Latest news with #publicService
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Chelmsford PCSO has no plans to retire aged 79
A man who is about to enter his 50th year working for a police force has said he has no plans to Barley was issued with a cape and had to cycle 16 miles to work when he first joined Essex Police in force believes Mr Barley, who is now a police community support officer, is the oldest PCSO in 79-year-old works as part of the Chelmsford neighbourhood policing team and says one of his favourite parts of the job is chatting to the public. "I'm on the town all the time and you get to know people – you're even on first name terms with the bad guys and that's very useful," he said."Regardless of what you might read, there are more good than bad people out there. "People love to see the police, they chat away and they thank you for what you're doing." Things have changed considerably since Mr Barley saw a newspaper advert for the Metropolitan Police 50 years featured an officer pulling off a high-speed skid in a patrol car."At that time, I was living in Stifford [in Thurrock, Essex] and I was posted to Basildon but I didn't have a clue where that was. I had to look it up on a map!"I then had to borrow a push bike and cycle the 16 miles down the old A13, getting up at 03:45 for the early shift."Mr Barley said his early days on the beat were "brilliant"."We'd walk the town centre checking doors – these are Dixon of Dock Green stories – and it was freezing cold sometimes but that's what the job was."I've still got the cape I was issued." Essex Police said Mr Barley - who worked as an officer for 30 years before becoming a PCSO - plans to carry on for as long as Barley said the use of drugs had become more widespread, but that his interactions with the public had not changed."I like to talk, and your mouth is still your best bit of equipment."Times change, but you still have to solve problems and appease people. It's about knowing your audience." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gov. Shapiro recognizes troopers who responded to Trump assassination attempt with prestigious award
Gov. Josh Shapiro is recognizing dozens of state troopers for their response to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump nearly a year ago in Butler County. The governor just recognized Commonwealth employees from nine state agencies with the Governor's Award for Excellence for their public service contributions. Among the awardees was the Presidential Rally Incident Team. Shapiro is honoring the 33 troopers who made up the team for their 'heroic actions to protect the public and aid victims,' as well as for working 'tirelessly on the monthslong investigation into the incident.' According to Gov. Shapiro, this award is one of the highest honors a Commonwealth employee can earn. 'My Administration is honored to recognize these individuals, just a small portion of the incredible state employees who work hard and serve with integrity every day," he said. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
ABC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Sussan Ley's press club address marks tone shift for Liberals
Sussan Ley has set the tone for how she will seek to rebuild the Liberal Party, opening a major address to the National Press Club with an acknowledgement of country and a vow that she is someone who respects the public service. The comments were nods to policies the Coalition took to a federal election that saw it wipe-out and nearly completely lose its footing in Australia's metro areas. In her first address as leader to the press club, which was snubbed for several years by former leader Peter Dutton, Ms Ley spelled out that the Liberal Party would look different under her watch. The Liberal leader acknowledged the party had not just lost, "we got smashed", and what had been presented to Australian voters was "comprehensively rejected". The party is now reviewing its election loss, as well as undertaking a deeper review of its future, with one key issue being its falling representation of women in parliament and the ongoing internal struggle over whether to introduce quotas to forcibly lift it. Ms Ley put her party on notice that she was "agnostic" about how to improve the party's representation of women, but a "zealot" in seeing that it happened, and would not accept state branches who did not improve. "If some state divisions choose to implement quotas, that is fine. If others don't, that is also fine," she said. "But what is not fine is not having enough women. As the first woman leader of our federal party, let me send the clearest possible message: We need to do better, recruit better, retain better and support better." Over the next two days the Liberal party room, the shadow ministry and shadow cabinet will meet in their first formal opportunities to discuss those party reviews. As part of the Coalition's reset, Ms Ley said a dedicated working group was also being stood up to nut out one of the thorniest issues for the party: its energy and emissions reduction policies. The Coalition campaigned on a promise to build seven nuclear power plants over the coming decades, which would have been a major shift in Australia's energy network. After its election loss, the Nationals briefly broke from the Liberal Party over an initial refusal to re-endorse nuclear power before it was examined by the Coalition's post-loss review. And an ongoing internal struggle over climate policy continues to roil within the Coalition. After former prime minister Scott Morrison finally negotiated an agreement with the Nationals to sign on to net zero emissions by 2050, the party is now again openly questioning whether to keep that commitment, with some Nationals MPs publicly advocating it be dumped. Ms Ley said the working group would be led by opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan, and include Shadow Treasurer Ted O'Brien, opposition resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald, manager of opposition business Alex Hawke, opposition environment spokeswoman Angie Bell, and Dean Smith and Andrew Willcox. That group will report directly to Ms Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud, tasked with developing a policy with two focuses: a "stable" and "affordable" energy grid and reducing emissions so Australia is playing its part in the global effort. In a call for stability after only narrowly winning the Liberal leadership over challenger Angus Taylor, Ms Ley also asked the room of Liberals that she be judged not on the "headlines nor polling of the day", but on the next federal election result in 2028. Recounting her personal story, Ms Ley noted her own history in the public service, tacitly acknowledging the party's unpopular promise at the election to slash the public service and force staff back to the office — a policy it dumped in an astonishing mid-campaign jettison after it was received poorly by voters. "Before entering parliament, I worked at the Australian Tax Office. That role gave me a firsthand understanding of how our tax system works and, often, how it doesn't," Ms Ley said. "It reinforced my view that economic management must be responsible, practical and always focused on delivering value to the taxpayer. "It also reinforced something I learned as the child of an intelligence officer: a deep and abiding respect for the public service. That is part of my story too." In another subtle nod, Ms Ley opened her address with an acknowledgement to traditional owners, marking a shift after Mr Dutton said during the election campaign he believed Indigenous acknowledgements were sometimes "overdone". In the first press club address by a Liberal leader in several years, Ms Ley said voters' rejection of her party at the election was not lost on her or her colleagues. "As we seek to regain trust with all voters across our great country, the task before me — and my team — is to lead a Liberal Party that respects modern Australia, reflects modern Australia and represents modern Australia," Ms Ley said. While the party is continuing to rework its policies, Ms Ley did name a handful of priorities for this term. The opposition leader insisted that Australia must further lift its defence spending as global instability erodes further. The United States has demanded Australia lift its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, or about an extra $40 billion a year if enacted immediately, well beyond the government's current plan to lift defence spending from 2 per cent to 2.33 per cent over the next eight years. Ms Ley said addressing family violence and child safety was another major concern for her this term. "I understand the fear you feel when you go for a walk alone because I have felt that fear too. I understand the pain that comes with coercion and control because I have felt that pain too," Ms Ley said. "I will never let domestic and family violence fall down the list of priorities. "Prime minister, when it comes to standing up for women and children, I am ready to work with you." The Liberal leader also pointed to tech giants she said were making billions of dollars "peddling addictive technology" to children, and artificial intelligence technologies that "commoditise our kids and deep fakes [that] ruin the lives of women". Ms Ley concluded that the Coalition must offer an agenda that builds aspiration and rewards aspiration, and that reconnects with Australians.
Daily Mail
17-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Outsourcer Capita earmarks cost savings for AI war chest
Capita has outlined plans to reinvest cash saved during recent cut backs into artificial intelligence-powered tech. It came as the outsourcing giant, which administers the BBC licence fee, told shareholders it expects 'broadly flat' sales this year, but with stronger margins thanks to cost cutting efforts. After expanding its cost-cutting target by £90million to £250million last December, Capita said it had now achieved £185million in annualised savings. It is ploughing much of the spare cash into artificial intelligence products, such as the recently established Capita AI Catalyst Lab, which has already identified over 200 use cases across the company. Capita has also become one of the first businesses across Europe to use Salesforce's Agentforce to help recruit new staff more quickly. Adolfo Hernandez, chief executive of Capita, said interest in agentic AI solutions has 'grown exponentially'. He added: 'We are reinvesting a portion of our efficiency savings into new technology solutions, particularly those underpinned by AI, and we are focused on bringing these technology solutions to more clients.' Capita's adjusted turnover declined by 4.5 per cent in the five months ending May. Sales rose by 2.3 per cent in its public service division, thanks to central government work and by 6.4 per cent in the firm's regulated services business, partly due to a one-off termination exit fee. But they slumped by 21.1 per cent in its contact centre arm owing to weaker volumes on telecommunications-related contracts. Nonetheless, the London-based group won £969million worth of contracts during the period, a 24 per cent jump on the same time last year. These included a £97million deal from the Royal Navy to provide training services, a £92.4million extension with Southern Water, and a £107million contract for IT services in Northern Irish schools. Capita is known for managing the London Congestion Charge scheme on behalf of Transport for London and running recruitment campaigns for the British Army. Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, said: 'Growth remains elusive, and competitive pressures in public sector outsourcing are intense. But with sentiment at a low base, Capita may now offer contrarian appeal. 'And with early signs of operational discipline and tech investment bearing fruit, investors may want to revisit this long-overshadowed name.' Capita shares were 4.6 per cent higher at 261p on Tuesday morning, taking their gains over the past year to approximately a quarter.
CBC
16-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Neighbourhood action teams to fix variety of issues in Winnipeg communities
Social Sharing A new crew of City of Winnipeg workers trained to perform a variety of tasks will spend the next several months fixing problems in neighbourhoods across the city. But rather than sending a crew to do one job, like fill a pothole or trim a tree, the neighbourhood action teams will focus on one area, tackling all service requests, before moving on to the next. It fulfils an election pledge from Mayor Scott Gillingham to create teams of workers capable of taking care of the many smaller issues that often pile up on the city's to-do list. "They're teams that are cross-trained to take care of multiple issues at once, all in one visit," Gillingham said at a news conference in Machray Park, alongside team members and other public works department staff. The program includes three teams of six people, with equipment to perform jobs like filling potholes, fixing broken signs, sidewalk repairs, clearing tree debris, and boulevard maintenance. Priority areas will be determined by a combination of 311 requests, communication with area councillors, consultation with business and community groups, and input from neighbours. Gillingham says if someone sees a crew working on their street, they can report problems directly to the team members, who will take care of it. "It's a smarter, faster way to deliver public service and it puts residents first," Gillingham said. The team has already been working for months, starting over the winter clearing snow around transit stops, and learning to do other things on the job. They plan to rotate through all wards in the city between now and October, spending four weeks in each area, starting with Mynarski, Daniel McIntyre and River Heights-Fort Garry. St. Jonn's neighbourhood resident Tyrone Diese says he thinks the teams will make a more noticeable difference in the appearance of the community. "I think that's a great idea, because at least everything's getting done at once rather than, you know, something gets done here and there [and] it never seems like it is ever finished," he said. Diese has a list of things he'd like to see fixed around his neighbourhood, "Up on the end of the block, there's trees that are actually blocking your view when you're driving … That's dangerous, right? And there's a lot of spots like that." Fixing signs, filling potholes Director of Public Works Jim Berezowsky says they will be there with a number of pieces of equipment to deal with a number of problems at once. "If it's a curb, you might be doing … a minor asphalt repair, and then what you're doing as well is you're scheduling that for more permanency down the road," he said. On top of looking for people who could do a variety of jobs, the city selected team members based on their ability to communicate with community members. Colin Campbell worked as a city arborist for 15 years before joining the team. "I've learned how to work asphalt and do all kinds of other city jobs that weren't in my scope previously," he said in an interview. "I'm fixing signs and things of that nature. It's been a good learning experience." Team co-ordinator Keenan Boles says they've already been out in a few areas and people are coming up to them to point out things that need to be done. "Almost daily … they've heard from at least one resident, whether it be identifying additional issues that they need to be taken care of at the time or even just coming out with commendations and thanking them for the service that they provided because they've been waiting for that service," Boles said. Public works chair Janice Lukes admits it will be a challenge or the teams to get everything done. "Four weeks — we'll never solve all of this, but we can target and hone in and focus on specific areas," she said. The program is expected to cost about $2.7 million a year.
