New scheme for Lee Green Residents, Pic: Albert Steinberger

Aspiring entrepeneurs in Lee Green will have the opportunity to sharpen their business acumen and hone their skills with a free course that starts in February.

The business enterprise programme is aimed at helping people of all ages from the area to start or develop a business.

The 8-week pilot course will run twice a week on Thursdays and Fridays and will train amateur entrepreneurs in all aspects of business including first steps, registration with Inland Revenue and acquiring premises. The scheme will Initially cater to a small batch of around 14-16 participants.

Funded by Lewisham Council, the sessions will be delivered by Elevating Success UK, a not-for-profit company designed to promote charitable causes.

Andrew Brown, the managing director of Elevating Success is to teach the course. Speaking about the benefits of the scheme for participants, he said: “It will definitely boost peoples’ confidence to a large extent. In fact, people have benefitted a lot from our similar initiatives before. For example, we have had few single mothers on our programs who now are very confident after seeing their dreams come true.”

He said that the company would apply for more funding if the course proves to be a success.

To make the locals aware of the program, which is specifically for peole living in the Lee Green area, Elevating Success and Lewisham council are distributing leaflets and visiting libraries, local shops, job centres and other public areas.

The Lee Green local assembly is another source of funding for the scheme, for which it has proided £4,500. It is one of 18 such assemblies throughout the borough that residents can attend to discuss local matters and consider how funding available in the ward is to be spent.

The course will begin on February 2. If you are interested or wish to book a place call Elevating Success on 020 7993 8411

Red Bull float, Pic; Calum Hall

Discount booze and value-brand beans are common sights in student abodes, and in the aftermath of the festive season budgets are tighter than ever. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as Rachael Healy finds out.

Standard part-time jobs do not suit many student schedules, but cast your net a little wider and there is a whole world of quirky employment waiting.

A new car is usually the preserve of prestigious graduate schemes. Yet Calum, 20, a politics student at Goldsmiths, has picked up an enviable position with energy drinks giant Red Bull, and a promotional vehicle in which to cruise the streets of New Cross comes with the job.

He visits student-dominated areas, distributing cartons to thirsty residents. The next day he returns and fills the cartons up with more Red Bull.

Although he works 48 hours a month, there are no strict shift times: “It’s incredibly flexible around uni commitments, which is very useful.”

It is well paid too. Most promotional work is based on commission, but Calum is guaranteed £7 an hour – and an abundance of energy drink.

The role is exclusively reserved for students and requires him to attend the NME awards, the World Championship B-boy finals, as well as skateboarding and BMX-ing events. Calum told me: “If it’s exciting and cool as hell, Red Bull is involved.” It’s a tough job…

Tobi, 21, is a Goldsmiths English student and, although he doesn’t get a car, VIP nights out and hanging out with artists like Wu-Tang and Big Sean are standard in his job.

Tobi works at MTV.

He explains how he rose through the ranks. “Initially I was brought in to write my monthly column ‘The UK Rap Up with Tobz’ and gradually I’ve been asked to do a range of stuff.

“The best part would be the perks you get – free VIP entry to loads of gigs and nights in London which would otherwise be really expensive.”

Like Calum’s job, Tobi finds fits his role with MTV easily around his studies: “The hours are pretty flexible – overall it’s quite unstructured, which can be fun and at times confusing.”

However, he also warns that work can become overwhelming as deadlines pile up and the speed of turnover necessarily increases. And, working for a successful global brand, Tobi always feels pressure to produce high quality work: “There is a clear correlation between producing a good standard of work and getting asked to work more frequently on future projects and pieces, so that’s very important to me.”

Thriving nightlife is central to the student experience and Sinead, 21, like Tobi, has found in her part-time work that it pays to party.

“My dad used to DJ and music has always been a massive part of my life, so he showed me the basics and after DJing Islington Academy for my 18th I just sort of carried on.”

As a naturally nocturnal person, Sinead found DJing suited her existing lifestyle and even allowed her to enjoy nights out more than usual: “The best bit about DJing is being able to play what you want to hear on a night out and seeing other people dance to the songs that you love.”

Unfortunately Sinead has noticed more and more young people getting into part-time DJing over the last three years, saturating the market and cutting down on potential work for experienced DJs such as herself. But she still enjoys her work – and it has even taken around the world, from Belfast to Berlin.

So if you have a massive music collection and an ear for what gets a crowd going, then DJing could be the perfect job.

Now for the bad news. Calum is one of only 38 students employed by Red Bull around the UK, and MTV aren’t offering roles in abundance. But do not despair; there are numerous equally unusual jobs out there although some are pretty dodgy…

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Job Description: Medical test subject.

Employer: trials4us.co.uk (based in Croydon and Tooting) and londontrials.co.uk (based in Hammersmith).

Salary: Varies wildly, but could be over £2,000 for a residential trial of 1-2 weeks.

Hours: Many trials involve overnight stays, ranging from 1 night to 13 nights, but usually spread out over a couple of months.

Pros: Nice, big chunks of money, for very little effort; one trial could earn you the equivalent of a year’s worth of minimum wage Saturday shifts. If you are asthmatic or obese there are high-paid trials in abundance.

Cons: It could be a long wait before a relevant trial comes up, and be thorough when checking the details; you wouldn’t want a swollen face or a cluster of nasty buboes…

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Job Description: Completing online surveys.

Employer: paidsurveys4me.com; yougov.co.uk; honestrewards.co.uk; and many, many more.

Salary: This depends entirely on how many surveys you complete. Companies offer between 10p and £5 per survey, although sadly the latter is rare.

Hours: Whenever you like.

Pros: Easy to fit in; minimal skill and effort required.

Cons: Can be extremely tedious, and many sites require you to earn a certain sum before you may withdraw it. Also, beware of sites that enter you into prize draws rather than giving cash for each completed survey.

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Job Description: Text chat operator.

Employer: livelinesukjobs.co.uk; text121chat.com; amongst others.

Salary: Some positions pay per hour, usually around £7. However most pay per text message, between 5p and 10p.

Hours: Some allow employees to choose their hours; others specify a number of hours per week, on certain days.

Pros: It is possible to work around university classes and deadlines, the only required skill is the ability to type.

Cons: The work varies dramatically in character. Some texters will be responding to queries from ‘Anything Answered’ services, or giving tarot readings, but many of the jobs are a lot seedier. You may be asked to take on the persona of a ‘sexy single’ and chat and send somewhat risqué pictures to interested members of the public. That we do not recommend.

Hackney Council secures funding, Pic: Rob Purdie (Flickr)

Hackney Council has secured a £5.3million fund to improve Hackney Central Town centre area, which is expected to create over 200 jobs.

The council has plans to develop a fashion retail village around Hackney’s popular Burberry Outlet Store in Chatham Place, which offers brand classics at reduced prices.

The expansion will produce employment for local residents and help place Hackney on the retail map.
Jules Pipe, the Mayor of Hackney, said: “Hackney Central has so much to offer in terms of culture, vibrancy and opportunity. This investment has the potential to create a unique attraction that can give the borough a significant economic boost, so I am pleased that our bid has been successful.”

Hackney MP Diane Abbott, previously declared that the borough requires a dramatic renovation change in the high street areas and town centre developments.

“It is absolutely appalling that so many town centre shops in Hackney are now empty. The Tory-led Government has completely failed to take action to support our high streets at a time when their economic policies are making the situation worse. Healthy and diverse high streets are the cornerstone of local communities, and people in Hackney must have their say,” she said.

Abbott was particularly in favour of reducing the number of betting shops in the poorest areas of the borough where there are high levels of poverty and unemployment.

Abbott added: “Hackney has around 90 bookies.  Even the Old Town Hall has been turned into a betting shop. I do not have any moral objection to betting. Rather my concern is that these shops put little back into the community and can take advantage of areas with high levels of unemployment and poverty. They can also cause increased levels of crime including begging, drug crimes and burglaries.”

Londoners are seeing their pubs, banks and independent shops close and bookies opening up in their place without the need for any planning permission. At a time when people in Hackney are hard pressed, people most need independent financial advice, yet they find virtual roulette wheels instead of a bank manager.”

The new renovation wants to guarantee suitable replacements for fashion retail elements, restaurants and cafés, as well as establishing strong links with the wider town centre.

The revamp plan will also permit the council to set a team of architects and retail specialists to work with local businesses in the Mare Street, Narrow Way and Clarence Road areas, to construct design guidelines and business plans.

Sami Ahmed, Business Manager of Welfare to Work Centre said: “I think it is a fantastic idea of regenerating the borough of Hackney to a modern state. I hope that such a project will concern people from the most deprived areas of the borough who will now have more opportunities to reach employment status and have brighter future.”

Payslips are becoming less frequent in Tower Hamlets, Pic: renway2007 (Flickr)

Tower Hamlets is suffering from the one of the highest levels of unemployment in the country.

Unemployment has reached 13.2 per cent in the borough, making it the third highest of all the London Boroughs and fifth out of 415 regions and local authorities in the UK.

According to a report released today by the Office for National Statistics unemployment in Britain has hit a 17-year high with approximately 2.68 million people currently unemployed.

Hackney is among the top 10 per cent of jobless local authorities in the country, while Lewisham falls just outside of this percentile.

The figures also carry bad news for Lewisham residents, showing the borough to have the worst job density in the whole country. This means that the borough has the least jobs per number of residents out of any area in the country.

Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Hackney and Croydon all recorded a slight rise in unemployment and numbers of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance on last year.

While unemployment in Croydon has risen to 8.8 per cent, an increase of one percentage point since last quarter, it still remains slightly below that of London as a whole – currently at 9.1 per cent.

As unemployment reached its highest level nationwide for seventeen years, analysis of figures by think tank IPPR showed Lewisham as one of the areas worst affected by a lack of jobs, with 16 job seekers chasing each vacancy. This is four times higher than the national average.

The statistics have elicited varied responses from local political and business figures.

Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse in Tower Hamlets, released a statement laying the blame for the ‘jobs crisis’ at the feet of the government:

“These figures will only confirm what families in Poplar and Limehouse already know – we are facing an unemployment emergency. Complacent and out of touch Ministers need to wake up to the jobs crisis they’re responsible for and take urgent action now”.

Trade unions also rounded on the government. Arguing that public sector redundancies are far outweighing job creation in the private sector, Laurie Heselden of the Southern and Eastern TUC criticised the Coalition’s austerity programme and slammed its belief that private sector investment and growth would offset job losses.

Speaking to EastLondonLines, he said:  “Britain is in the midst of a full-on jobs crisis and this is acutely apparent in the labour market in East London. Look deeper and the data shows that desperate workers are being forced to accept part-time work and insecure self-employment, and that the unemployment rate for young Black men under 25 might be as high as 50 per cent. The Government’s economic policy is not working and it is now the cause of recession, not a response to recession.”

Yet the gloomy figures are not necessarily reflective of prevailing local business conditions, according to Daphne Clifton, President of the South East London Chamber of Commerce, who said that many local businesses have an optimistic outlook. In a survey carried out in December by the organisation, which largely represents small and medium businesses, 88 per cent of the 150 respondents expected business to be better in the year ahead. In addition, more than two thirds expected their size to remain the same, while 23 per cent anticipated increasing their staff numbers, compared with 13 per cent a year ago.

She told EastLondonLines: “It is difficult to take a definite stance on why the numbers are so high without looking at which sector is most affected, but it will at least partly be due to [redundancies in] the public sector”.

When asked why the jobless level is so high in parts of South and East London, Clifton commented: “It is not necessarily about a lack of skills […] but it can be about being prepared for work, things like punctuality and proper presentation when going to work.”

She added that the Chamber of Commerce is encouraging small and medium businesses to take on young apprentices.

Written by Ruth Edwards and Michael Pooler

Mint Vintage pic: Mint Vintage

A second boutique vintage clothes shop is due to open on Stoke Newington High Street as East End fashion spreads north. 

The Covent Garden based Mint Retro shop will be opening its second store in the Dalston area of Hackney in February.

Beyond Retro, another vintage retailer (mostly stocking American brands), opened a new flagship store on the same strip of the High Street in August last year. They have existing stores in Soho, Brick Lane and Brighton.

The new stores show a distinct change in character for the otherwise unglamorous strip of road which mainly consists of small grocery stores and restaurants. A spokesperson for Mint said: “Before it was Shoreditch and now it’s Dalston.”

There are already a number of vintage clothes stores just down the road amongst the cafes of  Stoke Newington Church St. They include Ribbons and Taylor (where  you can still pick up a bargain);  Strut which is mostly more expensive designer brands (it has also opened a more expensive branch just off Broadway Market) and relatively new arrival Dirty Blond.

Over Christmas, the shop where Mint is due to open, was used as a pop-up exhibition space by  owner, James Wright, who held a show there called The Vest is History.

The tongue-in-cheek show included a sale of string vests and a Bultaco Sherpa 250 motorbike, on sale for £3,500.

Trade unionists are campaigning for Canary Wharf cleaners to get living wage pic: Allistair J

Trade unionists campaigning for a London living wage for cleaners at Canary Wharf have complained of a “disrepect of civil liberties” after being ejected from the Wharf as they distributed leaflets on Thursday.

The group of around a dozen, including members of the Industrial Workers of the World union and their supporters, were forcibly removed from the premises by security at around 5pm.

They had been outside the 15-storey tower distributing campaign literature to employees drawing attention to the low pay of cleaners who work in the building. But after around 10 minutes a member of management instructed them to leave.

Immediately, eight security guards forced activists from the steps of the privately-owned building, claiming that they were “obstructing access”.

During the altercation a member of the IWW union shouted at the employees: “What about our civil liberties?”

The manager told protesters the nearest public place on which they had a right to be was the Heron Quay DLR station – 500 yards away.

But the activists said this made their action impossible as it prevented them from reaching people who work in the building, which is home to companies including HSCB, accounting firm KPMG and the Financial Services Authority.

Alberto Durango, IWW organiser, told EastLondonLines: “They are very rude people. Shame on them. We weren’t blocking anyone, there was plenty of space. We are just asking for a decent day’s pay and they won’t even let us say that.”

A spokesperson for the building’s management company MGPA said the group was asked to leave as “they were causing an obstruction on private property”.

When asked if a pay rise for cleaning staff was a possibility, MGPA declined to comment.

As previously reported by EastLondonLines, the union is calling on contractor LCC to pay cleaners the ‘London Living Wage’. Set at £8.30 an hour, this is a non-binding standard promoted by the Mayor of London in recognition of the high cost of living in the capital. The cleaners currently earn£6.23 per hour, 15 pence above the National Minimum Wage – but they say this is not enough to live on.

Nestle building towers over Croydon's skyline pic: Darren Lehane

Nestle, the biggest private employer in Croydon, have today confirmed it will move to a new headquarters in Crawley.

“This represents an exciting new chapter for Nestle in the UK” said Paul Grimwood, the company chairman and CEO said.

It is not known when the East Croydon train station signs that declare the borough as “the home of Nestle UK” will be changed.

The food giant will leave the borough, its home since 1965, and relocate to BT’s former offices at 1 City Place in nearby Crawley. Nestle have taken the entire building on a long-term lease.

The company’s 1,000-strong Croydon based staff are understood to have received an email informing them to expect an announcement this week.

The company has been seeking to relocate from its St George’s House tower in Park Lane for a number of years, with a number of large-scale projects in Croydon town centre vying for the sought-after 130,000 sq ft office space.

This goes against earlier plans for the business to work with Croydon Council to find a new home in the centre of town before 2014.

In October 2010 it emerged in a Croydon cabinet meeting that Nestle was investigating options to move outside of the borough, taking 1,000 jobs with it.

At the time, Tony Newman, the leader of the opposition Labour group at the Town Hall described the possibility that Nestle might leave the borough as “totally devastating news”.

Newman said: “This is a potentially massive jobs crisis for the town.”

The move would also affect the local economy, including the many shops, restaurants and pubs which depend on the company’s employees custom for their daily trade.

Steve Bullock with the Lewisham Young Mayors in October pic: Sea Jung Ra

In 2012, Steve Bullock, one of the country’s first elected mayors, will enter his tenth year as the Mayor for Lewisham.

Over the last year, the borough has been affected by the riots in August, suffered dramatic surges in knife crime and gang violence and now many of its residents will face the risk of eviction from their homes in the New Year.

EastLondonLines interviewed Mayor Steve Bullock to find out what he feels will be the most pressing issues of 2012. We asked our readers to tell us what questions they want to be answered via Twitter.

ELL: In what way will the housing crisis issue dominate politics in Lewisham over the next year?

Mayor Bullock: “In particular I’m concerned about the benefit changes that will force people out of their homes because of the way benefits are going to be capped and that will put huge pressure on local authority housing.”

ELL: In December, Lewisham was found to be in the top ten local authorities with the highest repossession claims, putting residents at a greater risk of losing their homes. How do you plan to address the crisis?

Mayor Bullock: “The answer is we need more housing, its partly about supply but also about explaining to government ministers that housing in London is different to anywhere else. The demand for rented housing is actually going up so we will be trying to increase the number of new homes. Shockingly recent figures have shown that there is currently the lowest number of staff building new homes for years. That can’t go on.”

ELL: What will be done to help those being evicted from their homes?

Mayor Bullock: “It depends on their reasons for being evicted. If they are in social rented accommodation and they haven’t been paying their rent then we won’t be doing very much. If on the other hand, they are being unfairly evicted by private landlords then we will be offering them advice and we may well have a housing responsibility if they are evicted.”

ELL: One plan to tackle London’s housing crisis has been Ken Livingstone’s proposals to introduce a ‘living rent’ for London, which will work similarly to a ‘living wage’ by putting a cap on rents as opposed to housing benefits. What are your thoughts?

Mayor Bullock: “Interesting idea but I don’t know how he intends to fund it.  One of the big charges of the London living wage, which this is a development of, is that Lewisham council will have to put a lot of money into making the London living wage. If the subsidy of housing rent is going to be from the private sector then I need to know where the funding is coming from to make it happen.”

ELL: Another major issue has been an increase in knife crime, which had risen by over 60 per cent since 2008 in the borough. How do you plan to deal with the issue?

Mayor Bullock: “We work very closely with the police and one of our priorities is tackling street violence and we are conscious that a high number of people in our borough are carrying knives.

“Schools are vital for changing this and we need to challenge young people’s assumptions that they have to carry knives for their own safety. We want to further reduce people carrying weapons by targeting schools and raising pupils’ awareness of the dangers of carrying weapons.

ELL: What is being done to support third sector and voluntary organisations in the borough?

Mayor Bullock: “We’ve put aside a part of the council’s budget to let groups bid for funding for new ideas and we’re very conscious that in the difficult times we have at the moment the work that will be done by community groups will be absolutely vital to the borough. We’re very aware that people with new, different ideas should be given an opportunity to develop ideas. They deliver services and speak up for people and we want to develop this as much as possible in the New Year.”

ELL: How do the creative industries in Lewisham feature in your plan for 2012?

Mayor Bullock: “The creative industry is very important for Lewisham particularly for New Cross. It is a significant area for local employment but it is an area that has little money at the moment. We are hoping to put more money into this next year and we want to work closely with organisations, help them with bids for funding and business management.”

ELL: A high number of businesses in Lewisham were affected by the August disorder and many are still suffering from the damage. How will you continue to deal with this problem?

Mayor Bullock: “Businesses in Lewisham were not as damaged to some of the neighboring areas. This was to some extent because the police in Lewisham did a fantastic job and I like to think it was also because we have a strong community that prevented many people from taking part.

“We are presently working with businesses to try and identify ways we can use some of the resources that have been made available so they are more equipped to compete in what is a very competitive environment.”

ELL: How does your additional position on the board for the Local Government Employers Work Place Program, that provides the strategic and policy direction for the Local Government Group’s workforce activities, affect your role as Mayor?

Mayor Bullock: “A good question. It means that on current issues, around areas such as pensions, I have been involved in the work that affects not only the thousands of staff who work for us here in Lewisham, but also people living in the area, as everyone will be aware of the massive industrial action that affected everybody. If I can help get these issues resolved then not having to resort to industrial action in Lewisham will be a benefit for the people of Lewisham. It’s not that the work I do on the board is completely separate from Lewisham but it concerns the issues that are important here.”

pic: Steve

Youth unemployment is rising in east London despite a drop in total unemployment figures  in East London Line boroughs.

Hackney, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets have all recorded a drop in Jobseekers’ Allowance claimants in the last three months. Croydon was the only borough to see an increase.

Tower Hamlets saw the largest decrease in claimants. Numbers shrank by nearly one per cent from 11, 486 to 10,375, while Croydon saw a rise of over six per cent from 10,147 to 10,802.

The figures do not include people who are unemployed but show those on JSA only.

source: ONS/nomisweb.co.uk

However Wednesday’s ONS figures show the number of 18 to 24 year olds seeking employment in east London has increased by nearly 21 per cent.

Across the country, youth unemployment broke last quarter’s record and increased to 1.027m. The record was only beaten last month.

In Tower Hamlets the total of unemployed young people is over 22 per cent. A BBC London-commissioned study this week named Tower Hamlets as the borough with the highest number of young JSA claimants.

The Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI) study found 3,430 young people, ten per cent of the borough’s young population, is unemployed. Croydon came second with 2,935 young claimants, having doubled since 2008.

In London overall the number of 18 to 24 year olds out of work is over 57,000, and over 8,500 come from the east London area.

Reacting to the increase in youth unemployment, John Biggs, City and East London Assembly Member said: “These figures show that the economic policies of this Government and Mayor are a failure. They both need to go back to the drawing board and create a plan for growth and jobs.

“A generation of our children will be growing up without ever having a full time job. The Mayor and Government have cut spending too far and too fast. They need to increase spending to support jobs and growth.”

The release of figures comes after EastLondonLines reported last month that east London’s jobless figures are higher than the London average.

UK unemployment now stands at 2.64m, up by 0.4 per cent to 8.3 per cent from the previous quarter.

pic: Charles Alderwick

Workers in Tower Hamlets have been promised more “money in their pockets” by Mayor Lutfur Rahman after the borough became the first to extend the London Living Wage.

The council says “thousands” would benefit from the move.

The policy was adopted on Wednesday evening by the cabinet and means that employees on outsourced and contracted council jobs will earn a minimum of £8.30 per hour which is more than a third higher than the national minimum wage.

The London Living Wage rate, set by the Mayor of London in recognition of the high cost-of-living of the capital, is aspirational rather than binding. Councils and businesses in the city are encouraged to sign up to it.

Mayor Rahman told the meeting of councillors at Town Hall that he was “delighted that no-one working for the council will be on poverty pay.”

The council estimate that thousands of employees working in catering, cleaning, leisure management and social care will benefit from the new rate. However no specific number of those eligible was provided.

There had been concerns that procurement legislation, which precludes the consideration of non-commercial factors in the contractual process, could prove an obstacle to implementation of the policy.

But Peter Naylor, Director of Resources said the issues were ironed out following legal advice. He told councillors that increased pay for employees could legitimately be considered a factor leading to better performance of contracts.

It therefore did not fall foul of the Local Government Act, under which local authorities must obtain the best value for money.

However Mayor Rahman added the caveat that due to tendering rules, it would not be a “blanket policy” and would have to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis with contractors.

He added there would be a presumption in favour of their paying the higher rate though.

The new policy will be a boon for many in the area at a time of tightened belts and soaring living costs. As reported by EastLondonLines last month, female part-time workers have seen their average earnings plummet by almost a fifth in the last year.

With Tower Hamlets rated as the third most deprived local authority in England, the initiative forms part of the Mayor’s drive to improve the quality of life for everyone who works and lives in the borough.

Yet questions remain over where the money will come from, with the policy document admitting “it is difficult to accurately estimate the increased costs arising.”

Last week the Docklands and East London Advertiser reported the policy could cost the borough an additional £45m at a time when the borough is forcing through public service cuts to the tune of £72m over three years.

In response, a spokesperson told EastLondonLines said the council did not envisage any financial implications. They said the council currently has £46.5m worth of contracts already with the LWW in place, but this figure related to the whole value of contracts, not just the sum total of wages. The total value of contracts included in the LLW could rise to £76.8m, they added.

Labour group leader Councillor Joshua Peck welcomed the policy: “The introduction of the London Living Wage in the borough was a Labour policy that made a real difference to our employees and I am glad that that the Independent Mayor has extended it.

“A decent wage for a day’s work is the right thing to do. Tower Hamlets has been a leader and we hope that other councils and businesses will follow suit.”

Speaking to EastLondonLines after the meeting, Mayor Rahman said: “We were the first council to introduce it [in 2008] for all our employees. We have gone beyond that and want to make sure every single contract is covered.

“This is the top priority of my administration. It is about addressing inequality, increasing pay in the pockets of our residents and giving opportunities in these difficult economic times.”

As the condition cannot be imposed retrospectively, the council will begin implementing the policy with the tendering of new contracts and services.