The Council budget
So the Councillors were seemingly being faced with a very simple choice: cuts services or cut senior management. And they opted for the latter.
Of course, it is never quite as simple as that, but the overall proposal being put forward by the SNP Group on the Council deserved serious consideration as it was a sensible alternative approach to balancing the books over the coming years.
The public do not understand why pensioners have to pay £15 per hour for care when there are perceived to be too many staff on too high wages - a development officer costs £40,000.
It may have been a tactical error in bringing the the amendments forward at the very last moment (although I understand that there might have been some difficulty in getting the information to formulate the proposal) but part of the process is to see the final form of the corporate proposal, and to suggest alternatives. This necessitates last minute action, although how 'last minute' is an area of hot contention.
However, we can thank the 27 Councillors who didn't support the need to review senior management, as...
Of course, it is never quite as simple as that, but the overall proposal being put forward by the SNP Group on the Council deserved serious consideration as it was a sensible alternative approach to balancing the books over the coming years.
The public do not understand why pensioners have to pay £15 per hour for care when there are perceived to be too many staff on too high wages - a development officer costs £40,000.
It may have been a tactical error in bringing the the amendments forward at the very last moment (although I understand that there might have been some difficulty in getting the information to formulate the proposal) but part of the process is to see the final form of the corporate proposal, and to suggest alternatives. This necessitates last minute action, although how 'last minute' is an area of hot contention.
However, we can thank the 27 Councillors who didn't support the need to review senior management, as...
Convenor (sic) Alex Macdonald said: “The chief executive is very assiduous in ensuring there is no extra fat in the top layers here.”
37 comments:
No.............
The Chief Executive is very assidious in ensuring that there is so much fat between the frontline services and himself that his own post would be the last one to be looked at.
Malcolm Burr has killed this council, is killing the islands and needs to be de-throned.
Angus- time for a list of suitable council cutbacks.
I'll start by nominating the council yellowjackets that go round checking for Charlie Nicolsons dogshit criminals.
There, that £40k for starters.
Malcolm who? Oh yes, the guy who costs us over £100k a year and never answers his mail........
So what do the people in the voluntary sector reflect in the community - are their wages, children etc not in the community?
Can anyone tell me what the consultants we are paying for are being consulted about?
Stalin would sort this mob out. Its just obscene the councils handling of OUR money.
Lose the islands allowance.
BAN vans for bacon roll runs.
More policing is required by council managers, they are clearly not up to this - knackered - Move them out and see if we can make glue with them
Vans for bacon roll runs may be public but how much more money is being wasted behind doors, out of the public view? Management teams from all departments should be looking more closely at where their budgets are being wasted.
10:02
"I am a kind of burr; I shall stick."
(Shakespeare, Measure for Measure)
Council could save a fortune by cancelling the famous street lighting contract. There are HUNDREDS of lights which have been out of action for months.
The councils sparky's are notorious within the Industry for doing absolutely F A all day.
If two of them repair one light a day they are doing well. The responsibility for this mess lies squarely at the feet of the foremen who are not ensuring that the sparky's get on with their work and out of the depot in the morning rather than hanging about untill morning tea break before moving. By the time they get to the location of their first job it is lunch time and time for another break.Yet Mr Burr thinks that they can do the job cheaper than a private Contractor just the same as he thinks they can run buses cheaper than private Contractors but then again the Private sector does not have the bottom less pit of money to keep them going.
As far as council workers are concerned they know that if their budget is overspent the council will always find more.
All these overspends come out of front line services, our council tax. No less council vans or buses on the road, But quite happy for the elderly to pick up the tab.
T breaks over so I better get back to work!!
Angus you are very much aligning yourself with the current SNP. Even to the point of doing their press releases. Change of heart or conscience?
"MP / MSP express concern about ....Town Hall, services to older people, etc. etc." Can the MP tell us how often he has met with the Comhairle and the Health Board in the last year to discuss the various issues that emanate from his press releases?
It increasingly clear that Mr Macneil's priorities are (a) Mr Macneil, (b) the SNP and, far, far down the line, (c) his constituents.
It was fine when he was a candidate, and before then, for Mr Macneil to spend his time with letters to the Herald or press releases, or, no doubt, with the lunatic cyberNats on the various blogs. But he's now the constituency MP.
Can he start, even at this late stage, behaving like one?
Where are the alternative messures to the school closures that the dynamic duo and mad man(ford) are worried about. Does AA have the backing of SG to propose an alternative funding package. glass houses stone etc.
The apparent total detachment by ABM & AA is unbeleivable when are they ever going to act on anything.
We can all critise every and all proffered solutions but surely they are the ones enpowered to drive the SG to alternatives.
Does anyone know if the council can be dissolved if they fail to find the answers. At what point does it become necessary to have a serious look at a major overhaul. Their strategic plan or vision is becoming very confusing when they are now suggesting spending some their precious resources on investigating the viability of running piers in the islands, rather than looking at the looming neglect of our frail elderly. The vulnerable and elderly in our society have paid their taxes and deserve better from us. Caring people should be running the council. As as start, a mandatory 10% cut in pay should be imposed on say salaries over £35-40k for example, to try and save these critical frontline services.
Any truth in the rumour that Angus wrote the alternative Budget for Cllr Manford????
Did MacSween vote for or against the Council Budget which had
large hikes in elderly care charges, launching a controversial frozen meals service for housebound pensioners and slashing funding for voluntary groups
Q. How many Councillors does it take to change a light bulb?
A. They're too busy applauding cutting services and saving the jobs of managers (sic) to bother with real life.
Q. How many COU operatives does it take to change a light bulb?
A. 4 to get the bacon rolls, 2 to supervise the work rota, 1 to drive the cherry picker and 1 junior trainee to take the light bulb out.
Unfortunately, all the bulbs have been stolen, so you need another 2 people to arrange to buy them back off eBay.
3 more to prepare the report to the Council, 4 + 2 lawyers to renegotiate the contract.
And 1 accountant to accurately record all the expenditure incurred and compare it to budget, but not be allowed to do anything about the underlying problem.
COU get it again! Ok they are the guys seen by the public out and about in their vans etc. What are the rest of the council employees doing at the same time? Surfing the net in council time, travelling to 'important' meetings, training sessions etc., staying in the best accommodation, eating in the best restaurants - the list could go on. All these things are costing money too.
3:55
Thats Brilliant! very funny
Its alarming though that you are freakishly close to the truth.
I hear the cash strapped CNES bought the old Co-op or old Lighting Electrical depending on how old you are (Cromwell Street)this week, I know it was valued at about £230,000 - £250,000 a few years ago but has since fallen into disrepair so will be interesting how much they got it for. Must have been a bargain! The question is who is going to pay what I would estimate £100,000 - £120,000 just to get it up to standard, never mind any alteration work required to turn it into what ever they are going to use it for.
Er pardon me.....what does the Heb News Headline "Council APPLAUDS stringent budget cuts" mean- Are they really clapping themselves for cutting care to the elderly, shutting schools and keeping the Fart Cats in Jobs
I understand that the proposals to cut senior staff had been well worked-out by the SNP group - they made an embarassing comparison between the Council's fat cats with Orkney's senior managers and with other similar Scottish authorities.
Knowing some of the folk behind the scenes, hell would freeze over before any of them put the fatty centre of the organisation up for the chop. So much time is spent on jockeying for position, putting down rivals, playing politics and shoring up power bases that it's amazing anything gets done.
There's no way any of them can be got rid of early. They've pushed out everyone with a bit of flair or honesty, and the talent that's left never gets a look-in.
They need to go - now. And abolition is the only way ahead.
Weren't serious efforts were made at the start of the 2007 council to oust the convenor and the vice convenor (now leader) and prevent further damage to the western isles but the sheep that are councillors just voted them back in again to continue ruining our islands and bringing the western isles into disrepute. Meanwhile the chief executive drives his fat arse around in a new £50,000 VW.
People are complaining that the MP and MSP don;t spend enough time in the Council. Why on earth should they spend time with that shower?
Someone on your blog asked - did MacSween vote for or against the Council Budget?
The fact of the matter is - he bottled it and didn't even attend the meeting.
Flossie (Convenor) is now but a figurehead. His ar$E was always stretched from sitting on the fence- all things to all men.
The Oil Barron believes he is All Powerfull and when he says jump they all say how high.Power Corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I was going to call a meeeting on public apathy with a view to having them all booted out- but I can't be bothered
Re - 6.31 pm
One of the problems with the Western Isles is the lack of any proper, impartial media. On the one hand, we have the staff of the Stornoway Gazette with a rather silly pro-SNP agenda. (Remember a few years ago, when we had them displaying a fantasy headline - 'Blair Supports Sunday Ballots'.) On the other hand, we had the WHFP with its Labour agenda.
And in the middle, truth suffered...
It's a shame to see the Heb News falling into exactly the same trap. Clearly propaganda is being swallowed. Emotive words like 'applauded' are used in headlines, as if the Councillors welcomed these changes. I personally doubt that this was the case.
And so it goes on. We even have one of your correspondents defending Mr MacNeil for refusing to talk to the Council.
Sorry? He's paid handsomely to do exactly this. If the entire excercise is too distasteful for him, perhaps he should remove his snout from the trough.
He too is part of the problem. He should stop going into a teenage huff every time there's a problem and talk to others instead, trying to find a solution to what has become an almighty mess.
12.15 pm is right. It is time for him to strip off the Caped Crusader outfit and do his proper job.
Why do we need both Flossie and the Panda? Shurely this would free up a front line wage or even two?
Would it not have been worth looking at a more radical budget model for a slimmed down version of the council? They could move all the necessary public service functions to the town hall. This would justify the recent expenditure on the building. All other services could be franchised out to local businesses or establishing co-ops, creating a healthy form of competition. I'm sure there are many in the community who have the necessary skills for providing all these services. The recent worrying trend of monopoly politics seems to be a form is of protectionism. Not a good sign for the future!
Now I have brought this to the attention of the Comhairle that other Councils can afford it can I expect my parking place to be devoid of potholes at the White House?
Oops. Link in my earlier post has been replaced with the latest edition of the paper. I you want to read what I was on about you have to click on the middle paper Bedfordshire on Sunday and then on the archive top left to see last weeks paper.
For those who can't be bothered, and who can blame them, it was an article about a Council who spent £37,000 or repairing the potholes in the Council employees Carpark.
to go back to the missing bulbs/ potholed road story. i note that all the roads are being filled (in town at least) - You'd never guess there was an election this year!
Filling in potholes, they're chasing their tails, the roads are fukd.
It's well seen that this council has gone to the dogs. Can you imagine this happening under the leadership of the late Angus Graham or Roddy Murray. These leaders led with a rod of iron and were respected by the officers.
I see the Mad Barrach under his short term at the COU.
Oh if only we could find councillors of that calibre now.
Sadly the next Council election is 2012. thats a lot of sh**e for one blog to take.
2012. Oh God.
Post a Comment