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RAPID VISION SYSTEMS EXPANDS PRESENCE IN RETAIL SECTOR
Rapid Vision Systems, one of the UK’s leading developers of redeployable CCTV solutions, has appointed Matthew Hopley as Surveillance Solutions Consultant for the retail sector. Based at the company’s headquarters in Coventry, West Midlands, he will be responsible for building relationships with new and existing customers and identifying new opportunities for Rapid Vision Systems’ innovative range of CCTV solutions throughout the UK.
Matthew Hopley has over 16 years experience in the security industry and worked in the Corporate Security department of Asda Stores which is part of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer. As Regional Corporate Security Manager, he carried out complex investigations working closely with local and national agencies. He also conducted security risk reviews including the specification of a wide range of security products including access control, CCTV, intruder alarms and covert surveillance devices.
According to Dennis Saunders, Managing Director of Rapid Vision Systems: -Matthew Hopley has a level of experience that is almost unique in the industry and understands the day-to-day security requirements of retailers. His appointment will enable us to expand our presence in this important market sector.”
About Rapid Vision Systems
Rapid Vision Systems Ltd is a specialist provider of redeployable CCTV solutions to the police, local authorities, housing associations, crime reduction partnerships and other organisations. They are used for a wide range of overt and covert operations to combat antisocial behaviour, street crime, drug dealing and racial harassment. Rapid Vision Systems provides the highest level of technical backup and support for the life of the equipment and offers free user training when required.
UK public sector organisations can now procure cloud collaboration and content management technology quickly and easily as Huddle today announced its inclusion on the G-Cloud Services Framework. Removing the need for single tender justification, both the secure public version of Huddle, which can be used for collaboration on data up to IL2, and Huddle IL3, for collaboration on RESTRICTED data, can now be purchased via the Framework.
The leader in cloud collaboration and content management, Huddle already works with 75 per cent of central government departments, including the Ministry of Justice and the Cabinet Office, and numerous local government and NHS organisations. With the government promoting a shift to cloud-based technologies and collaborative working initiatives, there is an increasing demand for tools that support cross-department collaboration and joined-up government. Unlike many on-premise legacy ICT systems, Huddle and Huddle IL3 can be set up in minutes, with no special architecting or customisations required, and software updates occur automatically.
-Huddle’s inclusion on the G-Cloud Framework is great news for public sector organisations and growing UK businesses, stated Alastair Mitchell, CEO, Huddle. -The Framework enables organisations to make the move from costly on-premise legacy ICT systems to innovative cloud-based technologies much faster and creates real competition in the government cloud services marketplace. Securing government technology deals has long been an area dominated by integrators and technology goliaths and this Framework has now levelled the playing field.
The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has thrown its weight behind campaigners in Queen’s Park who want to set up London’s first parish council.
Westminster City Council’s consultation on how neighbourhoods are run ends today, with residents in Queen’s Park at the front of the queue to urge the City Council to grant them a new parish council so they can make improvements to their area and give people a voice.
As a supporter of localism, the Government’s approach to a greater devolution of power and decision making to the lowest possible level, NALC is calling for Westminster City Council to listen to residents in Queen’s Park and other areas who wish to have their own grassroots council.
Chairman of NALC, Councillor Michael Chater OBE said: -New parish councils in London would empower people to take more control over their lives and neighbourhoods. There is a clear case for a new parish council in Queen’s Park to join the 9000 grassroots councils that already exist across the country. I have been extremely impressed by the ambition and determination of the people in Queen’s Park to improve their community and the lives of residents through a new council.
-A Government white paper last year set out their support for parish councils and made it clear they wanted to see more councils established to take greater control over local services. As one of the Government’s flagship authorities, Westminster City Council has a golden and exciting opportunity to build on its track record of empowering communities by creating new parish councils in areas of Westminster where residents wish to do so.
Head of Policy and Development at NALC, Justin Griggs, who is leading their work in London to promote grassroots democracy and raise awareness about local councils, said: -A new council in Queen’s Park is the only democratic and transparent governance arrangement able to meet and sustain the needs and ambitions of residents. This is because it would have a statutory basis with a range of legal powers; be democratically accountable to local people; and able raise a precept from the local community to invest in neighbourhood services and projects. It would also have a positive impact on community cohesion.
Queen’s Park chair Angela Singhate says: -Our campaign began at a meeting in the community centre 18 months ago and it’s really exciting we’ve come this far. We hope Westminster City Council will listen to residents who have made it clear a community council is what they want. We are determined to make real improvements to our neighbourhood and the lives of all who live here.
Local schools, businesses, voluntary groups and the University of Westminster have also voiced their support for a new council in Queen’s Park.
Westminster City Council will decide on future governance arrangements at a meeting of the Council in May.
Leading washroom provider Washroom Washroom was recently appointed to provide changing room specifications as part of new sports facilities installed at an all boys’ school in Isleworth, London.
Isleworth and Syon School for Boys required refurbishment to its three existing changing areas and has now been complete with practical specifications to suit its 11-plus user-group.
Changing rooms were designed with an open plan layout and specifications were required to complement this space as well as provide practical amenities to meet the demands of frequent use.
Washroom Washroom installed Legato benching in Solid Grade Laminate (SGL) for its hardwearing, durable and waterproof properties, making it a practical choice for changing rooms. Specified with fixed clothes hookrails, Legato benching provided students with a convenient clothes storage whilst making most of the open-plan space.
Matching SGL wall panelling ensured benching could be securely fixed as well as to protect walls from longer-term wear and tear.
Finally, Washroom Washroom installed Luminoso translucent shower cubicles provided a practical and safe shower solution for students. Specified in Acrylic materials with smooth edges for unparalleled safety, cubicles ensured a safe and shatter-resistant solution.
Trevor Bowers, director at Washroom Washroom added: -Washroom Washroom is able to provide solutions to suit any number of projects. Isleworth and Syon School for Boys is the perfect example of a project that required practical specifications that combined durability and privacy. Washroom Washroom was able to meet these requirements by providing products from our highly engineered range to create changing room areas suitable, safe and long-lasting.”
For more information on the range of services and products offered by Washroom Washroom, please visit www.washroom.co.uk, call 0845 470 3000 or email sales@washroom.co.uk.
Chris Hardy, McAfee UK public sector, comments below in response to the recent PwC report which highlights the growing threat to the public sector posed by cybercrime. The risk is clearly heightened by the amount and nature of data held by governments, and the damage to public trust and confidence which would result from a large breach.
-As government continues to invest in shared services – with a view to cut costs – and initiatives such as Universal Credit get closer to becoming a reality, so the volume of data flowing across the public sector continues to grow. In this environment, it is understandable that public sector workers and citizens alike are paying close attention to the security and privacy implications. To realise the cost savings available from managing and delivering public services online, the general public has to have faith in central and local government’s ability to protect their data.
Programmes such as the UK Cyber Security Strategy and work with the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA) help to demonstrate how seriously the UK government takes the issue.
Taking a more strategic approach to tackling cybercrime and viewing government systems in a holistic manner would also go a long way to bolstering defences. By allowing the security system to share intelligence, any potential attacks can be identified more quickly and knowledge can be shared across multiple systems to build further resilience.
As data breaches stop hitting the headlines, public confidence in online services will increase, meaning that budget that would otherwise have to support physical locations can instead be spent on improving services for the long term.”
Following a successful three-month trial at waste water treatment works in Northamptonshire, England, Anglian Water is considering the use Jabbakam’s cloud-based IP camera surveillance system at further sites located across the country.
In the past, Anglian Water sites have been targets for theft, trespass and vandalism, which can put site safety and quality of the service at risk.
Anglian Water’s objective in deploying the Jabbakam system is to reduce such incidents, as well as increasing general security for their staff. If and when an incident occurs, Anglian Water would be able to use the Jabbakam video evidence, made available immediately from the Internet, to pursue the perpetrators.
One key challenge to using IP video surveillance in remote locations is economically connecting to the Internet. Anglian Water has resolved this issue by connecting to Jabbakam’s web-based video surveillance system via the Hughes IPoS network, and Anglian Water’s use of the Hughes IPoS network to connect its Northamptonshire sites to the Jabbakam IP video surveillance network via the Internet is a commercial first.
Conventional CCTV systems are often stolen or vandalised by the criminals, meaning the video evidence is destroyed or stolen. In the case of Jabbakam, all video data is immediately transmitted off-site, via the Internet, and therefore can’t be destroyed or physically removed from the site.
Previously, a satellite link to the internet would have been uneconomic to deploy and uneconomic to use for remote surveillance purposes. However, the Jabbakam system makes this possible because it is designed to operate in bandwidth-deprived environments.
The operation of conventional CCTV systems depends on the continual streaming and monitoring of video footage. This makes connecting them to satellite systems technically challenging, expensive and uneconomic for the protection of all but, the most sensitive of sites (military installations etc).
With Jabbakam, video footage is recorded on an exception basis (usually triggered by movement or another user-defined event). The size of the data output is miniscule compared to conventional CCTV systems.
Jabbakam now allows those organisations, that want to protect remote locations vulnerable to theft, vandalism and trespass and that have no current means to connect to the Internet, to do so both effectively and economically, by creating their own Jabbakam IP camera surveillance networks.
Lynda Chamberlain, Anglian Water’s Security Manager, commented, -We chose to pilot Jabbakam at these remote locations because if it worked there it would work anywhere. This pilot has shown us that Jabbakam can work well in such locations thanks to the use of satellite.”
The Jabbakam system provides immediate access to footage via one click connectivity and it is competitively priced. The system’s low power requirements mean it will also be possible to use solar panels at those remote sites that have no access to mains power.
Whenever an event occurs on-site, Jabbakam alerts the relevant manager that something is going on via email or text message with an image and a link to a video attached. Depending on the content of the video the manager is then able to take appropriate action.”
LONDON January 25th, 2012 – TODAY the Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd MP, announces that £1.3 million from The Social Action Fund has been awarded to enable the creation of new not-for-profit organisation, We’re Altogether Better, formed to tackle social issues digitally.
We’re Altogether Better is run by the team behind the award-winning children’s charity, Beatbullying, which was established in 2002 and has received on-going Government support for its pioneering anti-bullying work.
Through this funding, up to half a million children and young people will be supported through the new not-for-profit organisation, and nearly ten thousand new volunteers will be recruited to significantly increase the support available to the most vulnerable in society. As the new organisation grows, millions of the most vulnerable and at risk young people across the UK will be supported.
Following an initial grant from the Transition Fund in Spring 2011, this latest investment enables the organisation to publicly launch and expand its online mentoring and advice services, such as CyberMentors, FutureYou and MiniMentors. It will also create a major new offering to families, and a programme to support people with mental illness, for launch in 2012-13.
Significantly, the Cabinet Office’s investment will also assist the new organisation to take to commercial market ‘Cosmo’, the unique software framework which powers its existing proprietary counselling and mentoring services.
Cosmo is a real-time chat and messaging platform that provides a safe online environment through which an organisation can engage with people directly and immediately. The software framework also includes diagnostic tools and administration dashboards that allow organisations to manage, monitor and evaluate their service provision effectively.
Chief Executive, Emma-Jane Cross, said:
-We are indebted to the Cabinet Office for its faith in the ambitions of We’re Altogether Better; never has there been a more urgent need to protect our society’s most vulnerable people.
-Thanks to this support, Beatbullying has made the distinct transition into a cutting-edge social action charity, inspiring digital volunteering for the 21st century. We will now be able to assist thousands of children, young people and adults across the UK, and in doing so, help progress the bold ambitions of the Big Society.
-We believe that We’re Altogether Better can help heal social fissures such as racism and violence, improve mental health, unburden the NHS, combat truancy and poor educational attainment, put young people into work, and enhance community cohesion and social mobility.
-In recent years, the need to improve the support provided to the most vulnerable people in society has been widely acknowledged. This forward-thinking funding from the Cabinet Office has created a modern, digital social action organisation that will meet this need.
-We have evidence that our services, including those this funding will enable us to extend, are successful. CyberMentors, which is powered by Cosmo, has already helped over 1.4 million children and young people and seen a 60 per cent reduction in child-on-child violence in schools where it is implemented.
-We look forward to helping many more people.
Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said:
-In its ambition to support the aims of the Big Society, We’re Altogether Better will report back to the Office for Civil Society, and directly to Nick Hurd MP, on its success in the recruitment and development of the 10,000 new volunteers who will take social action online to help children and young people in crisis. We’re Altogether Better will also further report on progress of delivery of Cosmo into other civil society organisations.
For more information, visit www.werealtogetherbetter.org or www.wearecosmo.com (full websites are in development).
With the pressure to do more for less being felt in every corner of the public sector, senior executives could not be blamed for feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Delivering service improvements while simultaneously finding cost savings is no easy task, but a new generation of web-based technology is enabling thinly-stretched teams to marry objectives that once seemed irreconcilable.
A leading example is MATS© a process tracking platform that brings together workflow, communications and reporting tools into one simple package.
It allows staff to log the steps taken to resolve a particular case, whether it is an application, enquiry or complaint. The platform can be made visible to anyone within the organisation who needs access, therefore encouraging smoother progress and improved communication between departments.
At the same time, the system addresses the common problem of keeping the public informed of what is happening with their particular case. Large volumes of incoming chaser calls are a major drain on resources a 2011 report from ContactBabel calculated the average cost of handling an inbound call to be an astonishing £4.08. In addition to financial considerations, the frustration that arises from chaser calls, both for the caller and the call handler, can have a big impact on perceptions of the organisation. Also long-term consequences for employees can range from low morale and little or no job satisfaction leading to absences and high staff turnover.
However, a considerable majority of these calls are avoidable. In other words, public sector organisations can negate the need for such calls by keeping people informed of progress more proactively. The same workflow system described above is capable of generating automated updates to members of the public either via SMS text message, email or personalised web page when key stages of a particular process have been reached.
This is an important reassurance, providing people with useful information when and where they need it and dramatically reduces chaser calls.
The marriage of these two functions ‘ workflow and communication’ has the potential to deliver significant efficiency savings.
What’s more, as different teams and departments within the public sector come under increasing pressure to justify their roles, the availability of metrics is vital as proof of value. With MATS© for example, the system generates real-time management reports to help senior executives assess performance levels and identify problems quickly.
The mention of technology is often greeted with a sigh by public sector executives who have far too much experience of costly and complicated projects that inevitably require a lengthy period of installation and then don’t meet the specific needs they would wish for.
The latest web-based technology overcomes historic fears with fast, simple and inexpensive deployment. In addition, the fluid nature of such solutions makes them entirely mouldable to a virtually unlimited array of specific activities, and allows them to fit seamlessly around existing IT infrastructure and hardware.
MATS® has been successfully implemented by public sector organisations including Peterborough City Council, which was subsequently named one of the UK’s top six local authorities, as measured by the efficiency of its customer service operation.
What began as an initiative to help the council meet NI14 the national performance indicator that obliged almost 400 local authorities in the UK to reduce ‘avoidable contact’ with the community’ became an integral strategy in improving the wider efficiency of the organisation.
The introduction at Peterborough City Council of a specially-tailored MATS® system enabled the council to build up a broad picture of its call traffic. This helped define the source, scale and scope of contact from customers and how it could be addressed in ways that would reduce strain on customer service staff. With the use of automated responses in the form of SMS or email, for example customers were kept up-to-date with the progress of their case eliminating the need to make a call for information.
Mark Sandhu, Head of Customer Services at Peterborough City Council, said: What started as an NI14 proposition has become a strong aid to the council’s efficiency strategy it gives us information for meaningful conversations with back offices. MATS® is very much part of our future thinking to maintain and develop our preeminent position as a leading edge, efficiency focused council.
For further information, visit www.matssoft.co.uk or call 01234 321555.
Covering an area of about 500 square miles, Breckland is made up of the five market towns of Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton and also a number of industrial areas and rural communities.
The area’s ageing CCTV system has contributed to keeping crime rates low. Having deployed the system in the mid 90s, the council was keen to upgrade the system to one that was both cost effective and that offered flexible monitoring.
The council wanted to move away from traditional CCTV to a digital system that would make footage taken from across the region easy to locate and share. Using cameras that could be relocated to new locations gave the council flexibility and avoided the expense of installing new cameras.
A seamlessly digital solution
Having considered a variety of options, the council decided that an IP-based surveillance system that was seamlessly digital from the camera through to the transmission network and the recording platform with wireless technology, would best fit their needs.
Having considered specialist telecoms advice, the council then put the project out to competitive tender. Axis’ partner, Advance Monitoring Solutions (AMS) was awarded the contract for its innovative approach to the supply, installation and maintenance of a new cutting-edge surveillance system.
AMS is working with the council as part of a 10 year Public Private Partnership contract to develop the system commercially which will allow authorised partners such as residents or local businesses immediate access to footage.
Commenting on the system, John Wilkins, technical director, AMS, said: -Breckland District Council is one of the first councils to take the plunge and go entirely digital with its surveillance system. As the market leader in network video, Axis cameras offer the level of functionality required for this innovative system.
We are very impressed with the council’s open mindedness to realising how the very latest technologies can bring efficiencies and flexibility to public space surveillance in a way not previously seen within the industry.
Axis Communications was chosen to supply the network cameras and 70 AXIS Q-6032-E, outdoor-ready PTZ dome network cameras were installed in and around the region. Footage from the cameras is transmitted via an Alvarion wireless system.
PTZ cameras are ideal for live monitoring where the user needs to actively follow a person or object. Coupled with H.264 compression and 35x optical zoom lenses, the cameras are able to read car number plates at distances of up to 160 metres which is about the length of one and a half football pitches.
The cameras deliver high resolution image quality, coupled with high frame rates which are very important when dealing with fast moving objects and varying light conditions. The cameras are also designed to be discrete, easy to install, withstand harsh weather conditions and are also tamper proof.
The council is also using a number of rapid deployment mega pixel cameras from Axis which can be deployed in ‘hot spot’ areas as and when required.
Footage from the cameras is managed by AMS via its proprietary video management and monitoring system, Medusa.
Meeting the needs of the community
Grahame Green, community safety officer for Breckland District Council said: -The wireless system offers us a level of functionality and flexibility that our old system was unable to provide. It is now far easier and cheaper for us to relocate the Axis cameras as we no longer need to rely on costly fibre optics.
Breckland’s Public Place Partnership is delivering a host of benefits to the local area, with one of the main beneficiaries being the police. Norfolk Constabulary now has the ability to share images across the network so that any footage can be viewed remotely. This can help save the police a considerable amount of time and money as it means they don’t have to travel to the control room or a specified control centre to view footage.
Long term, the council fully expects its investment in the system to pay for itself by providing surveillance and security monitoring services to other people in the community such as local businesses and residents.
Grahame Green and his team are working together with AMS to ensure that the system is fully used by the police and other stakeholders. Grahame is confident that the system will help to ensure Breckland remains a safe place to live and work for many years to come as more residents and business users start to use the system to monitor their own properties.
Grahame Green concludes: -Transferring from a fixed analogue to a next generation digital surveillance system has been a challenge as we are one of the first councils to make this leap, but it was extremely well managed by AMS. We now have an extremely innovative, cost effective and flexible system that will serve our community well for years to come.
A THIEF, who stole Poppy Appeal tins in the run up to Armistice Day, has been jailed for 52 weeks.
Carl Anthony Mason, 29 of Creswell Avenue, Preston, appeared at Hyndburn Magistrates Court this morning (Wednesday 23 November) after pleading guilty to attempted theft of a charity box from the Lockside Tavern, Bolton Road; theft of a poppy tin from Santander Bank, King William Street, Blackburn and theft of a Poppy tin from Boots, Great Bolton Street, Blackburn.
He had four further offences taken into consideration.
He was arrested after members of the public recognised him in CCTV footage which had been released by the police. He was later charged and remanded in custody.
Blackburn town centre Sgt Dave Clarke said: -Mason committed an appalling and despicable crime. He took advantage of the goodwill of the local community and stole money which was intended to support men and women who have fought or served for their country.”
An ambulance service has been criticised for it response time in getting to the scene of a road accident.
The North West Ambulance Service has been criticised over its response time in getting an ambulance to a young woman who had been hit by a car in Oldham, Greater Manchester last week.
The 18 year old girl was hit by a car whilst crossing Egerton Street, near her school, in the town centre at around 2.00pm last Thursday.
The girl suffered an injury to her head after colliding with the windscreen of the vehicle that was shattered, she lay on the roadside attended to by the public until the emergency services arrived.
Editor of GPSJ, Stuart Littleford, was one of the first at the scene along with the girls classmates from a nearby school and members of the public. They placed coats over her and tried to comfort her at the scene.
Stuart said, “Whilst helping out it was apparent that people had become concerned that after 25 minutes no emergency services had arrived, they could not understand why a girl with a potentially serious injury was lying in the road for so long, especially in a town centre with no help.
“I asked who had called the ambulance and a woman said she had around twenty minutes earlier, I rang again twice and asked for the police to attend due to the traffic situation. After around 25 minutes the first paramedic unit arrived and after around 45 minutes the larger ambulance turned up.”
“A number of people at the scene were really concerned as to what the delay was getting the emergency services to the scene, especially in a town centre.” he added.
One witness told GPSJ, “I know when the ambulance service were contacted they got told the girl had been hit by the car and had a bad head injury and that she was conscious and breathing, but I still think 25 minutes was far longer than expected in light of her injuries.”
Under the current target system, ambulance trusts should respond to 95 per cent of Category B 999 calls within 19 minutes.
Category B are where injuries are serious but not life threatening.
Across England last year (2009-10) the figure was 91.0 per cent. Only two of England’s 12 trusts met the target: South Western (95.8 per cent) and Isle of Wight (96.7 per cent).
The worst performing was North West Ambulance Trust, at 85.9 per cent.
North West Ambulance Service sent this response to GPSJ:
Director of Contact Centres at North West Ambulance Service, Paul Ferguson said: All 999 calls received by our control centres are categorised and given a priority by a medical priority dispatch system, based on the information provided by the caller. The speed and type of response is determined by the category of the call.
Our aim is to get to all patients as quickly as possible, prioritising those with life threatening conditions.
If the patient’s family would like to contact us about any concerns they may have, we are happy to discuss.
GPSJ understands the young woman has now made a good recovery and returned to school.
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, has recently announced that Hampshire Constabulary has reduced logon times for print, file share and reporting applications from as much as 20 minutes to only a few seconds with Blue Coat® MACH5 WAN Optimization appliances. This significantly reduces the amount of time officers spend on administrative and incident reporting tasks that take them away from their beats. To deliver the same experience to officers working in rural locations with low bandwidth, Hampshire Constabulary also deployed Blue Coat ProxyClient software for WAN optimization.
In the absence of local print and file servers, which were impractical from a cost and management perspective, police officers were forced to deal with painfully slow application performance, which limited the amount of time they could spend on patrol in their neighbourhoods, said Tony Hutchings, senior network engineer for Hampshire Constabulary. -The Blue Coat solution has minimised the amount of time and effort required to access applications through the remote server and has resulted in significant productivity gains for Hampshire Constabulary.
Hampshire Constabulary has almost 7,000 employees at 85 sites around Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. With officers located far from centralised applications, including print and file share systems, and others located in areas with limited bandwidth, basic administrative tasks often consumed large amounts of time. In addition to being cost prohibitive, installing and managing print servers at each police station posed an unacceptable security risk. Any deployment would require metal cages, extra ventilation and cooling and an uninterrupted power supply.
With the Blue Coat MACH5 appliances, Hampshire Constabulary dramatically reduced the time to logon to applications, print or access files. As a result, the IT and Communications department is no longer inundated with complaints about slow application and service response times. In addition to reducing the burden on the network administration team, officers can more quickly complete their required paperwork and return to providing a visible policing presence in the neighbourhoods to which they are dedicated.
As a result of the overwhelming improvement in productivity that the ProxyClient software delivered for remote officers, Hampshire Constabulary anticipates a broader roll out that will include all of the force’s laptop computers. ProxyClient software is currently available with MACH5 appliances at no additional charge.
In the current climate of local authority spending cuts, adding bandwidth to address slow application performance is not an option, even if that means officers spend more time on administrative tasks, said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president at Blue Coat Systems. The Blue Coat WAN optimization solution enables organisations to accelerate access to centralised applications and services without adding additional bandwidth capacity, so officers can quickly complete their administrative duties and return to their beats.
You can read more about how Hampshire Constabulary is enabling its workforce to be more productive in the case study at www.bluecoat.com/doc/13966.
Fund will seek to invest in infrastructure assets in Ireland – including assets being disposed of by the Government and commercial State enterprises and new investment projects
National Pensions Reserve Fund has committed a 250 Euro million as cornerstone investor
AMP Capital has been appointed as the investment manager of a major new infrastructure fund being established by Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM). The new fund – Irish Infrastructure Trust – will target investment in Irish assets including those designated for disposal by the Irish Government and Irish commercial State enterprises and also in new infrastructure projects in Ireland. It will seek up to 1 Euro billion from global and Irish institutional investors and has already received investment commitments of 300 Euro million from institutional funds including Euro 250 million from the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF).
AMP Capital will invest and manage the portfolio of infrastructure assets with full responsibility for all investment decisions.
AMP Capital Head of Infrastructure Europe Boe Pahari said: We are very pleased to be appointed as infrastructure manager for this Irish infrastructure fund which will provide institutional investors globally with a unique opportunity to invest in the Irish infrastructure sector.
We have over 20 years experience in owning and managing infrastructure assets and are well positioned to effectively manage and add value to the fund’s investments. With the first close of the fund we are progressing an active deal pipeline consistent with our strategy of investing in quality Irish infrastructure assets across a range of sectors.
Irish Life Investment Managers Chief Executive Gerry Keenan said: -We expect considerable investment opportunities to emerge in the coming years with infrastructure assets which have traditionally been closed off from outside investment. This fund aims to provide long term investors with a stable income yield as well as the potential for capital growth from a substantial portfolio of assets which underpin the Irish economy.
National Pensions Reserve Fund Chairman Paul Carty said: -This commitment by the NPRF is a significant building block in the establishment of a Strategic Investment Portfolio that is focused on investments in Ireland. It has the added benefit of allowing the NPRF to fulfil its goal of investing on commercial terms and alongside other investors in Irish infrastructure.
A British manufacturer has teamed up with a nursery school owner to raise the standard of hand hygiene in educational settings after it was revealed millions of school days are missed each year due to avoidable illness.
Research also shows the spread of common bugs and infections throughout schools costs the UK economy millions of pounds and forces thousands of teachers to regularly take time off.
However, many of these illnesses could be avoided by simple improvements in hand hygiene. Donna Row, who runs the Yorley Barn Nursery in Suffolk and DaRo UV Systems – which makes hand hygiene inspection cabinets used by NHS organisations throughout the UK – have now joined forces to raise awareness of the importance of hand hygiene in educational settings.
Mrs Row decided to review her nursery’s hand hygiene policy during the recent swine flu outbreak and approached DaRo UV Systems after reading how its hand hygiene inspection cabinets had played a vital role in the reduction of hospital superbugs such as MRSA. The pair decided to carry out some research – which included gathering facts and figures from the Department of Education and the Office of National Statistics – and were startled by their findings:
Department of Education statistics show 58,90,790 school days were missed by children in England in 2009/2010 due to them being absent and the overwhelming majority of absences were due to sickness. The top five illnesses which cause children to miss school are the common cold, sore throat, stomach bugs, ear infection and conjunctivitis. These illnesses could be avoided if stringent hand hygiene practices were in place and implemented, meaning millions of missed school days could be avoided.
The Department of Education also revealed around 300,000 teachers take sickness leave each year, which equates to around 2,700,000 school days. It is estimated around half of staff sickness is also due to common infections, such as colds and stomach bugs. The annual cost of supply teachers and support staff to cover for sick days is around £3m.
Sickness in school environments also has a significant impact on the UK economy. A 2005 report by the Office of National Statistics estimated the cost of absence from work to the UK economy to be £11.6b. The same reports shows evidence that parents take more time off work than those with no dependents, as they often need to care for sick children.
Julian Cant, General Manager at DaRo UV Systems, said: We have been astounded by the results of our research. It is quite clear the spread of infections in schools causes children to miss school unnecessarily, forces teachers to take time off work and costs the UK economy millions of pounds.
-We know from our experience within the NHS that improved hand hygiene measures can dramatically reduce the spread of infections and cross contamination. Microbiologists and infection control experts now recognise without any doubt that stringent hand hygiene procedures will reduce infections and this is why we have seen such a dramatic decline in hospital superbugs, such as MRSA. Clearly, the educational sector needs to follow the example of the NHS and introduce comprehensive hand hygiene policies.
Together with the Yorley Barn Nursery the company has developed an innovative hand hygiene educational support package called Buster, which is being offered to nurseries and primary schools across the UK.
The Buster packs use cartoon characters to take children on a fun, educational journey about the importance of hand hygiene in preventing the spread of infections. The packs use an ultra-violet light ‘glow box’ to ensure children are using the correct hand washing techniques. A special glitter lotion is applied to the hands and then washed off. Hands are then placed under the colourful Buster ‘glow box’ and any remaining lotion will fluoresce showing any flaws in the hand washing process. The Buster packs also come with exciting, fun-packed posters, stickers, certificates and an interactive activity book to teach the children about the importance of hand hygiene.
Donna Row said: It is clear many agencies are trying to re-educate parents and teachers of the importance of thorough hand washing, but until now there was no actual complete educational and support package, such as Buster, available to schools and nurseries. We are already using the Buster pack at Yorley Barn and the children love it, they really engage with the characters and have a lot of fun learning how to wash their hands properly.
The safety of our children is always paramount so it is vital they understand the importance of hand hygiene. We believe the Buster package could significantly reduce the amount of time both pupils and staff miss from school.
With further revelations in the media about teams of border agency inspectors being shipped in for inspections then moved out when the inspectors have gone, the Home Secretary says she will not resign as per her statement in Westminster yesterday the Home Office tells GPSJ.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson also said:
Keeping our borders secure is this government’s priority. Any allegations that checks were loosened without the knowledge of ministers will be the subject of an independent investigation to be carried out by the Independent chief Inspector John Vine.
Four brave police horses who worked for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are hanging up their horseshoes and retiring to The Horse Trust’s sanctuary2 in Speen, Buckinghamshire.
They have notched up nearly 50 years’ service between them and have been involved in a wide range of duties, including policing public order situations, crowd control at football matches and city centre patrols.
Three of the horses – Nickleby, Oliver and Fairfax – helped to police the recent disorder in Manchester city centre, and Nickleby and Fairfax’s last job was policing the Manchester derby match on 23 October.
Ann Firth, Groom Team Leader for Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP’s) Mounted Branch, said: “The disorder over the summer was challenging for the horses, as their initial reaction in a situation like that is to run away. They dealt with it really well though as they are big, brave horses that everyone loved riding as they knew they’d be safe. All four animals were stalwarts, and were often the first to be selected for operations as they could be used for all types of work and nothing scared them.
-They will be hugely missed, but everyone’s thrilled that they’re getting such a well-deserved retirement at The Horse Trust. After more than a decade pounding the streets of Manchester, it’s lovely that they’ll get to be horses again and can spend their days grazing in the fields at the sanctuary.”
Jeanette Allen, Chief Executive Officer of The Horse Trust, said: “We are delighted to offer Nickleby, Oliver, Fairfax and Jack lifetime sanctuary after their loyal and brave service to the police. Our staff will give them the loving care they need for the remainder of their years.”
Cleland Thom has kindly made a guide for journalist writing for the web available frree of charge – take advantage!
The journalist’s guide to writing news on the internet isavailable as a free download.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE GUIDE
We are sure this will be of great interest to to writers and journalists – GPSJ Team.
Emap has recently announced a new content-led B2B exhibition: The Renewables Event. The show explores renewable energy solutions for major end users such as major corporations, manufacturers, retailers and the public sector.
The show will run alongside its two market leading events: The Energy Event and RWM (Resource and Waste Management), taking place on 11th and 12th September 2012 at the Birmingham NEC.
The free to attend event will attract Environmental Managers, Energy Managers and Sustainability professionals as well as senior business professionals, enabling them to :
Learn more about which renewable technologies provide solutions for business
Understand the investment required and the payback periods
Meet providers and experts who can provide suitable solutions
Discover more about incentives and schemes that will ease the cost burden
Alison Jackson, MD of Emap’s environment portfolio, points out, Energy costs are on a steep incline, making renewable energy solutions more viable, although there are considerable knowledge gaps. With the UK’s commitment to a low carbon future, energy users are deciding their strategy to achieve a greener energy mix. It was always our intention to increase our focus on renewable energy, once we had transferred the event to its new home in the NEC.
Research carried out since we acquired The Energy Event confirms that end users really want to learn more about commercial renewable energy opportunities. RWM already has a large energy from waste section and this new dedicated show will link it with the Energy Event to allow visitors the opportunity to see the broadest range of current and future energy technologies. The event will provide education, information and quality networking with solution providers.
The show will primarily focus on viable technologies that major energy users are now implementing:
Wind
Solar PV
Solar thermal
Energy from Waste
Micro CHP
Hydro
Bioenergy- including biomass, biogas and biofuels
Ground source heat pumps
The timing for the show is perfect, as end users look to reduce energy bills and find low carbon solutions. Whilst the UK’s Renewable Energy Strategy means that it must generate 15% of energy from renewables by 2020, it is currently only achieving around 3%. Making businesses pay the cost of carbon emissions coupled with incentives such as FITs means that UK businesses now have a better business case for investment. There is still a lot of uncertainty and unease surrounding the justification of the massive investments required. -Our show will inform end users, helping them to make the right decisions and purchase the right solutions, comments Jackson.
A trail-blazing Nottinghamshire County Council initiative, which boasts blanket success in keeping girls out of the youth justice system, has received recognition from the national body which works to prevent offending and reoffending by children and young people under 18.
Last week, the Council was named as runner-up in this year’s Youth Justice Board’s Innovation Award for a project which looks at what works specifically for girls when it comes to keeping them out of the penal system.
Part of the project, which was set up in 2008, delivers programmes in secondary schools across the county tapping into the particular needs of girls.
County Council manager for targeted support and youth justice, Rachel Tunaley, who is leading the subject, said: “To date our school programmes have had a 100% success rate in keeping girls out of the youth justice system.
“The youth justice system is predominantly focused on the male population quite simply because the vast majority of offenders are male, but research was carried out into why so many young women were breaching their statutory court orders. Following this, our staff received training on the risk factors for female offenders and the importance of gender-responsive working. It was this training that inspired us to design the Pearl Project.
“Research indicates that young female offenders have often had difficult early life experiences including childhood abuse such as neglect and exposure to domestic violence. This links in with issues such as low self-esteem and a lack of aspirations.
So far 12 schools have taken part in the group sessions for 11 to 14 year olds which look at issues relevant to girls such as peer pressure, nurturing healthy relationships and friendships, sexual health and self-image.
Congratulating Nottinghamshire County Council its innovative work, chair of the Youth Justice Board Frances Done said: “Well done to Nottinghamshire Youth Offending Service.
“This is an excellent example of how a Council has embraced the idea of working with young women and recognised their specific needs.
“Early intervention programmes such as this are vital if we are to steer young people away from becoming involved in crime in the future. Fewer young people who come into contact with the system means safer communities with fewer victims of crime.
The Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services councillor Philip Owen added: “We’re delighted to have won this high profile recognition for such innovative work – there aren’t many councils across the country which have adopted such a targeted gender-specific approach with their preventative work.
“The aim is to raise the aspirations of girls in Nottinghamshire, prevent them from becoming victims of domestic abuse and prevent them from becoming involved in anti-social behaviour or offending.
Depending on need, programmes in schools are followed up with
one-to-one support. And staff also organise ‘girls only’ days for young women often used as rewards for those who have voluntarily completed the sessions.
GPSJ has raised concerns around a possible security risk arising from the sale of unauthorised press cards on EBay that look very similar to the official UK Press passes used to identify professional journalists in various work situations.
These unauthorised press passes are being offering for sale on EBay for anyone to purchase regardless of any journalistic or media experience. By simply sending off their details and a photograph they can receive an official looking press pass complete with hologram and membership number. The colour and layout are almost identical to the real approved passes.
There is only one officially recognised press pass in the UK and is approved by the UK Press Card Authority, a number of gatekeepers then issue the passes to eligible people working in the media, the holder of the card is also verified by New Scotland Yard and is given a password to enable their identity to be checked by anyone needing to do so. It is also recognised by ACPO the Association of Chief Police Officers.
Although it is not a legal requirement for any journalist to carry a press pass the various gatekeepers who issue them have spent a long time organising the scheme and designing the cards to ensure that holders are recognised as bona fide reporters and media workers.
The card is recognised by ACPO and all police forces are made aware of what a genuine pass looks like and that anyone carrying one should be given access and accommodated where possible to report freely from incidents and situations where normal members of the public would be excluded.
The sale of unauthorised passes is obviously a serious security issue especially when anyone carrying these similar looking cards could be allowed into sensitive buildings and allowed access to VIP’s including royalty and government ministers. Although most police and press officers are trained to recognise the approved card, a quick glance at these similar ones could allow anyone, including terrorists, to gain access to a wide range of potential targets in certain situations.
Journalists who show a valid press card can normally gain full access onto Downing Street and into Westminster. Although security checks, including a body search and x-ray of baggage are carried out, there is still the potential risk of a rogue card holder being given access and then disrupting a meeting. Or for a potential terrorist organisation to do a close up pre attack reconnaissance mission.
These are just a few potential dangers from people carrying bogus press cards that have no connection with the media and who wish to cause disruption and possibly worse in security sensitive areas.
We contacted the seller of these passes and he told us he was doing nothing wrong and a press card did not entitle anyone to get into any meeting or interview, we told him they looked very similar to the only UK authorised card and this was also in his description.
We contacted the UK Press Card Authority to alert them to these cards, they then tried to purchase one of these cards of EBay but had their money refunded and the cards were then removed from the site. A spokesperson for the UKPCA said they thought these cards were in breach of their copyright and should be removed. Some journalists we spoke to also reported the matter through EBay’s complaints procedure as a potential copyright infringement.
Dominic Cooper of the Chartered Institute of Journalist said, “Members of the public should be aware that the defacto Press accreditation for genuine journalists in the UK is the National Press Card. This card, issued by the UK Press Card Authority, carries the support of the journalistic industry and the authorities in the UK.
“The guidelines for the issue of this card are strict and there is a method by which a card carrying journalist may be reported for inappropriate use of the card or unacceptable behaviour. For these reasons it is endorsed by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
“From time to time there become available so-called press cards, or press passes, which are offered to anybody who cares to apply. Such cards are sold only for profit, and there are no checks made on the individual who applies. As such they have no standing and anybody who purchases a card in this way should not be surprised if they find their money has been wasted.”
John Toner of the National Union of Journalists said he was also concerned about this matter.
“These cards are not official press cards and anyone in doubt of the validity of a press card should check the back and look for the card verification number, ” he told GPSJ.
“If there is no number then the card is not valid and we spend a lot of time educating people like the police on these matters.”
The Home Office refused to comment and said it was a matter for the card issuers and checks at sensitive buildings should be carried out by the police and security services.
The fact is that a number of these unauthorised cards have already been sold on EBay and possibly through other outlets, the potential risk now is that one of these could have found its way into the hands of a terrorist, political activist or somebody intent on making a statement in a very public way with an attack or stunt against a high profile target. It is to be hoped that the police and other agencies are checking press cards properly and looking for the security features built into the genuine ones.
Legal expert Cleland Thom, director of CTJT, said: “These cards are worthless. But they’re potentially dangerous, not just for security. If people used them to gain some kind of financial advantage, they could be arrested for fraud. Buyers ‘beware.’
A spokeswoman for ACPO said, Any type of forged or fake identity cards is always a concern, however it should be understood that access to sensitive or high risk areas does not rely alone on the production of an ID card like this. Police and security services will seek to make addition checks when and where necessary. If anyone is offered these cards for purchase they are urged to report it to the UK Press Card Authority who in turn should report it to the police.
Clearly there are many possibilities for breaches of security with people holding these cards who are not authorised. It is to be hoped that the authorities take particular care in checking the authenticity of press cards in the future and if in doubt contact New Scotland Yard to verify the holder is genuine.
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