Topic: What are your council cutbacks?

[lillian]

Two thirds of Suffolk libraries face closesure. Rural bus services maybe axed....... :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Add to the above the proposed clossure of it 7 out of 18 of its household waste and recycling centres.  >:(

Not to mention the proposal to cut 60+ lollipop ladies and gents. Reducing Park and Ride.

[Paulines7]

Yes Ninnyscrops take Pauline's advice and give up your revenue generating tax paying business and go and work in the public sector.

I didn't say that at all.  The jobs I was talking about are with charities such as Mencap or Turning Point who find it difficult to keep staff and always have vacancies.  They are not in the public sector who, as we know, will be laying off carers and support workers.

If Ninny's business is as bad as she is saying, there will be no tax to pay so she might be better off doing something else, especially if she has a mortgage to pay.  I had to give up self employment when the recession came along in the late 1980's as my income fell well below that of the personal tax allowance.  

[Ellen K]

^^ yes those sound like ideal jobs for the carers who are being laid off by the council  - a win win for both employers perhaps?  Is that what you mean?

There was someone talking on the radio the other day about the demographic changes we've seen under the Blair-Brown administration (like Thatcherism, it has its legacy).  No 1 is record breaking levels of youth unemployment.  The second is adults whom he described as "disappearing off the economic grid" i.e. Adults who had good jobs and paid oodles of tax but took early retirement or redundancy  and now pay in a lot less or nothing at all.  I can tell you what some of them did:  what they have always done and set up their own business.  But in the past you would expand your business, rent premises and take on a few staff etc.  Now it is all about doing as much as you can as a sole trader or partnership.  If at all possible, stay under the VAT threshold and never never never take on staff, it is too risky.   But seek out any work you can get from the councils as they pay top wack for everything.  Harvey-Jones must be spinning in his grave. we have gone from a natiom of business empire builders to microniches in one generation.   No wonder we are in the poo.

[Ninnyscrops.]

From my experience, the majority of local government workers do not earn a lot of money and like others in the public and private sector often find it difficult to make ends meet.  Pay cuts could mean that they could get into difficulties paying their mortgages and end up with considerable debt.  I was really talking about the higher earners Pauline, not the everyday service providers. I'm sorry if it didn't come across as that.

As for holidaying abroad at least once a year, I don't know where you are coming from.  My OH and I were married for 26 years before we could afford a trip abroad.  We only went then because our son was getting married in Cyprus and we wanted to be there. Same here, in fact we flew up to Cairo with our daughter earlier in the month for the first time in a long time, she is now 30 and the last time we flew together she was 3.  

My OH has been a civil servant for over 40 years and I have been a civil servant, a local government employee as well as a worker in shops and offices and as a carer in the private sector.  When did I earn the most money?  Answer.... when I was self employed. We've always been employed in the private sector, but is was hard experiencing the automatic annual pay rises and how they filtered over to more expenditure for us.

Ninny, I am sorry that your business is not doing well.  Why not give it up and get a job doing something else?  Despite the recession, there are always vacancies for care assistants or support workers and training can be done on the job.  At least it would give you an income.   :D We still have an income, but as I said early, drastically reduced from an already low one. We've always said we're in business just to make a living and not a lifestyle, if that makes sense.

I don't know what cuts my council will be making, but their cash from the government has probably not been cut so much as elsewhere because we have a Tory MP.   ::)

Our worries are elsewhere at the moment though, daughter is still in Egypt and they've announced the curfew but she just rang to say she obsiously can't text or communicate on the net.....but she is safe. 

[Bill Door]

Denbyvisitor I have looked at your post for a while and think you may have the wrong information.

At one point you say "that some of these quangos (like CAB)".  Now I don't know if you are aware that the each local CAB is a registered charity and not a quango.

The CAB do a lot of very decent work to help a lot of people in the community that need help.  In fact one could say that they are the forerunner of Camerons "Big Society".  CABs have been running since the 1939.  Probably if you took the time to ask you would find out that the majority of "staff" in the local CABs are volunteers and receive no pay.

Well done and thank you to all those volunteers for dealing with problems in the community that some little people only stand back and sneer at.

Bill

[ConfusedRhubarb]

It's going to be painful in Lewisham esp for those on lower incomes (obviously I suppose)..
60 million over the next few years is the stated aim with 446 redundancies..

The riot squad has already been called during one council meeting and I expect there to be much more confrontation before this is done..

@BDNick - You are right of course, its will be most painful for those on low incomes as they are most dependent on local authorities. But... Lewisham's cuts are no worse overall than any of their neighbouring councils, and they have had some well publicised consultations, and haven't been hiding their plans.  - so the real difference is that Lewisham's residents know what the cuts are.
Is that what Alanis Morrisette was singing about?

[Mr Smith]

The dog bins are not emptied anymore, but that is not an excuse for lazy owners, mostly old retired codgers who can't bend down anyway. But they do an extendable handle scooper, so still no excuse.

The countryside rangers are getting their cards now. I suppose other services needs the money more than they do. But our countryside is one of the draws for visitors which keeps the hoteliers  working, so another well thought out idea. I think our council have wasted £30 million on madcap ideas these last few years and now with nothing in the pot they need to save £18 million to break even.

We will all be leaving soon as there will be nothing here to keep us, all I ask is that the last person to leave is to turn the light off.

                   And the next move on the 'Island' will be to make all the screws redundant, and  the only life on the island will be the garlic farm, :)

[ACE]

                   And the next move on the 'Island' will be to make all the screws redundant, and  the only life on the island will be the garlic farm, :)

First, nobody local works at the garlic farm after he killed one of his workers with some banned chemicals. They are all eastern europeans working there probably on basic rate wages.

Secondly, the prisoners are out and about working unsupervised in churchyards etc, well supposed to be working, one of them gets his missus to pick him up each day and then drops him back  in time for the van to take him back to the nick.

[caroline7758]

You're right about CAB's, Bill- thanks (I work in one). But it's no surprise that the local authorities are choosing to withdraw their funding when they see the government withdrawing theirs by reducing legal aid and ending the funding of the Financial Inclusion Fund (900 CAB jobs threatened) and vinvolved (the organisation for youth volunteering).

I had to laugh when I heard on the news tonight that the government is closing down irresponsible debt management companies and advising people who are struggling with debt to seek help from CAB's. >:(

[Mr Smith]

                   And the next move on the 'Island' will be to make all the screws redundant, and  the only life on the island will be the garlic farm, :)

First, nobody local works at the garlic farm after he killed one of his workers with some banned chemicals. They are all eastern europeans working there probably on basic rate wages.

Secondly, the prisoners are out and about working unsupervised in churchyards etc, well supposed to be working, one of them gets his missus to pick him up each day and then drops him back  in time for the van to take him back to the nick.

Unsupervised Lags working  on the island what is the world coming too,  definitely not coming down might get mi caravan and new motor  nicked, :)

[ACE]

Unsupervised Lags working  on the island what is the world coming too,  definitely not coming down might get mi caravan and new motor  nicked, :)

You would be out of luck there  mate. They are closing the gyppo sites as well. ;D Oops, sorry that should have read 'honest, hard working, tax paying travelling folk'

[Bill Door]

Yes Caroline7758.  It makes me mad when Councils off load a lot of community help that they should do onto CAB and other charities. Then they have the gall to tell each local CAB that they have to prove their monies worth before they get a grant to help run their premises.  Councils get a lot of work done on the cheap.  As you say so do the Government.

Best wishes
Bill

[Ellen K]

^^ I do know a bit about CABs as a close friend works as a volunteer in one of their offices.

Yes they are a charity but they have become dependant on funds from the taxpayer when (with hindsight) it would have been wise to seek more money from other sources.  It suggests that in the link to the BBC article on this thread.

Also, I have to say that they do good work if you've got some forms to fill in, that kind of stuff but when I've heard my friend recount stories of some of the advice they give, I have been alarmed.  No better than asking on an internet forum when people believe they have received definitive advice from people who should know what they are talking about, or at the very least state that they can't advise.

[caroline7758]

Some CAB's in affluent areas raise a lot of money themselves, but those in areas where they are needed most have to rely on funding from other sources, mainly the local authority (who as Bill says are getting services on the cheap and will have to pick up the pieces if vulnerable clients have nowhere else to go). Maybe we should ask the banks to fund us as their irresponsible lending has caused many of the problems our clients have?
Most of our funding sources are themselves (or were!) funded by the government- what other sources would you suggest, DB?
As for the standard of advice, I'm concerned to hear your concerns. Maybe your friend should raise it with the manager?

[Ellen K]

^^ to answer your points in turn:

- do you really believe that by contributing 600k pa, Birmingham Council is getting CAB's services "on the cheap"?

- perhaps debt problems are as much to do with irresponsible borrowing, I don't think you can credibly blame it all on the banks.

- presumably CAB as a charity can look at getting funding the same way other charities do.  There are some charities which receive no public money at all so it can be done.

- my friend has expressed concerns but part of the problem seems to be down to culture.  For instance, I worked in clinical research for many years and know quite a lot about some bits of medicine.  But I am not qualified to give medical advice.  It can face you with ethical issues sometimes but all you can say is "I am not qualified blah blah but you must go and see your GP about this, or whatever, immediately."  But there seems to be no such culture in the CAB.

You see this everywhere, somebody is faced with seeing their job disappear and they immediately want to tell you how bad this is going to be FOR YOU when this happens.  But times change and some services that were valuable in the past have less value now.    I don't know if CAB is one of those cases but it might be.  Or it could be a casualty of the councils taking the easy option and cutting all their 3rd party contracts rather than taking the hit internally.  Maybe some of both.

[caroline7758]

Don't want to get into an argument, but I'll just say £600,000 for 5 centres is nothing and less than £1 per head of population in Birmingham, and that every CAB is different- although they all use the same, very detailed and up-to-date information system and thorough training and, in my experience, do refer on to specialists (if any are available, which is going to be a problem with ever more cuts to legal aid etc) when required.

[Ellen K]

^^ nah, for 600K you could employ a (very) small group of properly qualified people rather than relying on some 3rd party charity/volunteer group with its own agenda giving out half assed advice.

I'd set it up for that price if anyone from BCC is watching!

[Mr Smith]

Unsupervised Lags working  on the island what is the world coming too,  definitely not coming down might get mi caravan and new motor  nicked, :)

You would be out of luck there  mate. They are closing the gyppo sites as well. ;D Oops, sorry that should have read 'honest, hard working, tax paying travelling folk'

      Ace ,  we will be still down there anyway just to see the brood, :)

[Bill Door]

So DenbyVisitor

We know you haven't looked at Birmingham CABs accounts at the Charity Commision.  Had you done so you would have seen that some of your earlier questions had been answered.

We also know that you are prepared to stand on the sidelines and snipe without proof.  For that matter you are prepared to see a friend "seemingly" get bad advice and not make sure that the error is corrected.

It would also appear that you are prepared to set yourself up for community support without a plan or knowing what the problems that need to be covered are.  With no idea of the costs that will be involved.

And no I don't think that the CAB gives "half assed" advice.  If you still think they have and you have the evidence to show it then as an upright citizen you should approach the CAB manager and bring this "half assed" advice to their attention so that the appropriate upskilling can take place.  I hope to hear that you have done this.

Bill

[caroline7758]

Well said, Bill!