Tag: John Harrison

David Sanders – costly errors and accountability at Peterborough City Council

09:23 Wednesday 25th October 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Today marks the end. It’s a momentous day, the end of Peterborough City Council’s solar dreams. Let’s call it that. The plan to use Grade I farming land to build a big green energy park, or a series of them. At today’s Cabinet meeting, which is underway right now, the Council will confirm they’re dropping plans for the third and final site on America Farm, the last strand of this three-pronged dream. It means all three plans are now dead in the water. But the whole venture has cost the taxpayer, you and me and everybody else, over £3 million. And not a penny’s coming back from it. The original proposal from the Council claimed the project could make millions of pounds, but the project was constantly hindered by objections from locals, reductions in the tariff from the Government, and the fact the land is right next to Flag Fen, so it needed to be excavated. Councillor David Sanders is the councillor for Thorney and Eye, and he’s with us this morning. David, morning. David morning.
DAVID SANDERS: Good morning. Can you hear me OK?
PAUL STAINTON: Yes I’ve got you now. I’ve got you now.
DAVID SANDERS: OK.
PAUL STAINTON: Now this was at one time billed as the Leader Marco Cereste’s vanity project by Stewart Jackson MP and others. There were accusations farmers weren’t listened to. I was still doing Breakfast at the time when it was first mooted. I had a lady in here crying, who’d lived on a farm for many many years, saying they’d not been consulted. Was this just a bad idea from the start? Was it a good idea that was badly managed? Or was it just a punt?
Continue reading “David Sanders – costly errors and accountability at Peterborough City Council”

Peterborough’s Solar Ambitions Baulked

08:08 Friday 9th December 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Peterborough City Council could end up losing out on about £6 million over the next 25 years when it comes to solar panels. Earlier this year the Council installed panels on the roof of the Town Hall, and the Freemans building, hoping to make money from the energy they produce. But changes to tariffs means although the Council applied for a higher return in energy, they’ll end up with a lower one. The figure comes from calculations made by Richard Olive, co-ordinator of Peterborough Friends of the Earth. (TAPE)
RICHARD OLIVE: Well over a 25 year period, it’s going to be £6.52 million. Of course we could do a lot with that money, couldn’t we? (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Councillor Nick Sandford from the Liberal Democrats said if the figure is correct, it’s a huge blow to the city. (TAPE)
NICK SANDFORD: This feed-in tariff was introduced in April 2010, and it had been advertised for about six or twelve months previous to that. It was always envisaged that the feed-in tariff would be cut as the cost of the technology dropped. Now if Peterborough City Council had got in right at the beginning, we could have had not just panels on the Regional Pool. the Freemans building, the Town Hall, as Richard was saying we could have had them on social housing. We could have had them on other Council buildings. Continue reading “Peterborough’s Solar Ambitions Baulked”

Recovering the Iceland Cash

08:25 Wednesday 13th July 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Back in 2008 you may remember the Icelandic banking crisis? It saw Peterborough City Council lose about £3 million’s worth of investments. Well a year ago it was announced that two of the three million pounds had been recouped, and that the other £1 million would also be recovered. Has it? Let’s speak to John Harrison, who’s Director of Strategic Resources for Peterborough City Council. Morning, John.
JOHN HARRISON: Morning.
PAUL STAINTON: have we got it back? Have we got the extra million back?
JOHN HARRISON: We didn’t say a year ago. I think you’re being slightly disingenuous. We never said we would get the whole lot back. Where we are at the moment .. Continue reading “Recovering the Iceland Cash”

Use of Consultants – Council Statement

08:35 Friday 25th March 2011
Peterborough Breakfast Show BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

ANDY GALL: Yesterday we brought you the outcome of the inquiry into whether Peterborough City Council is spending too much money on consultants. The three-man panel made 31 recommendations to the Scrutiny Committee, and called for the process of hiring consultants to be made more transparent. PCC couldn’t put someone up to talk to us, because the report will be discussed at a Cabinet meeting in June, but they did send a statement.

VO: “Peterborough City Council has some of the best controls in the country for managing and monitoring its use of consultants. We are already implementing many of the recommendations in the report as part of our drive for greater transparency, and ensuring we are always providing the best value for money for our taxpayers. Over the past 4 years we’ve been able to take £68 million out of our budget because of this work. We’d like to thank the consultants who’ve worked for us in the past, and those who continue to work for us, for sharing their expertise with our staff to enable us to improve the skills and knowledge we have within our own workforce.”

ANDY GALL: And in today’s Evening Telegraph you can get Council Leader Marco Cereste’s thoughts and comments on the report.

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Peterborough News 1st November 2010

A summary of the Peterborough Breakfast Show from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire broadcast from 06:00 to 09:00 on Monday 1st November 2010.

Topics:
Peterborough City Council set out to defend their new and unpopular budget proposals.
The local TUC Chair expresses his concern at budget cuts which affect staff and vulnerable service users.
The local MP attacks funding for translation services and the provision of trade union facilities for staff.
Continue reading “Peterborough News 1st November 2010”

Peterborough News 21st July 2010

A summary of the Peterborough Breakfast Show from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire broadcast from 07:00 to 09:00 on Wednesday 21st July 2010. News travel weather and interviews.

Topics:
Council have recovered part of the cash they lost speculating in Iceland, but opinions differ on whether the losses were avoidable. Some councillors believe that an apology to the residents is overdue.
Despite the loss of £80 million school improvement funding with the closing of the Building Schools for the Future programme some work is proceeding. Hampton Hargate will expand with new classrooms, and Deeping School gets a new conference and community facility.
Following the success of the JLS concert at the weekend all parties hope that the Embankment will continue to provide large open air concerts.
Continue reading “Peterborough News 21st July 2010”

Peterborough News 29th June 2010

A summary of the Peterborough Breakfast Show from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire broadcast from 07:00 to 09:00 on Tuesday 29th June 2010. News travel weather and interviews.

A summary of the Peterborough Breakfast Show from BBC Radio Cambridgeshire broadcast from 07:00 to 09:00 on Tuesday 29th June 2010. News travel weather and interviews.

Topics:
Despite cuts elsewhere, University Centre Peterborough can offer local burseries, more places and more courses.
Cross Keys Homes defends its decision to evict a pensioner with a chaotic lifestyle blamed on alcohol.
The audit committee hears that council tax arrears are up by 25% but under control.
Continue reading “Peterborough News 29th June 2010”