Help for landlords and tenants 
The District Council's White Horse Lettingsscheme offers services to both tenants and landlords to help those on low income find good quality, secure rental accommodation in the local area. For eligible tenants the Council offers a deposit guarantee scheme and also offers a referral reward of £250 for referring a landlord who goes on to let properties through White Horse Lettings. There are no fees for the letting service which provided carefully vetted tenants and deals with all of the paperwork. If you need help accessing rental properties in the Vale or are a landlord interesting in letting your property through us then please contact the Vale's housing team on 01235 422422 or visit the website www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/housing. Business workshops 
As part of their ongoing work to support the local economy Vale4Business have organised another round of FREE business workshops.In the past we have held events on everything from HR to social media, marketing, and apprenticeships, as Vale4Business is committed to providing Vale businesses with the tools to grow and succeed. The upcoming free workshops include –
- Access to Finance (OCC) – 7 September, 6-8pm with Oxfordshire County Council
- Google Digital Garage – 13 September, 9-11am with Google and Milton Park
- Business Continuity – 19 October, 9am-1pm with Basinger Consultants
For more information and to sign up for a workshop, follow the links above or contact the team at info@vale4business.com. Throughout the year Vale4Business will also been running a range of evening networking tours of Vale businesses as a way of encouraging useful networking for our members and as an alternative to other breakfast networking groups. The autumn/winter programme will be announced shortly and includes businesses such as Miele, UTC Oxfordshire, Diamond. Broadband investment pays off 
Last month I reported on a new scheme by Virgin Media bringing more competition in broadband to the Vale. Earlier this month I was pleased to launch BTs superfast broadband service for the village of Ashbury. This is the first scheme that has been funded by investment from the Vale of White Horse District Council. Currently coverage in the Vale is at 93% with the additional resources from the District Council set to increase this to 97%. For many people the roll out of superfast broadband has taken far too long, and of course there are still some areas that are having to wait, but progress is being made and more communities are seeing the benefits of faster internet connections all the time. For the latest information on the superfast broadband programme in Oxfordshire visit www.betterbroadbandoxfordshire.org.uk. Abingdon is host to one of the best parks in the UK 
Managed by the Vale of White Horse District Council the Abbey Gardens in Abingdon is among a record-breaking 1,686 parks and green spaces that have received a prestigious Green Flag Award – the mark of a quality park or green space. The award, now celebrating its 20th year, recognises and rewards the best parks and green spaces across the country. A Green Flag award is a sign to the public that the space boasts the highest possible standards, is beautifully maintained and has excellent facilities. Stamping our fraud 
In the last financial year the Vale of White Horse District Council's fraud prevention work has resulted in a number of convictions and fine. In total nearly £100,000 will be recovered on behalf of taxpayers in the Vale and working together with neighbouring South Oxfordshire District Council we have prevented more than £410,000 from be fraudulently claimed in the future. Discounts on council tax are there for those entitled to them or who genuinely need it, and not because you fancy paying less than your fair share. So it’s only right that these people have been brought to book and are now paying the price.