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The Local Government Association (LGA) is looking into the rising problem of metal thefts for local authorities. The LGA is compiling a survey to find out the impact of metal theft on their budgets, what changes they would like to legislation and whether councils are looking into alternative materials. One possible novel solution is being trialled by Oxfordshire County Council which is installing a fibreglass manhole cover to see if it copes with traffic. Contactless key fobs can used to operate access control systems available to local authorities from security experts Tensor. An inbuilt aerial made from copper and iron is embedded into your key fob, allowing it to be scanned by your access control system. The T1313 key fob has a grey plastic shell made from implant quality glass, similar to those used in the identification of pets. When placed within range of an access control scanner, the key fob will be read in under ½ second, even if that fob is covered in oil and grease.  

A scrap dealer has pledged £21,000 to replace metal plaques stolen from a war memorial. Fourteen bronze plaques bearing the names of 243 World War I servicemen were stolen from the memorial in south London last September. However Stuart Nebbett, who runs a nearby scrapyard, said of the theft: “I wanted to make this gift to the community to make it clear that we run a professional operation, and that I was as outraged as everyone else.” Tensor is the leading manufacturer of equipment and software for access and visitor control systems. Contactless smart cards or key fobs are used to operate your access control system. Each smart card is assigned to an individual employee and can be affixed with a bespoke label denoting the name and photograph of the employee along with any other details required. Each attempted access on a scanner is logged within the access control software allowing you to view and track employees' movements across your site.  

A new report says the UK’s long-hours culture could cause stress and low morale. Publishers of the report, the TUC, found the phenomenon was not only endemic among eager young workers aiming to impress in managerial roles. It also recorded that a quarter of a million more people aged in their late 50s and early 60s are now working unpaid overtime than were a decade ago. The TUC said the trend reflected people’s concerns about income in later life. Tensor can help maintain company morale by installing at a factory or office a complete Time and Attendance System comprising a T32xx Smart Card clocking station, Smart Cards and software. It contains all the features to properly manage time and attendance recording for your personnel. You can create a wide range of daily working patterns. Overtime is easily monitored with up to four different pay bands in each shift. Bands are selected based on the time and the number of hours worked.  

Surveillance camera technology proved a crime did not take place and resulted in a man told to carry out 175 hours’ community service. The husband had reported a fictitious ‘mugging’ to police to avoid the blame for losing more than £1,700 of his wife’s money. Alex Jones provided a detailed description of the ‘perpetrator’, but his story fell apart when officers found no sign of the phantom mugger on CCTV. Therefore Mr Jones was arrested for perverting the course of justice. Tensor’s range of CCTV cameras and DVRs comprises of tried and tested equipment that meets strict security requirements both for usability and durability. DVRs allow continuous high quality digital CCTV recording for days and weeks at a time, and can store footage for a number of CCTV cameras present on your network without the risk of degradation. Professional CCTV security monitors give high definition monitoring and enhanced functionality. We have a product ideal for your premises, from black and white CRT to hi-resolution colour LCD monitors.  

A massive power cut forced shops, offices and units in Sussex to close down as more than 1,500 customers of UK Power Networks were affected. A spokesperson from the company apologised for the incident after swiftly restoring power, and added: “UK Power Networks worked as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to 1,574 customers in Horsham, whose supplies were interrupted…following a fault on the high voltage electricity network.” The fault was due to an explosion at a nearby electrical sub-station. Tensor includes in its Access Control, Security and clocking equipment a highly configurable Fire Roll Call report printing facility for office evacuation purposes. Safety is ensured when Tensor clocks and Access Control units are linked into your company's fire alarm system to trigger a fast, automated fire evacuation list. From the most basic ‘on site’ reporting, to the individual tracking of employee movement between fire zone or fire assembly points, Tensor’s Fire Roll Call can be tailored to meet any company safety requirements.  

Hospital workers who are members of the GMB union are due to strike again tomorrow (Thursday, February 23). Cleaners and domestic staff at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon walked out on Tuesday over alleged managerial “bullying and harassment” by contractor Carillion. A Carillion spokesman said the contractor was “disappointed” that despite talks with the union on Monday, the strike was going ahead. Carillion added that it had carried out a full investigation into the allegations. Time & Attendance technology from Tensor allows management to monitor which members of staff are present or absent from work. Under the advanced WinTAnet system’s online self service module employees or contractors can view or change their personal information via an Internet Browser. After a successful login, staff can view their absence calendar and make holiday requests and add or annotate reasons why they were absent. Supervisors logging into the self-service module can amend their subordinates’ clockings and authorise or deny any pending holiday requests.  

Lloyds is the first British bank to claw back bonuses after financial results did not meet expectations. The banking group is claiming back millions of pounds worth of bonuses. Top bosses affected include ex-chief executive Eric Daniels, who is expected to lose between 40 per cent and half of a £1.45m bonus. The BBC also claims that three other board directors are expected to see about £250,000 of their bonus taken from them. Time and Attendance software from Tensor makes it simple for the HR department at both small and large businesses to accurately calculate shifts and hourly rates, including bonuses. Complex payment schemes can be used, based on factors such as the time of working to the grade of employee, via the Shift Premiums function. It allows you to create a series of shift premium rules that enable employees to earn bonus payments under special circumstances. The bonus is calculated either as extra hours or monetary amounts and can be included in the export to payroll.  

In the past three years there has been a rise in a new burglary technique, which involves applying force and snapping a lock cylinder in two. The issue mainly centres on euro cylinder locks. Former burglar Peter Findlay said snapping the lock was “simpler and quicker”. Mr Findlay now works with police formulating crime prevention tips. He said: “If I had the best lock pins in England I wouldn't bother using them, I'd just snap the lock.” If locks at your business are vulnerable to burglary, then only the ultimate in Access Control from Tensor is good enough. The T34xx Smart Card scanner combines the latest generation of Tensor’s Smart Card electronics with a fingerprint reader. This product is for those who want the absolute peace-of-mind and the assurance that only the right people can gain access to your high-security or dangerous areas. The T34xx unit can be directly connected via a peer to peer cable connection, or be part of a network using your existing Ethernet IT backbone.  

Since standing down as prime minister, Gordon Brown has earned more than £1.4 million. An updated entry in the House of Commons register of members' interests shows he has earned more than £180,000 for his role as Distinguished Global Leader in Residence at New York University. About £997,000 in fees and £293,000 in expenses have gone to the office of Gordon and his wife Sarah Brown. They use this money to fund campaigns on issues such as improving education in the developing world. Tensor’s Personnel Software offers everything you would expect from a personnel management system which aids strategic planning. Extensive information is stored on each employee in your company. Other features include an Intelligent Graphical Diary that enables messages to be entered and viewed for selected users; a Company Cars facility for logging MOT and service dates; Training Information for pending courses, including locations, descriptions and notes; Letter Writer including mailmerge functionality; and a Pay Reviewer including reports, projected pay increases and salary expenditure.  

Police suspect a string of recent early evening armed robberies in Nottingham are being conducted by the same man. Between November 25 last year and January 27 half a dozen business sites and shops had items stolen. Among these episodes were cash and jewellery being stolen from a hair salon and cash taken from the Jamaica National Bank. Officers said in all instances the man entered the premises, threatened staff with a handgun and demanded they hand over cash. Tensor offers a range of high quality access control products ideal for all business sites. Among these are durable gates, which offer reliable performance in the most demanding environments. Tensor’s gates are quick to respond to the user’s instructions and can work alongside our Smart Card door access systems. Ideal for controlling vehicle access to and from your site, all gates include a manual override facility preventing closure on a pedestrian or vehicle. They operate quickly enough to cope with high traffic volumes and need no routine maintenance.  

Network Rail has turned down calls for the chairman of its remuneration committee to resign following the furore over executive bonuses. It follows a controversy last week at the £4bn taxpayer-subsidised firm. Company executives announced they would not take bonuses worth as much as 60 per cent of their salary. At a board meeting members were unhappy at how the bonus issue was handled, however Network Rail said the committee would stay put with Steve Russell as boss. The Tensor T32xx Time & Security Workstation is top class at allowing staff to handle on-site matters such as Job Booking, Job Costing and Labour Hours Analysis. The user friendly, multilingual GUI (Graphical User Interface) makes using the T32xx effortless for anyone likely to use it. It boasts a 480 x 272 pixel colour LCD with video playback; expandable memory with USB flash stick and SD/MMC Card storage support; and tamper detection. Optional features include speaker output; mobile phone SIM card support; and Tensor Smart Card and MiFare Technology.  

Virgin Media said it was continuing to liaise with police after “malicious damage” to part of its cable network. A Virgin Media business spokesperson said these criminal acts had impacted on the services the company delivers to users such as rail transport and the health board in the Swansea area. Local police confirmed officers were investigating another case of cable theft at 01:20 GMT on February 2. A previous theft of generator cables had forced a hospital to postpone operations. Gates, barriers, and turnstiles from Tensor are ways of restricting potential criminals from trespassing onto a site. The barriers fully integrate with our smart card and biometric access control systems giving you full jurisdiction over movement and access in and around the premises. A durable and reliable system Tensor system can stop vehicles or personnel at the relevant barrier and disallow entry or exit until they identify themselves via their smart card and/or biometric fingerprint. For more details on a Tensor barrier, please contact our sales team.