So, I guess this is where all the taxes are going.

mid_gen said:
Checking that hazardous building materials aren't a threat to health sounds like a pretty reasonable way to spend the council's money.
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Aye, I'm guessing that they're primarily making sure it's not been disturbed by some idiot in one of the units deciding that they needed to put a screw into it.

It's something that I suspect will be part of making sure the building is safe, at the same sort of level as making sure the fire alarms work etc and may be a requirement for the insurance (if the units are council owned).

Given it's described as being under sinks, it's not unreasonable to do a periodic check as it sounds like it's in an area that sees plenty of use and may be prone to damage from normal use, or clumsy maintenance.
 
That's nothing, where I work (NHS IT), we chuck out perfectly good PC's as the warranty is out and buy even more expensive ones. When I say perfectly good, I mean i5 8GB RAM and only 3 years old...

I have mentioned plenty of times to those higher up to just buy SSD's and sell off the old components (minus the hard drives for obvious reasons), just for it to fall on deaf ears. I think the issue is, is that if we don't spend the money we are given, we don't get the same next year, we get less.
 
mid_gen said:
Checking that hazardous building materials aren't a threat to health sounds like a pretty reasonable way to spend the council's money.
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That is somewhat missing the point though - paying 5 grand for it and having them rather cheekily schedule an annual inspection every 10 months are surely the issues here?
 
5000 for a single asbestos management survey is daylight robbery, that can't be right? We get demolition surveys that take days to do followed by lab tests and they're only a few hundred quid!
 
Greg0986 said:
That's nothing, where I work (NHS IT), we chuck out perfectly good PC's as the warranty is out and buy even more expensive ones. When I say perfectly good, I mean i5 8GB RAM and only 3 years old...

I have mentioned plenty of times to those higher up to just buy SSD's and sell off the old components (minus the hard drives for obvious reasons), just for it to fall on deaf ears. I think the issue is, is that if we don't spend the money we are given, we don't get the same next year, we get less.
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It's not over till the fat lady sings sort of thing, have to keep the spending attitude/consumerism at MAX as it represents the financial system with the financial service sector being the main source.
 
suenstar said:
I'm sure most local councils waste money on purpose...
Most recent thing I recall our local council spending money on was when they forked out almost £60,000 to paint a bus lane onto a short stretch of road only to change their mind about using the lane within a month.
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If they have budget left at the end of the year they fear getting less for the next year so they spend it on anything. That's my theory, anyway. They are also (well, mine is) staggeringly incompetent and corrupt to boot.
 
jsmoke said:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHS_Connecting_for_Health
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That’s not exactly ‘an IT system’. It’s an entire organisation (I know this as I work for the one it’s morphed into). It’s also now mostly been redone so that it’s managed in house and much cheaper than getting outside companies like Fujitsu and Vodafone invlolved.

https://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2447498/hscic-completes-migration-to-nhs-spine-2-backbone

You never here about all the big government projects that go well...
 
Edrof said:
That's nothing: Wokingham Borough Council are repaving the tiny Market Square in the town centre for £3,000,000 while getting rid of the 7 really valuable lollipop ladies outside the primary schools due to lack of funding. Beat that!
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That's just nuts
 
I know someone who works for a council in the Midlands where they have 3 guys responsible for the grass cutting.

There are 3 managers, each of them probably on at least £60-65k a year....
 
Greg0986 said:
That's nothing, where I work (NHS IT), we chuck out perfectly good PC's as the warranty is out and buy even more expensive ones. When I say perfectly good, I mean i5 8GB RAM and only 3 years old...

I have mentioned plenty of times to those higher up to just buy SSD's and sell off the old components (minus the hard drives for obvious reasons), just for it to fall on deaf ears. I think the issue is, is that if we don't spend the money we are given, we don't get the same next year, we get less.
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Surprised by this to be honest. Perhaps its the difference between NHS wales and England. I work in NHS Wales. We literally work PC's in to the ground. you would be lucky to get one replaced without it failing within 5 - 6 years. Always a lack of funds for this kind of thing. I guess it just varies from one Trust to another.
 
Threads like this make me laugh, it's all "I know this guy who..." and "I read in the paper that..."

The reason councils have asbestos management plans in place is because it's a legal requirement. The reason it's a legal requirement is because it can kill people in a very unpleasant manner. Asbestos in nonresidential properties is WAY more common than most people realise and they regularly drill / hammer / damage it. A single fibre of the stuff can make the rest of your considerably shortened life very difficult so believe me, you want them checking this, especially if it's near where you wash your hands / fill the kettle.

Most landlords of large estates (like councils) have fleet contracts in place that cover many sites. It's therefore difficult to break down costs for a specific site, so lazy journalists sometimes like to misrepresent what they've seen to make the story a bit "juicier".
 
Greg0986 said:
That's nothing, where I work (NHS IT), we chuck out perfectly good PC's as the warranty is out and buy even more expensive ones. When I say perfectly good, I mean i5 8GB RAM and only 3 years old...

I have mentioned plenty of times to those higher up to just buy SSD's and sell off the old components (minus the hard drives for obvious reasons), just for it to fall on deaf ears. I think the issue is, is that if we don't spend the money we are given, we don't get the same next year, we get less.
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My guess on this is that they've calculated that it's cheaper to replace the IT systems every 3-4 years when the warranty expires than pay for a support contract for these machines for another few years until they reach end of life
 
I know someone who works in a recycling centre in Switzerland.
their job is basically to disassemble electronics to be recycled.
I assume recovering the metals or whatever is the end goal.

He told me they get pretty decent pc's in all the time with fairly good cpus and gpus :O
 
Of course governments waste more money than any and all citizens, because it is the citizen's money. It's not them making the money so why would they care, why should they?

I made a thread about councils wasting money a year ago and some of the responses were like "Councils never waste any money, it really does cost billions to hand out fines, buy a lawn mower and collect rubbish."
 
asim18 said:
Of course governments waste more money than any and all citizens, because it is the citizen's money. It's not them making the money so why would they care, why should they?

I made a thread about councils wasting money a year ago and some of the responses were like "Councils never waste any money, it really does cost billions to hand out fines, buy a lawn mower and collect rubbish."
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You are showing your willful levels of ignorance, again.

Councils (like anyone, or organisation) do waste money, but as was explained in detail last time you mentioned it, it costs money to do things, especially on a large scale.
Also it's not just hand out fines and collect rubbish:rolleyes:
 
Every business wastes money not just Council’s. It’s all down to managements calculations. Don’t even question things just let people get on with it.

It’s all about saving money where possible but when money is thrown into certain areas and it has to be spent then this is what happens.
 
Kenai said:
5000 for a single asbestos management survey is daylight robbery, that can't be right? We get demolition surveys that take days to do followed by lab tests and they're only a few hundred quid!
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A few hundred quid for demolition survey that takes days? wat

How do you know it costs 5000 btw? Reinspection of the Asbestos items on a register on a regular basis is part of their duty to manage, if they don't do it they face prosecution.

Stupid thread is stupid.
 
arknor said:
I know someone who works in a recycling centre in Switzerland.
their job is basically to disassemble electronics to be recycled.
I assume recovering the metals or whatever is the end goal.

He told me they get pretty decent pc's in all the time with fairly good cpus and gpus :O
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There’s a market still there for recycling. The hard part is getting the contracts.
 
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