Cougar – Member
Where to start.

You’re making assumptions which aren’t true. The councils – well to be fair, specifically the local councils that I know about – have been forced into making massive cuts, and there are more to come over the next few years.

There’s great swathes of redundancy at the moment, the majority of staff have been on 90 days’ notice at some point (ie, their jobs have been at risk). About a third of the workforce has gone.

Our council and a few others have made nobody redundant unless they asked

The untouchable “senior staff” that you cite have also been hit; a lot have been laid off, typically posts have been merged (or in some cases whole departments) so these ‘overpaid’ types who are lucky enough to remain have just had their workload doubled. At best, no-one’s getting any more money for this, and many have taken voluntary pay cuts in an effort to save jobs. Many of the road crews are now operating four day weeks so that their colleagues aren’t out on their ear.Our road crews where Tuped to a private comapny and tyhey seem to do the job theyre paid to do , not just sitting in a van all day

The staff that are left are working incredibly hard to make the best of what they have.

And they should be very grateful to have a job, that pays well with good pension scheme and sick pay a lot of workers dont get that

The phrase used a lot there at the moment is “do less with more.” This isn’t wholly a bad thing as there were bloated areas that needed streamlining, but the cuts and changes they’re being forced into go way beyond that, they’re simply unattainable without impacting the service they provide.

It seems from other comments here that you have an axe to grind with the public sector. I don’t know anything about that, but I do know categorically that you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. Sorry.

I feel exactly the same as you about you, i just see massive waste and services being provided that shouldnt be, that should be made self supporting eg theatres, swimming pools, leisure centres,car parks,football clubs our council sponsors a football club

Posted 9 hours ago # Report-Post

Oh and its sad for people to be out of a job, but if the job needs doing it will be undertaken by the private sector, charity or volunteers.

A lot of jobs where created to build empires, and and now the empires are failing people are getting upset, the general public all had the chance to vote for who ever its just a shame a lot voted for this gang and are now making us all pay the price for the mess thats about to happen.

I’m more annoyed about the fact that 48% of my council tax goes towards pubic sector pensions!
These need reformed more than anything else imo.

Our council and a few others have made nobody redundant unless they asked

Which council is that, out of interest?

you started with this whing

Seemsas if a few of our local councils are closing services just to upset the locals, things being closed include, care homes, public toilets, sure start centres, and nurseries for kids along with plant nurseries, street lightning,refuse collection,evening bus services and sunday buses,the list goes on

Why so worried seeing as you also think

if the job needs doing it will be undertaken by the private sector, charity or volunteers.

Clearl it will be fine wont it

they should be very grateful to have a job, that pays well with good pension scheme and sick pay a lot of workers dont get that

you are right we should demand all workers get good rights via highly unionised workforces see you a the baracade comrade.
Pauly SOURCE THAT IS UTTER BS UTTER UTTER BS. i suspect most councils pay 70% + on wages alone 48% on pension not even the Mial would claim that

But there has been very little consoltation or time to set up the new care systems reqd.

A leisure centre or theatre can easily be handed over to the private sector,along with the staff, with little disruption to peoples lives, elderley and disabled people needing care need to be provided with support and reassaurance that things are being done to help them.

Pauly make a freedom of information request to your local council asking how many staff are on long term sick leave on full pay, and how much the council pay each month into the staff pension scheme, also how many ex staff are claiming a pension and at what cost to the council tax payer.
Also ask how much the redundancy scheme is paying out, and how its going to be funded, by law they have to tell you, they did for me.

The report is to be handed to former Labour minister Lord Hutton who is in charge of a commission investigating the future of public sector pensions.

Councils spent £5.4billion last year to keep the LGPS solvent – a quarter of all the money raised by council tax.

For someone paying an average English council tax bill, this means they are paying just under £300 a year towards town hall pensions.

“Orkney spent 69 per cent of their council tax income on financing pensions, Western Isles had the second highest percentage, 65 per cent, followed by Dundee city with 50 per cent.”

Soure; The Taxpayers Alliance

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1508474/26pc-of-council-tax-goes-on-public-pensions.html

26% according to this more recent article, although this is an average of all local authorities.

thank god councils are not wasting money of pointless frivolous things like FOI for people who hate them then
Is that figure less than 48% Pauly claimed Project? you seem quite well informed cant think why you did not just give teh figure as a percentage
EDIT: I knew the figure hence my challenge. The last few years were record years iirc- can you think of an economic reason why a pension find may have suffered badly in the last two years?

Why is it always listed as percentage of their council tax income as opposed to percentage of their budget?

Councils have a regulatory responsibility to provide informatioon requested under FOI BY LAW.

Until they change the law.

also what makes council staff imune from change, the car, train, bus, steel, newspaper, and many more industries have undergone massive change and reorganisation in the last 30 years,i know because i was there.

project re read your opening complaint you moaned about the changes to services and now you cost them money as well

Junkyard – Member

you started with this whinge

Why so worried seeing as you also think

It is one of the characteristics of project’s posts, that constantly contradicts himself.

Example :

“its sad for people to be out of a job, but if the job needs doing it will be undertaken by the private sector, charity or volunteers.

and…..

the general public all had the chance to vote for who ever its just a shame a lot voted for this gang and are now making us all pay the price for the mess thats about to happen. “

both in the same post the btw.

Project clearly has a deep hatred for all public sector workers. They are all lazy, greedy, useless, etc, etc, a theme which he undoubtedly picks up from his tabloid newspaper, and which he constantly repeats on here. He wants everything privatised.

However project also recognises just how unpopular the Tories are with their policies of cuts and privatisations, so he castigates them for doing the very things which he says he wants done.

Crazy ? ……..well yes, but he somehow feels that it will exonerate him when the totally predictable consequences of attacking and destroying large swathes of the public sector are felt.

It’s called blaming others for the consequences of your own actions.

It is in fact, a strategy which the Tories are masters of.

Ernie i agree with the last sentance only, also i never read a newspaper, pointless waste of money.

It just seems as if certain councils are cutting essential services with no or little back up from the private sector, nearly all the privatised industries have now gone, the NHS, councils and forestry commission seem to be some of the few left, did people care when all the mines where closed, the steelworks and car plants shut, along with all the jobs that where lost, along with irreplaceable skills.

It just seems as if …

It *seems*, or it *is*?

You didn’t answer my question, btw – did you miss it?

They cut everything so that people who suffer will blame the govt. Simple.