Council Waste Highlighted at Scrutiny
It emerged at last week’s Scrutiny of the council’s ICT Strategy that enormous amounts of money are wasted on equipment due to poor procurement policies: £500,000 a year is spent, not always wisely.
An example of the expenditure includes a Dell laptop keyboard available on the High Street for £29 being purchased by RBK’s ICT Department for a staggering £80! Scrutiny Panel Chairman Cllr Howard Jones (Con) described the revelation as ‘disgraceful’ whilst Interim Head of IT Mike Fogaty admitted it was ‘alarming’ and that a specialist would be employed (at what extra cost? Ed.) so that a better process could be implemented by the end of the year. He acknowledged that the areas of contracts and procurement have been ‘poor performers’ for the department.
The Executive Member for Finance, Cllr Rolson Davies (Lib Dem) admitted that much of the equipment procured by the department was non-essential or outdated, saying ‘emails can be accessed via many mobile phones nowadays – we should therefore look at the type of technology we are buying and whether it is the most appropriate.’
Cllr Jones added ‘This is simply an unacceptable waste of the public funds. It is basic common sense to seek out the best value for money particularly in these difficult times and it is certainly our duty to do that. Better procurement could double the savings in this department to £500,000 a year and I expect the impressive new Interim Head of ICT to implement a proper process as a matter of urgency.’
cornerHOUSE news EXTRA
Received today by email:
Two dates for your diaries
Friday 29 October : “ The weekend starts here “ : a relaxed session in the cornerHOUSE bar, with live music and bar snacks, the usual inexpensive drinks, a last chance to see Robin Rutherford’s great exhibition At the Speed of Light, bring your unwanted DVDs and books for our exchange table, and, well, just relax in social way into the weekend. FREE from 7.30 .
Thursday 4 November : the return of Outside The Box comedy. OTB have brought outstanding performers across the breadth of the best currently performing in Britain to the stage in Douglas Road. This session will feature at least three great and varied acts, and OTB’s own Maff Brown to mould the complete evening. The OTB skill in fielding the best acts available mean that it is not possible to predict exactly who will be on stage but comedy aficionados will relish this exciting dip into the best around, knowing too that there is always a chance of a big surprise name. Clues about who will be on can be found on the OTB website www.outsidetheboxcomedy.co.uk, or via their information line on 07791 439363. Doors and bar open at 7.00 pm. Performances start at 8.00. Tickets ( £7.50; concessions available ) are bookable through the OTB website. Advance booking is strongly recommended ; tickets may not be available on the door ( a call to the info line will establish if they are, should you not have had time to book on-line.)
Get your oneACT in!
Don’t forget the deadline is looming for you to get your play (or plays) into us for the cornerHOUSE oneACTS 2011 festival.
The cut-off date is Sunday, October 31. Ideally, we would like to receive your entries before then, but for those who take playwriting to the wire, you have until the end of play that day to get your scripts to us.
All plays need to be sent to oneacts2011@thecornerhouse.org for entry into the selection process for next year’s festival of original playwriting which runs from Monday, April 4 to Saturday, April 9 2011 at the arts centre in Douglas Road, Surbiton.
You can find all the details you need to know at www.thecornerhouse.org about how to submit a oneACT of between 15 to 30 minutes long. Just look at the oneACTS 2011 section and click on the Guidance page, or just click on the link below:
http://www.thecornerhouse.org/shows/show.aspx?showid=119
So get those keys rattling on your keyboard – you haven’t long to go!
Here are some brief details below.
oneACTS 2011 – playwrights
Monday, April 4 to Saturday, April 9 2011
Have you ever written a short play that deserves to be performed?
Or have you always wanted to? If so, the cornerHOUSE annual one act plays festival needs you.
We are looking for people who would like to create a play for the oneACTS 2011, our week-long showcase of original writing which will take place from Monday, April 4 until Saturday, April 9 2011.
Don’t worry if you haven’t attempted anything like this before. You can find all the information you need on our website at www.thecornerhouse.org under oneACTS 2011 – guidance or email oneacts2011@thecornerhouse.org
This will be the seventh year the cornerHOUSE in Douglas Road, Surbiton, has run the festival, which has become a well established and highly respected event in the local arts scene.
The plays need to be short – 15 to 30 minutes long – so if you have an original idea and would like to see it staged, why not have a go?
A number of plays will be selected by a panel of judges out of all those received – and yours may well be the lucky one – and even it isn’t, you will still get feedback to help you with your future writing.
The deadline for submission of plays is Sunday, October 31 2010. After that, directors will be chosen, actors will be cast and your work will come to life on stage.
Guidance notes on how to submit your plays can be found on our website.
So get your thinking caps on, put fingers to keyboard, and start writing – we are looking forward to reading your play.
Please email your plays to oneacts2011@thecornerhouse.org
Lloyds TSB customers beware phishing
I received yesterday a request, purporting to come from Lloyds TSB, asking for details of online banking arrangements and credit cards, and offering to remove a restriction on my account in return for supplying this information.
It asked for sort codes, credit card numbers, the 3-digit security code on the backs of cards and my online ID and PIN.
I phoned Lloyds TSB security this morning and they assured me this is another scam, and a new one, and asked me to forward the email to them.
If you or any of your friends or relatives receive such an email, on no account reply to it and never divulge the kind of information they were asking for in response to such a request, however convincing the email looks.
A3 drainage – Hook Underpass
from RBK Highways:
Transport for London are undertaking drainage improvement works at the A3 Hook Roundabout underpass. These works are being combined with structural investigations of the A3 footbridges.
The traffic management will comprise the full closure of the A3 in both directions, between Hook Roundabout and Esher Common roundabout. Northbound traffic will be diverted via A244 Copsem Lane, Claremont Lane, Church Street, Esher Green, A307 High Street, Portsmouth Road, A309 Kingston Bypass, Hook Rise North and Hook Road roundabout to A3 northbound on-slip road (east of Hook roundabout). Southbound traffic will be diverted via Hook Rise South (A3 southbound off-slip road, east of Hook roundabout), Hook Road roundabout, Hook Rise South, A309 Kingston Bypass, A307 Portsmouth Road, High Street, A244 Claremont Lane and Copsem Lane to A3 southbound on-slip.
Start Date: 11 October 2010
End Date: 12 October 2010
Working Times: 2 Nights 21:00 – 06:00
Traffic in Oakhill
The resident who sent this also explained its significance in these words:
Attached are some photographs I took this morning at 0930 in Oakhill Road. There was a total gridlock involving cars wanting to pass through Oakhill Road, cars wanting to queue for the Doctor’s surgery and a service vehicle collecting recycling waste. The other photographs are what we have every morning in Oakhill Road: cars blocking the road as they queue to get into the Doctor’s surgery. The noise from car horns is deafening.
This follows a meeting last night at Surbiton Baptist Church about the proposal to build a 446 pupil school on the land left over after the polyclinic is built at Surbiton Hospital. Concerns about traffic generation were once again very much to the fore as was interest in the school building itself.
The site is just plain not big enough for such an institution. There will be so little amenity space available for the youngsters to stretch their legs that it is proposed to put the playground on the roof! There will be a 1.8 metre fence to stop the children falling off! (At least I think that’s what the report meant, though it said 1800 metres – i.e. 1.125 miles!)
Nick Kilby and I both asked questions and left the speakers and audience in doubt as to our views. Cllrs Houston and Self were present, and once again kept their views to themselves. They’ll have to come clean sooner or later!
Humbling experience
- The Federation ‘Scroll’
I have been reluctant to exhibit this here until now, but, as I was attacked by our opponents during the election campaign, who alleged that I was not doing enough for Council tenants and leaseholders, I have been urged to share with you what their representatives thought of my efforts. The text reads:
The Federation of Kingston Residents’ Associations.
Presented to Paul Joseph Johnston. With grateful thanks in recognition of your support and commitment to the cause of all Kingston’s Social Housing residents throughout eleven years of stalwart service as a long serving councillor, Chairman of the Housing Consultative Committee and, above all, a generous, selfless individual.
Signed by Derrick Johnson, Federation Chairman and Sadiq Mohammed, Federation Secretary. On behalf of 6,500 grateful residents of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
This was presented on 3rd June 2010 together with a beautiful decanter. I am immensely grateful for the gifts, but even more for the feeling that lies behind them. My commitment to the cause continues.
Surbiton Forum 