Each employee can be given different absence entitlements via clocking network
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The prospect of regional pay, plus cut holiday and sickness entitlements is said to have been discussed by the group of 20 health trusts in South-West England. Health trusts that already use these sorts of contracts that differ from the national framework include South Gloucester and University Hospitals Bristol. The health bodies told the press that pools of fully qualified staff on ‘zero-hours’ contracts were used to fill vacant shifts, and were a cheaper alternative to using agency workers.
Absence planning and entitlement management is included in a Time and Attendance South West clocking network. Graphical calendar charts provide a colourful way of viewing a worker’s or a department’s absence records. Each employee can be allocated different entitlements for absence such as annual leave or allowed sickness. As absence is booked and taken, the available remainder for each entitlement is updated. Entitlement formulae are used to calculate more complex entitlements that work on a rising scale based upon length of service.
Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer commented on the situation where Devon and Cornwall police officers claim they are being forced into retirement. He said: “I recognise this remains a very sensitive issue for officers, particularly when they have committed so much of their lives and careers to keeping the communities of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly safe.” Devon and Cornwall Police Authority approved the use of compulsory retirement in 2010 and this can be invoked using a pensions clause.
A GP performing locum work at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital was accused of doing so while signed off sick. A court heard that Dr Lucy Dawson pocketed £7,840 for a total of ten shifts. She was also paid about £30,000 in total for separate spells of sick pay. The accused told the court she did the locum work to maintain her levels of “clinical competence”. Although she had made “no secret” of her extra shifts, she failed to tell her employers.
Some pupils in Wiltshire who are truanting are being escorted to school by police officers. The force, in partnership with the council and local schools, began the initiative in Amesbury recently. In the first two weeks of the scheme Nigel Roper, head teacher of nearby Stonehenge School, said the number of unexplained absences had dropped significantly. Mr Roper remarked: 
The chief constable of Wiltshire Police gave his response to figures that his staff do not think the force has enough personnel to do the job properly. Patrick Geenty said he took the results of the survey “very seriously”. Some 1,500 out of 2,500 staff members took part in Wiltshire Police’s annual survey. Mr Geenty commented: 
A photograph has been circulated of a man Devon and Cornwall police believe caused £200 of damage on a bus. The pictures show a young man travelling on the bus in Paignton on a brief journey. A police statement announced: 
St Agnes Parish Council is to keep open toilets at Porthtowan and at Trevaunance Cove but said it would close those in Trelawney car park, saving £8,494. It urged Cornwall Council to save the disabled toilet at the site, at an annual cost of more than £30,000, adding that it is a vital service. Councillor Gerry Jones was adamant Trelawney’s disabled toilet should remain. He commented: 
Devon and Cornwall is one of three police forces that may not be able to provide a “sufficiently efficient or effective service” in the future. The report by Her Majesty’s inspectors found there was a £2m budget shortfall in Devon and Cornwall, and raised concerns about crime levels. Between December 2010 and December 2011 crime rose by 3 per cent. Since the force had cut costs before 2010, it had found it more difficult to find the extra savings required by the spending review. 
Unauthorised building work to toilets at a Helston pub has caused town councillors to turn their noses up. A council meeting reported that there had been no pre-application discussions with Helston Town Council or Cornwall Council prior to the work taking place. A frustrated Cllr Sue Swift said: