Scientists from the University of Bath have reported a dramatic fall in the number of grey whale sightings in British Columbia and are investigating the reasons for the disappearance of one of their main sources of prey.
The researchers, supported by international environmental charity Earthwatch, are studying grey whales in their summer feeding grounds off the west coast of Vancouver Island and the central coast of British Columbia to design better ways to protect them and determine whether populations are being affected by climate change.
In 2004, the scientists spotted almost 100 whales on the southern central coast. This number fell dramatically to a low of just three in 2009.
The story is similar off the west coast of Vancouver Island, where the numbers of whales have shown an oscillating, but decreasing trend in the last six years.
So far this year there have been few sightings of whales. Earthwatch scientist Dr William Megill, a lecturer in the Ocean Technologies Laboratory at the University of Bath, says his colleagues in Mexico, where the whales breed, are continuing to see large numbers of thin and hungry whales.
Indications are that the whales’ requirements are exceeding the available prey resources in their feeding grounds off Alaska, British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.
Three years ago Dr Megill warned that grey whales arriving malnourished in their breeding grounds off the Mexican coast may have represented an early indication of environmental changes in the Pacific.
In 2009, Dr Megill and his team found that the tiny crustaceans they feed on, known as ‘mysids’, had disappeared from Clayoquot Sound, forcing the whales to feed offshore, sifting through sand and mud for other prey such as amphipods (small shrimp) and worms.
Although it is obvious the whales have consumed the mysids, why the mysids are not returning is a more serious question.
Dr Megill said: -Our survey of the northern west coast failed to identify any other summer grey whale hotspots, so it sounds like the ‘mysid crisis’ may be more serious than we first thought.
-Only a small number of greys stayed for the summer, and it was quickly evident why the usually highly abundant mysid crop failed this year, and so the whales were forced to look elsewhere, or to switch prey.
-We completed a survey of the whole of the northern west coast of Vancouver Island and the southern Central Coast, and didn’t find any pockets of whales, so we conclude that they must have continued up into northern British Columbia at least, or more likely into Alaskan waters.
-Our colleagues in Mexico are seeing increasing numbers of ‘skinny’ whales, and there were several strandings this spring in Washington and British Columbia. It’s fairly obvious that these animals are pushing their food resource to the limit, and some aren’t going to make it.
-They’re pretty resilient, but if food stocks don’t recover, or the whales can’t find sufficient other resources, then we’re going to start losing whales. I don’t think we’re in any danger of losing the grey whale, but it is nonetheless an issue of some significant concern.
The team is monitoring the situation and this year their research is focussing on looking for whales in unusual places. They are also diversifying their prey studies to include other species the whales may be eating, and continuing to study the mysids in the laboratory to analyse the conditions in which they thrive.
Dr Megill added: -The big message is that we still need to understand what’s driving the ecosystem. If it’s just the whales overharvesting, then fine, nature will handle it.
-But if it’s more complicated than that, and there’s some kind of anthropogenic driver involved, whether it’s climate change, ocean acidification, habitat degradation, or something else, then it’s our responsibility to work out what’s going on, and see about setting things straight.
-The likelihood is that the ‘setting things straight’ will go way beyond grey whales and mysids, and our story will be one more call for mankind to get a grip on his consumption in order to deal with the global consequences.
Rolling Meadows, Ill., US (9th June 2010), ISACA International Vice President Rolf von Roessing, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, has applauded the actions of Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner in publishing a draft code of practice that requires incidents involving the theft or loss of personal data relating to more than 100 people to be notified to its office.
“The Irish commissioner has reportedly published the draft code in response to the recent recommendations of the data protection review group established by Dermot Ahern, the Irish Minister for Justice,” said von Roessing.
“As well as proposing that organisations be mandated to report data losses and thefts involving more than 100 people, the draft code also proposes mandatory notifications of all types where sensitive personal or personal financial data is involved,” he added.
According to von Roessing, the proposed code of conduct formalises the situation regarding data losses or thefts in the Republic of Irelandand, as such, will act as a reference model for other European countries.
The proposal effectively draws a line on the responsibility of managers of organisations which are handling data involving people’s personal records, and that includes human resource records.
This means, says ISACA’s international vice president, that most larger businesses in Ireland will have to report data thefts of most types as they occur, should the code of conduct be ratified as an Act.
Identity theft, says von Roessing, has now become a serious cybercrime problem, with criminal gangs selling personal data between themselves like never before.
“When the UK’s ICO announced in January of this year that he was increasing the penalties for data beaches and losses to 500,000 pounds, we welcomed those changes, noting that it is a major worry for responsible citizens to find that their private data – or even worse, that of their family – has been released into the public domain,” he said.
Security issues such as identity theft, job application refusals and all manner of public embarrassment can result from the disclosure of private data, he went on to say, adding that what can be shrugged off by one person can result in major concerns for another.
“It has been more than 25 years since the original UK Data Protection Act came into force, and since then, computers and the Internet have changed our lives largely for the better,” von Roessing said.
“The same is true for Ireland and most other countries and this is why we welcome this proposal by the Irish Data Commissioner´s Office, as it formalises what has been best practice in many organisations to date,” he added.
Dr John Philpott, Chief Economic Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) predicts that the coalition government’s deficit reduction measures will stall any recovery in the UK jobs market later this year, result in a post-recession peak in unemployment close to 3 million, and slow any subsequent return to low unemployment.
Dr Philpott said:
-Although tough fiscal medicine is unavoidable and may boost the UK’s long-run economic growth and job prospects, reliance on cuts in public spending rather than tax increases as the primary means of cutting the deficit makes the short-term outlook especially bleak for those individuals and communities already suffering the greatest hardship in society.
The likely scale of public sector jobs losses and the impact on unemployment
-It is evident that the coalition government’s approach to deficit reduction owes much to that successfully pursued by Canada’s Liberal government in the 1990s. This resulted in the loss of 265,000 jobs from then 3 million strong Canadian public sector workforce and an eventual fall in the share of public sector employment in total employment from 26% to 19%. On an equivalent scale, this translates into around 500,000 UK public sector job cuts, in line with the CIPD’s own pre-general election baseline estimate for the period 2010-2015. However, the latter estimate was based on a roughly 60:40 split between cuts in public spending and tax hikes as means of deficit reduction. If as seems likely the coalition government adopts a split closer to 80:20, UK public sector jobs losses of around 725,000 are expected.
-Job losses on this scale do not inevitably lead to higher unemployment. The reason that the fall in the share of Canadian public sector employment in the 1990s is so large is because private sector employment increased to fill the gap, at the same time enabling unemployment to fall. Indeed, in a growing economy the UK managed a similar outcome in the 1990s, with net private sector job creation more than offsetting a net loss of 800,000 public sector jobs and reducing the share of public sector employment in total employment from 23% to 19%.
-Unfortunately, however, the favourable macroeconomic conditions that eased the pain of public sector downsizing in the 1990s do not exist as we enter the current age of austerity. This time around deficit reduction will slow an already anaemic recovery and in the short-run be bad for jobs in both the private and public sectors, stalling any hopes of a sustained improvement in job prospects this year and causing the labour market to relapse next year.
-Prior to the implementation of deficit reduction measures recently announced for the current fiscal year, it is possible that UK unemployment would have peaked at just over 2.65 million in 2010. This is less than the 2.8 million forecast by the CIPD six months ago – while our earlier forecast for a continued fall in employment proved correct, the rise in unemployment was moderated by a substantial rise in student numbers and the impact of measures to combat youth unemployment introduced by the last government.
-The revised CIPD forecast – which is subject to further review at the time of the Emergency Budget on June 22 – is that unemployment will rise to a peak of 2.95 million in the second half of 2012 and remain close to that level until 2015. There is little prospect of real wage growth on average throughout this period and ongoing real wage cuts in the public sector.
-Given what we know historically about the way in which the social burden of unemployment and stagnant average income growth is shared across individuals and communities, the prospects for those already suffering the most disadvantage seem particularly bleak. This will present a major challenge to a government that aims to reduce the deficit while also alleviating poverty, enhancing social mobility and mending a broken society.”
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the world’s greatest research libraries. The purpose of the British Library is to retain the nation’s knowledge and memory and as such, every item that is deposited in the British Library is accessible for readers on site. Currently, it holds over 150 million items in different formats including books, magazines, newspapers, maps, patents, stamp collections and recordings.
This institution is obliged by law to provide free onsite access to printed articles deposited in it and another of its key roles is to provide a Document Supply Service. This is a commercial service that provides access to users all over the world. With such a wealth of information housed within its walls and a worldwide customer base, the Library gets request for copies of documents, images, sound recordings and permission rights. The Library provides these items for account holders or customers who want to purchase a one-off item for research and consultation.
Moving away from traditional methods
The British Library receives over one and a half million requests a year for access to research articles and over 80% of those requests are for a surrogate copy of an item in the Library. In the past, librarians would photocopy the required item and mail it out to the customer. As such, the Document Supply Service was based on paper delivery. This posed two major problems; the time and cost incurred in shipping the copies to customers (often overseas) and the environmental problem of continual paper use.
Martyn Lunn, Business Development Manager at the British Library, who is the spine that holds the Document Supply Service together says; -Although this was our traditional method of document delivery, it was clear that it was not exactly cost or time effective. It was also having a negative environmental impact. Although we have a collection of items dating back to biblical times, we needed to step into the 21st century with a digital document system.”
DSS moves to scanning – Library to cut paper?
The British Library replaced all of their photocopying units with 110 Fujitsu fi-4640S image scanners. These scanners allow for image capture on a much broader scale and automatic adoption of the quality of the original document. The British Library has benefited from adopting a scanning policy as it has allowed them to digitise every copy of an original item and send it electronically to the customer. 70% of all output from the Library is now digital.
Lunn notes; -Fujitsu scanners have helped us move away from the time and cost consuming process of photocopying and sending physical documents, to sending digital renditions. Aside from the obvious environmental benefit, we have been able to shift from what was largely a paper based delivery system to a digital based system.”
The scanners were further modified to flatbed scanners by Relais International, a third party software provider, while maintaining the integrity of the scanners. This was additionally beneficial to the British Library as it allowed the librarians to scan books and other documents that cannot be scanned via automatic document feeder. Lunn adds; -This was a key part of the development process as it has allowed us to enjoy the full productivity that we can get from the Fujitsu scanners.”
Additional benefits – Digital library
The standard turnaround time for providing paper items to customers was five days but due to the new system facilitated by Fujitsu scanners, a quicker time of 24 hours has been enabled. The Library is now able to reach a much larger range of customers including over 10,000 international corporate organisations because of its quick turnaround.
The future is in scanning
The British Library is so impressed with Fujitsu scanners that it has installed an additional eight Fujitsu fi-6770 colour scanners and the library has now taken delivery of 40 additional fi-6750S scanners to enable colour scanning as an option for the future. Andy Appleyard, Head of Document Delivery & Customer Services at the British Library says; -The Fujitsu scanners have a great output rate. The fact that they work in the way that we need them to work is absolutely critical. We don’t know of any other machine that can produce the same output. The scanners are also very reliable – we initially had a maintenance contract with Fujitsu but we eventually cancelled it and only called them out on an ad hoc basis because the machines were never faulty and simply did not break.”
Andrew Cowling, Senior Marketing Services Executive at Fujitsu Europe notes; -I am incredibly pleased that Fujitsu scanners are helping a national institution such as the British Library be more productive and increase efficiency in their critical business processes.”
A leading campaigner, who has championed older people’s housing and support needs, is retiring after 35 years working in social policy and older people’s housing.
As a founder member of the national consortium of sheltered and retirement housing (ERoSH), Imogen Parry is retiring from her position as Director of Policy for ERoSH, as well as her wider work as a consultant.
Imogen’s career has included working as a senior lecturer in social policy, senior policy manager (older people) at Sanctuary Housing Association, and a freelance sheltered housing consultant and trainer.
Imogen, aged 60, joined other like-minded campaigners in 1998 to create ERoSH following the successful Emerging Role of the Warden project, which focused on the role of sheltered housing within effective community care.
Since ERoSH’s inception Imogen has used her passion for raising awareness of the potential benefits of sheltered housing amongst health and social care professionals to be an influential figure in the sheltered housing policy arena.
Chair of ERoSH, Jo McTavish, said: -Imogen’s contribution to ERoSH, as a founder member, trustee and Director of Policy has been immeasurable. Imogen has made an immense contribution to ERoSH and sheltered housing in general during her career.
-All the trustees at ERoSH would like to thank Imogen for her dedication and time over the years. Imogen and ERoSH have been intrinsically linked together and her role as Director of Policy has been influential in building the profile and success of the organisation.
Imogen, who was previously Chair of ERoSH, has been involved in the Ministerial Working Group for Sheltered Housing, and has spoken at dozens of conferences, written articles and co-authored two editions of the CIH ‘Sheltered and Retirement Housing – a good practice guide’ and written five other good practice guides relating to sheltered housing.
Imogen explained: -I am very sad to be leaving ERoSH which has given me an ideal outlet for my views about the undervalued and neglected role of sheltered housing buildings and staff, and the need for better partnership working with other agencies. But the timing of reaching 60 at the same time as having three new grandchildren has led me to make this decision to leave the sector. I will continue however to offer safeguarding adults training to housing staff, on a part-time basis.
Bruce Moore Chief Executive of Hanover Housing, which is a member of ERoSH, said: -Imogen will leave a huge gap. She has been such a passionate champion of the case for sheltered and retirement housing and in many respects has defined ERoSH.
Since Imogen helped form ERoSH some of her key achievements with the organisation have included:
Working extensively with ministers and civil servants on the sheltered housing agenda. Her political influence was evidenced by Imogen’s articles being quoted by MPs in the Adjournment Debate and Parliamentary Question.
Contributing to the pressure on government to set up a review of sheltered housing, which resulted in the Ministerial Working Group on Sheltered Housing being formed. Imogen represented ERoSH on the Ministerial Working Group during 2009.
Contributing to the public debate on sheltered and retirement housing in the media, which has raised the profile of ERoSH. Imogen has drafted position statements for ERoSH to clarify its views on resident staff, allocations, and needs led services etc, as well as representing ERoSH on BBC Breakfast and Panorama.
Consistently emphasised, through a range of platforms, the importance of joint working between sheltered housing and other agencies. Imogen has promoted best practice in the management of sheltered housing through joined up working with social and health care providers. She has worked to raise awareness of sheltered housing amongst health professionals through her work around malnutrition amongst older people.
Contributed to the training and development of sheltered housing staff, including in adult protection. Imogen has promoted awareness of sheltered housing staff amongst adult protection staff and other social care staff through work on safeguarding the role of sheltered housing staff.
A 34 year old man has been extradited to Canada after officers from Kent Police’s Public Protection Unit arrested him in Ashford earlier this year.
John Cox, 34, an IT specialist who attempted to use anti-tracking methods to thwart attempts by detectives, was back in the custody of Saanich (Canadian) Police today (Tuesday 8 June) after being on the run for three months.
Cox, a Canadian national, had fled Saanich, Canada where he was due to stand trial for nine child sex offences including grooming and possession of indecent images of children, two firearms offences and breach of recognizance.
Using different aliases of Sean Pulsen and Jean Guillaume and using IT software and encryption to disguise his online identity, Cox attempted to frustrate law enforcement attempts to track him down.
Kent Police’s Detective Inspector Matthew Long said: ‘Public protection is Kent Police’s priority. Officers worked swiftly in order to ensure this man did not pose any risk within our community. I am pleased he has now been extradited back to Canada where he will face the charges put to him.
‘We will not tolerate anyone who puts children at risk within our county and will work with other agencies in this country and abroad, to ensure crimes against children are stopped.’
Officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre tracked Cox’s movements to Kent and officers from Kent Police’s Public Protection Crime Unit (PPCU), based at police headquarters and South Kent specialist Public Protection Officers, carried out local enquiries in order to secure an international arrest warrant. Kent officers acted quickly and arrested Cox on 5 May. He was held in custody and transferred to the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit who have secured Cox’s return back to Canada.
Detective Inspector Jon Holl from South Kent Public Protection Unit praised the effectiveness of working relationships between agencies and the quality of his staff saying: ‘This is a practical example of the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies from local to international level working together to protect children in Ashford and across the UK. I am immensely proud of my highly motivated and specialist team of investigators, often working invisibly to the general public to protect our children.’
Jim Gamble, Chief Executive of the Child Exploitation Online Protection (CEOP) Centre: ‘This potentially dangerous individual tried very hard to cover his tracks but he had underestimated the determination of CEOP and Kent Police officers to capture him. Hopefully Cox – and other suspected child sex offenders – will realise that the UK is not a safe place for them.’
A man has died and and eight year old boy has been injured after a collision involving a coach at this years Saddleworth Band Contest. The accident happened at around 10pm, a coach collided with the 57-year-old man and the boy.
The man died from his injuries in hospital in the early hours of Saturday 29 May 2010.
The boy was taken to hospital for treatment to bruising to his head and body. Police are investigating the incident.
Twenty-three arrests were made as part of a significant policing operation at Saddleworth Band Contest on Friday 28 May 2010. A total of 70 police officers and 32 police community support officers were in place for the operation, which had been in planning for a number of weeks to ensure the event was safe and enjoyable for everyone who attended.
The arrests covered a range of offences from drunk and disorderly, possession of drugs, affray and serious assault.
The majority of the arrests were in the Uppermill area of Saddleworth.
Chief Superintendent Tim Forber, Divisional Commander for Oldham said: “The Saddleworth Band Contest is a wonderful community event attended by thousands of visitors.
“I was extremely privileged to be able to visit most of the contests on Friday and experience the atmosphere myself. However, a small minority of people appeared to have come to the event intent of taking part in anti-social behaviour and causing trouble, which was fuelled by alcohol.
“The many officers on duty worked hard throughout the evening to ensure those who became involved in disorder were dealt with swiftly so the event remained an enjoyable one for the community.”
NEW YORK, 25th May 2010 – Varonis Systems Inc., the leading provider of comprehensive data governance software, today announced Version 5.5 of DatAdvantage® and DataPrivilege®, a further evolution of the Varonis Meta-data Framework, which enables customers to identify sensitive unstructured and semi-structured data on their file systems, SharePoint Sites and NAS devices.
Varonis’ software helps customers find areas with excessive permissions and abnormal access activity, understand who can access, who is accessing, who shouldn’t have access, and who owns the data, and remediate risk faster than traditional data protection products.
With unstructured and semi-structured data such as documents, images, spreadsheets, presentations, videos, audio files and email accounting for more than 80 percent of all data, organizations already have enormous investments in time, resources and processes across IT operations, IT security, IT storage departments and data owners to manually manage and protect unstructured data. These efforts repeatedly fall short because of the rate the data grows – 50 percent annually, the increasing access control complexity, and ever-changing access control needs.
-Today, a single terabyte of data will often contain 50,000 folders, of which 2500, or 5%, are uniquely permissioned, said Ohad Korkus, Executive Vice President of Engineering, CTO and Co-Founder. -Each of these 2500 folders represents an organizational decision -who should have access to this data? More containers mean more decisions, and more maintenance for IT and data owners. The only realistic path to manage and protect this data is to implement methodologies for securing and protecting data that utilize automation and actionable intelligence in a scalable and repeatable fashion, without requiring additional IT personnel or disturbing business processes.
As digital collaboration continues to accelerate in every healthy organization, unstructured data proliferates over multiple platforms, including Windows, SharePoint and UNIX/LINUX servers. Organizations require an intuitive, unified view of these data repositories to efficiently and effectively manage and protect them. Varonis has extended its framework to not only provide visibility to the data permissions and usage on these platforms, automate intelligence about excessive permissions, and allow testing/simulation of changes to these permissions, but to now also include full execution for those permissions changes to reduce risk without disrupting critical collaboration.
Collaborative teams and the data they create are extremely dynamic; the information that organizations consider sensitive is dynamic, as well. To help manage this volatility, Varonis has made rapid enhancements to its Data Classification Framework, including support for dynamically updated -dictionaries, allowing Varonis to examine the contents of files for any items contained in them, and highlighting matches in DatAdvantage for easy examination. These dictionaries can be updated automatically to keep up with organizational changes in projects, employees, clients, etc.
Varonis has also enhanced the capabilities and interface of DataPrivilege to streamline entitlement review and approval activities for data owners, and expand the scope of what can be managed and protected.
Specific features within Version 5.5 include:
Enhanced Commit Functionality, enabling DatAdvantage to commit permissions changes to SharePoint and UNIX/Linux monitored servers. LDAP, NIS, Local UNIX and SharePoint group memberships can be modified. Users and groups can be added or removed from SharePoint ACL’s, assigned permission levels, and permission levels can be edited. For the first time, a graphical user interface (GUI) is available to manage traditional UNIX ACL’s AND POSIX ACL’s on multiple UNIX/Linux platforms.
SAMBA Support for UNIX DatAdvantage supports monitoring UNIX SAMBA servers, allowing organizations running SAMBA file shares to benefit from Varonis functionality.
Per-Server and Per-Domain Access Controls, allowing IT to restrict a DatAdvantage user’s view on the server and domain level to reflect their management purview. Administrators will only be able to examine access controls and activity on servers for which they are assigned custodianship.
Dictionary Support for DatAdvantage Data Classification Framework (DCF), supporting dictionary-based matching and automatic updates to multiple dictionaries.
Simplified Entitlement Review Forms in DataPrivilege – Helps business users more easily learn to perform their own entitlement reviews by showing only critical data information, such as users with access, their level of access, and recommended response.
Support for all Permissions Masks – DataPrivilege now offers full automated management for any NTFS permissions mask in addition to the commonly used defaults of -modify, read, and full NTFS permissions masks.
DatAdvantage and DataPrivilege Versions 5.5 will be generally available on June 7, 2010. All customers currently under support will receive the new 5.5 features for free as part of their Varonis support package.
Version 5.5 Datasheet
Mastering the Information Explosion by Ohad Korkus, Executive Vice President of Engineering, CTO and Co-Founder
About Varonis Systems
Varonis is the leader in unstructured and semi-structured data governance. Named a 2009 “Cool Vendor” in Risk Management and Compliance by Gartner, Voted one of the “Fast 50 Reader Favorites of 2008” on FastCompany.com. Varonis has more than 2000 installations worldwide. Based on patented technology and a highly accurate analytics engine, Varonis’ solutions give organizations total visibility and control over their data, ensuring that only the right users have access to the right data at all times. Varonis is headquartered in New York, N.Y., regional offices in Europe and Asia, with research and development offices in Hertzliya, Israel
Varonis, the Varonis logo, DatAdvantage and DataPrivilege are registered trademarks of Varonis Systems in the United States and/or other countries and Data Classification Framework is under a registration process in the United States and/or other countries. All other product and company names and marks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned for identification purposes only.
Responding to the Queen’s Speech announced today (Tuesday), TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: -The Speech contains important issues to welcome, restoring the state pension link with earnings, cracking down on high-risk activities in the City, and an extra push on green energy.
-Extending flexible working rights to all employees and further action to close the pay gap could also bring positive changes to UK workplaces.
-But plans to scrap important initiatives to get young people into work, abolish key public bodies and throw public sector workers on the dole will only worsen the fragile economic situation.
-The Government’s overwhelming focus on reducing the deficit, when ministers should be concentrating on restoring growth and halting rising unemployment, is a huge mistake.
The Guardian Public Services Awards, in partnership with Hays Specialist Recruitment, launch today. Now in their seventh year, the Awards are the leading celebration of excellence among organisations commissioning or providing services, showcasing innovation and best practice across Whitehall, local government, the NHS and beyond.
David Brindle, the Guardian’s Public Services Editor, said: “With a new government in place and spending cutbacks at the top of its agenda, never before has it been so important to celebrate and honour the extraordinary contribution that those who deliver our public services make day in, day out. Last year’s winning projects included an astonishingly popular free leisure services programme in Birmingham, an innovative housing scheme in Derby for women victims of domestic violence who also have mental health or addiction problems, and a hugely successful travel training initiative for young people in Gloucestershire with physical and learning disabilities.
“The public can get involved with the awards by encouraging friends and family working in the public services to enter the team categories. They can also nominate – and later vote – for a special award, Public Servant of the Year, on our website, www.guardian.co.uk/publicservicesawards.”
The awards fall into three main categories. Service Delivery comprises: Children & young people, Complex needs, Carers, families & communities, Care of older people, Housing & regeneration, and Transport & mobility. Innovation and Progress includes: Sustainability, Transformation, Customer service, Partnership working, Diversity & equality, and the new Skills development award. The Special Awards are: the Citizenship & volunteering award, the Guardian Public Servant of the Year award and the overall winner.
Last year’s overall winner was Birmingham City Council, in partnership with Heart of Birmingham PCT, who also won Diversity and Equality prize for their Gym For Free initiative, which enabled all residents in the Ladywood Constituency to use council sporting facilities for free.
Karen Jerwood, project manager of the scheme, said: “It was very exciting for us to win the Diversity & Equality Guardian Public Services Awards, and an honour to be the Overall Winner. The national recognition that the award gave us really helped at a time when we were planning to expand the scheme across the whole city.
-The whole experience, from nomination to ultimately receiving the award, has helped us to further refine our work. I would fully encourage all people managing worthwhile projects in the public services to consider putting forward a nomination.”
The bobby on the bike is making a comeback as police forces ditch their panda cars and get peddling. Constabularies nationwide are fighting crime and costs with cycles.
The police aren’t alone, increasingly emergency services are answering the call of the cycle. And they are buying them at Halfords.
Halfords the UK’s leading retailer of leisure and family bikes has seen a significant increase in the sale of cycles especially designed for the emergency services.
-Fighting crime means being mobile, and perhaps surprisingly it’s bikes not cars that are proving an increasingly effective weapon, says Clair Allen, who heads up the Halfords 999 bikes initiative. -In many instances bikes are the most cost-effective, efficient and environmentally friendly way of getting officers to the scene.
Most UK police forces now include cycle squads and, in addition to standard patrol work, officers are successfully targeting shoplifting, street crime and even drug trafficking.
North Yorkshire Police introduced a mountain bike team in 2001 and specially trained officers have used Halfords cycles to great effect.
PC Ed Rogerson of the Harrogate Safer Neighbourhood Team said: -The bikes certainly cut response times and I’m regularly first on the scene at incidents because I can use alleyways and back streets to respond quickly. You have the added bonus of stealth.
The Association of Chief Police Officers added: -ACPOS fully supports the use of police mountain bicycles which provide an additional patrolling option to supplement patrols on foot and using police vehicles. As well as the environmental benefits, officers can negotiate town and city centres quickly allowing a faster response to incidents than on foot.
Crime isn’t the only emergency being tackled from a saddle. Firemen in several London boroughs, West Midlands, Devon and Somerset and Greater Manchester are now cycling.
West Midlands Fire Service turned to Halfords when they formed a Community Cycle Team to tackle persistent arson attacks in hot-spots across the region. Within just three months the number of incidents in the trial areas dropped by more than 85 per cent, saving £195K.
The scheme was hailed as a ‘financially resounding success’, which also achieved a ‘massive reduction in carbon emissions’ and helped ‘win the confidence of young people within the target areas.’
Paramedics are also switching to cycles, the London Ambulance Service employs paramedics on cycles at all of Heathrow’s five terminals, dealing with an average of 400 emergency calls a month. Paramedics on bikes are to be used on site for London’s 2012 Olympics.
A new library at King Cross, Halifax, is rapidly heading towards completion by William Birch & Sons and its design has been shaped by the local community who will be using it.
Built with funding from the BIG Lottery Community Libraries Fund and Calderdale Council, the library, which replaces the old one at King Cross is being built on sustainable principles, and has been designed to maximise natural light, with extensive glass windows to two sides.
The new facility is intended to attract those who do not currently use libraries, as well as meeting the needs of existing users. Before it was designed, residents were asked what they wanted to see in the new library, and feedback included shelving that can be rolled away to offer space for other activities; a children’s area; exhibition and meeting spaces; advice sessions and reading groups; quiet areas; wi-fi access; and a cafe with newspapers.
Operations and customer services manager at Calderdale Council Carole Heaton said: -This library will be unique in that local residents have been consulted at every stage of its development. As a result, it directly reflects their wishes and needs. Library staff are very excited about the opening in summer 2010.
A key feature will be a garden area for reading, listening and reflection. A time capsule prepared by local primary schoolchildren has already been buried in the foundations of the new building.
Paul Goyea is construction director at William Birch & Sons. He commented that the company had in the past and also on current projects enjoyed the benefits, along with clients and their consultants, of knowing that the local community has had such a positive input into the building outcome: -In particular it engenders a sense of ownership and responsibility in local people to ensure the delivery of the building is a success and meets most of, if not all, the community’s needs, he said.
Sustainable Building
William Birch is committed to sustainable building methods, and is a member of the Considerate Constructors Scheme. The company won a Sustainability Award in 2006 and has just achieved a BREAAM rating of ‘excellent’ for its construction work at Harlow Carr’s new Learning Centre in Harrogate; the latter has recently been recognised by an industry national award.
Founded in 1874 and still family-owned, William Birch & Sons employs around 100 people with a turnover in the region of £23 million. The company is based in York, with additional offices in Leeds.
Britain’s largest land manager, the Forestry Commission, has awarded Fujitsu a new five-year contract to maintain all of its ICT hardware across the Commission in England, Scotland and Wales. Fujitsu originally won the six-year contract to run the Forestry Commission’s IT in 2003. The new contract was won in a competitive tender through the Catalist framework.
Fujitsu will be responsible for maintaining the Commission’s whole ICT investment including storage, servers, and its data centre in Edinburgh. Coupled with this, Fujitsu will be maintaining IT equipment for 2,700 users across 100 distributed offices and depots, including handheld devices, rugged laptops, desktops, printers and plotters.
This new contract broadens the scope of the original contract and requires Fujitsu both to meet improved services targets and to reduce the overall annual maintenance budget. As well as maintaining the hardware for the Commission, Fujitsu will be undertaking installation, testing, refresh, upgrade and disposal work on a call-off basis along with a number of technical consultancy services. The contract is worth £1m.
David Felstead, Forestry Commission CIO, said: “We are delighted to re-appoint Fujitsu as our hardware maintenance partners. This five year contract allows us to continue to provide an excellent service to our internal customers whist tackling costs as part of our need to reduce expenditure across the business. We are convinced this continuing partnership will allow us to achieve all of our improved service and commercial objectives.”
Commenting on the contract, Alastair Millar, service delivery manager at Fujitsu UK and Ireland said: “The Forestry Commission IT estate is a complex one, not only because of the nature of the conditions the Commission often works in, but also because of the breadth of work it is responsible for, whether that be research, commercial timber production, sustainability programmes and forestry policy as well as learning and recreation.
This breadth makes it a fascinating organisation to work with as every IT users’ needs are different and varied. We look forward to continuing the good work we have undertaken with the Forestry Commission since 2003 and helping support them in the outstanding work they are doing in sustaining the forestry resource for the future.”
The hardware estate comprises over 2,000 desktop devices and a further 1,000 PDA’s printers and other equipment.
Key facts about Forestry Commission:
– Cares for 827,000 hectares of sustainably managed woods and forests – that’s more than 1.4 billion trees
– Plants more than 17 million trees every year
– Employs more 3,000 people – most of them in rural areas
– Produces more than 5 million tonnes of timber every year. That is almost 44% of UK wood production or 300 forty-tonne truckloads of timber every day
– Welcomes more than 50 million visitors every year
– Provides 2,600 km of cycle trails
– Has 55 visitor centres, almost 500 car parks, and 155 easy access trails
– Provides 109 forest classrooms or educational facilities
– Maintains 24,000 km of forest roads – seven times the total amount of motorway in Britain. If it were possible to put them together, they would stretch more than halfway around the world
– Welcomes more than 100,000 per year to our concerts in the forest
– Maintains more than 2,300 bridges
– Helped expand Britain’s woodlands by an area more than three times the size of greater London in the last 20 years
DVD 2010, Defence Equipment & Support’s (DE&S) stakeholder event for the land and supply chain communities in the defence sector, will take place on June 23 and 24, at Millbrook, Bedfordshire.
A pivotal date in the defence diary, the event is centred on DE&S project teams who deliver vital equipment to the frontline and attracts members of the defence acquisition and military personnel communities as well as industry organisations for two days of informal discussion and briefings.
During the event, visitors can see firsthand new products and equipment displays from DE&S’s attending teams, which have increased to twenty in 2010. DVD’s main theme this year is Soldier Systems, focusing on personal kit and the future role of the infantry. In fact, this year’s event welcomes teams from the Individual Capability Group and Manoeuvre Support Team for the first time, to present and discuss equipment designed to improve the safety and capabilities of the dismounted soldier on operation.
DVD will also see demonstrations of vehicles, accommodation solutions and food, in addition to clothing, medical supplies and test equipment. Furthermore, Millbrook’s extensive 700 acre facility offers an ideal setting for participants to understand and experience the capabilities of equipment in an interactive environment.
Chief of Defence Materiel, General Sir Kevin O’Donoghue, said: -Defence’s main effort is the operation in Afghanistan and no parts of DE&S contribute more obviously to that campaign than the Land Equipment and Joint Support Chain represented at DVD.
-DVD is an essential part of our support to current operations as it brings the MoD customer and industry supplier together in a way that is just not possible in an office environment. The exchange of ideas which this event generates will enable us to continue providing the best possible equipment and support to our armed forces. DVD is a unique and important part of the defence calendar and I anticipate another valuable event this year.”
The event provides an informal opportunity for key stakeholders to meet each other, as well as discuss and attend forums about the latest technologies, support services and current priorities. Participating organisations at DVD also utilise the opportunity of direct communication with the armed forces community in order to gain feedback in the quest on new product development.
To find further information about DVD 2010, visit the official website at www.theevent.co.uk
The promotion of best practice, training and sustainability are key objectives for Stephen Hodgson in his new role as head of the UK’s building preservation industry, the Property Care Association (PCA).
Noted for its technical expertise, the PCA represents the UK’s damp control, timber preservation, structural waterproofing, structural repair and flood recovery sectors.
Based at Huntingdon, the PCA is also a major educational provider, delivering training that is varied in content for property professionals.
Formed from the British Wood Preserving and Damp-proofing Association (BWPDA), which was founded in 1929, the trade body became known as the Property Care Association in 2006, to reflect its expansion into markets – including structural waterproofing, structural repair and flood recovery.
A qualified surveyor, Stephen – who lives in Leeds – has had a career spanning 10 years in the BWPDA and the PCA, including roles as technical officer and deputy director, before being promoted to this new role.
Stephen said: -Good advice and quality work, delivered by people that can be trusted and who understand and care about buildings and clients, has been at the heart of the Association’s success for many years.
-A key part of my role will be to promote the PCA as a centre of excellence to anyone with a shared passion for the protection and improvement of our built environment.
-We are also proud of our extensive training programme – and we will work to consolidate our reputation for providing high quality, unbiased, accurate information and instruction.
-Sustainability is also a key driver for us. We want to highlight to consumers and specifiers the role we and our members play in protecting and preserving the nation’s built heritage.
-Sustainability is at the core of everything we do, so we must recognise and promote this to a wider audience. Professional, considered and targeted preservation techniques – such as timber repairs, the elimination of damp problems and structural stabilisation – often play a key role in the refurbishment and maintenance of our existing housing stock.
-This type of work preserves and protects what we already have, with a minimal impact on the environment and resources.”
So, it seems we face a choice between ‘securing the recovery’ or being taken seriously by the markets with regard to deficit reduction. Between halving the deficit (by £78m) over the next four years or a more ‘roots and branches’ attack on spending perhaps something more akin to Ireland, where cuts and tax rises in 2009 of around 5% of GDP would be like taking £65bn out of the UK economy in a single year.
In all of this, something very fundamental is being overlooked. And it’s time to wake up and realise what we’re missing. Here’s why.
The drive for savings has focused on Government back office functions – Finance, HR, Procurement, IT. There seems to have been a reluctance to date to think beyond this – possibly stemming from the, in our view, mistaken premise that this is the best way to ‘protect front line services’.
But, think about it. Based on HMG’s own data , Finance, HR and Procurement functions typically represent 0.6% to 2% of organisational spending. IT, typically between 4% and 8%. Across all these areas, the estimated potential for savings is £4bn a year on annual spend of £18bn.
All of which is certainly not to be sneezed at. But now just think what could be achieved if we open up for scrutiny the other 90-95% of operational costs at the heart of business operations. On this scale, even relatively small improvements could have a huge impact for savings. THIS is surely what we need to be turning our minds to now, in the face of today’s demands for long-term, sustainable savings. And, unlike the back office which has been targeted since 2004, it’s a largely untapped area for savings.
This is not ‘nice theory’, but based on pragmatic experience at the sharp end. Atos Origin has a long track record of working with Government clients to help drive savings in traditional, back office areas. Over the past 12-18 months, however, we have increasingly focused on helping to deliver improvements and reduce cost of services to the citizen. And we are already seeing glimpses of the ‘art of the possible’ in terms of what this can mean for savings.
Take, for example, health. Within the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority (SHA), Atos Origin was selected to support the application of ‘lean’ principles across a whole health economy in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. This work involved engaging with patients, clinicians and managers in a sector that employs 11,000 people and serves a population of 483,000. The requirement was to deliver two things improvements in quality and reductions in costs. Over an 18 month period, our approach led to improvements in A&E performance, reductions in waiting times, reductions in delayed discharges and the identification of 21 projects with potential recurring savings of nearly £50 million over a 3 year period. This represents a return on investment of more than 50:1.
Now imagine that replicated across all hospitals and all SHA’s
Which is why, in our view, optimising end to end customer service costs, from first interaction to service delivery, now represents the biggest potential for new, scale savings. Fundamentally, it’s all about taking a ‘whole system’ view and reducing cost and improving service by removing duplication and hand-offs between different delivery silos.
What’s more, experience demonstrates that these savings do NOT have to be at the expense of service quality. Far from it. Redesigning and restructuring services offers real scope for improving BOTH effectiveness AND efficiency. It does, however, require a willingness to fundamentally re-think the way public services operate.
Of course, there are beartraps awaiting the unwary in adopting this new approach. The most dangerous of which is setting out with an insufficient understanding of what’s most important and valuable to different groups of citizens. In this case, the risk is that efficiency comes at the cost of reduced effectiveness and quality of service which is definitely NOT the answer.
Underpinning all this, therefore, are some key principles:
Develop real customer insight and don’t treat all citizens the same – which means moving away from a -one size fits all approach. And don’t assume you know your customer and their expectations. The societal, technological and economic changes, just in the past 5 years, mean that the way different groups of citizens need, and want, to interact with Government changes constantly.
Focus on how best to achieve desired outcomes, rather than improving administrative processes. Efficiency gains may drive down administrative costs, but only increased effectiveness will drive down overall programme spend.
Put minimising unnecessary customer contact and eliminating non essential steps at the forefront of any process re-design. Managing customer demand and sign posting the most appropriate route for each customer are equally important.
In summary, challenging times require us to think more radically and holistically to open up whole new potential areas for savings in the next spending round. It won’t happen overnight, and does require a significant culture change. By far the most important thing a new Government must do, therefore, is to break with old habits and mantras, and put in place new governance, budgeting and corporate and personal incentives that will break down silo thinking and allow and encourage public sector staff to think fundamentally differently about how services are delivered.
1. Cf.Learning from the Irish recession, Stephanie Flanders, BBC economics editor, 9 April 2010
2. Benchmarking the Back Office – Central Government, 2009
The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre’s (QEIICC) impeccable handling of the Iraq Inquiry has brought its capabilities to the attention of a worldwide audience. The hearing, the first event to be held in the Centre’s recently-opened inquiry suite, has provoked widespread interest in the outstanding facilities offered by The QEIICC, an executive agency of the Department For Communities and Local Government.
Already established as the leading venue for government and public sector events, The QEIICC is one of the most prestigious purpose-built centres of its kind, situated in the heart of Westminster amid the spectacular scenery of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye.
Meeting, conference and event planners are not just attracted to the Centre’s location but also its flexibility, modern comforts, highly professional staff and technological support such as wireless internet access and in-house audio-visual services.
The self-contained inquiry suite comprises an inquiry room that can seat up to 100 theatre-style and a media room suitable for 50 journalists, as well as a witness lounge and two offices.
Sue Etherington, acting commercial director at The QEIICC comments: -Thanks to our unrivalled facilities, outstanding security, central location, leading technology and the experience and professionalism of our staff – including our discretion with regards to high profile events – The QEIICC is perfectly placed to be the venue of choice for inquiry events.
In total, The QEIICC has four main auditoria, seven conference rooms and over 20 smaller meeting rooms across seven floors. Capable of hosting 2-2,500 delegates, the conference rooms and smaller meeting rooms can be used in a variety of combinations to meet the needs of each specific event.
The award-winning in-house catering team, Leith’s at the Centre, offer an original and bespoke service with the desired elegance and style that comes with experience.
It recently unveiled a range of new menus for 2010. Executive head chef Gary Parsons and his team have devised a creative set of sustainable, Fairtrade and seasonal menus, offering QEIICC clients a balanced and nutritional selection of food and drink for the duration of their event.
In line with The QEIICC’s continued commitment to providing value for money to its clients, Leith’s at the Centre has also taken the decision to freeze its menu prices for the coming year.
Richard Davis, deputy general manager with Leith’s at The QEIICC comments: -Our new menus consider the importance of sustainability and healthy balanced choice, whilst offering interesting and delicious food to all delegates. Leith’s also understands that events are price sensitive in this uncertain economic climate and so has kept the tariff static.
Ernest Vincent, chief executive at The QEIICC, adds: -Whatever the size of the event, QEIICC clients can enjoy a range of fresh, uncomplicated and contemporary food and drink tailored to their requirements. From breakfasts or light refreshments to fork buffets, canaps, a la carte or cocktail party collections, Leith’s provide the ultimate dining experience for any event.
Following investment of £1.2milion over recent years, The QEIICC is one of the most IT intelligent buildings in the UK, with a built-in wireless network, an in-house audio-visual service including live broadcast and webcasting, plus a resident IT team and an online conference service.
The Centre’s dedicated in-house audio-visual service, Interface AV, is able to offer suggestions, develop themes and guide clients to make best use of the technology.
It has installed a digital signage system to provide digital displays throughout the Centre for way-finding, conference updates, travel, weather and news. Additionally, digital signage can broadcast advertising specific and directly relevant to your conference.
The impact of stunning visuals, captivating presentations, international links and audio enhancements make your messages memorable and endorse the value of the conference. To really captivate delegates’ attention and capture their opinions, audience participation technology adds a new and fun element where delegates’ feedback comment into hand-held terminals.
Meanwhile, live links, web casts and video recordings enable you to communicate beyond The QEIICC to delegates not able to physically attend.
The increasing role of technology in events and conferences is highlighted in Convention 2020, an ongoing international research project of which The QEIICC is a platinum sponsor.
Phase one of the study, founded by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), industry trade show IMEX and Fast Future Research, has already been completed and the results were announced at The QEIICC in March.
It showed that a large majority of industry professionals expect live video streaming to remote participants, social networks and the downloading of event content to mobile phones to become common over the next decade.
The QEIICC’s forward-thinking adoption of these and many other technologies will ensure it stays at the forefront of the conference industry for a long time to come.
The QEIICC offers a specially-reduced day delegate rate for government organisations. For more information, call the Sales Team on 020 7798 4426 or email info@qeiicc.co.uk
Apart from shrinking your carbon footprint, what other benefits are there for Colleges that move to electronic based financial management? As well as examining the environmental effects, Simon Kearsley, CEO at accounting software vendor, Symmetry (www.symmetry.co.uk) explores other reasons why going paperless can improve processes, save time, increase efficiency and contribute to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts.
With widespread cuts in FE funding this year, the sector must focus on how they can make better use of their limited resources and look at ways in which they can reduce waste and improve efficiency. One area that is ripe for modernisation is the area of financial management. Many Colleges still rely on a paper-based culture that not only harms the environment but also leads to unnecessary time and cost in both printing and travel. Here are the areas where introducing electronic based accounting can not only improve your carbon footprint but deliver significant efficiencies and cost-savings.
Reduce time including bottlenecks of authorisation chains
Approving purchase orders or invoices can often involve multiple individuals across an organisation in the sign off process. When paper-based documents are used, the whole process can be delayed due to sending originals or copies through the internal/external post or simply because a Purchase Order goes missing or sits in an in-tray for days or weeks waiting for a signature from a busy finance professional. This whole authorisation procedure can easily be automated by relying on electronic based documentation that can be emailed directly to recipients who can also be chased with alert reminders.
Drive down delivery costs
According to statistics, an organisation can save up to £1 per document if it is sent electronically rather than via the post. This not only takes into account the postal charges but also the stationery, labour, printing and waste disposal costs. For Colleges that are sending out hundreds or thousands of invoices or statements every month these costs can soon mount up. By using electronic based invoicing these costs can be removed.
Save space by storing financial documents electronically
Premises represent probably one of the biggest overheads, yet old-fashioned filing cabinets still occupy a significant proportion of the College campus. By electronically storing and archiving finance documents such as invoices, purchase orders, supplier statements and/or delivery notes you can free up storage areas for more desks or even consider moving to a smaller, more cost-effective site.
Better use of human resources
Whether you’re processing an order or managing the receipt of an invoice, if you rely on a paper-based accounting system then someone in the finance department will have to spend hours inputting data, photocopying, faxing, posting or retrieving documents. Instead, modern document management technology can also save considerable management time. You can scan in invoices using OCR (optical character recognition) which identifies the supplier by reading the VAT or company registration number. Alternatively you can use a barcode system which tags the scanned document so it can be easily retrieved afterwards and tied up to the relevant records in the core finance system.
For processing purchase orders there is also a substantial amount of work created for the finance department in chasing approval for expenditure or making amendments to orders. By using a paperless approach, the finance department can escalate the approvals process electronically and can even devolve purchase order creation to individual departments.
Improve supplier relationships and avoid disputes
With paperless billing and payment you can promote better relationships with suppliers and potentially secure better terms or discounting. You can also remove the time taken by finance staff to manage suppliers who are chasing monies. You should also be able to resolve any disputes quicker because you can find the relevant details on the system without having to fish through numerous files.
Support remote/flexible working
With all documentation held centrally on a network, there is no reason for certain members of staff to be physically present to authorise purchases or payments, making it easier to support a flexible or remote working policy. Likewise if employees are on the move they can send back approvals from their PDA.
Add value elsewhere
By easing the burden on the finance department, skilled resources can be used elsewhere for planning, strategy and budgeting, rather than wasting time on administrative tasks that add little value.
As you can see there’s a lot more to a paperless operations strategy than fulfilling environmental obligations: it can help you to become more productive and efficient with less human and physical resources. If you’re considering how you can reduce the reliance on paper and want to reap the additional benefits that electronic accounting can bring then it may be easier and more cost-effective than you think. On average most Colleges that introduce electronic-based accounting procedures find that both finance and non-finance staff welcome the change and typically see a return on investment within six months.
Mini Case Study
One of the largest providers of education & training in the Midlands introduces e-accounting to deliver greater flexibility & efficiencies
North Warwickshire & Hinckley College (www.nwhc.ac.uk) is based on two main campuses in Nuneaton and Hinckley and has outreach centres throughout North Warwickshire, offering a wide variety of programmes to individuals, communities and businesses. The College was graded ‘outstanding’ at its last Ofsted inspection; now has LSIS Beacon Status which is awarded to the top 10% of the colleges in the country; and was awarded the Training Quality Standard with excellence in Adult Social Care.
Key challenge: Changes in how the College operates prompted review of accounting practices
Director of Finance at North Warwickshire & Hinckley College, Shabir Ismail explains, -Over the years the nature of our training provision has evolved with more and more courses being delivered across multiple sites and locations including delivery at employers’ premises. As a result, many personnel are constantly out of the office and are mobile much of the time. This means that financial processes were taking much longer than they needed to, as we had to wait for managers to return before they could sign off purchase orders and so on.
We also calculated that when handling documents manually, it takes approximately 10 minutes to process every order and 7 minutes to process an invoice. When dealing with 15,000 invoices per year this gives you an idea of the scale of time involved.
Solution: Implementing a paperless accounting strategy
In 2008, says Shabir, -we decided that we could cut out the paper trail and achieve greater efficiencies by introducing electronic based financial processes. By scanning and storing what were previously paper based documents electronically, we would hopefully overcome the delays and expense associated with time-consuming distribution and management. The key areas we wanted to address were reducing the time spent in processing invoices and ensuring that goods & services for learners were delivered faster.
The College began by implementing Symmetry Financials’ ‘DocumentManager’; a document management & scanning solution powered by Version One. In order to tailor the product to fit with the College’s particular workflow demands, the finance team worked closely with Symmetry to build a customised solution.
-We invested a substantial amount of time scoping out a strategy that would best fit our operation. This allowed us to explain fully what was required and enabled us to work closely with Symmetry’s development team to fine tune the implementation to our needs. In particular, we wanted an audit trail that showed who authorised, verified and processed each individual document. says Shabir.
DocumentManager enables more streamlined accounting by converting physical financial paperwork such as purchase invoices into electronic files. Invoices, for example, are immediately attached to the purchase invoice record in the accounting system at the point of input, saving time and speeding up the authorisation processes.
Introducing Portal – a personalised view of real-time finance information
The second part of the solution was to deploy an on-line dashboard of financial information that can be personalised specifically to the user.
Shabir says, -This allows us to speed up our workflow by enabling users to see at a glance what financial tasks require attention and in turn allows them to drill down to the relevant documents without having to have full access to the main accounting system. This means that orders don’t have to wait until a budget holder is back in the office but can be processed whenever and wherever they can go on-line.
-In time this will allow us to introduce real-time information to staff such as income or expenditure statements against budgets. It currently allows managers to drill down to the nominal ledger and change the cost code if it is wrong, rather than having to go into the main system. Senior finance managers can even view all the signatories on screen making it easier for us to approve payments.
Key Benefits 2,500 hours saved per annum
Shabir summarises the benefits that a paperless strategy delivers, -By moving to electronic based accounting the College can achieve efficiencies across the organisation. We can cut labour-intensive activities, speed up delivery of goods & services, meet environmental goals and make considerable cost-savings in terms of saving office space and reduced overheads associated with handling paper-based items.
The College has seen many benefits:
2,500 hours saved per annum on invoice processing across the college
Authorisation time reduced by 10 minutes per invoice
for non-financial staff to concentrate on their key role rather than be distracted by administration
storage space required – moving to scanned copies means originals can be shredded over time
Goods & services delivered to learners quicker
Postage & Stationery Savings
Better relationships with suppliers
More sustainable/greener method of working
Releases time in finance department so value can be added elsewhere e.g. planning, cost control
Firearms belonging to World War II hero Geoffrey Hallowes have been found in Surrey and donated to The Gordon Highlanders Museum. In March 2008 a local Surrey resident reported to police that she had found six firearms while clearing out a property in Surrey. It is not uncommon for people to come across firearms about which they had no knowledge when clearing out a property.
Extensive enquiries have led to the weapons being placed in The Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen as part of the Regimental history and heritage along with Geoffrey Hallowes’ war medals.
Firearms legislation is very strict with a liability falling on people who are in possession of the weapons without the necessary certificate. This local resident did exactly what is recommended in such circumstances and reported the find immediately to the police.
All six firearms were surrendered to Surrey Police as the resident had no wish or lawful reason to retain them. There then began a series of enquiries to establish the origin of the guns.
The information that was provided suggested they could have historical connections with the Second World War so details were provided to the Imperial War Museum. All firearms are individually identified and the Museum was able to suggest who the former owner was likely to be.
Enquiries then moved on to The Gordon Highlanders Museum which was able to confirm the historical context of the firearms.
The owner was identified as Geoffrey McLeod Hallowes who served with the Gordon Highlanders and later became an SOE (Special Operations Executive) agent, helping to organise French resistance after D-Day. His contribution during the Second World War has been recognised by a number of gallantry awards, including the Croix de Guerre. Mr Hallowes died in 2006. He was married to French Resistance fighter and George Cross winner Odette Hallowes, MBE.
Commenting on the discovery of the firearms, Roger Weedon, Firearms Licensing Manager at Surrey Police, said:
-Our first consideration is the safety and security of people in Surrey and this resident is to be commended for doing the right thing by immediately arranging for the weapons to come within our safe keeping.
-Many older firearms do have some value either financially or as in this case historically. We will always work with finders of weapons to ensure they are disposed of lawfully in the best way possible.
-We were delighted to be able to identify the context of the use of these firearms and were able to arrange for their lawful transfer to a museum where they will be retained for the benefit of future generations.
-If anyone ever finds a firearm anywhere please immediately contact the police and work with us to arrange safe disposal. In the wrong hands the consequences can be disastrous, and all reports will be dealt with appropriately.
Curator of The Gordon Highlanders Museum, Jesper Ericsson, commented:
-The acquisition of these firearms is the most important addition to the Museum’s Armoury since it opened in 2007 and will become the most important items in the firearms collection as a whole. This is because not only can we connect these firearms with an individual, but an individual with an extraordinary history. We are most grateful to Surrey Police for their generous help and support in facilitating this donation.
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