Liam Maxwell

Government IT in the age of austerity

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:05:00 +0000

Some good coverage of a recent presentation at Parliament for the Conservative Technology Forum last week...

Conservatives promise 'lights on, lights off' IT policy

Conservative Technology Forum: Government IT Budgets to be Slashed ... Again making clear the view that the financial constraints of next year will be very difficult for IT. Put politely it is very unlikely that any new large contracts will be let.

Frontline Books....

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:58:00 +0000

One of our bookshops has had a great new idea and I think we should support it. If you are buying two books at a time you'll find that you can probbaly get another one free. That doesn't happen all the time but as Christmas is coming more and more of us buy more than one book. What the bookshop wants to do is let you donate the third book to the forces in Afghanistan. You can choose the book, even write something in the front page and then they'll send it off to the troops. Would you support this idea - I know I would. The shop needs to convince management, so I'm going to put through a council motion for this so the whole borough can show its support and we can get this really working. Let me know your views!

Intellect Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:36:00 +0000

Good to hear David Blunkett, of all people, saying that people should own their data ...

This was an interesting conference, not least because almost all the audience (and there were a lot of civil servants) were convinced that next year there will be roughly the same amount of money as this year. Oh dear, no matter who is in government it is going to be a different world in 2010 for government IT because there is no more money. Brown and Darling have spent it all.

Eleanor Laing MP was good: when asked about the identity database she was forthright: NO.

David Cameron supports our Fire Station

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:16:00 +0000

Now you might think that that is an odd headline, but in fact our fire station is threatened with closure. Yes, that's right, the one that is closest to Windsor Castle. So last night he came to show his support for the great job our fire-fighters do ....

"Tory leader David Cameron lent his support to the campaign to save Windsor Fire Station from night closures in a surprise visit today.

He met with firefighters, took a tour of the station and heard about the bid to save it from Royal Berkshire Fire Authority's plans to close it overnight. "I am here for the state dinner with the Indian president and I took this opportunity to come to this very important fire station and meet with some of the firefighters and listen to their concerns," Mr Cameron told firefighters, union representatives, MPs and local councillors. He spoke about the Sustainable Communities Act - which he said was introduced by the Conservatives - which could allow for the council to take control of the fire station to keep it open overnight. The Conservative, who arrived at 5.45pm and stayed for about half-an-hour, is the latest in a string of high profile figures, including celebrities such as Sir Elton John." - From the Maidenhead Advertiser.

THE HIGH COST OF GOVERNMENT IT

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:44:00 +0000

The cost of government IT provision – £16.5 billion this year,

and growing – is equivalent to £700 for every household in the

country, or almost £300 for every man, woman and child. To put

this in perspective, the State spends approximately 60% more

every year on administrative IT than it does on drugs for the

National Health Service.

No other organisation spends anywhere as much on IT, even

though they process similar amounts of data on each individual.

For while central government spends £300 per person per year,

Google, MSN and online banks spend between £10 and £60 per

person per year.

And to think that much of this is wasted - it's widely accepted that only 30% of projects work.

Labour’s approach has been deeply flawed.

At the heart of their "Transforming Government" programme is a belief that the government can know the "deep truth" about every citizen.

So that the system knows even our beliefs (really, Gordon Brown's IT guru wants this).

This Brave New World of government by all-knowing databases relies on the unlikely presumption that the centre knows best.

It's not just modern systems, the modern world outside government doesn't work this way.

No matter how big and how centralised this government wants to become, it cannot do so without fighting some of the strongest forces in today's society- choice, local accountability and transparency for the citizen.

Gordon Brown's government is designing a system completely different to the Internet - and something has got to give.

Access to the Internet empowers citizens, improves productivity and shines a spotlight into the dark recesses of public life.

But just as the Internet was breaking down old institutional barriers, Labour continued to favour big bureaucratic machinery and to re-produce it in computer systems that changed nothing but the cost of government.

What about 3 principles to help us understand how to get out of this mess?

Open Standards - free our data, free our market too. Enables the introduction of IT that meets the users needs quickly and effectively and projects that can move between vendors, putting the government back in control of its destiny.
Open procurement - government becomes the "intelligent customer", procurement is accountable
Open Source where possible - we need a level playing field for IT

On Wednesday I'll be speaking at the Intellect conference about Government IT and next Monday at the Conservative Technology Forum about where we go from here.

I've also got a research project running at the Centre for Policy Studies on how to make this work. Our ideas have been shaped by these two projects:

The Thompson Report (2009)
"It's ours" (2009)

Whoever takes over government in 2010 is going to have an enormous technology headache as their inheritance ... the next steps are going to be really interesting to map out.

Your comments are all very welcome.

Brocas Clear-up

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:25:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who came out today for the clear up, it was a tremendous effort! Over 30 people were out for about two hours and the amount (and nature) or rubbish collected was amazing. It was a great neighbourhood occasion and thanks to everyone for coming out.

Also many thanks to the RBWM streetcare service for loaning us the 30 litter pickers. Let's hope that next time the rubbish is not quite so weird - 2 cannisters of helium anyone?

Our smart metering scheme gets the thumbs up!

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:54:00 +0000

In a speech on consumerism and behaviour change today David Cameron said:

"In terms of sustainable consumption, I believe transparency can have a similar effect in both the private and public sectors. In the public sector, Conservative-controlled Windsor and Maidenhead Council are showing the way. They are publishing online, in real time, the energy consumption of each of their main council buildings – and setting that against their targets for energy usage. That way, local taxpayers can hold the council to account for failing to meet its own targets. This innovation has already led to a fifteen per cent reduction in energy consumption. That’s what is happening in Windsor – imagine if we extended it to every public building in the country?"

You can see the smart meters in action here. or click on this page and then "Live Data Link"

Cutting the cost of government - energy

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:56:00 +0000

We've taken transparency to new levels - you can now see how the Royal Borough spends its money on energy, how much energy it uses and how much CO2 it produces. We've started to put up our meter readings for our buildings updating every half hour and you can find those graphs here. or click on this page and then "Live Data Link"

Why on earth are we doing this?

Our experience is that when we see how much energy we are using - especially at night when the offices are empty - we can identify appliances (even lights) that should not be left "on". In our pilot scheme we saw a reduction in consumption of about 15%.

Introducing a change in behaviour is always easier when you can see the gains you are making every 30 minutes! If you look at the graphs over time we hope you'll see how much energy and CO2 we've saved... that helps keep the council tax down and reduces our carbon footprint.

Litter pick-up on the Brocas - October 18th

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:21:00 +0000

I've had confirmation that this could work. The council can supply implements and will arrange to collect the pile of litter we collect ourselves. The Town Council support us too and so we should have a good pint at the end of a hard morning's litter pick. Please let me know if you do the morning of the 18th - say 10am... Liam

Making the Brocas better ... actions

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:24:00 +0000

We had a very positive meeting of residents this evening where the issues of how to make the Brocas better. We agreed a series of issues and some actions to undertake. I have listed these here and I'll update this list as we get through them. Key initiatives are

A community clean up where we all clean up the Brocas and surrounding areas twice a year (and go to the pub afterwards)
Asking for new signs to ensure the Brocas is seen to be a special place
Ask for the dispersal order to be enforced on the Brocas

We will update this with news soon, please add your comments as to what should be done.

Liam's Diary

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:05:00 +0000

Use the tool below to check my availability. Please remember I mam usually in Windsor and so I will need some travel time :-)

Making the Brocas better

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:01:00 +0000

The Brocas in Eton has had a real time of it this summer. First the Jazz Festival inadvertantly amplified its music at the houses on the terrace (it reflected back off the railway viaduct... and the band that did this loudest were, let's face it, really bad). Then the Equestrian contest managed to forget to tell anyone it was to be a car park and planted 4 loos in the middle of the field and finally - and more importantly - the mess on the brocas is now appalling. You'll have seen that we have run litter clearing before, residents have adopted the street and are doing more it is now time to get serious. A residents' meeting on 14 September 8pm in Eton Town Council will be held to sort this out.

Recycling launch

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:54:00 +0000

After a long summer of tests we finally launched phase 2 of the Recycling scheme where we pay residents to recycle. And the press like it... Council launches pilot to reward families who recycle rubbish ...

Transparency Initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:39:00 +0000

We really believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant. We think transparency can make a huge difference in government because it is not just about rooting out wild excess - much of government is not in the middle of some Byzantine spending boom - but it is about changing peoples' behaviour to become more cost effective, to continually recognise and eliminate even small amounts of waste.

That's why David Cameron and George Osborne have backed our initiatives the key components of which are:

The Transparency Initiative

Windsor & Maidenhead Council has embarked on a process of governmental openness. Some of the initiatives are:

Every expense claim by councillors is published, no matter how small.
Every piece of expenditure over £500 is published (except things like individual residents' payments for personal care).
Smart Metering allows residents to see, in real time, how much power is being used in public buildings - you can see this in action here.
League tables are published of what meetings Councillors attended and which they missed.
We've expanded the number of Overview and Scrutiny Committees from 1 to 5 and every Cabinet decision has to be commented on by them.

And we have more to come - from school catchment areas to planning decisions near our residents' homes, from licensing issues nearby to tracking streetcare requests for clear-up. We believe that the more we can inform our residents of what we do, the better we can communicate and meet their needs. Our aim is to put residents first.

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:39:00 +0000

A better deal for taxpayers: improving IT procurement in government

In a speech to the RSA in March 2007, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne commissioned Dr Mark Thompson of the Judge Business School at Cambridge University to produce an independent report on delivering better value for money in IT procurement and creating a level playing field for open source software.

Liam Maxwell, Lead Member for Policy at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead co-authored the report.

The report will now be considered by the Conservative Party’s Implementation Unit led by Francis Maude, as part of their detailed preparations for government.

The lack of use of open source software is a symptom of the suboptimal procurement processes in government. Using the deployment of open source as a point of investigation the report identifies these key recommendations:

The government could save at least £600 million per year if it adopted a more effective, open procurement process. Savings would be achieved through transition to a mixed economy for software which did not discriminate against open source software. These savings would come not just from reduced licensing costs - the large majority would result from using the adoption of open standards which this would require to free government bodies from long-term, monopoly supply situations

New data standards should be introduced across government, enabling large scale IT projects to be split into small modular components.

A new rule could be introduced to forbid any government department from signing an IT development contract worth over £100 million. Never again would a British government be able to sign multi-billion pound IT contracts such as the deeply flawed NHS supercomputer. This would be possible because data standards enable large IT projects to be split up into small modular components.

Smaller IT projects mean less risk of failure, and will cut costs by opening up the procurement system to more companies, so increasing competition for IT contracts.

These new data standards will also create a level playing field for open source software.

IT failure and the public sector

The government currently spends around £17 billion per year on IT – almost £300 for every man, woman and child.

Over the past ten years, there have been a series of catastrophic public IT project failures and massive cost overruns that have cost British taxpayers billions of pounds.

NHS ‘supercomputer’

In 1998, Labour announced a mammoth IT scheme to log every person's medical records on a central NHS computer.

It was initially estimated to cost £2 billion, but this figure has subsequently soared to £15 billion. The completion date has been continuously pushed back – and is now at least 30 months behind schedule.

According to a recent National Audit Office report on the IT project, neither the Department of Health nor the Treasury sought to quantify the benefits of the scheme – and whether the massive expenditure is justified:

"It was not demonstrated that the financial value of the benefits exceeds the cost of the Programme. The Treasury’s guidance states that benefits should be valued when possible, but recognises that sometimes they cannot be. In this case, the Treasury has accepted the Department’s approach and has approved all expenditure so far made and planned."

Home Office probation service computer system

The National Audit Office has criticised almost every aspect of the IT system, which was supposed to provide a national infrastructure for the probation service.

The system has so far cost £118 million - 70 per cent more than initially projected.

The management system CRAMS was initially budgeted at £4 million but has reached £11 million – and this figure is still increasing. The network is technically in operation in 38 of the 42 local probation areas, but CRAMS has had "serious problems", causing it to be used by only a small proportion of areas.

The NAO blamed the Home Office for "poor specification of expected outputs, weaknesses in service monitoring and inadequate control of purchases".

Child Support Agency (CSA) IT system

The CSA IT system was originally intended to cost £400 million, but a catalogue of errors and mismanagement has resulted in the bill rising to £1.1 billion.

In addition to the massive cost overrun, the computer system has also overpayed 1.9 million people and underpayed 700,000 people.

The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee described the CSA system as one of the "worst public administration scandals in modern times". A damning PAC report concluded that the Department of Work and Pensions had failed to recruit sufficient high-calibre IT professionals to challenge critically the assurances given by IT suppliers.

The way forward - Open Procurement

“Open procurement” is a term that describes an IT procurement strategy that moves away from the current government practice of outsourcing massive IT projects to a small number of large contractors – because these are the only suppliers capable of delivering multi-billion pound contracts.

What is needed is an “open” environment for IT procurement – which opens up the system to a much wider range of contractors, including small businesses and innovative start-ups.

Following best practice in the private sector, open procurement involves the contracting out of smaller, discrete IT projects and systems. This significantly increases the range of companies that are capable of bidding for and delivering the IT contracts, and increases both the competitive tension and scope for innovative solutions.

The benefits of de-constructing major complex systems into much smaller simpler components cannot be over-emphasised. It de-risks developments (large-scale risk being one of the major problems in government IT), and also allows for a more agile approach to change.

Government processes are not simple, yet in so many cases public sector organisations make attempts to deliver or outsource major programmes that encompass this complexity, without thinking through the challenges in specification and subsequent delivery. If the elephant is going to be eaten, it needs to be done in bite sized chunks. Big projects are inherently risky and the track record in delivering major programmes is highly variable.

Achieving open procurement: new data standards

Achieving open procurement requires the adoption of new open standards and protocols that allow large projects to be split up into constituent elements without compromising operational effectiveness. These standards and protocols enable modular components to be bolted together – in effect creating a common ‘language’ for government IT systems.

The first decade of the twenty-first century has seen a rapid growth in modular, component-based IT systems underpinned by open standards such as that now allow the use of interoperable, ‘mixed economies’ of hardware, middleware and software, generating the possibility of more joined-up, ‘one stop shop’ services for the citizen on the demand side, and shared service provision, streamlined processes and cost savings for public service providers on the supply side.

When implemented carefully as part of a well-managed transformation programme with strong IT leadership, this approach can reduce the risk of project failure and can deliver significant value for money benefits.

The advantages of a modular IT system include:

Smaller, simpler components can be built by a wider range of software and service suppliers, increasing competition and reducing costs

Failing or under-performing suppliers can be replaced more easily

Component parts of the infrastructure can be removed and replaced more quickly

Modularity increases flexibility, enabling organisations to react more quickly to legislative and organisational change

Data standards and open source software

Open source software is software that’s typically developed by a community of developers. Once it’s ready, the source code is then made openly available to licensed users, making it possible for them to tailor the software to their needs and make constant iterative improvements.

The world’s leading companies are switching to open-source software. The primary reason is to cut costs without compromising usability or effectiveness. Another benefit is that it’s easier for open-source software to be tailored for a company’s specific needs, and for it to be subsequently adapted over time.

Public bodies around the world are also switching to open-source, and many more are currently undertaking pilot and evaluation schemes.

This is not surprising – successive UK government and EU reports have shown that public bodies can save significant sums by switching to open-source.

But the UK government is falling far behind. Too much taxpayers’ money is being wasted as a result of flawed procurement, risk-adverse bureaucracy and a lack of incentives for cutting costs.

This is in spite of successive government reports highlighting the benefits of open source software in government IT procurement:

In 2004, the Office of Government Commerce report into the feasibility of open-source software use in government concluded that: “Open Source software is a viable and credible alternative to proprietary software for infrastructure implementations, and for meeting the requirements of the majority of desktop users. Adoption of Open Source software can generate significant savings in hardware and software costs for infrastructure implementation, and reduce the licensing costs and hardware refresh requirements for desktop implementation.”

Also in 2004, a BECTA (the technology agency of DCFS) report into the use of open-source in schools concluded that “open-source solutions can be implemented successfully and with obvious cost benefits as a networking solution.”

A 2006 EC report on open-source software found that: “In almost all cases, a transition towards open source produces savings in the long-term cost of ownership."

The failure of government bodies to develop and implement these standard protocols that enable the interoperability of small scale IT projects within a larger IT ecosystem has also held back the take up of open source software, as within the current framework, open source solutions may be incompatible with other elements of a department’s IT system.

The use of standardised protocols and standards that enable IT systems is therefore key for achieving value for money, operational effectiveness and a level playing field for open source software.

The government could save at least £600 million per year if it adopted a more effective, open procurement process.

Savings would be achieved through transition to a mixed economy which did not discriminate against open source software. These savings would come not just from reduced licensing costs - the large majority would result from using the adoption of open standards which this would require to free government bodies from long-term, monopoly supply situations.

Short Bio

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Liam Maxwell is

A Teacher, Head of Computing at Eton College
A Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies
A Councillor and the Cabinet Member for Policy at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
A technology specialist with a background as an IT Director in major business service companies
A Freeman of the City of London (Worshipful Company of Information Technologists).

He is the author of

It’s ours, why we, not government, must own our data (Centre for Policy Studies, 2009)
How the Internet took Obama back to the 1950s (Centre for Policy Studies, 2008)

and co-author, with Mark Thompson, of

Open Source, Open Standards: Reforming IT procurement in Government, a report for the Conservative Party, 2008.

His other open government initiatives include

The RBWM “Transparency Initiative”

putting all council expenditure over £500 online
real-time online reporting of council energy consumption
every expense claim is published, no matter how small
league tables of attendance and voting, introduced 5 scrutiny panels

“Paying the Public to Recycle”

a programme which increased recycling by 30%, reduced landfill charges and council tax.

The Royal Borough has the lowest council tax in England outside London.

Sustainability Panel

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:52:00 +0000

We meet on the 27th. The panel will now focus on the delivery of sustainable issues that deliver value and savings to our residents. The administration's priorities are here

All items need to be completed in under 10 minutes please!

Doublespeak - unbelievable

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:54:00 +0000

This example of doublespeak is just amazing, how can anyone take this man seriously?

It's our data

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:35:00 +0000

My report for the CPS was published yesterday and there have been some encouraging responses from the industry press and other media:

Essentially the report explains where government IT has gone wrong and suggests a way of fixing the problems. You can download it here.

Since 1997 the Government must have got through at least £140 billion on information systems in a naïve belief that if you spend enough the men in white coats can make government more efficient. At the moment the cash burn rate of IT is £16.7 billion a year, that is more than 1% of our entire GDP and much higher than any similar country. It is also, according to Andy Burnham no less, almost 50% more than we spend on drugs in the NHS.

A recent study showed that only 30% of commissioned systems work. Budgets get broken by ludicrous amounts. We all know about the NHS supercomputer and the Offender Management System, but here’s a new one just out from the NAO: the Department for Work and Pensions want to get more people to use their online customer system. More than half of their customer-base can use the internet and yet after huge spending the take-up was – to use the National Audit Office's words – “tiny”.

Out of the 142 million contacts with the public, only 340,000 (about 0.25%) used the online services. What a waste. Why do they get it so wrong?

Government relies heavily on huge contractors who convince them that big ideas need HUGE spending. According to the LSE, 80% of the major contracts come from just 5 top suppliers – compare that to 20% for Holland or 48% for the US. Each department has gone off on its own and set up its own IT systems. Each group seems to have re-invented the wheel many times. There is an ongoing turf war between departments about who owns the “key” data field on us.

But at bottom Labour just doesn’t get it.

Web 2.0 applications such as Youtube and Facebook have been so successful because they have used a simple model and allowed others to work it in the way that best suits their applications. That freedom is at the heart of the internet revolution. But government IT is only just edging towards a recognition that the Internet exists, not offering ways to exploit it.

In part this is a political and cultural issue, the civil service and this very statist government have always wanted to control from the centre, to have a dashboard through which they can judge what public services they think you need. In 2004 Labour hired a guru Sir David Varney who convinced Blair and Brown that they needed “a ‘deep truth’ about the citizen based on their behaviour, experiences beliefs needs and rights.”

The trouble is not just that that would need a legion of data checkers, not to mention for a hefty dose of public trust (which the HMRC scandal dispensed with). The fundamental issue is that this approach is the wrong way up. It is as if Mustapha Mond were in charge. What’s the answer?

Well, first of all we should procure services differently. In January the Thompson Report showed that government project management and execution would be better if the huge projects were cut up into smaller chunks. It would also require government systems to employ open standards so that applications and data could interact with each other. And the office of an executive Chief Information Officer with teeth to force through change.

But no big single database – government must not be able to get away with nationalising some of our most valuable property. We should all own our own personal data.

That is how Amazon, Facebook, Google and co work effectively. They allow access to our data so that people, organisations and companies can interact with us, but we control the data itself. This makes sure data is up to date, but it also allows us to offer access to government (or the third sector bodies that government would like us to use) on our own terms.

Data should be hosted by a small number of private sector suppliers with the government as the default provider. I’ve christened this Government Relationship Management. It puts the power where it should be, in the hands of the people: our data, under our control.

This works in the delivery of world-class secure e-commerce and in the US Google Health and Microsoft Healthvault lead the market offering online health records management to people. In Sweden this approach helps patients plan their own home healthcare more effectively.

I’m not advocating compulsion here. These arrangements would be voluntary. The State would remain as the default holder of personal data. All those who either cannot or do not wish to opt out of central control would still have full access to public services. Nor would they apply to matters of national security, or law and order. So it is not proposed, for example, to allow criminals to control their police records.

It is difficult to estimate exactly but in the medium term this approach should halve our IT spend – almost all other advanced governments operate at that level, what makes us so different?

Giving us back our data will save us money, make government IT more effective and make the delivery of services better. After all, it is our data.

How to make recycling rewarding

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:45:00 +0000

As you can see from the quote below, David Cameron has strongly supported the launch of our rewards-based recycling program.

And it's working, after 24 hours we had 500 new residents sign up and 2 had already reclaimed

Check out this video to see how it works....

David Cameron endorses our recycling scheme

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:18:00 +0000

“I applaud the Conservative councillors in Windsor and Maidenhead for launching Britain’s first ‘paying the public to recycle’ scheme.

Thanks to this scheme, Royal Borough residents will be getting paid for their recycling, rather than being hit with Labour’s fines and fortnightly collections.

This is a great example of how Conservative councils are helping to look after the environment and also deliver a better deal for taxpayers.”

Paying residents to recycle....

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Fri, 29 May 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Recycling has just got much more rewarding, with the launch today of the UK’s first scheme that gives households a new incentive to recycle their waste. RecycleBank, which has taken the US by storm, awards Points to households for recycling that can be used at Marks & Spencer, cashed-in for goods and services at local shops, restaurants and attractions or converted into real-cash donations to charities.

Initially the scheme is being trialed in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, where RecycleBank is working with the council and waste management company, Veolia Environmental Services, to bring the scheme to 2,800 households. Following this trial, it will be rolled out across the country.

M&S has shown its support for the scheme by signing up as RecycleBank’s headline reward partner. Richard Gillies, Director of Plan A and Sustainable Business at M&S, said: “This scheme is a win-win for the environment and our customers, and we're delighted shoppers are going to be getting money off in our stores in return for recycling. Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill is a key target of our 100 point eco-plan, Plan A, and we’re hoping this innovative service will add to the impressive number of people who are already doing their bit. “

In return for recycling points, M&S will be offering £5.00 vouchers redeemable against a £25 food spend or a £35 clothing spend in UK stores. In addition to M&S, 54 other reward partners have signed up to the scheme, which include Legoland Windsor, Subway, Coffee Republic, Rodale Books and Snappy Snaps, as well as local shops, restaurants, leisure facilities and charities.

The scheme will initially focus on rewarding households for their green waste recycling and expand to mixed recycling (paper, glass, plastics etc) later in the year. Residents will be awarded RecycleBank Points every time they put their green waste bin out for collection and these Points can then be redeemed with any of the scheme’s reward partners. For the first three months of the scheme the residents will get triple points as an added incentive.

Cllr David Burbage, the Royal Borough’s Leader said ‘’Our residents are keen recyclers and thanks to their efforts we currently have a 37% recycling rate. Now we want to reward our residents for recycling even more. “

Cllr Liam Maxwell, Royal Borough’s Lead Cabinet Member for Sustainability, said: ‘’The Royal Borough is leading the way in recycling. We believe in rewarding our residents for their recycling efforts, not imposing penalties. We are excited about launching a pilot scheme that has the potential to boost recycling, reduce waste sent to landfill and also help support the economy by supporting local businesses. It’s win-win-win for everyone.’’

There is no change to the normal waste collection routine and households do not need to do anything differently with their bin. There is also no charge to householders for the RecycleBank scheme.

Residents activate and view their RecycleBank account on RecycleBank’s website www.RecycleBank.com or via its call centre 0800 077 6009.

Matthew Tucker, President of RecycleBank, said: “RecycleBank is excited to enter the UK and bring a valuable rewards scheme to households to encourage recycling. We have significantly increased recycling volumes across the USA, boosting recycling rates anywhere from 30-100%. We service one million people across 19 states, bringing economic benefits to both local economies and residents.

“By using this rewards system the local authority will enjoy an economic benefit through the potential reduction in landfill disposal costs and taxes, while retail partners gain visibility, customer brand loyalty and the reputation of an environmentally conscious company. At the same time, residents take an active role in helping the environment and are rewarded with goods and services or can make donations to charities through the points they gain. This scheme offers real benefits for all parties involved; never more important than in today’s tough times.”

Paul Levett, Deputy Chief Executive for Veolia Environmental Services said: ‘’At Veolia Environmental Services we’re proud to be driving forward the first launch of the RecycleBank rewards scheme in the UK. We’re confident it will help increase recycling rates in the area and we hope it will encourage other local authorities to take up similar programmes. As the leading waste management company in the UK, it demonstrates our commitment to utilise the most progressive technologies and practices available.’’

To find out more about the RecycleBank scheme visit www.RecycleBank.com or call 0800 077 6009.

Expenses Heatmap

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Fantastic use of mashup technology.... This is the company behind I love lewisham and other great geo sites I think.

Expenses

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:49:00 +0000

I think that David Cameron's response to the expenses issue has been very good and shown real leadership - when others are saying "we broke no rules". I am not surprised by the anger that almost everyone I meet expresses. It is an appalling situation. I have to say that I think the position of the Speaker is indefensible, he's got to go. First Damian Green, now this. His attempt to bully Kate Hoey really brought his office into disrepute.

Let's see whether he can wake up to the fact that hectoring people because you don't agree with them is not the role of the chairman of any meeting.

Sustainability Priorities

noreply@blogger.com (Liam Maxwell) — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:01:00 +0000

The priorities for the administration are now in a project form here: Green means completed, grey is under review and pink is "looking to be deleted". Let me know your views :-) (Click here if the embedding is a pain)