Also In The News - part 3

[MPH]

3 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

Last year's graduates:

 

I wouldn’t want to be the Admin in  charge of applications opening their inbox tomorrow morning!

[Free Falling Foxes]

4 hours ago, RoboFox said:

This has made my day. Scum that need to be made an example of. 

Sincerely hope the cost of the rebuild absolutely ruins them,

Imagine one of the builders turning-up for the first day of the rebuild and pulling a spirit level from his tool bag.

'You can put that away mate, you won't  be needing it.'

[Lionator]

11 hours ago, Parafox said:

When a city council goes bust:

 

'It was inevitable': What Birmingham city council cuts mean for residents | ITV News Central

 

Scary stuff for the residents of Leicester if this is anything to go by.

Some of these are absolutely catastrophic for long term health outcomes, yet you’ll have parties complaining in 10-15 years that the nhs waiting list is too long and not enough people are working. 

[Greg2607]

The way local authorities are funded needs to change doesn't it.  If there are scores of LA's going bust... then it can't ALL be down to financial mismanagement. There has to be a fundamental short fall in funding streams. 

 

What a failing country we are. 

[westernpark]

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

The way local authorities are funded needs to change doesn't it.  If there are scores of LA's going bust... then it can't ALL be down to financial mismanagement. There has to be a fundamental short fall in funding streams. 

 

What a failing country we are. 

Statutory areas for spending have gone up but funding hasn’t. 

[David Hankey]

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

The way local authorities are funded needs to change doesn't it.  If there are scores of LA's going bust... then it can't ALL be down to financial mismanagement. There has to be a fundamental short fall in funding streams. 

 

What a failing country we are. 

Unfortunately many are mismanaged. You've only to look at the expenditure some Councils make from Parish to District to City & County Councils.

 

Indeed, you only need to look at the squandering of cash by national Governments.

[MPH]

I do agree councils are mismanaged. That’s clear to see. The endless red tape, the way they send a team out to do a 1 man job.

 

 

but I do also wonder if their budgets have or haven’t increased along with the cost of living? Supplies are more expensive, petrol, wages are going up… are their budgets increasing at the same rate all these are?

 

I worked for the.NHS for quite a few years and  they would employee managers for the stupidest of things.. I assume it’s the same for  councils?

Edited 28 February 2024 by MPH

[urban.spaceman]

Pathetic from Sunak.

[Guesty]

4 hours ago, MPH said:

I worked for the.NHS for quite a few years and  they would employee managers for the stupidest of things.. I assume it’s the same for  councils?

I worked for a council for a while and that is most definitely true. I only worked in one department but other people I talked to had the same experience in different departments.

 

Most of the senior managers in local government seemed to be people who started 30-40 years ago as apprentices and receptionists who worked their way up. They have no experience of the private sector. People who had any proper business or management skills left for the private sector or retired. There's no consequence for poor performance; even mistakes which cost the council millions. It tends to lead to a very toxic environment where a lot of people know they've been over-promoted and don't want to be exposed - so they only promote yes men/women from within instead of outside expertise.

 

Occasionally you'd see managers from the private sector join the council. One of three things tended to happen: 1.They'd become so frustrated with the waste and incompetence they'd leave after a few months. 2. They'd heard all about the waste and knew they'd fit right in. 3. They were consultants who knew they were dealing with people who they could rinse massively for consultancy fees.

 

I worked in a payroll dept. In the time I was there they tried to introduce two new big IT payroll systems. Both failed miserably. Last year 30-40% of the department I used to work in were made redundant - but no managers. Now that council is having to pay private sector payroll providers to run most of the payrolls they used to run before the upgrade. It's cheaper than continuing to waste money trying to fix the software they originally bought.

 

When you look at all these councils going under. Keep an eye out for: new IT payroll system failed. I saw it happened at Birmingham (£100 million and counting for an Oracle system which was originally meant to cost £19 million) and i know of a couple of others where it's gone wrong. Where unqualified managers have wasted millions on software and then wasted millions trying to fix the software so it will do what they need it to.    

 

But it's also true to say councils are demonstrably underfunded.

Edited 28 February 2024 by Guesty

[UniFox21]

See Gov is suggesting to water down the new rental reform bill. With no-fault evictions which were being banned, are set to remain an option for landlords

[lcfc278]

You only have to follow one or two of the councils on LinkedIn or other social media channels (Leicester City, Leicestershire, Charnwood etc.) and you can see the amount of pointless jobs they are constantly advertising for. There is wastage all over the shot and the City council I imagine is probably one of the worst for it. Every year it's the same, "Oh we've got to find a way to save millions as we're not being getting the funding we need", then they go and chuck money at projects like redeveloping whole junctions at a cost of millions.

 

Cry poverty one minute and then lo and behold, here's a few million for some new cycle paths. 

 

 

Edited 28 February 2024 by lcfc278

[Finnegan]

1 hour ago, lcfc278 said:

You only have to follow one or two of the councils on LinkedIn or other social media channels (Leicester City, Leicestershire, Charnwood etc.) and you can see the amount of pointless jobs they are constantly advertising for. There is wastage all over the shot and the City council I imagine is probably one of the worst for it. Every year it's the same, "Oh we've got to find a way to save millions as we're not being getting the funding we need", then they go and chuck money at projects like redeveloping whole junctions at a cost of millions.

 

Cry poverty one minute and then lo and behold, here's a few million for some new cycle paths. 

 

 

 

Well, here's another bunch of drivel that the internet didn't need. 

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

The problem with all councils is corruption. There’s a reason when a road is relaid you’re lucky if it lasts 3 years before it needs to be done again. Contracts for their mates using crap materials making an absolute killing. It’s a joke.

[westernpark]

11 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

Well, here's another bunch of drivel that the internet didn't need. 

Most of the cycle paths are or at least were funded by the European Regional Development fund! Anecdotal evidence and putting 2+2 together to get 5.

[Finnegan]

6 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

The problem with all councils is corruption. There’s a reason when a road is relaid you’re lucky if it lasts 3 years before it needs to be done again. Contracts for their mates using crap materials making an absolute killing. It’s a joke.

 

I mean, this is just rubbish as well. There is so much regulation and monitoring these days on this shit to make sure due diligence is done on tenders for contracts. 

 

Hence why you DO end up with dismissals and even prosecutions in the extremely unlikely event it does happen. 

 

Honestly, 99% of you don't have a ****ing clue what happens in your local authorities. You're just parroting the same silly myths and Chinese whispers and half of that probably comes from American films and TV. 

 

Yeah, councils have problems but about 99% can be traced back to just being cripplingly under funded by a central government that has spent near 20 years now constantly attacking their budgets. 

 

Edited 28 February 2024 by Finnegan

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

I don’t know that for a fact I just thought if the governments policies and contracts are all given out to their mates (which plenty of evidence they often are) the councils are probably at it too, no accountability.

[Finnegan]

Just now, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

I don’t know that for a fact I just thought if the governments policies and contracts are all given out to their mates (which plenty of evidence they often are) the councils are probably at it too, no accountability.

 

So basically you pulled it completely out of your arse. 

 

I have no idea how much corruption there is in parliament, I'm not qualified to say, although Ian Hislop and his friends have spent a significant amount of time highlighting and proving enough of it that it's made me cynical yes. 

 

But christ some of you are absurdly melodramatic about what you think goes on in the council. 

 

[Zear0]

2 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

So basically you pulled it completely out of your arse. 

 

I have no idea how much corruption there is in parliament, I'm not qualified to say, although Ian Hislop and his friends have spent a significant amount of time highlighting and proving enough of it that it's made me cynical yes. 

 

But christ some of you are absurdly melodramatic about what you think goes on in the council. 

 

Another LCC cycling department shill.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

Yeah you’re probably right, I have no idea what goes on with councils or even how they work, and not overly interested, all I know is services are constantly being cut and the roads that aren’t main roads make it seem like a third world country, and where I live in Nottingham the amount of council tax I pay is obscene and services are being cut left, right and centre. If it’s not corruption it’s just outright incompetence, either way it’s your average Joe who suffers.

[Footballwipe]

1 minute ago, Finnegan said:

 

I mean, this is just rubbish as well. There is so much regulation and monitoring these days on this shit to make sure due diligence is done on tenders for contracts. 

 

Hence why you DO end up with dismissals and even prosecutions in the extremely unlikely event it does happen. 

 

Honestly, 99% of you don't have a ****ing clue what happens in your local authorities. You're just parroting the same silly myths and Chinese whispers and half of that probably comes from American films and TV. 

 

Yeah, councils have problems but about 99% can be traced back to just being cripplingly under funded by a central government that has spent near 20 years now constantly attacking their budgets. 

 

Here's the common sense. Honestly the hoops council contracts need to go through just to get passed internally there's little chance of corruption. Same with planning applications. Brown envelopes being the classic accusation. Wish a Cllr or council would take someone to court one day for these lazy smears tbh, they'd clean up.

 

This is the problem though. Whether it's "SOULSBY CORRUPT" or brown envelopes, or "we want our council tax back then" when services are cut, the lack of knowledge and wilful unwillingness for the public to understand what councils do or how they work is the massive issue.

 

Councils aren't by any means perfect. Some council officers aren't either, but when you see some of the eye-watering costs of things like adult social care, SEND, SEND transport, the drain of staff from specialist positions and ZERO increases basically from the Govt in terms of income, councils will inevitably struggle.

 

There was an FOI a few months ago which revealed that in the county one child in the care system with complex needs costs around £700k per year to look after. That's not cos the Director's mate runs the company that houses the child, it's because the care system is grossly expensive and that's the market rate. There's another stat that for every foster carer a council secures, it saves them £500k per year compared to a private fostering company. Why? Cos numbers outstrip demand so the market's price adjusts accordingly.

 

The county council have already basically come out and said roads will get worse cos we can't afford to fix them properly. They're doing what they can but even they recognise it's not perfect.

 

When Leicester goes pop all the anti-SPS will be jubilant, blame it on his vanity projects and cycle lanes blah blah but in reality the worse off will suffer because councils cannot cope with the rising costs of things as well as lack of government support.

[Dunge]

Without going into details in what is a second-hand story, I know of a case where a council worker tried to use their position for something they shouldn’t have (let’s say a neighbourhood disagreement), and when it was reported to Peter Soulsby he came down on it hard.

 

There will always be people who are corrupt if you let them but I don’t think it’s endemic within councils. Mostly they’re just people trying to balance a budget and deciding which of people’s wants and needs are the least affordable.

[ClaphamFox]

30 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

Another LCC cycling department shill.

Some people think the Jews secretly control the world, but it's actually the cyclists. In the merchandise area at the annual Bilderberg meeting, the biggest sellers are lycra shorts and helmet cameras.

[Finnegan]

37 minutes ago, Footballwipe said:

Here's the common sense. Honestly the hoops council contracts need to go through just to get passed internally there's little chance of corruption. Same with planning applications. Brown envelopes being the classic accusation. Wish a Cllr or council would take someone to court one day for these lazy smears tbh, they'd clean up.

 

This is the problem though. Whether it's "SOULSBY CORRUPT" or brown envelopes, or "we want our council tax back then" when services are cut, the lack of knowledge and wilful unwillingness for the public to understand what councils do or how they work is the massive issue.

 

Councils aren't by any means perfect. Some council officers aren't either, but when you see some of the eye-watering costs of things like adult social care, SEND, SEND transport, the drain of staff from specialist positions and ZERO increases basically from the Govt in terms of income, councils will inevitably struggle.

 

There was an FOI a few months ago which revealed that in the county one child in the care system with complex needs costs around £700k per year to look after. That's not cos the Director's mate runs the company that houses the child, it's because the care system is grossly expensive and that's the market rate. There's another stat that for every foster carer a council secures, it saves them £500k per year compared to a private fostering company. Why? Cos numbers outstrip demand so the market's price adjusts accordingly.

 

The county council have already basically come out and said roads will get worse cos we can't afford to fix them properly. They're doing what they can but even they recognise it's not perfect.

 

When Leicester goes pop all the anti-SPS will be jubilant, blame it on his vanity projects and cycle lanes blah blah but in reality the worse off will suffer because councils cannot cope with the rising costs of things as well as lack of government support.

 

See a lot of the problem is that people don't even really equate most of the services you named with "the council." They fixate on the very visible stuff, basically roads and any large civic projects, but that's like the tip of the iceberg. 

 

And enormous part of what your local authority does is exactly that, looking after the most vulnerable in our society.

 

People moan about their council tax and cycle paths or whatever the **** but half of those will be funded by grants and various green initiatives or whatever other ring fenced pot of gold. 

 

What you're actually doing with a lot of your CTax is contributing to a whip round so we can chip in together to make sure the disabled, the elderly, the ill, the poor, kids, the homeless and all manner of other vulnerable people have access to vital services they need to live. 

 

And it's getting harder and harder and harder to provide those services every year with more and more and more cuts. Your local authorities are increasingly facing bankruptcy because they have both a statutory and moral obligation to protect those people with less and less and less money every year.

 

Edited 28 February 2024 by Finnegan

[Babylon]

2 hours ago, lcfc278 said:

You only have to follow one or two of the councils on LinkedIn or other social media channels (Leicester City, Leicestershire, Charnwood etc.) and you can see the amount of pointless jobs they are constantly advertising for. There is wastage all over the shot and the City council I imagine is probably one of the worst for it. Every year it's the same, "Oh we've got to find a way to save millions as we're not being getting the funding we need", then they go and chuck money at projects like redeveloping whole junctions at a cost of millions.

 

Cry poverty one minute and then lo and behold, here's a few million for some new cycle paths. 

 

 

Quite often these things come from grants, that are an extra, on top of the usual funding they receive from the government. Same with all the bike lanes, we applied for a grant, so they spent it all. eg. https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-articles/2023/january/400k-funding-boost-for-city-walking-and-cycling-schemes/. If we didn't get the grants, then they most likely wouldn't happen. 

Edited 28 February 2024 by Babylon

[lcfc278]

48 minutes ago, Babylon said:

Quite often these things come from grants, that are an extra, on top of the usual funding they receive from the government. Same with all the bike lanes, we applied for a grant, so they spent it all. eg. https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-articles/2023/january/400k-funding-boost-for-city-walking-and-cycling-schemes/. If we didn't get the grants, then they most likely wouldn't happen. 

Fair enough - I'll be honest I chucked in the comment about bike lanes and junctions as it's all we ever seem to see in Leicester. Always some kind of roadworks or diversions and traffic due to temporary works it feels like that's where all the money goes in this city. Happy to be corrected though.