Enfield Energy Contract, Slough Seeks Chinese Investors, Fraud Funding, Data Disaster Looms
0Enfield creates jobs with energy contract
Enfield Borough Council is to make more than 1000 council houses more energy efficient through a £10m contract with British Gas. In what the council describes as a first of its kind scheme, around 300 young people will be recruited to do the work which could save homes £400 each per year.
Slough sends delegation to China
The chief executive, leader and a commissioner from Slough Borough Council are to attend an outbound investment event in Beijing. They will have access to some 1000 Chinese international investors following Chinese company Hytera locating their UK headquarters in Slough. The leader commented: “We will be showcasing Slough and all it has to offer, from state-of-the-art facilities to our upwardly-mobile, highly-skilled and aspirational workforce.” The trip was part-funded by property investment company SEGRO, formerly Slough Estates.
Council spin to be made illegal
The Department of Communities and Local Government is consulting on making a code on what Eric Pickles calls “town hall Pravdas” law. The publicity code was published two years ago to try to prevent councils publishing newspaper-like publications designed to portray the authority in a good light. Pickles said: “Some councils are undermining the free press and wasting taxpayers’ money which should be spent carefully on the front line services that make a real difference to quality of life. It should not, under any circumstances, be used to fund political propaganda and town hall Pravdas and yet a hardcore minority of councils continue to ignore the rules despite public concern.”
Stoke gets fraud funding
Stoke City Council has received £170,000 in funding to help combat housing fraud. Since April 2011 the council’s corporate fraud team has recovered 116 properties from fraudulent social or council housing holders who rent out the property and live elsewhere. The practice costs taxpayers up to £900m per year nationally and Stoke’s funding will boost the Spot the Cheater campaign which has seen an 18% increase in fraud referrals from the public since May 2012.
Here is the full list of Local Authority Recipients of Social Housing Fraud Funding 2013/14 & 2014/15
Public sector risks data loss
The public sector is risking data disaster with the use of old fashioned methods or no back up methods at all, according to IT provider Icomm. Of the company’s 121 public sector customers 73% use tape back ups and 26% of these don’t back up as their tapes are at capacity. Councils using tape could also be wasting up to 61 hours a year on managing back up systems. Switching to cloud-based back up could save them £2,500 a year over three years.
Lincoln searches for £100m partner
Lincoln County Council is looking for a new outsourcing partner to run its back-office services as its current contract with Mouchel expires in two years time. The £85-£110m contract is due to be awarded next April.
