Council waste at its best

sigma said:
Let me get that straight:

Between 2002 and 2009 spending on local authority payrolls increased by £67bn, he says.

What the ****? :eek:

Yet people have the audacity to moan at the current government for trying to make cuts?
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Of course they do! They are the ones being payed part of the £67bn! It's their livelyhood at stake. They don't care that those of us who actually have a net pay in to the system can't afford to keep them employed in non-jobs.
 
rypt said:
Do explain then what useful role they carry out, same for equality managers
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Ensuring the organisation considers diversity and equality for all in its objectives/business plan. Perhaps at some point in the future these roles wont be needed because of more awareness and business adaptability, but they currently are needed.
 
rypt said:
Do explain then what useful role they carry out same for equality managers
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A diversity officer is an HR position. They often have a community liaison role, and deal primarily with issues like LGBT rights, gender equity, interfaith dialogue, cultural diversity, indigenous employment, bilingual services (e.g. Welsh & Gaelic), workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and impairment & disability.

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need diversity officers or equality managers. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world.
 
Evangelion said:
A diversity officer is an HR position. They often have a community liaison role, and deal primarily with issues like LGBT rights, gender equity, interfaith dialogue, cultural diversity, indigenous employment, bilingual services (e.g. Welsh & Gaelic), workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and impairment & disability.

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need diversity officers or equality managers. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world.
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I suspect 'indiginous employment' isn't dealt with by diversity officers or equality managers in the UK. We are the last in line for governmental jobs!
 
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Raz said:
Ensuring the organisation considers diversity and equality for all in its objectives/business plan. Perhaps at some point in the future these roles wont be needed because of more awareness and business adaptability, but they currently are needed.
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Why must an organisation consider diversity and equality? Both of those are inherent anyway
 
Dabbles said:
Of course they do! They are the ones being payed part of the £67bn! It's their livelyhood at stake. They don't care that those of us who actually have a net pay in to the system can't afford to keep them employed in non-jobs.
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Surprised lolhausen and forza have not picked this up yet.

I wonder how they could twist it around to be the fault of the coalition.
 
Dabbles said:
You have to put your hand up to speak at a meeting? Huh? Do they treat you all like kids?
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People are not treated that well really.
I have seen some talented people leave because the LA could not give them any incentive to stay.
The Salary is pants, Flexi time good if you can take the leave, if not you loose any thing over 10hours accrued in the month.
Plus LA was know for good pension,..if you are a teacher, policeman, Nurse etc !

In last few years I went for an interview at a LEA Uni and spent 2-3 hrs revising for the interview. Took half a day of work, parked my car half a mile away and walked in a black suit on a very hot summers day.
So I had the interview, and received the letter,. On this occasion you have not been successful,..blar, blar etc.
So I phone up to get feed back. Only to be told it went internal and we were there ( the other candidates ) to 'Test the Water' for applicants.
Needless to say I had very big moan at some finance director of the Uni.
I did get a letter of apology in the post, no compensation for time, holiday, money spent on the ****ing interview.
Good to see that Uni fees are being spent well and targeted properly ! !
 
Greebo said:
There is stupid wastage though. A few years ago our council had one of the highest planning permission rejection percentages in the country and also had one of the highest percentages of them losing at appeal.

To me that meant they were been over zealous and rejecting too many applications which later got passed on appeal. Of course, the cost to the council for the appeals was thousands per year which is our money.

Equally, our council is trying to break the record for the longest set of temporary traffic lights where a road has partially fallen away on the side of a hill making the road one way for about 50 yards. The council bought the land years ago so the side and fenced it off so they could move the road further away from the edge.

The council does not have the money to move the road and they are not allowed to borrow it (rules apparently) yet they have now paid £22,000 per annum for 20 years for temporary traffic lights.

A few years ago the council bought modern new furniture all the offices and sold the old furniture at auction. We bought one of the desks. If was in perfect condition and solid wood and probably 70 years old and would last another 70 years. The new furniture probably cost them a fortune and will only last a short period before breaking and need replacing.

And don;t get me started on budgets in the civil service. It certainly used to be if you didn;t use your budget one year, it would be cut the following so no incentive for you not to spend the full amount. We had £50,000 left one year so we voted on what to spend it on. A storage room got converted into a full gym with a dartboard and table tennis table.

And on and on we go. Yet it will be low paid workers who actually do something useful at the sharp end who will lose their jobs in the cost cutting.
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This was probably due to partial decentralisation.

The accountants in whitehall look at budgets via percentages. Not at the budget comments nor are those in whitehall interested in facts why the money wasn't spent. Thus a surplus due to having to put a certain project back one year will be missed by whitehall and the budget will be cut. The first place to look for a lazy accountant looking for cuts is surplus credits in the budget.

Planning seems to be the main issue with most civil services. This is because the guys are the top are political and won't think twice to divert cash to whatever cause is top in the daily mail that week. :(
 
Tysonator said:
So I phone up to get feed back. Only to be told it went internal and we were there ( the other candidates ) to 'Test the Water' for applicants.!
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They are obliged to open the job to everyone, in practice it's always a matter of if your face fits. LA's have a certain way of working and they like people who understand how they "work" :rolleyes: That pretty much guarantees the job will always go to the internal muppet, regardless of ability.

They only job an outsider will get in a council will be to provide maternity cover.
 
bitslice said:
They are obliged to open the job to everyone, in practice it's always a matter of if your face fits. LA's have a certain way of working and they like people who understand how they "work" :rolleyes: That pretty much guarantees the job will always go to the internal muppet, regardless of ability.

They only job an outsider will get in a council will be to provide maternity cover.
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What really p*ssed me off was the I was more qualified and skilled than the internal candidate. I alsoasked at the interview if there was any internal applicates. I was told there was but they lack skill & knowledge and therefore would not make the short list.
This was a total lie !
I use to work for LEA and left because I could not go any where in life with the salary I was earning.
about 5 years ago I had an interview for my old LEA position. The LEA were offering less money than I left on, even though the position was advertise on a high salary range !

I just remember why I had left in the first place !
 
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