8/3/2019 Cardiff Council sickness
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4 South Wales Echo Wednesday, 26 October, 2011 Wednesday, 26
October, 2011 South Wales Echo
Max Boyce appearslive at AberdareABERDARE Veteran entertainerMax
Boyce will return to RhonddaCynon Taf for a concerttomorrow.
A full 38 years after he shot tofame after releasing his
albumLive At Treorchy, he is appearingat the Coliseum Theatre
in
Aberdare.Coun Robert Bevan, cabinet
member for culture, said: Max isan icon and we are proud tobring
him to a stage near you.
Bertin to stand forBarry Court wardBARRYAn Independent
ouncillor has announced he willbe standing for the Barry
Courtward in 2012.
Richard Bertin, who was firstelected in 1999, quit the
LabourParty after allegations of bullyingand will now stand as
anIndependent in next years localelections.
He said: It would be a greathonour and privilege to serve
theCourt Ward again.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Welsh student applications fall
Police hunt pair whottacked man in street
MANwasgrabbedbythe throatandpunched several timesbefore
eingkickedby tworobberswhotolehismobilephoneandwallet.
Theattack happenedyesterdayt around5.20amon Thesiger
Streetin Cathays, Cardiff.Thevictim originallybegan
alkingto hisattackers astheyrovepast ina Peugeot
207car.Aftertheyhad stopped,oneof
hemengot outthecar andheldhevictimagainsta wallby
hishroatbeforepunching himeveraltimes.
Havingfallen tothe floor,the
ictimwas thenkickedby theecondman.
Both men then searched hispockets before taking his mobilephone
and his wallet.
Police are now investigatingand are trying to trace the
twoattackers and their car.
The first is described beingwhite, around 5ft 6ins tall andwas
wearing a grey hoodie andgrey tracksuit bottoms.
The second is also described asbeing white, around 6ft 2ins
tall,wearing a black hoodie andjeans.
Anyone with information isasked to call Cardiff CID on 029
2052 7420 or Crimestoppersanonymously on 0800 555 111.
HEnumberofelshstudents
pplyingfora placet universityhas
allen,new figuresaveshown.Data released
esterday by theniversities andolleges Admissions
Service (Ucas)eveals that thereere 8.3%fewer
pplications thiseekthanat the
ame time last year.Inthe firstsnapshot
of 2012trends,therewere2,004applicationsfromWelsh students
182down onthe 2011intake.
Thedropisthesmallestof theUKnations,with
Welshstudentsseeminglyfeelingthebenefit ofnextyearstuition
feesubsidy.
TheWelshGovernmentwillensureWelsh-domiciled
learners continuetopayaround 3,400fortheirstudies fromSeptember
2012,despitea trebling oftuitionfees.
Buta markedfallinthenumber ofEnglishlearners,whodonot have
thebenefitof agovernment subsidy,applying to courses
inWaleswillbeofconcernto EducationMinisterLeightonAndrews.
StaffworkingforneighbouringValeofGlamorgancouncileachtook
threedaysfewersick.
A council spokesman said: Thecouncil has 18,000 employees
andunlike some local authorities, hasin-house services such as
waste man-agementand
socialserviceswhicharenotoffice-basedjobsandtraditionallyhave
higher rates of sickness due tothenature oftheirwork.
Significant progress has beenmade in reducing sickness
levels,however continuing to improve man-aging absence across the
council re-mainsa priority sheadded.
Thecouncilalso highlightedits suc-cess in reducing the average
number
of days lost to sickness per employeefrom13.3in 2007/8.
The spokesperson added: In casesof persistent absences and when
allother avenues havebeen explored, thecouncil does resort
todismissal.
In 2010/11, therewere 108 dismissalswhich is a 69% in-creaseon
2009/10.
Despite the councilfirst identifying sick-ness as a problem in
2005, measuresputin placeto tackletheissueappearto have been
applied only sporad-ically.
Schools in Cardiff reported 9,367separate staff absences over
thecourse of 2010. Only 4,153 of theseresulted in the recommended
return
to work interview des-pite reminders fromcouncilofficers.
The level of ab-sences by school staffwas so severe that
themutual supply fundthrough which Cardiffschools pay cover
staffwas 20% overspent in
2010 requiring contributions from alllocalschoolsto coverthe
shortfall.
Emma Boon, campaign director ofthe Taxpayers Alliance, said that
the
scale of the absences suggthereis
adeeperproblemthaddressing.
Giventhe currentpressurepublic finances it is crucial thness
rates are reduced whesible,aseveryday lostcoststamoney,she
added.
The bill to taxpayers comethe backdrop of savage
reducouncilexpenditure.
In February 22m in spendwere announced in the citybudget.
The money spent on agenstaffalonewouldhavebeensutokeepopenthe
last twocoucare homes, Roaths Ty Maw
A CULTURE of sickness absence atCardiff council cost the
taxpayer al-most 17m of public money last year,an internalreporthas
revealed.
Employees at the local authoritytook an average of 11.5 days off
eachas a result of illness costing thecouncil15.1min sickpay.
A further 1.7m was spent hiringagencystaff ascover.
Theeye-wateringscaleof thebill forsickness absence comes amid
severecuts imposed on the authority as aresultof adropin
itsreal-termsfund-ingfrom the Welsh Government.
Theworstrateof absencewasin thecouncils waste services
department,where employees took an average of21 days off ill last
year, treble thenationalaverage of 6.5days.
At one stage, almost one in everyseven employees in the
departmentwereoff sick.
Across the council, more than 100people were sacked last year as
aresult of their sickness absencerecords.
Thefindingsofthe reporthavebeencondemned as deplorable by
onecouncillor, while campaign group theTaxpayers Alliance said the
figureswere evidence of a deeper prob-lem.
Other departments with a partic-ularly high rate of absence
included
adultservices,whichincludescarefortheelderlyand disabled,also
sufferedfromhigh ratesof absence.
Workers in the department took anaverage of 18.5 days off with
poorhealth.
The internal report by the councilsown policy review and
performancecommitteecited culturalfactorscon-tributing to high
absenteeism andsuggested measures ranging fromfundingMRIscansat
privateclinicstoprovidingcomplimentarytherapiesinorderto addressthe
problem.
Incentivessuchas prizedraws,smallgifts, letters of recognition
and ad-ditional annual leave were also con-sidered in
thereport.
These were eventually rejected asattendance is a contractual
require-ment which should not require in-centivisation.
Conservative councillor CraigWilliams blasted the statistics
asabsolutely deplorable.
The council has spent six yearstrying to crack this problem and
anenormous amountof moneyhasbeenwasted, headded.
Citing staff morale as a huge is-sue, Coun Williams suggested
thatthe council uses the forthcoming jobevaluationsit hasplannedfor
allstaffto address what he described as theendemic problem of
absenteeism.
While public sector employees aremore likely than workers in
theprivate sectorto takedays offunwell,the problem is particularly
acute inCardiff.
In2009/10 thecouncilwasthe thirdworst performing of the 22
Welshcouncilsfor absenteeism.
Sickness absence at Cardiff council cost the taxpayer almost 17m
last year
COUNCILS17M BILL
FOR STAFFON THE SICK
Calls for authority to tackle employee absence that is draining
resources as workers take 11 days off thro
Thomas Pascoe
Given the currentpressures on thepublic finances it iscrucial
that sicknessrates are reduced
SICKNESS DAYS ATCARDIFF COUNCIL
Average sickness days peremployee in 2010/11: 11.45Average
sickness days peremployee (waste managementdepartment): 21 Target
for 2011/12: 10.7National average: 6.5Cost of wages for sick
staff:15.1mCost of agency staff actingas cover: 1.7m
Source: Cardiff Council,CBI/Pfizer Absence and WorkplaceHealth
Survey
Conservative councillor Craig
Williams and Emma Boon, campaigndirector of the Taxpayers
Alliance
Lynette superintendent absolutely livid over his aA
RETIREDpolice
superintendentcalled foranapology fromofficerswhoarrested himand
accusedhimoffittingup theCardiffFive forthe murder of
LynetteWhite.
Richard Powell,60, toldSwanseaCrownCourtthathewasabsolutely
lividthatofficersbelieved thefabricationsof a provenliaroverthe
wordof anofficerwhohadretiredwiththethanksof thechiefconstableof
SouthWalesPolice.
Mr Powellwas an inspector
whenMiss Whitewas stabbed
todeathina flatat 7JamesStreet,Cardiff,in theearlyhoursof
February14, 1988.
Inthe aftermathof themurder theCardiff Five spenttwoyearsin
jailawaitingtrial.Threeof themspent afurthertwoyearsin
prisonafterbeingfound guilty. Theconvictionswere quashedin1992.
Noweight formerpoliceofficers whohelped toprepare thecase
againstthemareontrialaccusedofconspiring to pervert the
courseof justice.They have
pleadednot guilty.In2003,advancesinDNAledto thearrestof
JeffreyGafoor, whoadmitted murderandis servingalifesentence.
Ajuryat SwanseaCrownCourtheard thatMr Powellwasa
divisionalinspector atthetimeandhad beeninvolvedin
theearlystagesofthe inquiry. Hetransferredtootherdutiesin
thesummerof1988andreturnedto theinvestigationwhen the
CardiffFivewerearrestedinDecember,1988.
Mr Powellwas arrested in
July2005.Officerstold himthatMarkGrommek hadcomplainedthathe
hadliedtoa juryaboutwhathe sawandheardon February14
onlybecausethepolicehad forcedhimto.
Mr Powell,he alleged, hadthreatenedto puthimin jailunlesshe
providedthestatement officerswanted.
MrPowellsaid:Heis aprovenliar. Asfaras I knowwhenI
wascalledbackin allthis[the interviewingofpotentialwitnesses]
hadbeen
done.I wasnot
Mr Powelldesallegationsas fabrication.
Hetoldthe cobeingunlawfulhere.I want acabsolute apolog
MrPowellsaimeticulousdiarofficerscouldfipocketnotebooday,
theywouldhadnotbeenininterviewingof
Mr Powellret(proce
Multi-million plan to build 1,800 homes
consideredCONTROVERSIAL
proposalsto build1,850housesnextto theDragonInternational Film
Studiossitenear Brynna willbeputunderthe
microscopeonNovember10.
Themulti-millionpoundscheme onformeropencastland
atLlanilidbyCofton(Wales)Ltd,alsoincludescommunity
andleisurefacilities,a primaryschool,medicalcentre,supermarket,
shopsandoffices.
Butthe projectscritics
argueit isonlybeing
consideredaftertheValleywoodproject, whichpromised1,700 jobsfrom
amoviestudios andthemepark,raninto trouble.
A special
meetingofRhonddaCynonTafcouncilsDevelopmentControlCommitteewillconsiderthe
scheme alongwiththreeobjections.
Residents haveexpressedconcerns thatthescaleof
thedevelopmentcould takepressureon jobs,roads
andschoolsin thearea
pastbursting point.The76-hectaresite is oneofeight
sitesearmarkedbythe council formajordevelopment.
ForCofton,propertyadvisersSavillsinsistsustainabilityis
attheheartof itsplans,withanetworkof
footpathsandcyclewaysplanned.
Itsaysthat70%ofthe140peoplewho
vieweditspublicexhibitionlocallysupportedthescheme.
Previously, itshead of
planning,GeraintJohn,
said:Theplansincludeawiderangeof facilitieswhich willnot
onlycreateagreatsenseofcommunityfor residentsatParcLlanilidbutwill
alsobenefitthose peoplealready livingin andaround thearea.
Thisis a longstandingregeneration project andthesubmissionof
thisapplicationmarksanimportant milestonetowards
deliveringdevelopmenton thesite.
Wrongly paying Care Home fees?
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