The powers that be #2

On the proposed merger of the three Central/West London Conservative Councils (Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster), and the fear that the private sector will take over running sections of it, he writes:

"What people don't seem to realise is that I'm not just worried for myself. I'm worried about the other people who work here. There are a lot of people who are good people, who work hard above and beyond the remit of their job. Of all the places I've worked, I can honestly say that the council has a lower percentage of shirkers than anywhere else I've worked. Though I may complain at times, people here are genuinely helpful to each other and there isn't the office politics problems that dog most offices. It really riles me that a lot of these people will suffer because they're deemed an easy target by the current government. Forget the social workers, teachers and nurses. Councils are about so much more. The people in libraries, the planning departments, the cashiers, the council tax department, the fostering department and obviously the finance team where I work. The unglamorous jobs that people don't appreciate and don't/shouldn't notice. Imagine if any of them were run by a company such as Vodafone. The calls going into queues, never to be answered. The things that are supposed to be sorted over the phone, but then there's no record of it afterwards. The disparity between the people on the ground and the management. It all just riles me immensely."

Some years ago, Rotherham Council (Lab majority) took a look at its IT section and decided to outsource it to BT. Strangely, when BT took over, it was deemd that BT would also run the personnel section - where my dad worked. He, being 60, was offered early retirement, but what about when there aren't enough people taking voluntary redundancy and early retirement?

The first time I heard of George Osborne, I thought his name was a joke made up by the Guardian.

The powers that be #2

On the proposed merger of the three Central/West London Conservative Councils (Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster), and the fear that the private sector will take over running sections of it, he writes:

"What people don't seem to realise is that I'm not just worried for myself. I'm worried about the other people who work here. There are a lot of people who are good people, who work hard above and beyond the remit of their job. Of all the places I've worked, I can honestly say that the council has a lower percentage of shirkers than anywhere else I've worked. Though I may complain at times, people here are genuinely helpful to each other and there isn't the office politics problems that dog most offices. It really riles me that a lot of these people will suffer because they're deemed an easy target by the current government. Forget the social workers, teachers and nurses. Councils are about so much more. The people in libraries, the planning departments, the cashiers, the council tax department, the fostering department and obviously the finance team where I work. The unglamorous jobs that people don't appreciate and don't/shouldn't notice. Imagine if any of them were run by a company such as Vodafone. The calls going into queues, never to be answered. The things that are supposed to be sorted over the phone, but then there's no record of it afterwards. The disparity between the people on the ground and the management. It all just riles me immensely."

Some years ago, Rotherham Council (Lab majority) took a look at its IT section and decided to outsource it to BT. Strangely, when BT took over, it was deemd that BT would also run the personnel section - where my dad worked. He, being 60, was offered early retirement, but what about when there aren't enough people taking voluntary redundancy and early retirement?

The first time I heard of George Osborne, I thought his name was a joke made up by the Guardian.