Councils up and down the country are having to make tough decisions- should they cut all the daft jobs- the outreach units, diversity officers and traveller liaison groups? Should they get rid of all the staff on long term 'sick' as well as all the spare 'managers', 'facilitators' and 'teamleaders'? Or should they spend less on expensive and pointless 'training', new slogans and rebranding consultants?
No, no, no. Don't be silly! It's much easier to stop filling in the potholes, close the town library and shut down all the swimming pools.
10 comments:
Didn't I read a suggestion that the heat from crematoria could be diverted to heat the swimming pools?
It's an excellent idea with everything to recommend it - environmentally sound, the opposite of wasteful, plain good sense and good value.
So it was binned.
Actually, the crematorium plan has been approved:
http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/8839402.Councillors_approve_Redditch_crematorium_heat_scheme/
Priceless soundbite from a protester outside Levenshulme swimming pool on Radio 4 six o'clock news last night. "Everyone uses this pool. We had a woman here earlier who suffers from extreme depression, she said if the pool closes she might go under."
As a Redditch resident I am proud to confirm the council have taken the plunge with the swimming pool plan.
Don't speak to me about staff taking the mick with sick-leave. Incensed at the antics of some of our staff.
I remember the time just after the war when there was a shortage of everything, no-one had much money and large parts of our cities had been flattened.
People moaned about the rates aka council tax, but in real terms the amount was a fraction of that which we pay now. I lived in a London suburb were there had been quite a lot of damage. Yet in spite of that, our town council kept the streets in immaculate condition; broken paving slabs were promptly replaced, streets were swept, gas street lamps were repaired, we had a weekly refuse collection and as a cyclist, I can't remember any pot-holes. We had a very good public library, municipal swimming baths, and well maintained playing fields, parks and flower-beds. Also good schools, albeit selective.
We are financially far better off now, and yet our councils don't seem even to be able manage the basic services that we took as granted in the late '40s just after the war.
Why?
Bureaucratic rule #1: when you have to make cuts, do the cuts which cause the most pain to the tax payers so that they will be willing to pay more money to relieve the pain.
johnckirk - delighted to hear it! My faith in mankind restored, however briefly!
englishpensioner, that is because back then we didn't pay billions of our hard-earned money into the EU and foreign aid, and there weren't so many people on benefits. There also wan't the issue of asylum seekers that have to be kept.
I've heard it all before (from my local council) and I'm not convinced. they are closing the daycentres for the elderly but still have money to paint narrow green lanes around roundabouts for cyclists so that the car drivers are confused. They can afford to re-lay the block paving that is more suitable for a domestic driveway, but they have buses driving over it in the centre of town. These and many other examples make me think that they have had far too much money for far too long.
'Stop' filling potholes? I don't think they started round here. It's like driving across the top of Malham Cove.
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