PARWICH.ORG

We have a new site manager, Rob Osborne, who will be looking after things during this project.  He will be on site most of the time.   A specialist firm is just completing the removal of all the asbestos from the old hall and we should get the all clear today, this will mean that the demolition should start by Wednesday at the latest.  Obviously during the demolition phase there will be increased activity on the site, with more vehicle movements as the rubble is removed.  Mains electricity is being established today, our thanks to the Parwich Legion for facilitating this.   Thanks, Ben.

According to Wikipedia: “Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging a desire or appetite for certain activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure.”

Now that our Memorial Hall fund-raising drive is reaching its final stages, perhaps it’s time to think once again about ways in which we can help to raise additional funds for the project.

With this in mind, here’s one possible idea: a sponsored “Abstinence Week”, in which some of us will pledge to give up some of our favourite indulgences, in return for donations (from friends, relatives, colleagues, and anyone else outside the village who might be feeling supportive) to the building fund.

For example: if you enjoy a drink, then why not give up alcohol for a week? Or if you’re a smoker, could you be persuaded to give up tobacco for seven days? For younger people, how about pledging to stay away from sweets and fizzy drinks?

There are loads of other possibilities. Ladies could spend a week “au naturel“, without using make-up or other beauty products. Gentlemen could go without shaving. Internet addicts could refrain from surfing the web. Telly addicts could switch off their TV sets. Game players could shut down their Playstations or Xboxes. Or perhaps users of “colourful language” could promise not to swear!

These are just a few suggestions. But before we commit to organising anything, we’d like to hear from you.

If you had to give something up for a week, what would you choose? Please let us know in the comments box!

A recent Office of Fair Trading (OFT) report was pointed out to us by several local residents and had already been drawn to the attention of Parwich Parish Council and the Memorial Hall Committee. Although there appear to be no negative implications for the Memorial Hall rebuild, we felt it was important to report in full.

On Tuesday of this week the OFT issued a press release entitled ‘Construction firms fined for illegal bid-rigging’ summarising the completion of a three and a half year investigation.

They fined some 103 construction companies mainly for ‘cover pricing’, that is where companies entering competitive tendering submitted deliberately high bids to ensure an agreed company gained the contract. There were also a number of instances where building firms successfully gaining the contract, paid cash sums to ‘unsuccessful’ competitors, by means of false invoices. The events reported took place between 2000 and 2006.

A significant number of companies co-operated with the OFT investigation and consequently had their fines reduced by between 35 and 65%. It is recognised in the Report that these practices have been widespread in the industry.  Indeed the OFT had evidence relating to a considerably larger number of companies nationally, but chose to focus their investigation on the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside.

The report further states that the companies fined may now have more reliable procedures in place than other companies not subject to investigation. The OFT and OCG (Office of Government Commerce) advise that the named companies should not be excluded from bidding for public projects on the following grounds:

• The Parties have received significant financial penalties appropriate to the infringement findings in the Decision
• It would be wrong automatically to assume that construction companies that are not named in the Decision have not also been involved in bid rigging
• As a result of the OFT’s investigation, the Parties can be expected to be particularly aware of the competition rules and the need for compliance and, if anything, are more likely to be compliant
• Many of the Parties have cooperated fully with the OFT’s investigation and a significant proportion have taken measures to introduce or reinforce formal compliance programmes and to ensure that their staff are aware of their competition law obligations.

The contractors for our new Memorial Hall, Wildgoose Construction Ltd were cited by the OFT as being involved is some 7 cases, between April 2001 and July 2003. However, they had stopped this practise some time before the start of the OFT investigation. Wildgoose, though fined, had their total reduced by 50% (the second largest reduction) as a result of their co-operation in the investigation.

The OFT report gives us no grounds to doubt either Wildgoose’s current trading practices or their conduct in relation to our project. Indeed the OFT goes further saying those companies who co-operated with their investigation are now likely to have more reliable policies for public tendering. Continue Reading »