Q1 – Talk Talk Cyber Attack
The Leader will be aware of the cyber-attack conducted on 21st October against one of Britain’s biggest internet service providers, Talk Talk.
As a consequence of this attack, a significant amount of individual customer data was stolen, including bank account numbers, sort codes, credit and debit card details, dates of birth and the names, email addresses and phone numbers of customers.
To their credit, according to a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police Cyber Crime Unit: “TalkTalk have done everything right in bringing this matter to our attention as soon as possible,” and they are co-operating fully with an ongoing criminal investigation, which has now led to an arrest.
Nonetheless this news will still be very worrying for our residents who pay their bills with the Council electronically on-line or who choose to pay via a debit or credit card.
What information can the Leader provide us about the impact, if any, of the Talk Talk attack on the Council’s operations and its customers – the residents of this borough – and what reassurance can he provide them that the Council has the most rigorous safeguards in place to keep the personal and payment details of our residents safe from prying eyes?
Q2 – Conservative threat to Generation Oldham
My second question concerns a clear and present danger to a plan that has enjoyed cross-party support in this Chamber – namely the proposal to generate our own green energy through the Generation Oldham project.
The Leader may be aware that the new Tory Government has recently proposed changes that will make it difficult if not impossible to continue to develop community owned renewable energy schemes.
When the Liberal Democrats controlled the Department of Energy and Climate Change whilst in coalition, a favourable regime was put in place to provide a generous subsidy by the payment of a Feed in Tariff (or FIT) to community energy projects.
As a result over 5,500 community energy projects were established over the lifetime of the Coalition Government – making a major contribution to our country’s energy needs without creating a carbon footprint.
The new Government intends to unravel this regime by cutting the FIT by up to 90% in January 2016. Under their proposals FIT payments to roof mounted solar schemes will be reduced from 12.47p for every kilowatt hour of electricity they produce to 1.63p.
I have recently responded – as I am sure many others have – to the Government consultation on this matter opposing the changes but I have no doubt they will still go ahead.
Given that this Council’s Generation Oldham proposals are based on the generation by roof mounted solar panels of 1 megawatt of electricity, can the Leader please tell me whether these proposals would make this scheme unviable and whether any solar panels can be installed before January to enable us to claim the existing subsidy and salvage what we can from this Conservative inspired train wreck?