Crisis at local council level

[Chippy_boy]

Lots of agreement in the last few posts I notice.

One of the issues I think is this idea of departmental, annual budgets. Council has £100 to spend and ten departments get £10 each. 8 of them run out of money by December, whilst the other two have only spent £5. In January, said two departments think "fuck, if we haven't spent our tenner by end of March, we'll only be allocated £5 next year. WTF can we spend our money on? I know, let's paint the park benches pink".

So we see these sort of utter bollocks activities going on, whilst they can even fill the sodding pot holes in. My Mum lives in Poynton and on Southpark Drive, you could lose a wheel in the fucking holes in the road honestly.

 

[stonerblue]

Might be interesting to ask your councillor where the money is coming from. I'll have a small bet it's another special Government "pot" that can't be spent on anything else.

That's where a lot of these hare-brained schemes come from. The Government produces a pot of cash to paint cows pink, or install ugly twisted ironwork "art" on top of hills, and Councils bid for the cash as they like to be seen doing "something". And a minority in the population will think it's cool.

Meanwhile, the basic, essential stuff is ignored as there's no money for it.

https://tfgm.com/press-release/cycle-friendly-radcliffe What a load of bollox

 

[RabidCity]

Lots of agreement in the last few posts I notice.

One of the issues I think is this idea of departmental, annual budgets. Council has £100 to spend and ten departments get £10 each. 8 of them run out of money by December, whilst the other two have only spent £5. In January, said two departments think "fuck, if we haven't spent our tenner by end of March, we'll only be allocated £5 next year. WTF can we spend our money on? I know, let's paint the park benches pink".

So we see these sort of utter bollocks activities going on, whilst they can even fill the sodding pot holes in. My Mum lives in Poynton and on Southpark Drive, you could lose a wheel in the fucking holes in the road honestly.

That's sadly not unique to the private sector. I've sat in on many budget reviews which follow that pattern.

 

[Chippy_boy]

That's sadly not unique to the private sector. I've sat in on many budget reviews which follow that pattern.

i think you mean public sector, but I agree, no it isn't.

Anyone who's dealt with Rolls-Royce will notice a similar pattern. Most years they've underspent on their IT budget throughout the year due to ridiculous lethargy generally, combined with an overly complex and onerous techinal and financial sign off process. Then by December they start to get desperate and approve any old project. But late December (their year end) they are desperate and will fire off a PO for pretty much anything. Sod the techincal gates, sod the business case, sod whether they actually need it - just get it ordered quick. Absolute shambles and a ludicrous way to run a company.

 

[bluethrunthru]

SKY news reporting a majority of people would rather cut public services to the legal minimum than pay more council tax - I say do it and watch the wankers whine when their bins don't get emptied, they can't get their mam in an old folks home and they don't care about road repairs..........I'll fucking PMSL

 

[blueinsa]

SKY news reporting a majority of people would rather cut public services to the legal minimum than pay more council tax - I say do it and watch the wankers whine when their bins don't get emptied, they can't get their mam in an old folks home and they don't care about road repairs..........I'll fucking PMSL

Bins are emptied at best every 2/3 weeks now with even that under threat. The care of our elderly is already in strife and as for road repairs......what road repairs?

How much more Council tax do we have to pay to get the most basic of services?

Instead of PMSL, whats your or rather, whats Jezza's plan to solve all of the above?

Is he going to raise council tax?

 

[bluethrunthru]

Bins are emptied at best every 2/3 weeks now with even that under threat. The care of our elderly is already in strife and as for road repairs......what road repairs?

How much more Council tax do we have to pay to get the most basic of services?

Instead of PMSL, whats your or rather, whats Jezza's plan to solve all of the above?

Is he going to raise council tax?

Its covered off here as set out in the manifesto for the May local elections - you won't read it I know because your scorn prevents you from exploring beyond the boundaries of your hate but it is all about the creation of a fairer society with different priorities - so redirecting spending from things that benefit a few people who don't really need it - like cutting taxes for the rich - and giving more funding for councils - you know that which the Tories have spent 8 years cutting hence they are in this mess?

https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/

We pay the council tax we do to get the services we do - you change that by voting at local elections. If the people of Northampton have repeatedly returned a Tory local authority that as kept council tax down so they are in this shit then tough - they made their choices and accept the consequences.

This was the Tory effort - PMSL at this - the first reason? Labour may cost more but do you know what? They do provide services. Then the other two comparisons - if I was in Wandsworth or Trafford I'd be worried how long my council would remain viable - remember how the Tories loved how Northampton were doing the very same thing in keeping Council Tax down?

Also just to add Somerset, Norfolk, East Sussex and Lancashire county councils are on the brink of the same precipice as Northampton - guess which party is in power there? The message is clear if you really do have concerns over care for the elderly, road repairs etc then don't vote Tory. If you don't care and just want a lower Council Tax then do vote Tory but be aware that the latter action does not guarantee your council will not go bankrupt.

https://www.conservatives.com/sharethefacts/2018/05/local-elections-2018

 

[TCIB]

Lots of agreement in the last few posts I notice.

One of the issues I think is this idea of departmental, annual budgets. Council has £100 to spend and ten departments get £10 each. 8 of them run out of money by December, whilst the other two have only spent £5. In January, said two departments think "fuck, if we haven't spent our tenner by end of March, we'll only be allocated £5 next year. WTF can we spend our money on? I know, let's paint the park benches pink".

So we see these sort of utter bollocks activities going on, whilst they can even fill the sodding pot holes in. My Mum lives in Poynton and on Southpark Drive, you could lose a wheel in the fucking holes in the road honestly.

There was some bits of broken brick work on the pedestrianized part of the village centre. There were 4 vans and 8 blokes going like the clappers repairing any little fault. Cheshire East council must have plenty of moolah to burn. That said, it is bloody lovely to sit out in one of the bars there of an evening.

 

[BobKowalski]

Good New York Times article on the crisis at local councils. Interesting to see a view on UK problems in the foreign press.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/world/europe/uk-austerity-councils-northamptonshire.html

 

[Manc in London]

Of course councils are incredibly stretched, not least due to the ever spiralling social care costs as we get older and require more looking after.

Which is why it is so ****ing infuriating to see the sort of utter, utter bollocks which the average council still persists with. As a prime example the Winterbourne - Highway drainage improvement works, in my own area. Millions of pounds being almost literally pissed down the drain on something NOBODY wants. The justification is "The road floods on a regular basis causing traffic disruption, damage to properties and to the highway." Well I've lived here for 16+ years and travelled down the road concerned, regularly since 1982. As far as I am aware, it has NEVER flooded.

Or the guys with chainsaws that came in and cut down a load of trees (with protection orders on them I might fucking add) opposite my house, when NO-ONE asked them to, because "the council has asked us to clear it in case they need to do any drainage work at some point in the future".

The problem here is that councils are incapable of doing nothing and spending nothing. It's like that Polish glass manufacturer churning out glasses that nobody wants, with years of inventory piling up because "that's what we do". Until John Harvey Jones goes in and says turn the fucking thing off, go home, stop making glasses.

The same needs to happen with our councils: You are under severe financial pressure: Stop spending money on utter bollocks that no-one has asked for. Stop now. Go home.

When budgets were not so stretched, we tolerated shite like this. But to have our rates increased by the absolute maximum, whilst they bleat about not being able to make ends meet, and at the same time, continue to waste millions on utter bollocks? It does my head in.

The operation of one council applies to all?