downsmail.co.uk Boat gathering
SAILORS on the Medway are busy organising their annual Gathering of Boats. The informal event, pulled together by members of the Med- way Rivers Users Association, has become an annual event in Maid- stone on the last weekend in July. Boats sail in from all over the coun- try to take part in the gathering, which has replaced the old River Festival, once sponsored by the council but dropped in recent years – despite the town’s Destination Management Plan (DMP) placing a strong focus on river-based activity. Mark Smurthwaite, chair of the MRUA, said: “The council is miss- ing a great opportunity, but the boaters come anyway and just enjoy the get-together.”
£10,000 help
COMMUNITY groups in Maid- stone geared at promoting a healthy heart still have a few days to apply for a grant of up to £10,000. Heart Research UK has the cash available to give away in the South East thanks to a partnership with SUBWAY® stores - but the dead- line for applications is July 1. For details of how to apply, visit:
http://heartresearch.org.uk/com- munity-grants/apply-hruk-and- subway%C2%AE-healthy-heart-gr ants.
News
County council ‘spied’ on 100 of its workers
MORE than 100 Kent County Council employees have had their emails monitored by the authority, it has been disclosed. Corporate and democratic services
chief, Cllr Gary Cooke, said 108 em- ployees had been put under scrutiny over a three year period from 2013 to 2015.
There has been no reason to tap
into members’ accounts as no alle- gations have been received to war- rant such an investigation, according to Cllr Cooke. The information came to light after Liberal Democrat Dan Daley tabled a question of KCC cabinet member Cllr Cooke. It said: “How many Kent County Council employees and how many councillors have had their emails monitored in each of the past three years and for what purpose?" Cllr Daley, in his reply, was told
that employees are told that their KCC emails not private. Cllr Cooke, who is the Tory
countymemberfor Maidstone south east and lives inWeavering, issued the following answer: “To ensure
“When our new fence looks this good, is maintenance free and guaranteed for 25 years, it’s a no-brainer”
“As part of this employees are ad-
vised that emailsmaybe disclosable and they are reminded that emails on a KCC account are not private. “Access to accounts will have been
either to establish whether an inves- tigation into a matter is required or as part of an ongoing investigation to help determine whether there has been any conduct of concern.” The member said that strict legal procedures are followedin line with the authority’s human resources rules. Cllr Cooke added: “These num-
Cllr Gary Cooke
the security and safety of the KCC network, there is continual electronic monitoring of the e-mail system. “In terms of individuals' accounts,
between 2013 and 2015, over the past 3 years,KCChas monitored 108 em- ployee accounts. There have been no requests to monitor any Members' email accounts. “Kent County Council's ICT Ac- ceptable Use policy reserves the right for KCC to monitor the use of its ICT systems.
bers are remarkably low given the number of people who are em- ployed by the council. “We have to obey strict require-
ments from our human resources and legal departments to make sure it is done in the properway. “I feel confident these figures
would stand up against any author- ity of a similar size anywhere in the country. “However, there have to be safe- guards against those who believe they do not have to obey the rules or where rules are broken.”
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SUPPORT & ADVICE ACCOMMODATION FAMILY WORK HEALTH & WELLBEING TRAINING & EDUCATION Maidstone Town July 2016 15
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