Computer whizz hoping for votes

A Staffordshire computer expert who created an innovative energy and money-saving system is hoping the county's residents will vote for him in a national awards scheme.

People have less than a month to vote for Peter Kear, an information technology worker at Staffordshire County Council, in this year's Council Worker of the Year Awards.

The 46-year-old, who lives in Stafford, has been shortlisted in the innovation category of the awards after developing 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.

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

His bosses at Staffordshire County Council are now urging local people to vote for Peter by the awards deadline, midday on July 3, by logging on to www.localgovernmentchannel. com/awards

The county council is the only local authority in the West Midlands region to be nominated for one of the main awards.

Council leader Councillor John Taylor said the unique initiative, which cost the county council nothing, had already had a big impact for the local authority. He said: "Since developing the programme, the county council has had massive interest from other leading authorities and private sector companies across the country inquiring 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."

He added: "I am delighted that Peter has been given the recognition that he deserves for designing this programme and I would urge everyone to throw their weight behind Peter in this year's awards."