Councils merger on the cards ?

DoggedWalker

Well-Known Forumite
But ultimately you'll never get good people if you don't pay market rate.

If it encouraged successful people to move from the private sector where efficiency and smooth operations are more prevalent, I’d agree. What you get far more frequently is lifers moving across councils.

The best recent example of bringing an outsider in to anything near the civil service to deliver is Kate Bingham at the Vaccine Taskforce.
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
That's fine, and then we should get rid and get good people. Then we will have to pay market rate.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
That's fine, and then we should get rid and get good people. Then we will have to pay market rate.
These people are virtually unsackable. They want to be paid private sector wages but demand public sector pensions and job security.
 

EasMid

Well-Known Forumite
Where does all the extra council tax from all the new housing developments actually go? They don’t seem to be providing much in the way of additional infrastructure & services etc.
 

DoggedWalker

Well-Known Forumite
Where does all the extra council tax from all the new housing developments actually go? They don’t seem to be providing much in the way of additional infrastructure & services etc.
Filling the black hole that is social care costs. Only going to get worse as the population ages.
 

bunique

Well-Known Forumite
There was historically talk of merging Stoke and Newcastle and potentially parts of staffs moorlands into one council
 

Mudgie

Well-Known Forumite
There was historically talk of merging Stoke and Newcastle and potentially parts of staffs moorlands into one council
Next it'll be everything that was ever Staffordshire merging into a Unitary Authority.
Then it'll be bye bye Stafford Borough Council !
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Next it'll be everything that was ever Staffordshire merging into a Unitary Authority.
Then it'll be bye bye Stafford Borough Council !
Where I have escaped to, we have the national government and the county council, and it seems to work a lot better than I'm used to in Stafford.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
The biggest advantage the private sector has is being able to borrow to invest. Network Rail was able to do that but there was already pressure to bring the "arms length" public company fully back onto the books. The second that happened Network Rail could no longer borrow money and cancelled a huge raft of electrification projects.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
The biggest advantage the private sector has is being able to borrow to invest. Network Rail was able to do that but there was already pressure to bring the "arms length" public company fully back onto the books. The second that happened Network Rail could no longer borrow money and cancelled a huge raft of electrification projects.
In theory, yes

In reality greedy shareholders and corporations end up syphoning off every last bit of profit. For evidence just looks at our water companies, every one of them is over extracting rivers rather than build reservoirs and every one of them is spewing billions of gallons of raw sewage in to every water course and every beach around our Isles rather than build the required infrastructure to deal with waste water.

But yeah, it's all because of nationalisation that it's so bad 🤷‍♀️
 

DoggedWalker

Well-Known Forumite
In theory, yes

In reality greedy shareholders and corporations end up syphoning off every last bit of profit. For evidence just looks at our water companies, every one of them is over extracting rivers rather than build reservoirs and every one of them is spewing billions of gallons of raw sewage in to every water course and every beach around our Isles rather than build the required infrastructure to deal with waste water.

But yeah, it's all because of nationalisation that it's so bad 🤷‍♀️
Water companies are hardly a reflection of the wider economy. They operate as a monopoly. There is no competition to encourage a cheaper product, or a cleaner product as an incentive to use them. Water companies in comparison to energy suppliers are a real failure of opening the market because of by unique issues in supplying water.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Water companies are hardly a reflection of the wider economy. They operate as a monopoly. There is no competition to encourage a cheaper product, or a cleaner product as an incentive to use them. Water companies in comparison to energy suppliers are a real failure of opening the market because of by unique issues in supplying water.

The Tories all showing their colours! And energy companies are a raging success aren't they,!!

The only unique thing is that we have a government complicit in allowing the destruction of our natural world, have you seen the volume of shit being spewed. Its thrid world, its worse than that in fact. Privatisation has been a monumental failure

With the exception of telecoms and British Airways I can't think of any ex nationalised industry that has benefitted anyone but the rich, the shareholders and the financial markets. Certainly for the utilities it's become a national risk.

The Post Office
Power gen,
National Power
British Railway
Water
Coal
Sure there are others..

All ruined for the many by the greed of a few. Look at the current state of energy, water and the railways. Soon we will be having load sheering and we already barely have a functioning railway in many areas
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Water companies are hardly a reflection of the wider economy. They operate as a monopoly. There is no competition to encourage a cheaper product, or a cleaner product as an incentive to use them. Water companies in comparison to energy suppliers are a real failure of opening the market because of by unique issues in supplying water.
Holding energy companies up as a shining beacon of success, is not really winning an argument is it.
 
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