Figures published by the Brentwood Gazette as part of an investigation into council waste found officers spent £5,136,145 in 27 months.
Eric Pickles, local government secretary and Brentwood and Ongar MP told the newspaper the amount “strikes him as excessive”.
He said: “People at Essex County Council need to realise that it isn’t Essex’s money, it isn’t the Government’s money, it is the public’s money and the public have a right to know how it is being spent.”
He advised the council to publish all transactions online, adding: “If they do that you are not likely to get money spent on cosmetics and McDonald’s.”
Last month, a report by the Audit commission criticised council staff for failing to provide receipts in relation to purchases made on the card "in some cases".
It recommended: “The Council should issue further instructions to staff explaining they must submit receipts with claims and consider withdrawing procurement cards in response to expenditure being incurred with no receipt repeatedly.”
Since December 2009, the council have spent £3,827 on bars, discos and nightclubs, £644 on cosmetics, £1,915 on hair and beauty shops and £635,960 in supermarkets and grocery stores.
Other receipts show spending on flights with Virgin Atlantic, alcohol from Majestic Wines and trips to Thrope Park, Alton Towers and the London Eye.
A further £53,869 was spent on theatre productions, £51,350 on card, gift and souvenir shops and £67.89 at a fancy dress shop.
Another £3,116 was spent on six people staying at the Nan Lin Hotel in China, and £1,301 for six people to stay at the Taj Lands End hotel in India.
The figures do not include details of former leader Lord Hanningfield, who is being investigated by police for his expenses.
Robert Oxley, from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers will be left gobsmacked that their money has been spent on the council living it up at night clubs plus stays at five star hotels, shoe shining and even hat cleaning.
“Residents will be left wondering why they are picking up bills totalling tens of thousands of pounds at country clubs, florists, bakeries and record shops.
“The receipts suggest officers at Essex County Council have been enjoying the high life at taxpayers’ expense.”
The P-cards, which are intended for low value transactions under £2,000, provided by Barclaycard and have an interest rate of 0 per cent, are currently used by 757 council officers and no council members.
The council’s policy states they must not be used for personal purchases or the withdrawal of cash, with staff instructed to provide receipts for every transaction.
A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said: “Essex County Council has a robust policy relating to spend on P-cards and all P-card holders must be given authorisation by a senior manager to carry out such transactions.
“Like all businesses Essex County Council incurs costs which must be met and P-cards are an efficient way to do this. The P-cards are used by officers working across all the Council's services including schools, children's homes and our country parks.
"Essex County Council is the corporate parent for children aged 15 and under who become looked after when their birth parents are unable to provide ongoing care in either a temporary or permanent capacity.
"Our Looked After Children teams take on the role of a parent for these children and are responsible for their daily care needs while they are under the care of the County Council’s Children’s Social Services.
"Approximately 750 of the 38,000 officers employed by Essex County Council have a card and expenditure on them only relates to a small proportion of our overall budget.”
The total amount spent on P-cards in the 2011/12 financial year was £2.7million, out of ECC’s overall budget of over £2bn.
No cardholders have been disciplined in relation to p-card use since December 2009, a spokeswoman added.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Essex v Kent - Friends Life T20 - South Group – Essex hammer 158 runs – First Innings Update - Bettor.com
Essex v Kent - Friends Life T20 - South Group – Essex hammer 158 runs – First Innings Update
Essex 158/6 (20/20 ov) – Kent won the toss and chose to field
In the Friends Life T20 match between Essex and Kent, Kent after winning the toss invited Essex to bat first on a seaming track at County Ground, Chelmsford.
However, instead of causing great problems for the batting side, Kent bowlers got hammered for 158 runs by the batting side.
Essex had an unimpressive start to their innings as they lost the services of opening batsman ML Pettini (2) with only six runs on the board, as the batsman found his way off the field without putting much of a fight.
It was then the partnership between JEC Franklin and GR Napier that saved the day for Essex as the duo steadfast and hammered the bowlers in order to maintain a steady flow of runs.
The batting side knew that in order for them to leave an impression, it was vital to bolster a staggering total on the board by the end of the innings.
Finally with 59 runs on the board, Kent struck for the second time as they nabbed the wicket of Franklin, who had his stumps obliterated on a delivery bowled by AJ Ball. The batsman managed to amass an innings of 39 runs off 41 deliveries before his demise.
With 66 runs on the scorecard, Napier lost his wicket on a run out after jabbing a knock of 20 runs.
Ten runs later, Ball struck again by grabbing the wicket of RN ten Doeschate, who departed after smashing a 12-run knock.
With wickets falling like candles on ice, these were desperate times for the batting side, but the arrival of skipper, JS Foster, turned the tables as he batted a well-tamed knock of 51 runs to steer his team towards a favourable total which would give his opponents a run of their money.
In the end the side managed to post a stinging total with AJ Wheater unbeaten on 12 and MA Comber on nil as the side now aim to defend the total by exhibiting a commendable bowling performance.
Source: blogs.bettor.com
Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray seeded No4 - The Guardian
Andy Murray has been seeded fourth for the Wimbledon men's singles championship. The world No1 and defending champion, Novak Djokovic, is first seed while Maria Sharapova heads the women's draw.
The women's seedings follow the WTA world rankings, which means the defending champion, Petra Kvitova, is seeded fourth. The only changes to the seedings reflect the absence of world No16 Kaia Kanepi and No18 Andrea Petkovic through injury.
The men's seeding system, meanwhile, takes into account performances on grass. This means the top five seeds follow the world rankings but David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, ranked No6 and No7 respectively by the ATP, swap places for Wimbledon. Mardy Fish, the world No12, is seeded 10th. Bernard Tomic, who reached the quarter-finals last year, climbs from 27th to 20th.
Britain's Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins are No13 seeds in the men's doubles, while Andy Murray's brother Jamie is seeded No14, alongside his American partner Eric Butorac.
Seedings for Wimbledon men's singles (top 16)
1) Novak Djokovic
2) Rafael Nadal
3) Roger Federer
4) Andy Murray
5) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
6) Tomas Berdych
7) David Ferrer
8) Janko Tipsarevic
9) Juan Martin Del Potro
10) Mardy Fish
11) John Isner
12) Nicolás Almagro
13) Gilles Simon
14 Feliciano López
15) Juan Mónaco
16) Marin Cilic
Seedings for Wimbledon women's singles (top 16)
1) Maria Sharapova
2) Victoria Azarenka
3) Agnieszka Radwanska
4) Petra Kvitova
5) Samantha Stosur
6) Serena Williams
7) Caroline Wozniacki
8) Angelique Kerber
9) Marion Bartoli
10) Sara Errani
11) Li Na
12) Vera Zvonareva
13) Dominika Cibulkova
14) Ana Ivanovic
15) Sabine Lisicki
16) Flavia Pennetta
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Wimbledon 2012: A Guide to Grass Tennis Courts - YAHOO!
One of the most iconic elements at Wimbledon is the grass playing surface on each tennis court. This feature makes it unique among the four grand slams. Grass has been used since Wimbledon debuted in 1877. It developed as a playing surface in the late 18th century and was used for all grand slams, except the French Open, until the early 1970s.
Tennis played on grass has several nuances to it that are different than tennis played on clay courts or hard courts.
These are 10 things you can expect from playing on grass tennis courts:
1. Slippery when wet
When grass becomes even moderately wet, it becomes slippery. That's one reason why lengthy rain delays are part of Wimbledon each year. Slippery grass can be a hazard for players trying to chase down balls all over the court and one wrong turn or step can mean a serious injury.
2. Unpredictable bounces
A tennis ball will bounce low and fast on grass. As a result, players are forced to reach a ball faster compared to other surfaces. Bad bounces can derail players who lack speed and power compared to their opponent.
3. Serve and volley
A player who can serve and volley well is rewarded on grass. It is a surface that requires finishing off points quickly and allowing the ball to bounce as little as possible. Service is quickened enough to put an opponent on the defensive while trying to return a serve, opening a window to smash a volley back at them and win a point.
4. Flatter shots
Hitting flatter shots on grass helps produce more power in each shot. A flatter shot conserves and limits forward momentum beyond the initial bounce, forcing an opponent to work harder to return it.
5. Fancy footwork
The slippery nature of grass requires a player to use smaller strides while changing direction and getting in the right position to play shots. Larger strides can result in overplaying a shot and losing a point.
6. Topspin limited
A player who relies on a good topspin can excel on clay courts or hard courts. On grass courts, it is more difficult for him or her to get going because low bounces make it more difficult to get under a ball to execute a topspin. Hitting the ball in the air is easier to do because of the unpredictable bounces.
7. Get lowerYou will see players lower their center of gravity on grass more than any other surface. Playing low to the ground helps a player compensate for low or bad bounces by putting them closer to the ball and giving them a chance to speed up their reaction time.
8. Shorter points
Playing grass results in shorter points because of the serve and volley style of play that usually prevails. A series of shorter points also means less running and it reduces wear and tear on a player's knees and feet.
9. Serve it well
Service is even more crucial on grass than other surfaces because returning a serve is typically more difficult. A player who boasts a powerful serve can rack up plenty of aces on grass courts and their ability to serve will determine the outcome of many points.
10. Changing surface
Grass is a living plant and it does wear down through continual use. The grass courts at Wimbledon develop bare spots across the baseline during the course of the tournament. Those exposed bare spots can make ball bounces even more unpredictable than just grass alone.
John Coon has covered tennis at all levels as a sports reporter based in Salt Lake City. Coon was raised in a tennis loving family. All three of his sisters played competitively and Coon himself enjoys playing at a recreational level.
Source: news.yahoo.com
Essex: Springwatch star Michaela Strachan to open new visitor centre at Abberton Reservoir near Colchester - East Anglian Daily Times
Michaela Strachan is to open a new visitor centre at Abberton Reservoir near Colchester
By Chris Harris
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
7:48 AM
TELEVISION presenter Michaela Strachan will officially unveil a new wildlife visitor centre and nature reserve in Essex.
Ms Strachan, who has just finished filming Springwatch for the BBC, will open the Essex Wildlife Trust building at Abberton Reservoir near Colchester.
The 15-sided visitor complex has been built as part of a £150million project to increase the reservoir’s capacity by 15billion litres.
John Hall, chief executive of Essex Wildlife Trust, said: “We are delighted to welcome a wildlife champion like Michaela Strachan to Abberton Reservoir to carry out the official opening duties of our new visitor centre and reserve.
“We look forward to welcoming guests and the public to what should be a memorable day. Abberton is already a hugely significant site for wildlife and our new reserve will help make it even more crucial over the coming years.
“Our fabulous new visitor centre brings people closer to that wildlife. The trust’s vision is of a ‘Living Landscape’ where wildlife and people co-exist side by side, to mutual benefit, and Abberton is a fine example of that ideal.
“Together with Essex & Suffolk Water we are making Abberton Reservoir better for wildlife, better for people – and better for future generations.”
Strachan will officially open the centre on Saturday and will be joined by the Mayor of Colchester and representatives from Layer-de-la-Haye Parish Council, Essex Birdwatching Society, Natural England, Abberton Management Committee and TJ Evers, who built the visitor centre.The opening ceremony will coincide with a special fair, which will include a birds of prey display, charity and trade stands, refreshments and a beer tent.
John Devall, operations director of Essex & Suffolk Water, said: “Abberton Reservoir is one of the most important sites in Europe for its wildlife and is also an essential part of the county’s infrastructure helping us supply water to more than a million people in Essex.
“The official opening of the visitor centre is a chance to celebrate this fantastic new facility, which provides a gateway to access this very special site.
“The relocation and enhancement of the visitor centre is part of the Abberton Scheme, which includes the expansion of the reservoir’s capacity by 58%.
“Guests at the opening event will also have the opportunity to learn more about this essential and major Scheme from the project team.”
The old visitor centre, opened in 1990, has been dismantled on low-lying land that will be flooded. The new visitor centre is on adjacent higher land, at the heart of an 80-acre nature reserve.
Source: www.eadt.co.uk
Totes embarrassing! TOWIE's Lauren Goodger fails to draw in the crowds as just a handful of fans turn up to her fake tan launch in Romford - Daily Mail
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She found fame as the star of hit reality show The Only Way Is Essex but Lauren Goodger appears to have enjoyed her fifteen minutes.
The reality star was left rather embarrassed after a pitiful number of fans turned up to meet her at a department store today.
Lauren,25, had expected to meet hordes of fans at the Debenhams store in Romford, Essex.
Can't pull in the crowds: Lauren Goodger found herself greeting just a handful of people at the launch of her Lauren's Way tanning range in Debenhams in Romford today
But an onlooker told MailOnline that only ten people turned up to enjoy a moment with the reality star.
A spokesperson for Lauren, who did not attend the event commented: 'We have no involvement with Lauren’s Way so have no idea ourselves however the Lauren’s Way team told us that there were approximately 100 people over the course of the time she was there.'
It was clear that Lauren and her team had expected a large number of people at the event to launch her fake tan range in the store, and barriers were put up in anticipation of the crowds.
No need for the barriers: The team had expected a big turn out at the store and put up barriers in anticipation but they were not needed as only a small number of people turned up
Wasted efforts: There were signs prepared but they were not needed at Lauren's launch today
Yesterday Lauren, who has over a million followers on Twitter, posted: 'I start my tour of Launches in @Debenhams tomorrow looking forward meeting everyone! 1pm I will be at the Romford store ♥.'
While she might not have the most fans the few people that did turn up to spend time with her were glad for the opportunity.
One fan posted: 'Yaayy I just met @LaurenGoodger at debenhams, I'm so excited #MyFavTowieGirl #SheIsStunning http://pic.twitter.com/vUvvdLdw'
Ghost town: While a source told MailOnline only ten people turned up Lauren's spokesperson said 100 people turned up non of whom can be seen in this photo taken at the time of the event
Trim shape: Lauren showed off her trimmer shape in a pair of navy shorts and a cream top at the department store launch
Another was equally excited and tweeted: 'Best moment of my life! I love you @LaurenGoodger xxxxx'
Lauren showed off her slimmer shape in a pair of navy shorts and a blouse for the occasion.
The embarrassing turn out comes just a few days after Lauren found only a small amount of people turn up to a nightclub evening she was hosting.
A clubber at Nu Bar in Essex told MailOnline: ‘Lauren turned up at about midnight to do a planned personal appearance. It was quite embarrassing because only about 60 or 70 people had showed up to see her.'
'This guy tried to get a picture and a kiss and at first she refused. In the end Lauren let him take the picture but he tried to kiss her and she stumbled and then he took pictures of her on the ground.'
Happy fans: The few people that did turn up were delighted to meet Lauren
‘She tried to get them deleted and security had to be called. Eventually the pictures were deleted but Lauren refused to take any more photos with anyone. She left then and we saw her sitting on the stairs for a while.
‘Two girls who were leaving the club were furious, ranting “F*****g Lauren Goodger, who does she think she is? She’s nothing but a s**g.” Lauren must have heard them because they were shouting really loudly.
‘Last I saw of Lauren was when she got paid and left.’
She looks a little awkward: Lauren was armed with a stack of cards ready to sign but she didn't need most of them
Lauren has recently spoken out about how she has suffered bullying over the internet from fans of the reality show.
She has revealed how the horrible messages have knocked her confidence.
Lauren said: '’ll get hundreds of responses to anything I post saying things like "you’re fat", "you’re ugly", or "who are you?"
Some of the more horrific messages read:'I bet your mum and dad hate you' and 'I bet your mum wishes her egg had never accepted the sperm that made you.'
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
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