Peter Kear nominated for Council worker of the year award

"I am delighted to have been nominated for this award and of course I would be thrilled to win. But I certainly didn't design this programme for recognition. I did it because I enjoy my job, value the team I work in and want to make a difference." Peter Kear

Vote for Peter - as he's nominated for prestigious award

Staffordshire County Council is delighted to announce that IT worker Peter Kear has been shortlisted for the Council Worker of the Year Awards 2008. We're the only council in the West Midlands to be nominated for one of the main awards.

The 46-year-old from Stafford has been shortlisted in the innovation category. It's after Peter developed a new computer programme that will not only help combat climate change but could save the authority around £40,000 a year in energy bills.

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Peter realised the potential waste caused by staff forgetting to switch off their PC's when they leave work. So he adapted existing software to scan the authority's 7,500 computers and automatically switch off any left on overnight.

It's cost the county council nothing and is thought to be unique. It could be adapted by other authorities and industry to save them cash but help with their carbon footprint too. Only last week, the scheme scooped the county council a Government Computing Award in the Green IT section.

The finalists who will battle it out for local government's most prestigious awards have been announced today by the Local Government Channel, in association with the Local Government Association.

After an unprecedented 350 entries, 41 finalists from councils across the UK have been shortlisted for the seven awards this year - Innovation, Leadership, Care and Commitment, Lifetime Service, Team of the Year and Bravery. Plus this year there's a special category to reflect the extraordinary events of last year, with the Flood Response award.

Voters have from today until midday on 3rd July 2008 to vote, when the winners will be announced by BBC presenter Jeremy Vine at a gala dinner at this year's LGA annual conference in Bournemouth. So it's now over to the public to decide who will win a trophy and the £250.00 prize money.

You can see more details on Peter and the other finalists, including a film of their work by going to http://www.localgovernmentchannel.com/awards/c/innovation/v/peter_kear/ and by tuning into Local Government Today on the Community every day at 6.30am either on Sky 539, Virgin 233 or Freeview 87.

And you can show your support for Peter and Staffordshire County Council by voting via the website www.localgovernmentchannel.com/awards or via SMS to 80039 quoting LGATV 1 Peter .

Voting will continue right up 1200 on 3rd July 2008, when the winners will be announced.

Peter said: "I am delighted to have been nominated for this award and of course I would be thrilled to win. But I certainly didn't design this programme for recognition. I did it because I enjoy my job, value the team I work in and want to make a difference.

Already we've seen the impact it's had not just the cost savings it's made but more importantly is helping the county council reduce its carbon footprint which is one of our key priorities."

The county council's Leader County Councillor John Taylor added: "I am delighted that Peter has been given the recognition that he deserves for designing this programme. I would urge everyone to throw their weight behind Peter and vote for him in this year's awards. The work he has carried out has already had a big impact for this authority.

"Since developing the programme the county council has had massive interest from other leading authorities and private sector companies across the country enquiring about adopting the technology.

This programme could potentially be worth more than £500,000 a year to the UK economy, if just a quarter of those companies who contacted the county council about the programme achieved similar savings," County Councillor Taylor added

Jeremy Vine, the Council Worker of the Year Awards host said: "Council workers so often get blamed for everything, even the stuff that wasn't their fault. These awards are fantastic because they show the standards that are being set by people who really understand what public service is.

It's not about politics, it's sheer hard work that will scoop these awards - on a good day a local council can connect with voters in a way that Westminster and Brussels really struggle to."

Page Last Modified: 06/05/2008 08:02:22

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