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But what if something as simple as the inability to access your own office space strikes at your technology and means of communication? Where will this leave your staff and those who truly depend on you?
Solid communications are at the heart of the public sector, which not only goes out of its way to help local people in need, but in many cases operates on a national scale with its resources reaching vast areas. This means technology is crucial to ensuring up-to-date information can be shared across regions. The public sector often works across various communities, often in sensitive scenarios, facing the elements or in dangerous and challenging situations. In this picture real time information is required to circulate continuously to ensure that this passionate sector delivers safely. Having any form of communications drop out simply isn’t an option for organisations which need to protect their staff operating in difficult scenarios. Technological provisions must be designed to remain intact and cope with any unforeseen emergencies which could transpire.
Advanced technology offers an invaluable return on investment for the public sector. It is a tool to save lives, help the ill, rescue the vulnerable and reach out to isolated members of the community. IT is the crux of this work being possible, offering an efficient means by which databases can be updated, staff can be organised, and communications flow across geographical locations.
It’s also worth considering how sensitive the data held by public sector organisations is; including personal details about vulnerable individuals, staff home addresses or controversial political scenarios. This information must be accessible at all times, yet simultaneously protected and secure.
So if unforeseen circumstances strike, causing office amenities and IT systems to be inaccessible, the consequences could be severe. Graeme Gordon, CEO of Internet for Business (IFB) says, “The public sector has a unique operational model.
“An unplanned event could mean your office is left out-of-bounds, for example if a fire or flood has made the premises unreachable. Extensive damage could result in a great deal of time and money being spent before the organisation’s usual work resumes. Both those working in the public sector and those relying on its services would be left in a critical situation. Many arms of the public sector operate all year round, and losing one single day could put lives at great risk.
“If staff cannot reach their workstations, then the invaluable work they do each and every day could not happen. It’s critical that those in the public sector have a workplace recovery plan (WPR) in place. This would ensure that all onsite IT systems and data can be safely stored and accessed elsewhere should the worst case scenario happen. Workplace recovery offers tools to ensure disasters don’t mean prolonged interruptions to the working day, meaning it is business as usual.
“Public organisations run like commercial businesses in the sense that IT lies at the basis of how they operate; it is an integral commodity to the whole sector and even more so, a key function within each department.
“Public bodies cannot be seen to waste funds which are funded by the government and the public. This makes it unacceptable for public sector staff to face downtime because their IT systems are down. In the long run thorough IT provisions are essential and necessary.”
So, what should public sector companies look for in a workplace recovery package? Graeme Gordon offers the following tips:
Speed
Asking a provider for a documented timetable of just how quickly you can move staff to the work place recovery centre. How quickly do they guarantee to acknowledge your request? This should be a guaranteed turn-around time of 30 minutes or less to agree your access time and the numbers of workstations you require.
Within two hours you should be in a guaranteed position to have staff inducted at the workplace recovery centre, be issued with security passes and have a room and desk allocation. Within a four hour time frame, you should have undergone a full handover and have a signed checklist – ready to conduct ‘business as usual’.
Access to Data
A workplace recovery plan providing the desks and hardware required should never exist in isolation. Ideally you will be in a contract with a provider which provides secure off site data storage in their own centre. This gives immediate and full access to everything required to be backed up and running in this new location.
Add ons?
Check what you are actually paying for. Just what level of internet access will you have? How secure is it? Is it wired or wireless? Can all your telephone calls be diverted to one point and how quickly can this take place? Are you paying just for workstations or does the workplace recovery centre offer meeting space? Will your staff have access to catering facilities? Do you have car parking spaces guaranteed? Are these bolt on costs or part of your agreed package?
Testing
Any form of emergency plan needs to be tested. You should ensure that a provider builds in at least one testing day annually for you and your team – and you should check if you can build in additional testing days if required.
Review and Scalability
Your workplace recovery partner should offer you a regular review of your requirements. In the space of just a couple of years an organisation’s risk exposure can multiply significantly and what may have started out as a modest requirement for a set level of desks can escalate. Without a regular review you can be over exposed at a time of crisis. Check just how scalable your contract is – can you build in additional space if required either on a project or an on-going basis?
“A dictionary definition of disruption is that it is an act of delaying or interrupting the continuity,” continues Graeme. ”But workplace disruption – whether this is due to environmental factors or simply denial of access to work place buildings, gives rise to massive areas of risk for the public sector. According to a recent IT survey, 74% of firms and public sector organisations in nine European countries said they were ‘not confident’ that they could fully recover their computer systems or data after an IT failure. Part of this is due to them not being able to provide workspace for staff to ‘get back to business’.
“Managing continuity of the workplace and associated operational risks should be of concern to all businesses regardless of their sector. However, public sector businesses may be at high risk as they have such a reliance on data and uninterrupted communications.
IFB, founded in 1996, is a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) and provides ICT infrastructure for businesses across the UK. IFB provides cloud, connectivity, hosting, telecoms, back-up & recovery and work place recovery for our business customers through national, multi-Gbit/s network that links our Aberdeen, Edinburgh and London points of presence. IFB can be contacted on 0845 270 2101 or geton@ifb.net. More about the company can be found at www.ifb.net
CEO Graeme Gordon has been building and developing IFB for over sixteen years and he’s a Director with Scotland IS- the trade body for the information and communications technologies (ICT) industry, representing around 200 software, telecomms, IT and creative technologies businesses throughout Scotland.
 Nick van Terheyden  Speech recognition technology is living up to its original promise, driving a dramatic cut in turnaround times in a struggling Histopathology Laboratory. Nick van Terheyden MD, Nuance Communications, explains how
When you combine a growing and ageing population and a healthcare system in desperate need of a makeover, you can understand why the NHS needs to make £20B of cost savings by 2015, and to move from paper to paperless records by 2018 to increase efficiency. But what role can speech technology play in driving efficiency and easing the transition to Electronic Health Records (EHRs), while putting the ‘care’ back into healthcare? In the case of Plymouth Hospital’s Histopathology laboratory, it is a significant one.
The backlog turnaround
The hospital’s Histopathology laboratory had a backlog of approximately 600 cases awaiting reporting. Turnaround times of more than ten weeks were typical, resulting in delays in the diagnosis of cancer, and there were many critical incidents in the Trust due to delays in cancer diagnosis.
To resolve these delays, it started by reviewing its internal workflow processes while evaluating technology that could reduce the build-up of histology backlogs; the sooner a histological diagnosis can be made, the sooner the patient can receive not only the next level of treatment, but also the right treatment. Therefore, the hospital introduced a streaming process that identified priority cases and set up a new workflow for cases, while scheduling tasks more efficiently. The final process involved the deployment of speech recognition solution Nuance Dragon Medical with TalkingPoint for Pathology.
Accurate and detailed reporting in real-time
Perhaps the most significant proof point that demonstrates the effectiveness of deploying speech solutions in conjunction with an improved workflow, is that the backlog was cleared completely. Additionally, the turnaround of new cases was boosted from the previous 40% within 10 days, to more than 80% in 10 days. This achievement exceeds the set national targets.
In daily use, pathologists benefit from speech recognition being time neutral; detailed reports are now created both accurately and in real-time, which make it convenient for the pathologist. Unlike previously, there are no delays waiting for a secretary to type up the report, preventing a typing backlog from building up. The secretary is then free to conduct tasks that ease the burden on the pathologist, allowing them to concentrate on the important issue of reporting of cases, rather than on administrative tasks.
Having also introduced speech recognition for Biomedical Scientist cut-up, the hospital is enjoying savings that equate to one assistant per session, or the equivalent of seven man-hours per day. Other time saving achievements result from the automatic entering of data into the hospital’s Laboratory Information System, saving pathologists approximately 45 minutes a day. These are quantifiable proof points that show when managed properly, speech recognition saves time and human resource while increasing efficiency. Therefore, it’s no surprise to hear many pathologists state, ‘Once you use it, you never go back.’
Best of breeds means best results
Despite this positive experience story, some people have had mixed experiences with older speech recognition systems. Just as there has been significant progress in medical knowledge in the last two decades, there have been significant strides in the accuracy and ease of use of today’s speech recognition applications. While speech recognition’s accuracy is not an issue – even with accents, if the success of heavily-accented medical professionals enjoy when using the technology is to go by – there are some issues to consider and to overcome when deploying speech recognition.
Unsuprisingly, the greatest of which is resistance to change and the fear of new technology. Fingers have possibly been burnt in the past through false starts, usually the result of a piecemeal introduction combined with a lack of adequate training. Others have faced integration problems with existing software. Plymouth’s experience proves that these challenges – whether they are change management or technology-related – can be overcome. In order to do so, and to make the deployment of speech as seamless as possible, the need to work with an experienced partner cannot be emphasised enough. In Plymouth’s case, it worked with TalkingPoint, which was experienced in speech, but also in integrating it with existing Healthcare IT systems. When done correctly, speech doesn’t just reward patient care; in this laboratory’s case, what it has achieved using speech recognition has been rewarded with a £50,000 NHS Innovation Award. Plymouth invested this money to further improve its department.
Healing healthcare with speech
As we move toward 2018 and the introduction of EHR, the future for Healthcare IT is exciting. In anticipation of this, we are starting to see what the future holds for speech in order to help medical professionals more quickly navigate the EHR, the data, diagnosis and prescription options using their voice. Virtual assistants – like Nuance’s Florence application developed for healthcare – will help medical professionals embrace this inevitable shift to a digital workflow. Most important of all, as Plymouth proves, speech is beginning to remove patients from backlogs and is putting them back where they should always be – at the centre of care.
 UK council works with managed file transfer consultants Pro2col to deploy MFT technology and provide a secure shared services network for local government and emergency services
London, UK – 19 November, 2013 – Cambridgeshire County Council has invested in and deployed MOVEit managed file transfer (MFT) technology from Ipswitch File Transfer to secure the transfer of data files, and to protect citizen, organisation and management information across 100 locations and 4,000 workers. MOVEit allows secure transfer and sharing of files within the council, and gives the council full control and visibility of file transfers to external departments and associations, including housing, private care and transport.
Cambridgeshire County Council, the governmental body responsible for the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the UK county of Cambridge, comprises five districts and has 69 elected county councillors. They plan how the council’s budget should be spent, set policy and represent the population of 612,600 residents.
Ipswitch MOVEit is a secure managed file transfer system that enables businesses to reliably and securely share files, automate file-based workflows, and easily transfer business-critical files within an organisation and to other organisations. With a breadth of security protocols, including HTTPS, FTPS, SFTP and AS2, thousands of private and public sector organisations rely on MOVEit today.
The solution was recommended and implemented by Ipswitch File Transfer elite partner Pro2col, which continues to support Cambridgeshire County Council and work on future plans.
Cambridgeshire County Council evaluated a number of other potential file security solutions before selecting Ipswitch File Transfer.
“We needed technology that met our IT and business needs. From an IT perspective, this included security parameters, integration with existing applications, servers and processes, and ease-of-use for our employees and partners,” Alan Shields, IT architect for Cambridge County Council, said.
“We’d previously used a secure FTP platform and the Government Connect Gateway, but we needed to have a broader solution that would allow us to securely share important files with third parties. With MOVEit, we now have visibility and control over file activity, so we know where data is, who has access to it and who has shared it. It’s important to us as a public body that we know where our files are at all times, and with Ipswitch File Transfer we have that peace of mind.”
“Public bodies are sharing more information electronically today than ever before — creating the need for greater security of their files” said Rich Kennelly, president of Ipswitch File Transfer. “Cambridge County Council understands that moving file-based data in a reliable, timely, controlled and secure manner isn’t only responsible, it’s the opportunity to create systematic automated workflows that increase productivity.”
“In our work with a range of UK public authorities and bodies, we see an increasing need for secure file transfer,” James Lewis, managing director for Pro2col said. “As senior and departmental managers look to balance the potential risk of losing visibility of data, while meeting the organisation’s need to securely and quickly share information to provide services for citizens. Ipswitch File Transfer’s MOVEit is the perfect technology solution for Cambridgeshire County Council, and we look forward to working with the council’s IT team and management as they increase the scope and realise new benefits.”
About Ipswitch File Transfer
Ipswitch File Transfer provides solutions that move, govern and secure business information between employees, business partners and customers. The company’s proven solutions lead the industry in terms of ease of use, allowing companies of all sizes to take control of their sensitive and vital information and improve the speed of information flow. Ipswitch lets business and IT managers govern data transfers and file sharing with confidence and enables compliance by balancing the need for end user simplicity with the visibility and control required by IT. Ipswitch File Transfer solutions are trusted by thousands of organisations worldwide, including more than 90% of the Fortune 1000, government agencies and millions of prosumers. www.ipswitchFT.com
About Pro2col Limited
Independent consultants with decades of experience, Pro2col Ltd specialise in the supply and integration of secure, managed file transfer solutions to businesses worldwide. From SMB’s to large corporate organisations, Pro2col have been working with businesses throughout the UK since 2003, helping them establish secure and efficient file transfer processes. In partnership with a handpicked selection of the most reputable managed file transfer vendors, Pro2col offer a range of solutions and services to meet the unique requirements of any business.
www.pro2col.com
 Peterborough City Council
 Cllr Marco Cereste, and CityFibre CEO, Greg Mesch London and Peterborough, 13 November 2013 – CityFibre’s vision of creating Gigabit cities throughout the UK took a significant step forward today with the official signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Peterborough City Council at a ceremony held in the Town Hall.
Following the recent announcement of its intention to privately invest in the fast-growing city, CityFibre and the Council have paved the way to ensure an efficient and well-planned network roll-outthat will benefit Peterborough and transform it into a ‘Gigabit’ city.
“This is a major step forward in our objective to deliver Gigabit cities that can provide businesses and consumers with the huge benefits of ultra-fast broadband connectivity,” said Greg Mesch, Chief Executive Officer at CityFibre. “The scale of our plans and the strategic partnership with Peterborough City Council will enable us to deploy an infrastructure that can create jobs, boost the productivity of existing businesses and attract new companies into the city.”
CityFibre identified Peterborough as an excellent candidate for its Gigabit city vision due to the city’s recent business growth and hunger for innovation supported by its forward thinking local authority. Peterborough will have access to a future-proof pure fibre infrastructure that will position it at the forefront of the UK’s digital economy.
The roll-out starting next Spring, will see 90km of core fibre infrastructure deployedthroughout the city, bringing the benefits of gigabit speeds to key business districts, data centres and mobile base-stations, as well as schools, hospitals and other sites important to the community. This first phaseis expected to be completed within 18 months.
Greg Mesch added: “Fibre Broadband is widely viewed as the utility of the future and pure fibre networks, such as the one we are deploying in Peterborough, are the only future-proofed solution. Networks such as this are the foundation of our Gigabit city vision. There are over 100 towns and cities in the UK that currently do not have ultra-high speed connectivity, so the opportunity for CityFibre to play a part in modernising the UK’s digital infrastructure is extremely exciting”.
CityFibre will achieve its Gigabit City vision through highly efficient utilisation of its pure fibre networks by Internet Service Providers delivering ultra-high speed connectivity services to local government, businesses and consumers as well as by mobile operators requiring fibre base-station connectivity to enable next generation 4G services.
Investor appetite in this sector is gaining momentum. Jon Moulton, Founder of Better Capital, member of the Advisory Board for the UK Regional Growth Fund and an investor in CityFibre commented on Peterborough’s gigabit future, “I have recognised fibre infrastructure as a major growth area and the experience and achievements of the CityFibre team made them a natural choice for my personal investment in this sector”.
CityFibre’s Gigabit fibre connectivity is already benefiting businesses and citizens in York where CityFibre has implemented a city-wide fibre network. The same model is proving out further afield delivering real returns and reinvigorating communities across Europe, the USA and Asia.
 Graeme Gordon, CEO of IFB  A reliable and comprehensive broadband package is essential to the public sector. There are a myriad of broadband options available on the market, offering varying contracts and deals. The choice is complex and has led to the emergence of misunderstanding and myths surrounding broadband. When working in the public sector, it is particularly important to make sure that every penny is well spent; and accounted for. Therefore Aberdeen based Internet Service Provider (ISP) and ICT infrastructure provider, Internet For Business (IFB) seeks to demystify any broadband misconceptions by unpicking the top five myths that can confuse and lead to wasted time and money.
Graeme Gordon, CEO of IFB says, “Broadband doesn’t need to be complex. A necessary tool in the age of internet, Broadband is simply a path to an online virtual world. In order to receive a reliable service, company’s need to have a simple and straightforward package and need to be aware of the facts and myths surrounding broadband. “
Myth one – The speed you are quoted is guaranteed
Unfortunately, broadband providers are only required by OFCOM to ensure just 10% of their customers reach the maximum broadband speed quoted.
Your broadband speed is dependent on a number of variables – the maximum speed is not always what you will get. Variables can include distance from a BT exchange, quality of phone line and the number of people using the network at any given time.
Having more than one device connected to your broadband through wireless can also affect the speed of your broadband.
Make sure you test your broadband speed at different times of the day to get a true representation of the speed you will be able to get. At peak times the broadband speed you will get can be much slower than during off-peak times.
Myth two – Unlimited broadband is unlimited
You may naturally assume when signing up to an unlimited broadband package, that you can use the internet as much as you like. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
“This is an area where we see a lot of unnecessary ambiguity for customers”, explains Graeme, “just recently, a global corporation was publicly penalised for misleading customers with an ‘unlimited’ download advertisement. Additional charges can be added to your bill when you go over a certain download capacity, with anything less deemed as unlimited. To avoid this, always read the small print when purchasing an ‘unlimited’ broadband package.”
Myth three – Premium prices mean premium service
This myth is both true and false. While there are good broadband deals available, hidden in the terms and conditions are often catches which can double the advertised price, or half the download speed.
The broadband speed available to you is dependent on whether your location supports the broadband speed. Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), also known as superfast fibre broadband, is the fastest broadband product in the UK, but as of March 2012, only 31% of the UK had access to the service. It is hoped that by spring 2013, two thirds of the UK will have access to this service.
There are examples of customers who want the most expensive broadband package that ensures they receive the fastest speeds. However, if the exchange does not allow for these speeds, it will never be able to go to the capacity of the package. Providers should, therefore, only recommend the package that will be sufficient for the area the broadband is being installed.
Myth four – Broadband is complicated
Broadband is simply a platform for transmitting information from one place to another. If broadband was tangible it would resemble a giant spider’s web.
Broadband packages can often appear complicated, but this is just a charade so you don’t ask questions about the fine print. Before signing a contract, always make sure you ask for the total monthly and yearly cost- unveiling all the sneaky additions.
If you want to fully understand the ins and outs of broadband, then the internet is the most accessible tool available. Look for the company that offers the simplest explanation and with the least technical jargon. If you understand what providers are selling, then it’s unlikely that there are any hidden costs. However, to be sure, always ensure you read the small print.
Myth five – There’s no point in switching providers as they all use the same line anyway
When choosing a provider or switching to a new provider, it entirely depends on what is the most important factor – price, service or speed?
Ultimately the broadband you receive will come from the same exchange regardless of the provider. However, the service you receive will depend on the supplier. Having a supportive customer service team can be a huge benefit as a broadband user, as downtime can make a big impact on business output.
IFB, founded in 1996, is a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) and provides ICT infrastructure for businesses across the UKIFB can be contacted on 0845 270 2101 or geton@ifb.net. More about the company can be found at www.ifb.net.
  In 2005, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (OHFT) chose ITESOFT, a leading developer of automated document processing and Purchase-To-Pay solutions, to streamline their Accounts Payable process. This forward thinking approach from OHFT was a driving factor in the evolution of their shared service centre in Oxford.
The Aim
OHFT aimed to achieve financial spend control and visibility through supplier invoice automation and the ability to access to information on demand. A key focus was to improve supplier invoice data accuracy through eliminating manual errors, reducing unnecessary delays and easily identifying duplicate invoices. Having a system in place that was able to streamline the way invoices were tracked and authorised was also a major priority; indicating clearly who did what and when. Secondary goals included decreasing pressures on staff during busy periods such as year-end. There was also the goal to boost staff productivity through reducing the time spent on supplier enquiries, manual data entry and searching for misplaced Invoices.
In full, the organisation aimed to implement a solution whereby they could attain full visibility, improve purchase to pay cycle times and gain control of their Accounts Payable process, from both an operational and financial point of view.
What is invoice automation?
Automating the processing of invoices by integrating straightforward workflow and document matching software with existing systems, as a result removes manual and repetitive tasks.
Being able to access comprehensive financial management information quickly speeds up the decision making process for audit and reporting purposes as well as providing the “what if” scenario.
Why automate invoice processing?
A study conducted by the Aberdeen Group evaluated a certain number of accounts payable departments and designated those who had successfully leveraged automation to optimise their efficiency as being “high performance”.
Companies classified as “high performance” surpassed their competitors on numerous points. These companies showed
91% reduction in the cost of processing invoices
46% shorter invoice processing cycles
12% decrease in late payments
30% reduction in the time spent handling supplier queries
Main Challenges of an Accounts Payable department:
Control & Visibility: uneconomical business processes and inefficient payment cycles
Auditability: Staff focused on data entry & lost documents, rather than higher level tasks
Accountability: A complex approval & decision making process
Main Challenges of OHFT’s Accounts Payable process:
Invoice volumes increasing at a rate of 10% a year
No signature limit and cost centre checking
Pressures from the government for tighter regulatory compliance
Loss of paper invoices
Complicated audit trail
Payment delays
What did Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Achieve?
A fully auditable process; able to identify the approval process efficiently
Reduced invoice processing costs
Access to invoices anywhere through a web based portal
Over achieved PSPP targets
Reduction in processing Staff
No barcodes, no dividers
To find out more visit www.itesoft.co.uk
 The conference – photo Nick Edgington, Nick Edgington Photography An important and timely conference looking at ways to improve children and adult protection took place in Coventry on 23rd October.
The National Safeguarding Conference saw safeguarding professionals from across the UK attend the event held at the Welcome Centre in Coventry. The conference included speakers from the BBC, the Disclosure and Barring Service, The Church of England, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre.
 The panel – photo Nick Edgington, Nick Edgington Photography Robert McDonald, managing director of National Training Resources – the company that organised the conference – said it had been a great success.
“The conference allowed safeguarding professionals from different sectors to network, discuss important safeguarding issues and suggest ways forward in terms of potential safeguarding laws, policy and procedures.
“The conference has already led directly to new ideas on strategy to improve the safety and support of vulnerable adults and children.”
 Graham Manville For many years the Third Sector was the Cinderella of the economy with the private sector and public sector basking in the spotlight and attracting the top talent. During the past 15 years, however, there has been a drive for the Third Sector to play a larger role in public service delivery. This has not diminished since the global financial crisis (GFC) and the UK government has turned to it in order to plug the gap to be left by the forthcoming public sector cuts framed around the Big Society rhetoric.
The Big Society concept is viewed as either a call to arms for a more civic-minded society; a kind of Kennedy inspired “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. Alternatively it is perceived to be a daring attempt by neo-liberals to use the austerity measures of the GFC to slash public services and roll back the state. The aspect of the Big Society agenda which does not get much media coverage is the desire for a rebalancing of public services which includes the expansion of private sector providers. We are now witnessing large private sector players such as Capita and Serco develop a significant presence in public service delivery. In addition the sector is seeing an influx of Social Enterprises which reinvest their profits back into the community. Rather than it being simply black or white, perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle of these two paradigms.
What is inescapable is that the Third Sector is changing and it will need to monitor its organisational performance more effectively and align it to its business strategy. In 1989 the “godfather” of modern management Philip Drucker claimed that non-profits no longer see business as a dirty word. Unfortunately in many parts of the Third Sector this is not the case and many are fearful of the move towards a more commercialised sector. With austerity cuts yet to be fully implemented, there is a lot of pain coming down the track and many Third Sector organisations will need to raise their game in order to remain sustainable.
In the commercial jungle of the private sector, the mantra is survival of the fittest and we are witnessing first hand household names on the high street fall into administration and/or disappear altogether. The Third Sector arguably has a bigger challenge than the private sector as they need to manage the tension between being business-like without compromising their ethical stance. In the Third Sector the larger organisations such as Barnardos, Amnesty International and Oxfam have the critical mass and expertise to weather the storms facing the sector. The smaller organisations will need to improve their performance or risk falling by the wayside. It is envisaged that a significant amount of smaller Third Sector organisations will either have to merge or form consortia in order to compete for contracts.
Existing commissioned contracts awarded by local authorities may be subjected to more intense competitive tendering and contracts may be regained with a commitment to improve on the previous service level agreements. If that was not enough the pervasive nature of 90 day break clauses are being inserted into renewed contracts. So like it or not non-profits will need to have their organisations on a more commercial footing if they are to remain sustainable and continue to provide excellent public services for their service users.
A new edited book on Third Sector Performance has just been published by Gower which has contributions from thought leaders across the world from within academia and practice.
Graham Manville is co-editor of the book and is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Southampton. His PhD focuses on Third Sector Performance Management within UK Housing Associations.
The economic climate might not look quite so gloomy, but it’s still tough out there. So it’s good news that distributor Lely UK has launched four flexible finance options for golf clubs and others buying its new Toro equipment and TYM tractors.
The plans are designed to help customers buy the machinery they need without compromising cash flow at a challenging time. With four options from which to choose, customers can find the most economical and manageable funding route to suit their own particular needs. The new deals are:
- Option 1: Buy now and pay later. A simple interest-free pause until April 2014. All customers pay at the time of purchase is the VAT.
- Option 2: One payment at the time of purchase and one annual payment. The first is paid, along with the total VAT, on signing the deal, followed by one further interest-free payment a year later.
- Option 3: One payment at the time of purchase followed by four annual payments of capital with a final payment in month 60. For example, the Groundsmaster 3250-D has a net price to finance of £28,700, plus VAT. Finance customers can enjoy the machine straight away with five annual payments of £5,740, the first due on signing, and the final payment in month 60 of £3,874.50.
- Option 4: One payment at the time of purchase followed by 59 monthly payments of capital with a final
payment in month 60.
With both options three and four, customers can buy on a hire purchase (HP) agreement, in which case VAT is payable in full when the agreement is signed. For those opting for a lease agreement, VAT is payable on each payment.
Jeff Anguige, Lely’s Toro UK sales manager, says: “Our annual range of payment plans suits most clubs and budgets, and allows clubs and others to match cash flow to expected business benefits. They provide clubs with the opportunity to invest in the best turfcare equipment available, to ensure their course is maintained to the highest standards. And there is no better time to buy.”
The deals are available until 15 November 2013.
For more details on these and other finance options, customers should call 01298 766191. Or contact Lely on 01480 226800 or email turfcare.uk@lely.com.
 Rada’s expertise in delivering robust and sustainable commercial showering and digital washroom controls has been demonstrated through a project at the Ministry of Defence’s Dale Barracks site in Chester.
Refurbishment works across multiple blocks of the purpose built infantry barracks saw Rada supply a range of products including its T1 100 timed flow taps, VR2 CC high performance chrome-plated shower fittings with concealed pipework, and the revolutionary Rada Outlook digital mixing valve and washroom control system.
Rada Outlook, launched into the marketplace in 2012, provides precise temperature and flow duration across any configuration of six showers or washbasin spouts, with touch or non-touch sensor options and is suited to both refurbishment and new build projects.
For multiple washrooms, up to 31 Outlook units can be connected to form a building–wide digitally controlled washroom water management solution using an IT Network or Building Management System, and with innovative functions including automatic duty flushing and supervised thermal disinfection settings, it can deliver significant manual resource and cost savings.
Penny Veale, Head of Media Operations for the Army (North and East regions), said: “The new washrooms form part of a large scale refurbishment programme currently being undertaken at Dale Barracks. Such a project requires high quality, safe and durable fixtures and fittings which will stand the test of time as well as complying with all legislative requirements. By working in conjunction with specialists such as Rada it ensures we achieve our refurbishment objectives in line with exact legislative, time and financial perameters”.
The Rada team worked closely with the MOD and Carillion Facilities Management on the project, providing site surveys and specification assistance.
Eoin McQuone, Senior Marketing Manager at Rada, explained: “Our early stage involvement in the Dale Barracks project enabled us to add value via a combination of expertly engineered mechanical and digital washroom solutions. All of the products specified, together with their associated sensors, were selected for their ability to meet the robust needs of a military environment, with user safety and whole life cost savings in mind. We are delighted to work with the MOD and Carillion Facilities Management and hope to work with them again in the future.”
Rada has been designing and developing commercial showering, washroom controls, fittings and systems for UK and overseas markets for over 80 years.
Outlook, one of its most recent innovations, has been designed to meet the demands of a wide range of environments including commercial washrooms, education, multi-residential and sports and leisure. It incorporates the Rada T-LogicTM digital intelligence for efficient communication between components for ultimate safety and hygiene control.
In fact, Rada has been leading the way in developing washroom technology since introducing the very first thermostatic mixing valve into the UK back in the early 1930s. It has achieved a number of ‘firsts’ including introducing the UK’s first thermostatic tap – Thermotap in 1996, and the world’s first digital re-circulating water temperature control valve, the DRV80, in 2008, which was designed specifically to be the primary water temperature controller in a continuously pumped circulating hot water system in a commercial building.
All Rada products offer end users the very highest standards in safety, water and energy savings, reliability, precision and control.
Rada is part of the Kohler Co. family of companies, which includes Mira showers, and is located in Cheltenham, UK. For more information on Rada’s digital washroom expertise please visit www.radacontrols.com
By David E P Dennis FCIPD LCGI RAF – Arachnoid Articles
On clear nights it is easy to see Mars, reddish and distant. The planet is around half the size of Earth and the pull of gravity is far less than on our planet. Astronauts travelling to Mars would be weightlessly suspended in what is called ‘microgravity’. With the latest US unmanned spacecraft ‘Curiosity’ on the surface and its discovery of substantial water within Martian soil, there has been pressure on NASA to consider a manned expedition to Mars. A separate private investor-funded project called ‘Stichting Mars One’ is encouraging people to volunteer for a seven-month one-way trip as ‘colonists’. Four colonists would go in 2023. Many others would follow.
What are the problems of such a journey? Can humans really survive a trip to the Red Planet and get back to Earth? What about radiation – or micrometeorites puncturing the hull of the ‘ship’? How many people should go to set up a viable permanent colony? These are typical questions from children and adults alike. But there is one deeply relevant question that most people never ask: ‘What happens to the cerebrospinal fluid surrounding your brain and spine on a Mars trip?’
This question and its response are absolutely critical to the human exploration of Mars and as Chair of the national medical charity IIH UK (www.iih.org.uk) I am deeply involved in thinking about the problems experienced by US astronauts who have suffered medical setbacks in space. IIH UK is a member of the NASA Human Health Programme. We have corresponded with NASA and with the University of Ohio scientists who have been working with NASA. I have made a formal proposal to NASA and JPL Pasadena for an experiment to be placed on the next NASA spacecraft in 2020.
It makes sense to highlight the central problem of naivety for any member of the public who thinks that they can go to Mars without facing the very greatest difficulty or even death. On the 13th September 2013 the BBC ran a headline:
US man volunteers for one way flight to Mars
The article said: ‘It is the trip of a lifetime – for a lifetime. US man Aaron Hamm has volunteered to fly one-way to Mars, despite no prospect of ever returning to earth. The trip is run by the Dutch Mars One project, which hopes to create a permanent community of settlers on the red planet in 2023. Radiation exposure is a concern, and travellers could never readjust to the Earth’s gravity afterwards. But Mr Hamm is determined to take the flight. He told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast: “Wanting to go somewhere genuinely new… and be a part of something that’s really about humanity’s future is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Also in September 2013 the BBC stated that 850 Irish people wanted to go one-way to Mars:
‘The Irish applicants are among 202,586 people from around the world who have expressed their interest in taking part in the Mars One project.’
Plainly a great many people are interested in going to Mars and staying there. But some US astronauts have had a dreadful time just living in microgravity on the International Space Station (ISS). At the four month point and thereafter, at first seven astronauts and then 27 astronauts experienced vision problems, severe headaches, memory loss and general operational competence problems due to an effect called ‘celephad shift’.
Each human and most animals that can stand or rear upright have membranes around their brain and spine which hold a clear liquid called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). On Earth this circulates and refreshes every five to seven hours. The CSF is made in the brain and cleans it, taking unwanted products back to the blood via various routes. In microgravity the CSF rises upwards and pools in the head causing an overpressure in a bony skull with fixed capacity. The pain and discomfort and severe vision problems (papilloedema) are similar to that suffered by IIH patients on Earth – IIH being Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension.
So going to Mars will depend on a great number of as yet unassessed aspects. Let us take some of them. In 1971 and 1975 two science papers were published which showed that not all humans are born with all the means to transfer CSF to the blood. In the first instance two children who died were found to have no ‘villi’ or ‘granulations’ – the tiny organs that allow the CSF to revert to the blood. These are normally located inside the skull at the top of the head in an area called the supersaggital ridge. By the time you are 4 years old you will have around 50 ‘granulations’. In 1975 it was reported that of 14 individuals with CSF pressure problems, 11 had no granulations.
It is thought the granulations are formed by genetic instructions from stem cells. If the stem cell instruction is imperfectly enacted a person may not have all the ‘villi’ or ‘granulations’ required to pass the CSF back to the blood at the same rate as it is formed, thus causing an overpressure. Of those with IIH, 25% of men go blind and 12.5% of women also lose their sight.
The normal rate of incidence of IIH in humans is 1 or 2 in 100,000 and for obese women of child-bearing age it is around 20 in 100,000. So, for male and female non-obese non child-bearing age colonists numbering a potential 200,000 or more we might expect four to get IIH. With women colonists of child-bearing age we might expect a few more with problems.
But that is not what actually happens. Celephad shift is not IIH. It is a physical movement of fluid upwards for everyone who is weightless. There is only a small pool of US astronauts numbered in the hundreds and yet 27 of them have already had a dreadful time. Let us say that some 300 astronauts have worked on the ISS and 27 of them have become ill. That is a rate of 11%.
Now apply 11% to 200,000 and you can see that we are in trouble with our Mars colonisation. If they all go over time, then twenty-two thousand colonists could become ill with celephad shift problems. Some could be captains, navigators, engineers who want to ‘boldly go’.
What can we do? This article is not long enough to cover all the routes that CSF takes back to the blood, but IIH UK is already designing research into the monitoring of the number of human granulations that most people have and ensuring that with IIH there will be a way of telling people if they have enough effective granulations. This check needs to be done for all astronauts. If a colonist’s granulations have not grown sufficiently or if they are blocked by old brain products and salts, then these people are ‘high risk’ and should not go to Mars.
 The IIH UK position is that while we fully support NASA and human exploration of Mars, we think it is being ‘rushed’ and that unnecessary pressure is being placed on members of the space programme to ‘boldly go’ when they really should be waiting until celephad shift problems are controllable.
IIH UK has proposed in writing to the NASA Chief scientist that all long distance spacecraft should be rotated to induce artificial gravity – or the sleeping/resting couches of the crew should be rotated to enable the CSF to move back towards the feet. NASA astronauts will stay on Mars and come back again so their weightless or partial weightless time will be some 17 or 18 months.
The next major problem for the colonists is that Mars is smaller so gravitation is far less. So when they live permanently on the surface of Mars there will still be a constant celephad shift of CSF towards the head, and unless their sleeping couches are rotated to move the fluid back down the body, many of them will have dreadful headaches and severe sight problems for the rest of their lives on Mars.
Mars is not going to go away – let’s not rush towards it.
If you would like to discuss this or know more about the problems please email Arachnoid Articles at david@arachnoid.org.uk
I cannot promise to answer every email instantly but I will do my best!
 Protecting confidential business relationships used to be easy. You just kept your mouth shut.
But the internet makes it easy to disclose people’s details, without even realising it. And that could have serious professional consequences.
This checklist will help to keep you out of trouble:
- Tell your contacts not to pass on personal messages on public social media pages. This might be obvious to you – but what if they don’t know the difference between a direct message and a public one?
- Make sure you don’t copy an email to someone else by mistake, or insert the wrong name in the name field using auto-insert.
- Just being connected to someone on LinkedIn or a similar platform acknowledges that you have a connection with them. Do they want their colleagues and employer to know that? In some professions, the link could breach client confidentiality.
- Beware Tweeting that you’re meeting someone. They might not want anyone else to know. And make sure the location is disabled on your cell phone and tablet.
- Double check your privacy settings on any work-related social media site, in case you end up communicating information to your friends and friends of friends, by mistake. Restrict who is able to access your information, and review it, frequently.
- Remember that the default privacy settings for both Twitter and Facebook allow some information to be shared with everyone, unless you change them.
- Keep separate social media accounts for work and personal life and refuse to engage with contacts on your personal feed … otherwise you could say things to them that could be seen by others.
- Do not to criticise your contacts or sound off about work on your personal social media pages. Employers are not legally obliged to disregard an employee’s conduct simply because it occurs outside the work place.
- Don’t criticise anybody in an email or on the web. Assume it will be passed on. If it is, it could be anything from embarrassing to defamatory.
- Remember: anything you write on a social media site can be used against you, in a court case.
Cleland Thom is a consultant and trainer in internet law, media law, reputation management, and web writing.
His clients include FT 100 businesses and renowned UK media, government, educational and non-profit organisations.
He is a member of the Society of Editors, and serve on the Chartered Institute of Journalists’ Professional Practices Committee.
By Cleland Thom
www.ctjt.biz
 This one-day national conference is focussed on helping Safeguarding Officers, Social Workers, Teachers, Care Workers, NHS and voluntary sector staff to become more effective in their vital roles in safeguarding children and protecting vulnerable adults.
National Safeguarding Conference – 23rd October 2013 – Coventry
Please see the link for further details www.national-training.com/safeguarding
A new lockable cleaning trolley system designed for high-risk healthcare environments is already proving its worth at a hospital in a major NHS trust. 
The new system and equipment, supplied through Jigsaw Cleaning Systems, is being used on Magnolia Ward in Yeovil, part of the Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
The trolleys are made from high-impact strength plastic, which offers lockable compartments and are designed to enhance storage efficiency.
David Dodd, Facilities manager for the Trust, said: “The trolleys have been purchased to help the service assistants deliver an efficient and very importantly a safe service ensuring that the cleaning chemicals used are safely locked away to prevent any patient inadvertently having an accident with them.”
The compartments of the trolley – manufactured in Italy by the product specialist Filmop – can accommodate various kinds of cleaning products and are colour coded to reflect different materials and fluids.
Brian Boll, systems director at Jigsaw Cleaning Systems, said: “The methods and equipment for cleaning in modern healthcare settings are changing and the lockable trolley offers huge benefits in a high-risk environment whilst offering efficiencies all round.”
 Brian Boll The Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides a wide range of integrated community health, mental health, learning disability and social care services to people of all ages.
The Department of Health has recently released figures which show that NHS spending on cleaning last year was up £40.7m to £937.9m.
A new specification on cleaning in hospitals was published last year by the Department of Health, National Patient Safety Agency and the British Standards Institution.
New anti-bacterial trolley system is a first
A major breakthrough in the battle against bacteria has been made with the launch of the first anti-bacterial cleaning trolley system to the UK market.
The A-B Plus Anti-Bacterial System, launched by Jigsaw Cleaning Systems and developed by Filmop, offers a total solution to infection control in cleaning and is also resistant to chlorine, often a damaging agent in healthcare environments.
The count of bacteria – the source of infections such as Norovirus, E-coli and Salmonella – goes consistently down when it comes into contact with the trolley system.
Using this system means the cleaning of hospitals and other healthcare premises is hygienic and bacteria-free and is particularly relevant for high-risk areas such as operating theatres, infection disease wards and intensive care units.
Institutions such as nursing homes, schools and universities, and areas in airports, shopping malls and large public spaces can all be cleaned with the same bacteria-free benefits.
James Blackhurst, managing director of Jigsaw Cleaning Systems, said: “This system offers an anti-bacterial system in the trolley and all its parts even down to the tyres and the screws.
“We’re hugely excited about it and, working with Filmop, we think we can offer a new solution to this issue which has presented so many problems to healthcare and other institutions.
“The cleaning equipment and materials used through this process are a key element in keeping out bacteria and we believe this can make a real difference.”
Contact Brian Boll on 01772734932 or e-mail brian.boll@jigsawcleaningsystems.co.uk for support or see www.cleanleanhealthcare.org
 UK infrastructure is a paradox. We have world-renowned capabilities in architecture, engineering and construction. Yet, with some exceptions, like the Olympics and Crossrail, our record at creating business, service and communications infrastructure is a best indifferent. There is chronic underinvestment. We need to spend around £500bn to bring the UK’s transport, energy and telecoms networks up to the standards of Europe’s best. Too many projects get cancelled, delayed, or stuck in the planning system. This creates investor uncertainty and high costs. Short-termism and the political cycle threaten major initiatives that by their nature require decades to plan and deliver.
The Coalition seems determined to address this. Ministers tasked Infrastructure UK, the Treasury body that advises on these matters, to produce the first National Infrastructure Plan. The Treasury is working to attract private infrastructure investment, introducing new guarantees to underwrite investors’ risks, recasting public private partnerships, and trying to get pension fund finance into the system. Lord Deighton has been appointed Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, in effect our first Minister for Infrastructure. And in this year’s Spending Review, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced a £100bn infrastructure programme, including the biggest expansion of road building in generations.
All very welcome. Small steps in the right direction. Yet only small ones. Fiscal constraints mean private investors will have to shoulder the bulk of the investment load. Yet they’re still not coming forward in the necessary numbers. Despite recent advances, including permission for Hinckley Point C Nuclear Generator, the long-term resilience of our energy infrastructure remains questionable. And continuing controversies around HS2 and airport capacity illustrate the absence of a political consensus and the poverty of our national debates.
So the Management Consultancies Association is calling on government to go further, faster in our report Building Blocks: How Britain Can Get Infrastructure Right.
UK infrastructure needs better planning. Infrastructure is not an end in itself. It is an enabler of growth. Government should define what infrastructure is for first, then determine what projects to back. It should focus on projects likely to reap the greatest benefits, using experts to investigate and determine those benefits. This approach would bring clear principles to otherwise contentious matters like the future of UK airports. It would help government produce better infrastructure business cases. Currently, government struggles to win public support for major projects, like HS2. That’s because it doesn’t focus early and clearly enough on outcomes: what infrastructure changes for the better in the real world. To help government choose the right projects and forge cross-party a new independent Office for Infrastructure should be established.
Our infrastructure needs secure approaches to funding. The Treasury Guarantees Scheme should be extended. Government should also make clear what the funding model is for each project in the National Infrastructure Plan. This will give investors clarity and certainty. Investors need to know how long-term service revenues from assets will be generated. If those revenues depend on public spending, government should make clear what it will fund – and what it will not. Crossrail has succeeded in part because of this sort of clarity. Infrastructure experts can also help government get more pension funding into infrastructure by advising funds, who may be new to this terrain, on how to target their investments.
Above all, the UK needs better approaches to infrastructure delivery. To help reduce tensions and delays in the planning system, communities affected by infrastructure projects should get a greater share of the benefits, such as a bigger slice of increased business rate income new projects can bring. There should be specific and appropriately resourced delivery structures for major projects. The Olympics shows the benefits of these sorts of structures, where experts with proven track records are specifically recruited and rewarded to deliver projects. Experts should also devise and commission projects, to avoid errors in project design that are expensive to eradicate.
Implementing the 21 recommendations in our report would take the UK a long way towards infrastructure excellence. Yet the report also showcases successes the UK can build on. We may not build enough high-quality assets. But as the Olympics, Crossrail and a host of less glamorous initiatives show, we have the capability to do so. The UK’s world-class infrastructure advisers are already helping to marshal project finance, develop business cases and manage complex programmes, both here and across the globe. They pull together the very dispersed and complex value-chains required to deliver infrastructure projects. Already a major export, they should be at the heart of efforts to make the UK a centre of infrastructure expertise and excellence. Currently these experts are often used late in the day to get failing projects back on track. Getting them in early to help choose and plan the right projects is a better – and cheaper – way to employ them.
Paul Connolly is Director of the MCA Think Tank. Building Blocks can be found at the MCA Website, www.mca.org.uk
 Cllr Colin Lambert, Leader of Rochdale Borough Council said: “A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay will be guaranteed for all staff at Rochdale Council”.
In line with his vision to promote a fairer and more equal society for the people of Rochdale, the minimum pay rate for council workers will now be set at £7.26 per hour. The rate increase for the council’s lowest paid workers will take effect subject to formal ratification at full council on 30 October and will be backdated to 1 September.
The National Living Wage Scheme has been adopted by hundreds of employers nationally across every sector. According to London Mayor Boris Johnson “It is an investment which makes sound business sense.” Paying staff a living wage has broad benefits throughout society. It means more money is distributed throughout the local and greater economy. Staff are more committed to their work and there are lower sickness levels.
Cllr Lambert added: “We are proud to be able to ensure that our employees have the opportunity to provide a better standard of living for themselves and their families. We will be encouraging our partners and the broader business community to do the same.”
The National Living Wage Foundation was formed by a group of low paid workers who were working long hours doing two jobs and still could not make ends meet. According to their findings: 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage had enhanced the quality of the work of their staff. They have had improved loyalty and customer service and fewer complaints. Adopting a Living Wage can cut absenteeism by 25%.
National Living Wage Week is 4-10 October. For further information you can go to www.livingwage.org.uk
 Stoke road safety 2013 Education plays an important part in everyone’s lives, especially in the early years as young people move into the workplace. Key to this success is staying safe. However, it is a sad fact that road traffic incidents claim countless lives every year.
Road safety is an essential ‘life skill’, traditionally delivered to children throughout their school years by dedicated Local Authority road safety teams, often working in partnership with the Police and Fire Services.
Due to Government cutbacks in public spending, road safety around the UK has taken a significant hit with some services being scaled back or stopped completely. There is however a viable alternative uniquely offered by TTC Road Safety Services (TTC RSS), part of the successful TTC Group of companies.
Experts in the field of road safety
TTC RSS is managed by experts in the field of road safety education who come from a long career in Local Authority road safety. This assures a consistent and thorough approach to road safety delivery within all sectors of our communities.
Road Safety for schools and colleges
Whether a primary school, high school or college, TTC RSS have a programme for most year groups. In the early years training focuses on pedestrian training skills while before going to high school the emphasis shifts to looking at safe and independent travel. As pupils progress towards driving age, the focus is on developing those essential skills that are necessary to become a safe driver.
Supporting Local Authorities
Local Authorities have gone through some challenging times of late and it is likely that more will follow. TTC RSS are able to support Local Authority road safety teams in a number of ways, for example:
- Provision of road safety trainers to complement existing teams during periods of high demand
- Individual road safety schemes, managed and delivered by a TTC RSS professional trainer
- Provision of a managed road safety service, bespoked to individual requirements
- Provision of a secure web based road safety management system that will reduce the admin required to manage road safety schemes, such as pedestrian training, cyclists training or a minibus permit scheme
Support for independent schools
Schools that have opted for independent status can now access a comprehensive and personalised road safety service. This can be from a one-off intervention to a suite of initiatives spanning the entire year groups.
Support for businesses
A significant number of collisions occur while drivers are on a work related journey so businesses should manage these risks via a robust policy and instill a ‘road safety’ culture within their company. TTC RSS are able to support businesses in the following way:
- Development of a road safety policy
- Provision of in-class or on-road driver development (all vehicle categories)
Minibus driver coaching scheme (with optional permit)
Many organisations operate minibuses primarily driven by well-meaning and enthusiastic volunteer drivers. It is likely that unlike coach drivers, minibus drivers will not have undergone any formal training. A minibus driver coaching scheme, particularly if it is linked to a permit, can be a wise investment as it ensures the best possible steps have been taken to minimise the risks. TTC RSS’s operate a minibus scheme that is flexible and can accommodate anything from a single driver to the large fleet. For those with specific scheme requirements, TTC RSS can accommodate these into a personalised programme with an on-line booking and scheme management system.
Case study 1
City of Stoke on Trent Council was faced with the challenge of delivering pedestrian training to 3,000 primary schoolchildren within a three month period. Due to a severe lack of staffing resources this appeared to be an impossible task until they engaged the services of TTC RSS who:
- Contacted targeted primary schools
- Scheduled pedestrian training sessions (managing all school and trainer bookings)
- Recruited, trained and monitored local road safety trailers (all came from a teaching or road safety background)
- Delivered pedestrian training to 3,000 children, on time and within budget
Wirral Council contracted TTC RSS to deliver the practical driver assessment and coaching element of their minibus scheme. As well as recruiting, training and monitoring local minibus assessors, they provided the road safety team with a web-based programme management system that has streamlined their administrative processes and provided a 24/7 on-line booking service for participants of the scheme.
Case study 3
Warwickshire County Council wanted to run some cyclists training to encourage cycling to work. TTC RSS wrote an innovative in-class and on-road course, managed the bookings and course delivery, providing a seamless service for the council and their client.
We’d love to hear from you
If you would like to invest in any element of road safety, from a single scheme to a fully managed service, or you are a business wanting to develop a road safety culture, you can contact us in a number of ways:
01952 607 187
contactus@ttc-uk.com
www.ttcrss-uk.com
Adrian Hide, Director TTC Road Safety Services
 From the consumer’s end, CTA (Council Tax Advisors) come as a godsend to the millions of individuals and businesses that owe Council Tax arrears. Offering free telephone advice and helping clients communicate with their Local Council to set up manageable repayment plans, thousands have turned to CTA after bailiffs have come knocking.
However, in a bold new move, the company has announced that it is now offering its services to Local Councils themselves, in the hope of halving bailiff use by 2016.
The free service will be offered to Councils across the country as an alternative to traditional bailiff enforcement. By not charging any fees at all, CTA’s services are expected to come as a direct benefit to Local Authorities and other debtors.
“Millions of homeowners are in arrears and dozens of businesses each week are forced to shut their doors due to unpaid Council Tax bills. Bailiff action really isn’t the best option and each of our services is designed around avoiding bailiff intervention,” says Chris Richards, Founder of Council Tax Advisors.
Continuing, “We help anyone with our free advice and our paid mediation services usually come in at less than £150. By dealing with major bailiff companies including Equita, Ross & Roberts, Rossendales, we’ve been able to stop their action and negotiate sensible repayment plans on behalf of clients. We’re now turning things on their head and offering to work free of charge with the Local Councils, directly.”
The relationship will be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, expected to bring relief to many whose lives have been put on temporary hold while potential action is discussed or as it physically takes place.
“Nobody needs a bailiff at their door and their drastic action starts long before they arrive. The threat of bailiffs brings many people stress, worry and directly impacts all areas of their lives. We’re trying to prove that a softer and more calculated reaction can ultimately be more amicable for both sides. Local Councils will save money on resources and, using our expertise, we’ll ensure repayment plans are put in place for them to get the taxes they deserve,” says Richards.
CTA currently has a 98% success rate at stopping bailiff action, with 60% of problems resolved during a single free phone call with the client. Through the company’s new partnerships, these high success rates are set to bring a drastic reduction in the number of bailiffs being put to work.
All interested Local Authority parties are urged to make contact today to set up an initial consultation, free of charge.
For more information, visit: www.counciltaxadvisors.co.uk.
The company can also be reached via telephone: 01225 667 667.
 NHS Wales, the publicly-funded healthcare body tasked with providing care services for three million citizens of Wales, is expanding its use of Ipswitch FT’s MOVEit Managed File Transfer system to 5,000 third party public service users, including health boards, social service providers, ambulance operators and the police.
NHS Wales is the over-arching body responsible for all health boards and trusts within Wales, encompassing 65,000 staff nationwide, working across hospitals, university hospitals, GP surgeries, clinics, dental practices, palliative care, pharmacies and more. Its challenge was to rationalise and secure information flow, guard against the regulatory censure of already-cash-strapped agencies, and robustly fulfil its duty of care for patient records.
One of the major drivers for adopting a secure managed file transfer solution was data protection requirements laid out by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promote openness by public bodies and safeguard data privacy for individuals. By using Ipswitch File Transfer’s MOVEit technology, NHS Wales also meets ISO 27001 security standards.
Ipswitch FT MOVEit was initially procured solely for use by the staff of infrastructure support and operational teams within NHS Wales Informatics but it soon became clear that it was the ideal solution for the whole of NHS Wales. Currently, NHS Wales has a MOVEit user-base of around 2,000 third party users, including social services, ambulance operators and the police. By the end of the summer this installed base is expected to rise to 5,000 users, as awareness and demand for MOVEit grows. NHS Wales is also testing the Ad-Hoc facility within MOVEit for sharing files and data securely through Microsoft Outlook.
Prior to implementing Ipswitch File Transfer, NHS Wales employees had trouble sharing information securely between sites around the UK particularly when large file sizes, or sensitive information were involved. This saw staff resort to posting paper-copies of records, or couriering discs of MRI scans and x-rays. Today employees depend on MOVEit to ensure secure managed transfer of confidential information from health boards to other health boards, and to social services, clinical trial sites, solicitors, police, health inspectorates and external commercial third-parties.
Through Ipswitch FT technology, IT representatives within NHS Wales are equipped with the knowledge of how, when, where and with who sensitive information, such as patient records and x-ray files, is being shared. IT teams are now able to properly track, manage and encrypt mail traffic while at rest or in transit, and take protective precautionary measures when necessary. Such visibility allows for reporting to upper management in a timely, highly-effective manner, creating a confident work environment within the internal IT department.
Ipswitch File Transfer partner, HANDD Business Solutions, provided NHS Wales with implementation and consultation services when rolling out Ipswitch File Transfer MOVEit. HANDD Business Solutions continues to provide NHS Wales with continuous technical support on an as-needed basis.
Andrew Glencross, senior IT security specialist at NHS Wales Informatics Service, is responsible for providing the operational security wrap for all national applications and infrastructure covering every site across NHS Wales. He explained: “As soon as we (NWIS) started using IpswitchFT MOVEit, more and more agencies began asking us if they could take advantage of the service too. We then began rolling it out to other health boards and trusts so that they could also share information securely with their third-parties, such as police crews, ambulance operators, social services, and others – and we simply haven’t stopped! Ipswitch File Transfer’s technology partnered with HANDD Business Solutions’ responsive consultation services has given us a high level of confidence in the security of our data transfers that we didn’t have in the past, helping harness our trusted reputation and meet regulatory compliance across the board.”
Rich Kennelly, president of Ipswitch’s File Transfer division, said: “Safeguarding healthcare data is of critical importance, with staff across multiple agencies and sites constantly needing to share everything from clinical scans to patient records with internal and external parties, quickly and securely. MOVEit powers many segments of the healthcare industry, including healthcare providers, healthcare services and pharmaceutical companies. We are delighted that NHS Wales trusts Ipswitch’s Managed File Transfer solutions to reliably and securely transfer sensitive information and provide the visibility and control and auditing capabilities demanded by the ICO and other regulatory bodies.”
About Ipswitch File Transfer
Ipswitch File Transfer provides solutions that move, govern and secure business information between employees, business partners and customers. The company’s proven solutions lead the industry in terms of ease of use, allowing companies of all sizes to take control of their sensitive and vital information and improve the speed of information flow. Ipswitch lets business and IT managers govern data transfers and file sharing with confidence and enable compliance by balancing the need for end user simplicity with the visibility and control required by IT. Ipswitch File Transfer solutions are trusted by thousands of organisations worldwide, including more than 90% of the Fortune 1000, government agencies, and millions of prosumers.
www.IpswitchFT.com
With the annual 1st April increase in Landfill Tax, and publication of guidance by the Environment Agency, there has never been a better time to investigate road sweeper and gully waste reprocessing systems says George Anderson, Director of the Siltbuster Group.
Since it was brought into existence in 1996, “with the intention of driving councils and companies towards the development of recycling infrastructure by making the landfill disposal route a more expensive and unattractive option”, Landfill tax has steadily increased by £8 per tonne per year, bringing the rate for active waste to landfill to £72 per tonne in 2013/14. This is set to rise to £80 per tonne in 2014, but from the start a lower tax rate for inert waste of £2.50 per tonne has existed.
Changes to the Status
In the past, the status of road sweepings and gully waste has not been completely clear. The European Waste Catalogue lists Street Cleansing Residues under waste code 20 03 03 as a non hazardous waste; yet the Environment Agency and the Highways Agency both agreed in 2010 that it should be potentially classified as hazardous. At the same time, many councils and waste contractors confused its non hazardous status with inert, sending the material to inert waste landfills at the lower tax rate.
This all changed on in May/June 2012 when HMRC announced that trommel fines, grits and screenings would no longer qualify for the lower landfill tax rate, unless the materials complied with the Landfill Tax (Qualifying Materials) Order 2011. To qualify for the lower tax rate, road sweeper and gully waste must be comprised of predominantly inert material (such as mineral, residual soil) with only small amounts of organic matter and other contaminants. Given that the sweeper/gully waste typically contains 20 to 30% organic matter this clarification clearly signifies that the HMRC considers that these materials attract the higher landfill tax rate.
New Guidance
But May 2012 wasn’t all bad news, as the Environment Agency issued New Guidance on the Recovery of Street Sweepings and Gully Emptyings. This was produced for Waste Authorities in England and Wales to support accurate reporting for the Landfill Allowances and Trading Scheme (LATS) and laid out in black and white the do’s and don’ts of recovering the waste.
With this year’s increase in the Landfill Tax imminent, over one million tonnes of roadside and gully waste to be dealt with each year nationally, fledgling Environment Agency Guidance and the easy option of simply sending it to landfill now a much more expensive proposition, not surprisingly, local authorities are asking what’s the best way to deal with their road waste?
The answer is simple, look at what’s in it. The bulk of road sweepings and gully waste typically consists of recoverable, reuseable sand and gravel which can account for up to 60% to 75% of a local authority’s road waste harvest, with larger stones, fines, debris and litter, leaves, twigs and other organics making up the rest. However it’s a variable and seasonal harvest too. Waste collected by road sweepers and gully suckers varies in both its content and consistency depending on the vehicle design, cleansing method, location, weather and time of year. For this reason it has traditionally been a challenging waste stream to treat, so innovation has been the key.
Innovation
Innovation has seen the development of, for instance, the Gritbuster System, a unique road waste washing and recycling system. It is designed to cope with up to 10 to 15 tonnes per hour of such a variety of feed materials, it separates and dewaters the various recyclables and even recycles the water.
In essence, the processing starts with road sweepings and gully waste being tipped into the Gritbuster’s main reception hopper. From here, the material is transferred into a rotating trommel screen to be washed. The material is then separated into over size material (+10mm) and the smaller (-10mm) fraction.
The oversize material typically contains larger gravel-like material and the usual road debris of bottles, cans, broken number plates, leaves and so forth. Once separated, it is conveyed out of the machine. The remaining material containing the sand, fine organics, silt and any other fines material falls through the trommel holes. The fine organic matter and the coarse sand and gravel fraction are separated before each is dewatered and conveyed out of the unit as separate materials.
A second, finer grade of sand can also be produced by passing the material through a Siltbuster hydrocyclone and dewatering screen. The resulting dirty wash water is cleaned in one of Siltbuster’s water treatment plants before it too is recycled.
All of this is done with a compact modular system. The whole Gritbuster Washing & Recycling Plant can be squeezed into the corner of a council depot, operator’s yard or waste transfer station.
Financials & Targets
There’s a strong commercial imperative why it is worthwhile for councils to attempt to recycle such waste. The 60% and 75% gravel and sand-sized particles, when reclaimed, can be put to beneficial use as a recycled aggregate for use in for instance low grade concrete production, pipe-bedding and other forms of secondary aggregate. Thus the process turns what is a now, following the HMRC ruling, an expensive to dispose of waste, into a significant commercial, money saving opportunity.
In addition to this financial incentive, recycling road sweepings and gully waste provides a new recycling opportunity for local authorities – who with steep recycling targets to meet have to look for as yet untapped opportunities to ‘up’ their recycling game. With a 50% recycling rate set for England by 2020 and an even more ambitious target of 70% by 2025 set for Wales, simply improving how they currently recycle isn’t enough. Everyone is looking for new waste streams to focus on, and this one fits the bill neatly.
Defra has stated that where a local authority is responsible for waste collection and street cleansing under Section 89 (2) (a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, road waste is able to be included as part of the authority’s recycling targets. So the 1 million tonnes of road sweepings and gully waste which currently go to landfill present a real, and as yet untapped, opportunity.
Conclusion
The Gritbuster System is currently being used by the private sector, including large road sweeper hire companies such as ADMEC Municipal Services Ltd., who installed a plant some three years ago. With changes to the cost of disposing of road sweeper and gully waste and ambitious recycling targets to meet, plus a tried and tested technical solution to hand, there has never been a better moment for the public sector to follow the private sector’s lead, and review the way it manages this waste stream.
To find out more about Gritbuster call George Anderson on 01600 772256.
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