Giant private firm to take on 600 West Sussex council jobs
2:00pm Saturday 9th June 2012 in News By Neil Vowles
A giant private sector firm has been chosen to take on hundreds of council jobs and run back-office services in a deal worth up to £154 million.
West Sussex County Council has confirmed Capita as its preferred bidder for a huge outsourcing project that will see responsibility for payroll, human resources, finance, procurement and office services transfer to the firm.
About 600 council staff would transfer to Capita later this year as part of the ten-year agreement which could eventually see 800 staff swap employers.
The deal is set to save the council £5.8 million over the next three years as part of total planned cost savings of £79 million.
Opposition councillors have raised concerns about what safeguards will be put in place if savings are not met and departments have to be brought back in-house.
The contract is expected to be formally signed by the end of the month and would start at the beginning of September.
Parallels have been drawn with joint venture company Somerset One, which was set up in 2007 by Somerset County Council, Taunton Deane Borough Council, Avon and Somerset police and IBM to modernise the local authorities’ business processes.
Earlier this year, Somerset decided to bring 160 HR advisory, development and learning jobs back in-house after making losses of £31.5 million.
Liberal Democrat councillor James Walsh said: “This is not dissimilar to the Somerset arrangement.
“I want to have assurances that the contract will be precise and specific, and that it will be subject to close monitoring by elected councillors of all parties in West Sussex.”
A West Sussex County Council spokesman said: “It would not be appropriate for us to comment on decisions made by Somerset County Council. They were outsourcing a different set of services.
“We have followed rigorous procedures in procuring a partner to work with us.
“Levels of performance, standards and service have been identified as part of this process, and will be carefully monitored throughout the life of the contract.”
A Capita spokeswoman said: “We are thrilled at the prospect of working with West Sussex County Council and look forward to supporting the council in delivering services.”
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
Sussex make inroads at Horsham - wscountytimes.co.uk
Sussex have taken two wickets this morning as their County Championship match against Surrey at Horsham remains finely poised.
Nightwatchman Stuart Meaker and Mark Ramprakash (37) have fallen as Sussex strive to force a result on the final day. Surrey were 39-1 overnight, and Meaker and Ramprakash added 22 runs before Steve Magoffin made the breakthrough when Meaker played on.
Ramprakash and Steve Davies put on 35 for the third wicket, which fell when Ramprakash was trapped LBW by Monty Panesar when attempting a sweep.
Sussex were left to rue a couple of dropped catches though, perhaps most tellingly when Chris Nash put down a sharp chance at short leg off Zander de Bruyn shortly before lunch,
Surrey will begin the afternoon session 129-3, still 98 runs adrift of Sussex’s first innings total.
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Sussex close in on victory at Horsham - wscountytimes.co.uk
Sussex are in a commanding position to claim a win against Surrey at Horsham today.
Going into the final session of their County Championship match, Sussex have reduced Surrey to 183-7 in a good afternoon session, and with 27 overs remaining, will be looking to wrap up victory at Cricketfield Road.
Sussex wanted early wickets after lunch and nine overs into the session were rewarded when Zander de Bruyn departed for 21, giving Monty Panesar his second wicket LBW of the day with an attempted sweep. Steven Davies had looked bright for his 35, but Panesar claimed a third victim when the Surrey wicketkeeper nibbled an edge to Ben Brown and Surrey were 162-5. Jimmy Anyon bowled with menace, and subjected Tom Maynard to one torrid over of short balls, which the Surrey man did well to negotiate.Maynard and skipper Rory Hamilton-Brown dug in, but their partnership was broken in Chris Nash’s first over. Horsham Nash was brought on from the Town End, and trapped Maynard in his crease LBW.
It got worse for Surrey when next man in Gareth Batty had added just two. Keen to get off strike, he called for a single, and although Hamilton-Brown sent him back, Steve Magoffin’s throw beat him back and Ben Brown completed the job, reducing Surrey to 181-7 at tea.
Source: www.wscountytimes.co.uk
Rana relishing chance to face a former county as he prepares for twenty20 bid - This is Derbyshire
TWENTY20 hired gun Rana Naved-ul-Hasan will get the chance to warm up for the Friends Life t20 by taking on one of his former counties, Sussex, in tomorrow's Clydesdale Bank 40 League fixture at Horsham (1.45pm).
The Pakistan bowler was able to meet his new team-mates yesterday and have a bowl in the indoor nets at Grace Road as Derbyshire's LV County Championship match against Leicestershire finished with a final day wash-out.
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Pakistan bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (above left), who is to play for Derbyshire in the Friends Life t20, with head coach Karl Krikken. Below: Naved-ul-Hasan and Krikken watch with Tim Groenewald (left) in the nets at Leicester yesterday.
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Derbyshire took eight points from the draw and, with their rivals at the top similarly affected by the weather, that might be enough to extend their lead at the top of Division Two as they go into the t20 break.
Rana flew in to begin his spell with the Falcons on Wednesday and the county received the permission they needed from the Pakistan Cricket Board yesterday which will allow him to play in the CB40, in place of injured New Zealander Martin Guptill.
The 34-year-old brings vast experience of the shortest form of the game to the Derbyshire dressing room. He has established a reputation as one of the leading t20 specialists in the world, making his living from nation to nation wherever there is a team in a tournament in need of his services.
Having previously played in England for Sussex and Yorkshire, Rana has also featured in the last year for the inaugural winners of the Bangladesh Premier League, Dhaka Gladiators, the current champions of the Pakistan Super League, Sailkot Stallions, and in the Australian Big Bash for Hobart Hurricanes, where he finished as the tournament's top wicket-taker.
That is an outstanding record and now Rana is looking forward to bringing his special skills to Derbyshire.
"I've played around the world – Australia, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka – but most of my time I have spent in England and this is my eighth season here," he said.
"I'm very happy to play for Derbyshire and I want to do my level best to play very well. I met with the boys and met with the management and they are lovely people, so I want to give them a reward for signing me. I will try my best.
"As an experienced player, I want to share lots of things with the youngsters. I want to be able to help the Derbyshire players."
Rana said he is getting used to slipping in and out of different countries, playing in different conditions and with a different set of team-mates but it is a demanding, as well as lucrative, lifestyle.
Twenty20 can be an unforgiving game for a bowler if he is not straight on his game from the very start but Rana has a simple approach to staying at the top of his profession.
"Hard work," he added. "Every day I bowl lots of slow balls, yorkers, slow bouncers – all six I bowl different.
"Most of the cricket I play is one-day and t20s, so I am thinking all the time as a bowler how to bowl differently and how to think more quickly than the batsman.
"You have to think sharply in t20 because you only have four overs.
"Twenty20 is a different game because it can change in one over and you have to make a plan according to the situation.
"It can be very difficult to just bowl four overs and you need stamina in t20 because all the time you are running around.
"You need strength in the head and body-wise because this is a tough game.
"Travelling around the world, you have to get used to different batters, different pitches and adjust to any kind of weather and any conditions.
"I enjoy playing in Australia because of the hard tracks which are good for bowlers and batsmen but in England, there are very good conditions at the moment for swing bowling with the cloudy weather here."
Tomorrow's CB40 game will give Rana the chance to get some match bowling under his belt before Derbyshire's first t20 fixture at home to Lancashire on Thursday. It also gives him the chance to meet up with a few old friends.
Rana had spells over five seasons with Sussex and turned down the chance to go back there because Derbyshire made him a better offer.
"I spoke with the Sussex people and they said they do not have much money, so that is why they cannot sign me but they love me and I like them as well because they looked after me very well when I played there," he said.
"They are nice people and a lovely crowd there.w I spent a lot of time there with my family and enjoyed the seaside but all my efforts are with Derbyshire because I am playing for Derbyshire this year.
"As a professional I have to say that is my old team, this is my new team and I want to do my best for Derbyshire."
Source: www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk
Seaford’s part in warning against foreign invasion - Lewes Today
I SHOULD imagine that beacons have been used for many years as a means of communication. This was particularly the case to warn us good Sussex folk from invasion against the French.
The first records of these devices in England date from the 14th century when we were at war with the French – the Hundred Years War. There would have been a beacon, ready to be lit on Seaford Head. In July 1545, a French fleet headed by the French Admiral Claude D’Annebault attacked Seaford. Locals, under the command of Sir Nicholas Pelham of Lewes used farm implements and stones from the beach to pelt the enemy into a hasty retreat. How did Pelham raise this makeshift army so quickly? I am sure his motley army was warned by beacons. The French went on to attack Brighton and Hove and a contemporary print shows the “ye Towne Fire Cage” lit on high ground where Kemp Town is now located.
Other beacons were more substantial. Orders issued in 1585 stated that beacons would need to be ‘in the accustomed places’ and that five households would be appointed for each pair of beacons. Two people were needed to watch the beacons at all times – a rule that lasted until after the Spanish Amada passed in 1588. In 1584 an entry in the Seaford Town Records says: “Robert Best will not watch at the sea-side according to the laudable custom.” This indicates that there was obviously a form of coastal watch at Seaford.
The beacons were all the way along the Sussex coast. At Beachy Head (the most southerly part of East Sussex) a series of beacons were constructed in-land at Willingdon, Wilmington and Firle (Beacon) to send warning quickly to Lewes, the County Town.
By the Victorian era, more sophisticated means of communication had been developed but beacons still used – not for warning but for celebration. Bonfire beacons were lit on Seaford Head to commemorate Royal jubilees and coronations. When George V was crowned on June 22, 1911, both Seaford and Newhaven celebrated with beacons lit at 10pm. The one at Newhaven was so big it was still alight the next morning! The teenage girls of Ladycross School decided they were going to watch a beacon being lit – not at Seaford but Firle!
They set off from school in pelting rain at 8.30pm and by the time they reached Blatchington Golf Course their shoes were waterlogged and they were soaked through. They soldiered on and finally reached the huge bonfire in the pitch dark. At first there were just a few people there but by 10pm a large crowd had gathered. On the stroke of 10pm a rocket and a loud bang was heard from Newhaven. Two men with flaming torches ran to the beacon, pulled aside large branches that covered openings and applied the torches to the dry gorse underneath. Soon the whole bonfire was ablaze and lit up a large area (and hopefully dried the girls!). One of the party, Miss D Patterson said she could count 18 other beacons from Firle and was sure she would have seen more if it was not for the bad weather.
After nearly an hour, the girls decided to head back to Seaford, lit for a short distance by the beacon. The weather was still bad, the Firle beacon was soon out, it was pitch black and they had no torches. They got lost. They were aiming for Alfriston race course but were too close to Newhaven, some fell in rabbit holes or tripped as they walked through dark fields of barley, climbed fences and stumbled through gorse hedges. Eventually, led by Miss Brunton, they heard St Leonard’s Church Clock strike midnight and saw the Seaford beacon, which guided them back to their school an hour and a half later. I am sure they deserved the hot cocoa and biscuits that were waiting for them.
Isn’t that a fantastic story? I am sure every girl remembered the beacon and their adventure until their dying day. Can you imagine the Health & Safety implications today?
This leads me to the special beacon built by Seaford Bonfire Society for her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee last Monday where unfortunately red-tape prevented a bonfire being built on its traditional spot. The beacon however was built on the retaining wall of the old Splash Point Hotel and was clearly visible from the east end of the town. Following the excellent concert on Martello Fields which every one seemed to really enjoy there was a laser light show from the top of the Martello Tower. A few minutes earlier the huge golden orb of a full-moon hoved into view from behind the cliffs, a truly beautiful spectacle.
At 10.15pm a shaft of green laser light sliced through the night air to the beacon which was soon alight to the cheers of the thousands of Seafordians.
As I was caretaking at the Martello Tower I was able to see the beacon on Castle Hill, Newhaven and the glow of the Firle and Alfriston Beacons. Michael Ann was the Beacon Master for East Sussex and reports that about 300 people witnessed the lighting of the Alfriston beacon which he believes was the largest in the county. There were over 50 official beacons in East Sussex and our beacons will be added to a list which will be presented to Her Majesty.
I would have liked to ended this report by saying there was no sign of the French – but I can’t. I spoke to a part of two French families who were visiting us. They said that they had had a fantastic evening and it was. Thank you to all concerned.
Source: www.sussexexpress.co.uk
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