One MP said: “The economic effects of the Games — on public finances and GDP — could well be negative and I think this is something that people should turn their attention to after the Games.”
The Government has set a target for half of all London-based civil servants to either work from home, work from another office, change their working hours or alter their route to work during the games. An estimated 800 Ministry of Justice staff worked from home yesterday, while around 400 London-based Department for Work and Pensions staff relocated to offices outside London.
Thousands of staff at taxpayer-owned RBS are expected to work from home during the Olympics. A spokesman for the bank said: “Some of our staff have the option of working from home on the 'exceptionally busy’ days which have been highlighted to us by the Olympics organisers. Flexible working is already part of our culture within RBS, so this will not be particularly new for employees.”
Critics said staff should be at their desks “getting on with their jobs” so soon after the bank saw an IT meltdown leave customers unable to make payments.
Priti Patel, MP for Witham, said: “In light of everything that’s been going on with banking and RBS, I would have thought the only focus should be on getting on with doing their jobs in the office.”
Train companies said routes into central London from areas such as Brighton, Kent and the South West were quieter than usual yesterday.
As well as fewer workers travelling into London, almost two million residents of the capital are expected to leave the city during the Olympics.
According to Experian, a travel website, around 10 per cent fewer people visited London’s West End last Friday and Saturday compared with the same weekend last year.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Kent County Council apologises after being found guilty of maladministration - Kent Online
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by political editor Paul Francis
Social services chiefs have issued a public apology after a council watchdog criticised them over two cases involving people in residential care.
Kent County Council said that in both cases, the criticism was not related to the quality of care they had received, but to the arrangements made for their care.
The local government ombudsman said KCC was guilty of maladministration over the case involving an elderly woman discharged from hospital who needed respite care.
Her daughter found a place at a home on the council's approved list but social services refused to pay the fees for four weeks.
Senior managers said the council's policy was only to agree short-term care where it was in a council-run home or had been pre-paid.
That was contrary to government policy and KCC had failed to correct its mistake when the daughter had complained, said ombudsman Anne Seex.
KCC said it recognised that it had got things wrong and had agreed to pay the costs of £1,560.
Cllr Graham Gibbens, KCC Cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: "It is important that we take responsibility for the things we got wrong in each case.
"We have apologised wholeheartedly in both cases and have taken lessons from both cases.
"In both situations, members of staff were working within the guidance that was issued at the time. However, while this might offer some kind of explanation, it is no excuse and we are constantly striving to improve the way we work in adult social care."
Changes had since been made that meant that services had improved, he added.
In a second case, KCC was found guilty of maladministration causing injustice after a case involving the transition of a child to adult social services.
Monday, July 30 2012
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Source: www.kentonline.co.uk
Kent’s Olympic stars: Ellen Gandy vows to impress in 200m - Kent News
Ellen Gandy
Credit: Andy Hooper / NOPP
Monday, July 30, 2012
9:15 AM
Swimmer refuses to get down after eighth place in 100m
Bromley swimming star Ellen Gandy was philosophical after finishing eighth in the final of the Olympic 100m butterfly at the Aquatics Centre on Sunday evening.
Racing from lane one, the 20-year-old finished in a time of 57.76sec, while the race was won by American Dana Vollmer who smashed the world record with an incredible time of 55.98 - the first woman to break 56 seconds.
Gandy admitted: “I would have liked to have gone a bit faster but you know that was an amazing swim by Dana Vollmer and it’s great to be a part of that.
“I really wanted to get in amongst that race and it felt a lot faster but I guess being on the outside on butterfly you can’t really tell where people are.”
She added: “I’ve just got to move on from the disappointment and pick myself up for the 200.”
The Beckenham Swimming Club star is ranked fourth in the world at 200m butterfly and said: “I definitely feel that my strength is in the 200 and I just want to get stuck into that now.”
The preliminary round of the 200m butterfly is on Tuesday morning with the semi-finals that night and the final on Wednesday evening.
Source: www.kentnews.co.uk
Kent City Council to meet Tuesday to consider new taxes for streets, parks - Bainbridge Island Review
The Kent City Council will have a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 31 at City Hall, 220 Fourth Ave. S., to consider a proposed funding package for streets and parks, including whether to refer a property tax measure to voters on the Nov. 6 ballot.
The council must submit the measure to King County Elections by Aug. 7 to get on the November ballot.
Four items are on the agenda for Tuesday:
• Discussion on funding for parks, streets
• Resolution calling on city administration to conduct a third party efficiency study
• Discussion and possible action on business tax resolution or ordinance
• Discussion and possible action on placing levy lid lift on November ballot
After meeting last week with city officials, the Kent Chamber of Commerce came out Monday in support of a proposed property tax levy to pay for street and park repairs if the council does not tie in an additional business tax as part of a funding package.
Instead of a business tax, the chamber wants the council to adopt a $20 per year car tab fee on Kent residents.
The council formed citizen committees earlier this year to come up with recommendations for parks and street funding and to help prioritize projects. Those recommendations went to an ad-hoc committee of council members Dennis Higgins, Dana Ralph and Elizabeth Albertson.
That three-member committee recommended to the full council a six-year property tax levy lid lift of 37 cents per $1,000 assessed property value or about $111 per year on a $300,000 home.
The levy would raise about $29 million over six years, $18.3 million for parks and $10.7 million for streets as 23 cents per $1,000 would go to parks each year and 14 cents per $1,000 to streets. The levy would expire after six years. The ballot measure would describe the park and street projects to be paid for and require a simple majority.
Higgins told the Kent Reporter earlier this month that a property tax levy alone would not cover the long-term street maintenance needs.
The committee also recommended that a new business tax be implemented to raise as much as $4 million to $6 million per year; and that city administrators find $2 million per year in efficiencies in the city budget to go toward street maintenance.
The options for a business tax could be a per employee tax similar to what the city of Renton does; a business and occupation tax or a business license fee.
Andrea Keikkala, executive director of the chamber, issued a media release Monday about the chamber's position on the proposed taxes.
Keikkala said councilmembers Albertson, Bill Boyce, Higgins and Mayor Suzette Cooke met July 24 with chamber officers and representatives from Boeing, REI, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, Continental Mills, Veolia Transportation, Cascade Gasket & Manufacturing, Bowen Scarff Ford Lincoln Mercury, Sysco Food Services and WCP Solutions to discuss street maintenance funding proposals and alternatives.
The attending businesses agreed to the following proposal, which also has been passed with the unanimous support of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors:
"The city should not delay, or tie additional business taxes to, the proposed levy lid lift campaign. The decision on the levy is time critical to get on the November ballot, while the ability to apply a tax on businesses is councilmatic and can be voted on by the council at any time. A delay in voting on the levy hurts the funding for critical infrastructure projects.
We understand that the proposed levy of $.37/$1,000 of assessed valuation will be allocated .23 cents per $1,000 to parks and the remainder to streets. Businesses would pay approximately 40 percent of the property tax money collected.
The chamber supports the proposed levy on its own, but not if it is tied to additional business taxes.
The city should pass a $20 car tab fee. This will raise approximately $1.4 million annually for street maintenance and will allow time to determine if a business tax is needed or how best to be implemented.
The city should work towards finding $2 million in efficiencies in the budget or have the budget audited for such efficiencies. An independent audit will be educational and one of the biggest assets for a campaign to the business community to raise revenue in the future.
Maintenance on streets and money collected should be phased in. Since the city has been operating at approximately $1 million per year in street maintenance, we believe the projects should be phased in with smaller amounts initially that will match the new revenue sources and increase as new revenue sources are identified including retaining more of the state gas tax funds and other funding mechanisms that the state Legislature may identify in coming sessions.
The city and business community should lobby at the state and federal levels to capture our appropriate share of state gas taxes, large truck license fees and internet sales taxes.
We understand and are willing participants in continued dialog regarding the need for additional street maintenance and it's funding. The chamber will work with business and community members to determine the most acceptable solutions."
Contact Kent Reporter Courts, government reporter Steve Hunter at shunter@kentreporter.com or 253-872-6600, ext. 5052.
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Source: www.pnwlocalnews.com
London passes Olympic travel test - Financial Times
Last updated: July 30, 2012 7:43 pm
Source: www.ft.com
