hoops and assessed on criteria that have no relevance to the work they will undertake for you? Do you stress your contractors out each and every year, rather than keeping a continuous dialogue going and updating their evidence, as required?
- There’s a ‘dark’ side to your compliance process.
Does your assessment system simply measure compliance and financial solvency once a year – leaving you in the ‘dark’ about the other 364 days and crossing your fingers that you’ve got things covered for the entire 12 months. What happens when there’s new legislation or business requirements? In these instances, do you have to wait until the assessment anniversary to bring compliance up to date?
Altius has launched an online supply chain health check tool that will demonstrate how much visibility and control you have and identify possible areas of risk. Supply chain managers submitting answers to the quick online questionnaire receive a customised report highlighting strengths and weaknesses in their supplier relationships and suggested actions for improvement.
Complete the supply chain health check at: www.altiusva.com/supply-chain-health-check
 Support Worker Nicholas Blunt, PC Michael Clarke, Specialist Mental Health Practitioner Louise Shaw Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and local health services are working in partnership to help people with mental health needs who frequently come into contact with the police.
A 12 month pilot will see mental health professionals from Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust based at the Rochdale Police Station. They will work alongside a dedicated police co-ordinator to help identify and engage with people with mental health needs who routinely come into contact with the police services. Once identified, the Mental Health Practitioner will assess if the vulnerable individual requires further support from either mental health, social care or other support services.
Louise Shaw, Specialist Mental Health Practitioner at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said “This is a new and exciting opportunity to build upon the relationship between local mental health and police services.
“It is evidence of the commitment from the local NHS and the police in providing a strong and successful partnership with the common aim of improving the quality of life for some of the most vulnerable within our community.
“We are confident that this will not only bring about positive changes to the lives of people in need, but it will also reduce the demand on the police, health and social care and other support services in our local area.”
Chief Superintendent Chris Sykes said: “Our foremost objective with this pilot is to provide the most effective care and support to those with mental health issues, as soon we are aware of their needs. Having mental health professionals on hand will speed up this process and in turn benefit those most in need.”
Clinical Lead for the Clinical Commissioning Group, Dr Anirban Roy has been instrumental in shaping the pilot, he said; “The team from Rochdale are already working with a number of people who have frequent contact with the police, and with the support of other health professionals are identifying problem cases before they can escalate, helping to reduce the demand placed on a number of front line emergency services. We are confident that the pilot will not only improve the health and wellbeing of these individuals, it will be positive for the community as a whole.”
Joining Louise Shaw on the pilot project will be Mental Health Support Worker Nicholas Blunt, with support from police co-ordinator PC Michael Clarke.
 Andy Brewin, Social Housing and Social Value Business Manager, AkzoNobel Dulux Trade brand owner, AkzoNobel was named as a key contributor to the development of a new toolkit at its launch last week – Social Value and Procurement: A toolkit for housing providers and contractors – that defines and measures social value through the life cycle of the procurement process.
The toolkit developed by HACT with the support of solicitors, Trowers & Hamlins LLP and procurement specialists, echelon Consultancy Ltd alongside contractors and Housing Associations, enables Housing Providers to quantify and measure social value generated through the supply chain. The HACT social value methodology, Wellbeing Valuation , provides a consistent mechanism to enable contractors and manufacturers to identify and respond to the needs of registered providers.
AkzoNobel was the only manufacturer on the HACT-led working group that designed the toolkit, demonstrating the company’s commitment to helping Housing Providers and contractors define and deliver social value within procured contracts. The toolkit will enable companies bidding for contracts in the housing sector, including Dulux Trade Contract Partners, to clarify precisely how they will drive social value through delivery of the contract.
Andy Brewin, Social Housing and Social Value Business Manager, AkzoNobel, one of the speakers at the launch, spoke of his optimism that the new HACT toolkit will help the supply chain to achieve ambitious targets linked to social value measures. He also told the audience of professionals from the Housing Provider, Authority and developer community including Northern Housing Consortium, Wandle and Wates that the toolkit will help to positively impact the lives of people living and working within the social housing sector. Reiterating the responsibility of companies throughout the supply chain to drive forward and improve social value ratings, Andy Brewin used AkzoNobel as an example of a manufacturer that not only uses its paints to demonstrate social value but that is committed to driving up and improving training prospects and skills-based learning for housing sector beneficiaries.
Andy Brewin, AkzoNobel said: “We are delighted to have been invited to work with HACT and the other partners on the development of the toolkit. It was important to us as a company to contribute to its development from the point of view of a manufacturer as the whole supply chain has to be considered if attempting to seamlessly deliver social value through the procurement process.”
“Our participation has allowed us to evaluate our own social value to the housing sector. Our social value will be measured through our future product or service developments, through our brands such as Dulux Trade, our new training facility, the Dulux Academy for professional decorators, trainees and apprentices and through the scheme we run for our Contract Partners. Our participation on the working group has reinforced that manufacturers, contractors, Housing Providers and Authorities need to be aligned so that they can recognise and meet the needs of the people that they serve.”
For further information about the toolkit, please visit hact.org.uk/procurement-toolkit or www.duluxtradepaintexpert.co.uk
 Mark Hall By Mark Hall, public sector director at Redcentric; and Peter Nailer, senior bid manager at Redcentric
From vehicle hire to laundry services to enterprise technology – there are now countless purchasing frameworks for almost anything the public sector needs to buy. Take the Digital Marketplace, specifically covering technology. The several frameworks within it, such as G-Cloud, comprise numerous different lots with each of these offering a variety of technology choices. Add to this all of the other buying organisations and their frameworks and quickly the options for the public sector buyer become complex and downright confusing! As an IT services provider included on frameworks such as G-Cloud 7 and the NOECPC Hosting framework, at Redcentric we have had a front row view of how frameworks have evolved. Originally established to help simplify purchasing (particularly for smaller public sector buyers with limited buying power) and bring cohesion to public sector procurement, there have been many success stories. However, as the number of frameworks grows by the day, are frameworks still doing the job they set out to?
Considering that sales over G-Cloud recently hit £1 billion, it is clear to see that this framework has achieved its goal. With some 1,900 approved suppliers in place it has created a highly competitive marketplace centred on the government’s ground breaking ‘Cloud First’ strategy for both SMEs and large IT suppliers.
The conditions set by G-Cloud encourage fairness by ensuring a level of transparency. For example, suppliers have to publicly display pricing on the framework to give each other an accurate view of what they are charging, allowing competitors to set their rates accordingly. Also thanks to G-Cloud contracts not exceeding two years, buyers aren’t stuck with suppliers for an excessive length of time, and can rethink their options as they themselves evolve.
But the benefits and adoption of G-Cloud do not resonate across many other frameworks. Some place a cap on the number of suppliers able to win a place on the framework effectively creating monopolies dominated by big players who have the resources to apply. These caps fail to properly harness competitiveness amongst suppliers and do little to encourage them to innovate. Some framework contracts are set for as much as four years, tying organisations into long relationships that may go beyond their requirements.
The increase in volume of frameworks is also a problem. This rise is partly due to fact that any organisation operating in the public or not-for-profit sector has the authority to establish a framework and encourage other organisations to use it – provided they comply with EU law. Everything from schools and colleges to district councils and charities have done so, drawn to the commercial gains and incentives. For every sale made over a framework the founder receives a commission of between 1 and 5%.
 Frameworks: a victim of their own success So let’s consider, does the current framework landscape meet its goal: to make public sector buying easier and more cohesive? The answer is complex- in some cases, like G-Cloud, the answer is yes, in many cases the answer is no.
Speaking from a supplier perspective, the sheer volume of frameworks that exist, even just in relation to IT, create pressure to apply for a place on them all in order to avoid missing out on potential business. This can be a full time job, with smaller suppliers who lack resources pushed out. Once again this means that larger suppliers are likely to realise greater opportunities, reducing the ability of frameworks to deliver a level playing field. But more worryingly is the impact on innovation. As the choice of suppliers diminishes so too does the choice of innovative and cutting-edge solutions from start-ups that lack experience and funds to gain a place on the framework.
As technology frameworks have increased in public sector procurement, the IT community has responded with a rise in the level of subcontracting used to deliver the work required against them. However, this goes against the transparency that frameworks are meant to provide. Naturally for simplicity sake, IT managers tend to prefer a single supplier to meet all of the organisation’s needs, meaning that many IT suppliers have to outsource to deliver the full service. But this too favours the big suppliers, as they can afford to win a place on the framework, but then subcontract most of the work to smaller companies who can only be on a framework via their contractee. Larger suppliers retain a cut of the profit generated from the sale, passing small margins on to contractors who deliver much of the work.
Public sector buyers are already faced with complexities when using frameworks to procure resources. While the frameworks aim to support buyers by undertaking compliance checks of suppliers, there can still be a burden on the buyer as regulations change or are updated. Take the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which is available in a 127 page document at www.legislation.gov.uk. While it’s down to suppliers to review and ensure they’re compliant, it’s often a non-procurement professional, such as an IT manager, who is the one making a technology purchasing decision with limited knowledge, understanding or time to review regulations.
So how can the situation be improved? Firstly a holistic review of all frameworks in operation across the public sector would help to show where effort is being duplicated and if there is an opportunity to pool the buying power of multiple framework operators and buying organisations. Frameworks need to start properly delivering on the goal of bringing the buying power of many public sector organisations together, to forge better deals and consistency, rather than just flooding the market with different options. There should be more regulation of framework provision, rather than an open book, ‘the more the merrier’, approach.
The popularity of a framework approach has certainly taken off, but in recent years we’ve seen the market grow in complexity rather than simplify purchasing. With large companies still dominating an increasing number of frameworks, and many lacking transparency with regards to sub-contracting, it’s possible the market may well end up counter-productive. Clearly this is where the success of G-Cloud should be heralded as a way forward for other service areas and lead others by example.
While the copious amount of frameworks may baffle public sector buyers, service providers can step in to help reduce the confusion. Redcentric offers a free consultation service in line with the ‘Cloud First’ goal. Our service establishes how Cloud and hybrid options can help specific public sector organisations achieve their objectives, and determines what digital services they will benefit from. The benefit of Cloud, including flexibility and remote working, are too plentiful not to adopt. And a successful implementation starts with a consultation to see how it can best suit the individual organisation.
To discover how Redcentric keeps it simple – providing efficient, secure and flexible Cloud solutions for the UK public sector contact us on:
Call: 0808 164 3515
Visit: www.redcentricplc.com/public-sector
Email: sayhello@redcentricplc.com
Oldham Council welcome Transport for Greater Manchester proposal to switch to new battery powered buses in the future.
 The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed the announcement earlier this week that officials from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have met with the Volvo Bus Corporation to discuss proposals to replace the current bus fleet with a new electric fleet run on rechargeable batteries.
Councillor Sykes represents Oldham Council on the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee (TfGMC). On hearing the news he said:
“I am pleased that Volvo have indicated that they would like to start a trial of up of thirty new battery-powered buses in Manchester city centre in 2017, and that they would also like to back this with an investment in charging points. I look forward to the day when these buses run in Oldham and they will help make a contribution to tackling the air quality issues we have.”
“The Liberal Democrats firmly believe that making our public transport system greener must be seen as a priority,” added Councillor Sykes. “We need to move away from fuel-guzzling, carbon-emitting vehicles to clean, quiet electric vehicles. We have already made progress with hybrid vehicles but this represents the next step. I look forward to the day when passengers can ride on any bus knowing that they have made a green choice for their journey.”
 LEGALEX, 11-12 May 2016, ExCel London – stand L554
PHS Data Solutions, a division of the PHS Group, will be promoting at Legalex, their latest document protection and digitalisation schemes to help legal practices combat data security threats.
As data protection laws demand more proactivity from company executives, business information security defences must be strong to protect practices and to avoid serious data breaches and the associated stiff penalties.
PHS Data Solutions is a leading player in the scanning, storage and shredding industry for a variety of sectors including Government and legal organisations. It offers outstanding services to support Law firms who need to bring their business practice into the digital age.
Courtrooms across the UK are being catapulted into the digital age by the Ministry of Justice’s digitalisation programme which aims to make obsolete the 160 million sheets of paper generated by the courts each year. Legal firms will need to make sure they are up to speed with the digital super highway and its requirements for compliance if they are to remain at the forefront of their industry.
Scanning and data capture solutions and services, such as those offered by PHS Data Solutions, enable organisations to capture, process, manage, retrieve and share business-critical documents, archives and information digitally across and between organisations. Information flow and security is improved resulting in businesses needing much less space for the storage of documents and allowing them to rest assured that they have a robust system in place to minimise data breaches.
The legal sector has obligations to keep paper records which may create large quantities of paperwork needing management and storage. PHS Data Solutions offers a secure off-site document management facility that can also provide a scanning service to avoid transportation costs and any potential for loss in transit of important information.
Nowadays many businesses are required to keep confidential client information, as well as employee or company data, for a minimum amount of time. This could include: employee agreements, business loan documentation, litigation records and many sensitive documents which require careful management. It is important not to just be compliant but to carefully dispose of documents you may no longer need. The risks of keeping old documents containing sensitive data can be high, possible resulting in identity theft, fraud and potential financial loss or reputational damage.
At Legalex PHS Data Solutions will demonstrate how to create a sole chain of custody for the most sensitive of data which ensures a minimum of risk of being breached. The company is renowned for providing tailored and unique document digitisation services and solutions to meet each client’s individual requirements. It numbers amongst its clients Ward Hadaway (one of the UK’s Top 100 law firms).
The company’s UK team will be on hand at the exhibition to answer any questions which Law firms may have on how to spring clean their document scanning, storage and destruction processes. PHS Data Solutions Managing Director, Anthony Pearlgood, said: “We are delighted to make our debut at Legalex and to be able to showcase our document protection schemes. We really can help businesses stay secure and provide them with business continuity following any scenario.”
Legalex must be a priority if your legal practice needs to know how to address the demands of business digitisation and the safe-keeping or destruction of sensitive data. Be sure to visit PHS Data Solutions on stand L554 and find out more about what one of the UK’s leading document capture and conversion specialists can do to help deliver a complete workflow solution for your business.
If you can’t make the show but would like more information then contact Ruth Williams, Head of Marketing on 029 20809111 or email ruthwilliams@phs.co.uk or www.phsdatasolutions.co.uk
 The Altius supplier assessment and supply chain compliance framework By Gary Plant, Managing Director of supplier assessment and compliance specialist Altius
Outsourcing can help tightly stretched public sector budgets stretch further and free up resources. But it can go spectacularly wrong if your supplier assessment and compliance systems are weak, or you don’t have good visibility of your contractors and their sub contractors.
Say no to spreadsheets
You don’t need superpowers to cure supply chain blind spots and reduce risk, but you do need modern software systems. Spreadsheets and questionnaires are the ‘kryptonite’ that weakens effective outsourcing and supplier management. These manual processes are slow, cumbersome, time consuming, and inflexible.
By making use of specialist software, public sector managers can simplify the task and minimise the cost of compliance management. This will mean that managers can focus on developing supplier value, rather than supervising and ‘policing’ the contract.
Modern software systems, such as Altius’ Exigo, can keep pace with rapid change and contract growth, and can be used collaboratively. The flexible software package also integrates with other back office systems to retrieve audit evidence and generate quick management reports.
Three steps to compliance
Managers can follow a three-step compliance process, which is underpinned by Altius’ Exigo software solution.
1.Assess capability
a. Supplier information is needed to establish capability to carry out the service or deliver the product required. But there’s little point in gathering the same information for each supplier. It must be pertinent to the service they are providing or goods they are supplying.
b. Verify the supplier information – don’t take the claims of a supplier, always verify that their credentials are valid. Checks that are carried out on supplier information should always be evidence based and may involve verification with certification bodies or insurance companies. This evidence shouldn’t just be checked once a year, it should always be live, up to date and instantly retrievable.
c. Authorise the information – once a supplier is thoroughly checked and approved, ensure that only approved suppliers are used by all departments. All too often the reality is that different departments stray from the approved suppliers list to appoint non-approved suppliers based on cheaper price. This can prove very costly if that decision also ‘buys-in’ risk.
2.Manage supply contracts
a. Set clear policies and rules – for clear mutual understanding of expectations. Share with the supplier and their employees exactly the kind of work that they have been verified to carry out – in granular detail. Don’t permit them to do work outside of the scope you’ve checked them for.
b. Contracts and specification – formalise your requirements so that nothing is left to chance.
c. Controls and restraints – ensure that suppliers understand any control processes that need to be followed, e.g. site access control on construction sites, exposure to heat, radiation, etc.
3.Monitor suppliers
a. Behaviour – don’t let the robustness of your monitoring lull your suppliers into complacency and remove their sense of responsibility for their own compliance and performance. It’s important to be clear about where accountability lies, particularly where sub contractors are involved.
b. Audit – while physical audits have their place, technology can be used at lower cost to provide an audit trail This can replace sprawling spreadsheets – minimising timescales and maximising efficiency.
c. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – it’s often said that what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done. It’s important to gather, measure and analyse statistics that illustrate whether the desired outcomes and objectives were achieved, e.g. . % delivered on time, % fixed first time, % call outs achieved within target time.
How Exigo software helps
The Exigo software can be configured to assess performance and compliance for many business areas, such as health and safety, bribery and corruption policies, CSR, quality, environmental and employment law, and information and data security compliance
It is cloud-based, so requires no hardware or software installation, and integrates with existing enterprise systems. It provides automated report generation and data exportation compatible with other business formats, such as Excel.
Control and transparency
 Screenshot showing the Altius Exigo compliance software system. Unlike spreadsheets and questionnaires, Exigo allows you to formulate your company’s requirements and convey these quickly and easily to your suppliers. Changes can be factored in quickly and easily and you and your suppliers can work collaboratively..
Visibility
Exigo provides a real-time view of compliance, enabling you to check the current and past status of any supplier at any time. It instantly highlights your weak points and potential issues, allowing you to resolve them before they become a risk.
Protection
When things go wrong you need to be in a position to identify how and why. Exigo tracks everything automatically. Its built-in audit trail enables you to retrieve the exact status of a supplier from any previous point in time, along with the evidence and rationale for the decisions made.
Take a look at the Exigo video and request a demo of the software: resources.altiusva.com/request-a-demo-of-altius-exigo-software
Further information www.altiusva.com/software
 By Stuart Littleford MCIJ
Police are investigating after the Government & Public Sector Journal (GPSJ) discovered school children being asked to indecently expose themselves live online during lesson time.
The school children are using a popular live streaming app installed on their smart phones to broadcast live to thousands of viewers around the world. Teachers are unaware of what is going on as the children are cleverly hiding their phones out of sight.
At one school, Becket Keys Church of England School, in Brentford, Essex, two female pupils were seen publicly broadcasting live during one lesson with their teacher present at the front of the class, totally unaware of what was taking place, the girls chatted to viewers live on their phone and showed various shots of the classroom and the teacher.
Two viewers asked one of the schoolgirls to “film up her skirt” and another asked one of them to expose her breasts, another said he wanted to “f*** their brains out”, all these vile remarks were seen by hundreds of other viewers. There was a constant flow of generally abusive and degrading sexual comments made to the children whilst they were online.
Another school, Greenshaw High School in Sutton, Surrey, saw two girls streaming live from a lesson with their phone cleverly hidden between two computer monitors and out of sight of their teacher, they proceeded to give out their social media contact details to viewers who asked for them – with one viewer asking if they “were watching porn”.
A female pupil at the Harris Academy Falconwood, in Kent, had her phone hidden in her school bag and was able to talk into it unnoticed during her lesson, one comment amongst many made to her was “you show boobs”, the broadcast ended abruptly as the teacher came to stand nearby.
Other live feeds showed schoolgirls in a PE lesson at a South of England academy, again online strangers made lewd sexual comments including “I am wa**ing over you” and “get your t*ts out”.
Pupils at secondary schools in towns such as Hull, Huddersfield, Barnet, Haringey, Lewisham, Derby, Sutton, Greenwich, Newham, Lewisham, Enfield, Haringey and many more, have been seen broadcasting live from lessons, leaving them open to the same type of online abuse. These live feeds are taking place all over the UK at all times of the school day and for different lengths of time.
 Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth and Shadow Minister for Disabled People, said: “This is a shocking revelation by the Government & Public Sector Journal.” Although none of the broadcasts we saw showed any sexual or indecent images, the comments made by some of those watching was clearly an attempt to have the girls expose themselves sexually. Many law enforcement agencies and child protection units would class this as grooming and exploitation. The ages of those contacting the girls could not be determined though due to the anonymity of the site.
GPSJ immediately contacted all the schools that could be identified to ensure they could follow their safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of the children. None of the schools we contacted were prepared to provide us with any comment over our findings.
Ironically, mixed in with the list of live broadcasts from schools was a live meeting of the Warwickshire Police and Crime Panel.
A leading children’s charity said it was extremely concerned at the way social media was being used in schools and that makers of such apps should act responsibly to help protect children.
Barnardo’s chief executive, Javed Khan said: “It’s deeply shocking that children are being groomed and exploited via this social media app while in school where they should be safe. “A wider conversation needs to be had around how children use their phones and the consequences in school and at home. The companies making apps must exercise social responsibility and moderate content to help protect children and alert police to sexual predators – here in the UK and across the globe. “Technology has inevitably changed the way young people communicate and meet online. Barnardo’s wants lessons on sex and healthy relationships to be compulsory in all schools, so children can understand the risks of social media apps like this.”
A Department for Education spokesperson told us: “Nothing is more important than keeping our children safe. Our statutory guidance is crystal clear that anyone who has concerns about pupils’ welfare should refer to local authorities or the police if a crime is committed, and all schools must act swiftly on allegations. All schools must have designated safeguarding leads and staff should speak to them with any worries about a child’s welfare.”
Politicians have also told us that the government should now make it one of its top priorities to ensure children are given adequate sex and relationships education, and are fully aware of online dangers.
Debbie Abrahams, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth and Shadow Minister for Disabled People, said: “This is a shocking revelation by the Government & Public Sector Journal and we must all do everything we can to warn children, their parents, carers, and schools about the potential dangers.
“Labour has highlighted increasing evidence that access to new media and technology is creating new and unprecedented risks for young people.
“We’ve also said that we want to make personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) classes, which covers age appropriate sex education, compulsory in all state-funded schools in England and this would be one of the first things Labour would do in government. On the other hand the Government is only saying it will keep the subject’s status under review.
“This seems short-sighted to me when you consider the official guidance to all schools, including academies, on sex-and-relationships education has not been updated since 2000, before the smartphone generation were even born.
“The Government really should make this issue a priority and stop stalling.
“The longer they stall the more young people will be hurt by this misuse of modern technology.”
A headmaster at one London school, who wished to remain anonymous, told GPSJ: “At our school (an 11-18 London inner city comprehensive) phones are not allowed to be used, seen or heard whilst on the school site. They are confiscated if seen or heard and returned at the end of the week. This is done for two reasons – distraction from learning and the concerns about inappropriate use.
“In addition to this all students receive instruction on the safe use of phones, social networking and electronic communication through their ICT and PSHE curriculums with additional meetings for parents held each year to discuss issues of concern relating to phone an internet safety.
“We are aware of cases where phones and electronic communication are used inappropriately and we see it as our key duty to keep our students safe. If we were to be aware of any issues compromising safety we would immediately involve parents, police and local authority safeguarding officers immediately.”
Professor John Walker, an expert witness in the field of cyber and digital communications at Westminster University, told us: “Such online exchanges are fraught with danger, just because of the potential of being subjected to grooming by an unknown party who may not be all they appear to be. But the dangers faced also concern such mages being utilised to embarrass, and to implicate the sender to be subjected to blackmail -an incident we have already seen to suffer a tragic outcome.
“It should be incumbent on all schools, and academic institutions who host such young clients to ensure that all staff are aware of the dangers, and that they are prepared to engage when they encounter events which implicate such activities. I would wish also that such institutions are aware of the COPINE and SAP Scale which document in detail the level of an abuse image to assure they are dealt with in accord with the law – and where required reported to the relevant Law Enforcement Authorities.”
The ‘periscope’ app is not only popular with young people, it is used by many businesses, media organisations, police forces and charities to stream meetings and conferences live. Viewers can type comments and ask questions in real time, these are displayed in real time on the screen for all the viewers to see. Love heart symbols can be sent by participants of the feeds to show how much they like the content they are watching.
Government & Public sector Journal has been in contact with the National Crime Agency and CEOP to report our findings, and will be cooperating with any investigations.
A police source has told us they understand one of the pupils identified in these broadcasts has possibly been exchanging “indecent images” of herself through other social media apps.
A spokesperson for the NCA told us: “We need to wait until appropriate enquiries have been made. We cannot comment without better understanding what we are being asked to comment on.
 Grant Palmer, Managing Director of Axiell UK By Grant Palmer, Managing Director of Axiell UK
With the rise of the internet and the influence that technology has on social behaviour, it’s now possible for people to research, learn and interact without leaving their home or workplace.
So what are the trends impacting public library usage and how can local authorities entice visitors to frequent more often? Grant Palmer, Managing Director of Axiell UK, discusses some of the findings in the recent The Library of the Future report.
Our research shows us that more than half (56%) of those in the UK aged 16 years or over visit their public library, but visits are not a regular occurrence, with people making a trip to their library just 23 times a year on average. Libraries were established as places for reading and learning, so it was not surprising to see that the majority of people are using their library for this very purpose, with around two-thirds (65%) of people visiting their library to borrow a book to read. However, we also identified a number of other drivers that are influencing behaviours and visits.
Today’s library visitors
The traditional role of the library is still important. More than half (52%) of adults like borrowing books and educational DVDs from a library rather than buying their own, for example, while 37% told us they make visits to research or work and around a quarter (27%) go for casual reading within the institution itself.
That said, technology and its influence on public libraries continues to dramatically change the landscape. So it was not surprising to learn that around two thirds (67.4%) of adults are interested in seeing at least one new digital element from their public library, from online community pages to eBook borrowing to ICT training in the public library itself. Wi-Fi and broadband services are also a pull for some, with around one in five respondents visiting their libraries to access the internet.
Creating a community hub: new services for greater appeal
Our research revealed that the public places high value on both ‘community’ and the role of the library.
The appetite for community is strong, with 78% of the adults we surveyed agreeing that having a hub for their village or town was important. Engagement is also key, with 77% wanting to know people in their local area and 71% saying they are keen to have a place to meet others in their local community.
When we questioned adults on their views of libraries specifically, a significant 89% agreed that libraries are an important part of the community (46% of these strongly agree). There is a clear opportunity for public libraries to become the hub of the local communities that they serve, but the question is: how?
Evolving the services of the library is key, with 66% of adults saying they would visit their public library more if it offered a better range of services. Demand was high for spaces that offer entertainment and facilitate interaction, including social clubs, coffee shops or cinema rooms to watch short films.
Expanding educational opportunities was also cited, including free language classes, courses to learn digital skills, or the opportunity to meet and talk to experts or authors. A significant 61% of adults also expressed interest in their local library offering services such as a post office or parcel collection desk.
Creating the library of tomorrow means maximising relevance to the community and its citizen demographics. It’s about creating outstanding customer experiences and embracing digital services to engage with patrons wherever and whenever they want to engage, and maintain a position as a critical community service.
With better technology, libraries can understand their customers’ preferences better and use this information to target them with more personalised communications. It’s not about being ‘big data’ experts, but using technology to leverage on data to essentially be able to offer people what they want.
Ultimately, any library engagement strategy needs to be about knowing your audience better and offering services to meet their needs. It is impossible for any librarian to memorise the needs of every visitor, but there are information systems and technology that is ideally placed to do just that – quickly and accurately.
With the right tools in place, libraries can not only work smarter but create an environment that allows staff to focus their time on engaging with and helping members of the community, whether they are in the library, at offsite events or online.
Axiell is the is the leading supplier of IT systems and services to European archives, libraries and museums with technically advanced and innovative solutions developed in close cooperation with its customers.
 Paul Excel with the tabs app design award With technology’s ability to drive efficiencies, cut costs and improve scalability, flexibility, productivity and immediacy, adoption of new smart technologies is increasingly being cited as the antidote to the swathing cuts hitting the public sector. The government’s G-Cloud 7 digital marketplace, where such technology as multi-award winning tabs®(www.mytabsapp.com) – the 24/7 mobile shift management solution, that can save 40% in recruitment and deployment time and costs, and is fully automated from shift alert, through acceptance and compliance to payroll and sign off – represents a seismic shift from 2010 where only 38% of the public sector were prepared to rely on such technologies, to 78% prepared to do so last year.
By the end of this year local governments will have seen their spending reduced by 35%, compared with 8% in education and a small but welcome 4% increase in health, some councils see a perfect storm on the horizon with an increasing need for elderly social care and yet ever decreasing budgets. That horizon seems primarily in focus in Metropolitan regions, with many urban local authorities stating they face a ‘tipping point’ by the end of 2016. Technology, like tabs® that truly can save local governments 40% in staff implementation, and even drastically reduce reliance on expensive recruitment agencies, could indeed help rebalance this tipping point.
Professional services leader, Grant Thornton’s ‘2016 Tipping Point Report’, the third annual financial health check of English local authorities, stated. “The majority of councils in the south east – with the exception of one single London borough – felt they will approaching a financial tipping point during 2016/17 and expected that to extend into 2018. Councils in the south west, Midlands and the north concurred. And while many local government leaders are realistic enough to accept the inevitability of the government’s funding policies, some commentators question the sustainability of the current funding model.”
PWC, another professional service giant say in their public sector blog. “The promise to free councils from their council tax caps if they agree to invest more in social care – though welcome – is not the long-term answer to making elderly care sustainable. It will, however, offer some much-needed respite from the diet of cuts that the care sector has been experiencing – in the last year alone 3,000 care home beds have been lost with a ricochet felt in hospitals throughout the country.”
In essence the cuts, caps and increased pressure on the public sector will continue, forcing local government leaders to seek evermore creative ways to save money. And with pre-approved budget-saving technology, such as those on G-cloud 7 – tabs® in particular – the road to substantial savings is proving to be a digital one.
tabs® – described as “recruitment revolution” by one of the judges of the technology’s 5 awards and 8 nominations (in technology, app design, HR and business innovation) from across two continents – is wholly customisable and so can be deployed across the entire public sector, from social services to HR departments, health to emergency services, social care to education. With the ability to issue live 24/7 job alerts to permanent workforces and recruit temporary workers, freelancers and contractors via smart technology, tabs® is reactive to its users’ busiest periods, sickness and holiday cover on hour by hour basis.
Paul Excel previously Chief Technology Officer at BT and Chairman of Global iLabs, the makers of tabs® says, “The public sector and the NHS are under increasing budget pressures, but also facing an ever-growing need. tabs® represents a potential saving of millions for councils, the NHS and even the police, fire, emergency and prison services where staff are deployed around the clock and paid via the public purse.”
Greg Wixted MD of Global iLabs and Inventor in Chief of tabs® welcomes the opportunity show local authority and public sector leaders just how the solution will create huge savings. “The hundreds of hours of insight that defined in invention process of tabs® coupled with the cutting edge technology means it truly does impact positively on budgets. Our commitment to continually update our technology and offer that free of charge to our customers means that the savings tabs® offers will last a generation. ”
tabs® is a powerful yet simple mobile solution enabling live, fully automated staff deployment.
tabs® utilises smartphone technology via a dedicated app and web portal and is customisable for all businesses.
tabs® is more than just an app – it’s a complete end-to-end technology platform that saves time and money.
What are the benefits of tabs®?
- Cost effective – reduces costs by up to 30%
- Flexible – buy-out or opt-in service via subscription
- Efficient – saves businesses up to 40% in man hours
- Accessible – for anyone with mobile phone, tablet or laptop
- Customisable – custom- built for your business needs
- Scalable – for local, national and global businesses
Who is tabs® for?
tabs® is specifically designed to recruit and deploy permanent and temporary shift workers, contractors, freelancers, on site or in the field. It works 24/7 across multi-site locations locally and nationally.
tabs® can be applied across social services, health, social care, finance, environmental services, education, call centres, transportation, food service, local government, police, emergency services, probation and prison services
What does tabs® do?
tabs® unique features include:
- Live geo located search
- Live rostering & schedule view
- 24/7 issuing of shift requests
- Live transport & route planner
- Acceptance via smartphones
- Manages payroll & invoicing data
- Compliance document management
- In-app compliance revalidation
- AWR, WTR, holiday & sickness pay calculation
- Automated timesheet sign-off
- Comprehensive reporting tools
- Social media integration
New features of tabs® are regularly developed to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of technological advancements. These innovations are offered free to customers www.mytabsapp.com
 Sennheiser Presence Sennheiser, a leading provider of headsets and speakerphone solutions, has been chosen by the Environment Agency as sole provider of its headsets and speakerphone equipment in a major revision of its telephony systems. The headsets and speakerphones are currently being rolled out across the agency to its office-based and mobile workforce as part of a refit of the organisation designed to improve quality and reduce costs. Sennheiser was chosen due to a range of benefits including comfort, long-lasting operation and importantly its strong adherence to environmental factors.
The Challenge:
The Environment Agency is in the process of replacing its telephony service as part of a move from traditional PSTN delivery to a VoIP Unified Communications solution. The basic need to communicate effectively and flexibly is of paramount importance, and there is a strong focus on finding a solution that provides quality, clarity and usability while remaining cost-effective.
The solution:
The Environment Agency conducted an extensive in-house trial of a range of leading headsets and telephony equipment as part of its move to a Unified Communications and Jabber-compatible workforce. The aim of the project was to promote interdependent communication between flexible, agile teams that could work from anywhere and with anyone, from employees to partners and customers. This process must be conducted effectively and fluidly, and so an endpoint solution to enable staff to do so while reflecting the dynamic nature of the revised operation was a must.
“We knew that our endpoint devices were an important part of the service. This is a business process change facilitated by technology, so these devices had to be the same standard as the service we were creating,” said Ben Thomas, Project Manager for the Environment Agency. “We went to market to find out what was out there and narrowed it down to three key suppliers for an internal evaluation. We investigated each company’s wired product, Bluetooth product, and Speakerphone product to cover the three main areas for desk-based and mobile use.”
 Speakerphone The Environment Agency trialled the Sennheiser SC 660 dual-sided headset, the PRESENCE – its leading hands-free Bluetooth headset and the Speakerphone SP 20 – a portable, powerful speakerphone designed to be used both in the fixed and mobile office.
The SC 660 was chosen due to, among other reasons, superb comfort for day-long operation. As a dual-sided headset designed for office professionals requiring HD voice clarity, the combination of comfort and quality, with effective noise cancellation for busy environments, made it the obvious choice.
It also opted for Sennheiser’s PRESENCE Bluetooth headset for flexible operation, long battery life and fast charging – key factors for busy professionals on the move.
Finally the SP 20 Speakerphone was seen as the ideal accompaniment to extend its mobile office capabilities and deliver a solution that was equally at home in a fixed position or to carry when on the move.
Before being chosen by the Environment Agency, Sennheiser’s products went through a rigorous testing procedure to ensure that only the most effective solutions are being utilised at every stage of the process.
“We found that Sennheiser came out on top in key areas of our testing, often by a fair margin” said Ben Thomas. “Comfort was a key criterion with many staff attending to calls throughout the day. A warranty period that reflects the company’s confidence in its product is a reassuring advantage.
“We also decided to look at the technology used in the build of the product – of the individual components, and make a judgement based on that. Battery life was a very big factor for us – often you find that what the manufacturer says it is and what it actually is is very different, so during our own tests we managed to make a judgement on this – and did in fact find some significant differences between manufacturers‘ claims.
“Similarly charge time is important – the speed of charge, which can be utilised between calls, could be a game changer, and again we saw some standout areas.”
But it was not just comfort and quality that fell under the microscope during the Environment Agency’s rigorous process. Sennheiser was also judged on factors that may not immediately seem important, but actually reflect a key part of an overall strategy to deliver in all areas of its product and service offerings – from development to delivery.
“Of course due to the nature of our business, we took a strong look at the environmental considerations each company takes with its products, including packaging, the materials that come with the device itself, fittings, the background of how the company operates and a number of other criteria. Sennheiser came out head and shoulders above the rest here – they package products only with what you really need and of course the packaging itself is fully recycled.”
Finally, it was Sennheiser’s dedication to customer support alongside its extensive portfolio of products that deliver consistent quality across the board that sealed the deal:
“We also needed a strategic partner going forwards. Sennheiser proved to us that it could be relied upon for both support and advice and a consistent, high product standard.”
The Environment Agency is starting to roll out the new headsets and speakerphones across the organisation.
The Environment Agency’s extensive criteria for evaluation:
o Warranty period
o Jabber compatibility
o Speaker Technology
o Sound Clarity
o Hearing Protection
o Microphone array
o Noise Cancellation
o Comfort
o Durability
o Safety
o Battery Life Quoted
o Battery Life Achieved
o Charge Time
o Case Provided
o Charger Provided
o Charger Type
o Comfort/Fit
o Visual On/Off
o Environmental
o Packaging
o Accessibility
o Project Management
About The Environment Agency:
The Environment Agency is a national agency of circa 10,000 staff housed in over 100 locations. Its staff is typically mobile and provides many services, including emergency reactionary service nationwide, and is dedicated to its core goal of protecting and improving the environment and creating better places for people and wildlife to live, as well as being a key supporter of sustainable development.
The Sennheiser products:
SC 660
The SC 660 is a premium wired headset for all-day use with desk phones in busy call centers or offices. Built to withstand the rigors of the toughest jobs, it is designed for office professionals requiring HD voice clarity, durability and all-day comfort.
It offers effective noise cancellation technology via an ultra noise-cancelling microphone and patented ActiveGard™ technology to protect against acoustic shock and sudden sound surges.
PRESENCE UC
PRESENCE™ is Sennheiser’s leading Bluetooth headset for professionals on the road who demand consistently excellent communication both for themselves and the listener.
It offers a number of unique and patented technologies such as SpeakFocus™ that adapts seamlessly to background noise for crystal clear sound, WindSafe™ to automatically adjust for wind noise to ensure the clearest possible audio outdoors and ActiveGard® technology to protect against acoustic shock. Multi-connectivity allows users to quickly switch between softphone and mobile calls, bringing seamless operation to a range of different devices and it offers up to 10 hours talk time between charges for full day performance on the move.
The PRESENCE™ UC is optimised for Unified Communications to deliver excellent communication across a range of platforms and environments.
SP 20 Speakerphone
The Sennheiser SP 20 Speakerphone enables business professionals to easily make personal or small-group conference calls on PC/softphone in offices or when travelling, and doubles up as a portable high-fidelity speaker for listening to music on the move with a dedicated Sennheiser HD optimized sound profile. It provides ‘plug in and talk’ simplicity via mobile phone and PC and uses Sennheiser’s high definition sound quality, voice clarity and echo cancellation to ensure an outstanding communications experience for user and listeners, replacing standard-quality PC and mobile phone speakers and microphones for conference calls.
More information about Sennheiser is available on the internet at www.sennheiser.com
  In December 2015, the Commission in Brussels produced its long awaited Circular Economy Package – “Closing the loop – an EU action plan for the Circular Economy”. It contains a very wide ranging set of proposals with three principal objects. Firstly, to harmonise a number of existing directives into one overarching piece of legislation, secondly, to promote “waste” as the new “resource”, and thirdly, to support other environmental and Climate Change initiatives.
The European Paper Industry has generally welcomed the new proposals, particularly the recognition that the bio-economy and the concept of “renewability” have important parts to play in developing this new strategy and that further innovation funding will be made available. The Paper Industry also welcomes increased recycling targets as it believes that, with the right infrastructure in place, it should be possible to recycle more than the 71% already being achieved. Indeed, there is renewed emphasis contained within the proposals on the separation of materials at source and on improving quality standards throughout the waste chain which, if implemented, should increase the flow of recyclable fibres back to the paper mills.
It is likely that this package of measures will be popular in some quarters and less so in others. Expect some lively debate over the coming year or so, particularly here in the UK, which has, up to now, pursued a slightly different approach to recycling than our continental neighbours.
Perhaps the most controversial proposal is the requirement to collect certain materials – including paper – separately from other materials. Defra has failed to fully implement the spirit of the current guidelines on this issue and has even been subject to legal challenge in the courts. It has taken the view that collection methods are a matter for local decision making. Will it be able to maintain this stance? Time will tell.
Waste policy is currently a devolved responsibility in the UK which has allowed the devolved administrations to pursue their own policies. Will this continue or will there need to be an overarching unified approach in the future?
For local authorities, the challenges are going to be significant, as up to now they have been targeted purely on landfill avoidance and therefore have not been too concerned about quality issues. The trend has been towards comingling of materials which, once compacted, become either very expensive to sort or even unrecyclable and only fit for generating energy from waste (EfW). Overcapacity in EfW is to be discouraged and EfW limited only to materials which are genuinely unrecyclable. How do local authorities react to this new policy direction, especially when many of them are tied into long-term contracts with waste management companies? How much longer will they have total freedom to determine collection and disposal methods? How long before they too have to accept some responsibility for meeting quality standards?
Perhaps the biggest challenge rests with the waste management companies if exacting quality standards are to be implemented both for the UK and export markets. In the case of paper, this is likely to require compliance to the EN 643 standard which only allows for contamination rates of about 2%. Currently the rate is often in excess of 20%.
The issue which is likely to cause the fiercest debate is the call for Member States to establish extended producer responsibility schemes which not only involve the producers of the materials but “public and private waste operators, local authorities and, where appropriate, recognised preparation for re-use operators”. In the Packaging arena this responsibility has, until now, been exercised through the Packaging Recovery Note system and discharged by raw material suppliers, producers, brand owners and retailers. It looks as if the net might well be widened. The other question that has yet to be answered is to what extent the consumer should pay – something that politicians have so far shied away from.
For those who place products onto the market, there will be an increased emphasis on developing lifecycle assessment tools to determine the environmental impact of their goods using enhanced eco-design methodologies and eco-labeling. Manufacturers will need to take into account recyclability or re-use at design stage. This is also where the concept of “renewability” comes into play and where paper-based products are uniquely well placed.
The Commission also intends to act on the issue of food waste. This will have an impact on the retail trade as it will no longer be able to reject perfectly edible food purely on the basis of aesthetics. The impact will also be felt by consumers. According to the Government’s Waste Resource Action Programme (WRAP), the UK disposes of 4.2m tonnes of edible food a year, at an average cost per household of £470. Action in this area is well overdue.
This Circular Economy Package is a far reaching set of proposals which will generate extensive debate over coming months. It poses a lot of questions but, for the UK in particular, it offers few answers that are going to be palatable to everyone.
The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) is the leading trade association representing the UK’s Paper-based Industries. CPI represents an industry with an aggregate annual turnover of £6.5 billion, 25,000 direct and more than 100,000 indirect employees.
For further information call 01793 889600, email: cpi@paper.org.uk or visit www.paper.org.uk
 Paul Smith, Executive Director – YPO YPO, the UK’s largest publicly owned buying organisation, has launched a new framework to support HR services across the public sector. The HR Services and Solutions framework provides a compliant and value driven route to market for public sector organisations procuring managed services for contingent labour, consultancy, permanent recruitment services and HR support solutions.
The framework was developed following consultation with professionals from across the public sector, many of whom highlighted the need for a framework which supports spot buying of services and the flexibility to create bespoke HR solution in a variety of areas. The framework expands on current choices in the market, while allowing for innovation and flexibility to create ‘outcome driven’ solutions.
Paul Smith, Executive Director – YPO said: “We recognise that our customers across the public sector have different HR requirements, which is why it was important that we took the time to engage with these customers to listen and understand their specific needs. As a result, we are confident that we have developed a new framework which truly reflects these needs. By providing a solution that can provide all HR services, the framework will allow public sector organisations to ensure they have a cost efficient and flexible way of delivering and managing HR requirements.”
YPO supplies public sector organisations with products and frameworks, and is 100% publicly owned, meaning that all profits are returned to YPO customers and member authorities. The organisation’s range includes over 30,000 products and 80 frameworks, covering everything from pens and pencils, computers and furniture to electricity and insurance.
For further information on the new HR Framework, please go to www.ypo.co.uk/hrsolutions
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