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In the private sector dinners, Christmas wine, event tickets etc are bread and butter for purchasing.
Public sector you can lose your job for accepting a bottle of wine at Christmas (this is not hyperbola). The office I used to work in at the council got a case of 6 bottles of wine every year. It was recorded and then raffled for charity, which was also recorded, until my boss was told that was unacceptable and we now had to refuse them in future.
insaniak wrote: Sometimes, Exterminatus is the only option.
And sometimes, it's just a case of too much scotch combined with too many buttons...
I work for a private company and we've got very strict rules about what we can/can't accept, but it's a totally different level in the public section - you can't open the door for any claim of bribery or bias.
notprop wrote: I've spent 20 years directly building circa £500m of schools, military installations, health facilities, LA housing and Infrastructure.
There's always lots of money but sensible spending and competent management, not so much.
I'm sorry, but you're a builder. Therefore an expert in your particular profession and are being critical of teachers not being able to fully understand the exact requirements of your particular role, so that contract are written ineffectively?
PFIs are just one part of the problem, but the main problem is, as alluded to in this article is contractual inflexibility. It is the one area where dealings with the private sector falls down every single time. The private sector demands exact details in its contracts, but by the very nature of public service the full details are not always know. Writing in flexibility increases contract cost exorbitantly and honest mistakes can be made which can cost huge sums.
For example, a private contractor is hired to provide airfield services which include grass cutting. This is not as straightforward or as simple as it sounds because there are very tight rules and regulations about types of grass and lengths in specific areas as they are know to interfere with sensitive equipment and provide habitats for birds. It must be carefully and rigorously controlled. A mistake had been made by one individual, and it leads to some equipment being made unavailable due to interference. The mistake was as simple as the area of shorter grass around the equipment being of the wrong radius. In order to get this simple mistake rectified, the contract had to be re-written costing in excess of £200k. Until then, the contractor refused to even consider performing the task to the correct specification, because it wasn't in the contract, so valuable equipment is unavailable and the tax payer picks up a huge cash bill because of a mistake and rigid corporate inflexibility.
That was one example of the many many times I came across such attitudes. The contractor knows, and profits from hugely any mistakes, so it benefits them to rigidly stick to their contract regardless. I was always taught that flexibility is the key to air power, and it is, but the key to financial enrichment is inflexibility.
If business are inflexible because of costs, and are unwilling to enter into lucrative government contracts and be willing to work alongside the public management, then we should look to dispense with their services altogether and provide it ourselves. It's cheaper, more flexible, and cost effective in the long run. These companies are not running on wafer thin profit margins here. Govt and council projects are a goldmine for them, they should be made to really work hard for the money they get, and we simply do not do that.
"All their ferocity was turned outwards, against enemies of the State, foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals" - Orwell, 1984
Steve steveson wrote: In the private sector dinners, Christmas wine, event tickets etc are bread and butter for purchasing.
Public sector you can lose your job for accepting a bottle of wine at Christmas (this is not hyperbola). The office I used to work in at the council got a case of 6 bottles of wine every year. It was recorded and then raffled for charity, which was also recorded, until my boss was told that was unacceptable and we now had to refuse them in future.
I work for somewhere in the middle. Like the Bendu to the Jedi and the Sith.
We have to declare all hospitality of any kind. Doesn't matter what it is, has to be properly declared. I think it's mostly so we can rat on anyone trying to bribe us.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
From what I've seen in the public sector, if you're an underling on the take you can expect to be squashed like a bug. If you're a manager or worse, a county councillor, unless what you do is particularly egregious, you get quietly pushed out the back with minimal fuss and public attention. They don't want the public thinking that councillors and managers in public services are crooked. A bit like you don't get many bank managers publicly busted but a cashier that takes a few quid can expect to be smashed.
I've seen it over and over, senior staff on the take that resigned, paid a bit back and never faced any charges of any sort. This is what I've seen happen to one of my head teachers, head of IT dept at local authority, Treasurer and his deputy at uni, a deputy head teacher at another school. Everywhere I've worked, almost. All self profiting from giving themselves freebies or straight up stealing. The first head teacher used school money to decorate his home, but the records were such a mess he paid back about six month's losses, the rest was written off. The IT manager filled his basement with computers, printers and TVs and claimed they were for 'working from home'.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/10/25 09:52:13
Yeah, the UK economy ain't perfect, but we're not doing an Oliver Twist impression as some would have us believe
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
Or a UK tourism boom has nothing to do with the low value of the £. It's good that we're technically up, though all the coverage I've seen shows concerned outlooks.
Automatically Appended Next Post: What do people make of this:
1st press response was that he was working in a personal capacity as MP, not HoC. His follow up reply after a suitable delay is that he's looking for research material for a book he's writing.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/10/25 15:02:54
Yeah, the UK economy ain't perfect, but we're not doing an Oliver Twist impression as some would have us believe
We're about where we were 10 years ago, our growth rate is less than all the other developed nations, our productivity is shot to crap, and wage growth versus inflation is negative for many people.
Howard A Treesong wrote: I've seen it over and over, senior staff on the take that resigned, paid a bit back and never faced any charges of any sort. This is what I've seen happen to one of my head teachers, head of IT dept at local authority, Treasurer and his deputy at uni, a deputy head teacher at another school. Everywhere I've worked, almost. All self profiting from giving themselves freebies or straight up stealing. The first head teacher used school money to decorate his home, but the records were such a mess he paid back about six month's losses, the rest was written off. The IT manager filled his basement with computers, printers and TVs and claimed they were for 'working from home'.
You are confusing 'theft' with 'corruption' here. These are examples where an employee is taking something from the employer that has been purchased for the organisation. You are always going to have individuals steal goods, that has been around since well we were not human.
Corruption is a completely different thing. It is where an organisation is offering an incentive to be thought of in higher regards or be given favourable terms/contracts and hence earning the company significant amounts of money. It takes two parties for corruption to occur, both the company/individual offering the incentive and the company/organisation/individual to accept it. It's not theft per se because the company offering something is given freely. In these discussions we are only hearing about the Council/managers/Councillors being 'on the take' but in fact there is another side that is just as bad (but they get quietly forgotten about in the press).
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
Yeah, the UK economy ain't perfect, but we're not doing an Oliver Twist impression as some would have us believe
The important thing is to compare it how other nations are doing. Looking at things in isolation can make things look better and worse than they really are. If our growth is 0.4% and everyone else's is 10% then we are falling way behind and relatively we are doing a lot worse. So this is how things compare
To put it bluntly we are doing badly. In the second quarter of this year we are the worst but one performing economy of the stated nations with only Brazil doing worse than us. Even a 0.4% only takes us above one other country. Out growth is half that of what the EU is achieving, a third of what G20 nations are doing. Therefore relatively we are falling behind. If it continues (and most models predict it will because of our poor output) then things will steadily get worse compared to other nations. You may have growth but that's nothing if it is tiny compared to what others are achieving.
Tourism is doing well in the UK because incomes are declining in real terms. It makes day trips more viable because the one week/two week holidays abroad are too expensive. However it does have an effect elsewhere...tell former Monarch employees how well tourism is doing and you might get laughed at (or thrown out the pub). Conversely for other countries tourists exploiting the weak £ does bring more money in, but we are not a nation where we can rely on tourism. It accounts for only 7% of GDP and hence tourism needs to triple in GDP if we are to rely on it.
It is also worth reading how well some other industries are coping with the fallout from the vote
Here we can see that apart from wine/gin/salmon/cheese our total exports of our main food products are going down because less people are willing to come here to work (and despite everything said during Wrexit the UK populace still don't want to do these jobs). However the value has gone up so it's reduced the trade deficit (but conversely that means our on prices go up increasing inflation). It is also worth noting that despite leaving we have increased the share of products going to the EU which will make any sort of hard Wrexit even more difficult to swallow.
"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. " - V
I've just supported the Permanent European Union Citizenship initiative. Please do the same and spread the word!
"It's not a problem if you don't look up." - Dakka's approach to politics
Herzlos wrote: Or a UK tourism boom has nothing to do with the low value of the £. It's good that we're technically up, though all the coverage I've seen shows concerned outlooks.
Automatically Appended Next Post: What do people make of this:
1st press response was that he was working in a personal capacity as MP, not HoC. His follow up reply after a suitable delay is that he's looking for research material for a book he's writing.
The reason for this is on the front page of the Daily Mail this morning - 'Our Remainer Universities'
" ... yesterday The Mail uncovered a string of examples of senior figures at universities explicitly speaking out in favour of Remain"
Speaking their minds. Those traitorous swine. That's why we need their names. They should be made to wear little badges or something, so we can clearly see who they are, if we need to find them, for any reason.
As I type, an entire legion of Dacres best rats are searching internet histories, going through bins, chucking £10K at ex lovers for anything salacious. So proud to be British.
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At least they weren't branded traitors or "enemies of the people" this time.
I haven't been able to find much reaction from the universities yet; one telling quoting churchill telling him to feth off, and another one telling him to do his own research. Have any others surfaced?
Herzlos wrote: Or a UK tourism boom has nothing to do with the low value of the £. It's good that we're technically up, though all the coverage I've seen shows concerned outlooks.
Automatically Appended Next Post: What do people make of this:
1st press response was that he was working in a personal capacity as MP, not HoC. His follow up reply after a suitable delay is that he's looking for research material for a book he's writing.
Yeah, the UK economy ain't perfect, but we're not doing an Oliver Twist impression as some would have us believe
The important thing is to compare it how other nations are doing. Looking at things in isolation can make things look better and worse than they really are. If our growth is 0.4% and everyone else's is 10% then we are falling way behind and relatively we are doing a lot worse. So this is how things compare
Plus brexit hasn't happened. Let's see how well UK does when they lose access to single market and bank's lose their banking passport
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/10/26 09:08:22
There were several on PM on R4 on Tuesday, generally decrying another lurch down the road to Rees-Moggland. But Andrea Leadsom said it was all perfectly fine, so that's ok.
If I was a lecturer, I would be at least slightly concerned that the attentions of one of the most viciously unpleasant people in the realm was focussed on me and mine.
On the other hand, this is all just a big storm in a teacup, perfectly innocent, and, let me be clear, we should just be getting on with the job of Brexit, standing proud and British, like Henry VIII when he defeated the Spanish panzers at Agincourt.
From what I read, the MP in question was getting annoyed because his daughter's engineering lecturer was physically handing out literature opposing Brexit and ranting about it in class (instead of teaching engineering). So there is some basis for his motivations beyond the 'Root out the non-believers schpiel' a lot of people are sarcastically pushing.
On the other hand, what a lecturer chooses to say in his class is up to him, and if the students disagree with it or want him to get on with things, it's up to the students to talk to him or the course convenor. Mr 'I want to control what my daughter's lecturers talk about' needs to bugger off.
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My brother works at the University of Oregon in Eugene as an administrator. He spends a lot of time telling parents that the university has no legal right to discuss students' personal and academic affairs with their parents.
At the same time as a parent of an 18-year-old myself, I completely understand why someone would be concerned about their child's well-being at university.
That said, the MP in question didn't try to speak to the lecturer involved, or the head of the faculty, he made a general fishing trip out of it, which is what creates the bad impression, compounded by this feeble excuse about wanting to write a book. If that were true, he might have done better to open his letter with a statement about the purpose of his enquiry.
Kilkrazy wrote: My brother works at the University of Oregon in Eugene as an administrator. He spends a lot of time telling parents that the university has no legal right to discuss students' personal and academic affairs with their parents.
At the same time as a parent of an 18-year-old myself, I completely understand why someone would be concerned about their child's well-being at university.
That said, the MP in question didn't try to speak to the lecturer involved, or the head of the faculty, he made a general fishing trip out of it, which is what creates the bad impression, compounded by this feeble excuse about wanting to write a book. If that were true, he might have done better to open his letter with a statement about the purpose of his enquiry.
Aye. It was a stupid and overly controlling thing to do, and they're completely correct in throwing it back in his face.
So when is the pound going to drop so I can by me some Forge World? I thought that the UK telling Europe to feth itself (very British btw) was supposed to have already brought both the doom and the gloom.
warboss wrote: Is there a permanent stickied thread for Chaos players to complain every time someone/anyone gets models or rules besides them? If not, there should be.
Ketara wrote: From what I read, the MP in question was getting annoyed because his daughter's engineering lecturer was physically handing out literature opposing Brexit and ranting about it in class (instead of teaching engineering). So there is some basis for his motivations beyond the 'Root out the non-believers schpiel' a lot of people are sarcastically pushing.
That was a different MP standing up for the first one. All we have is a photo of an anti-brexit flyer that was handed out during an engineering lecture. Maybe the lecturer did go overboard and maybe it had some impact on the unniversity - it's possible the engineering department relies on EU generated funds and brexit has put the course at risk in some way.
Anyway, this guy wouldn't have been picked up by the suspicious fishing trip, since he asked about lecturers with material on brexit, and this was someone mentioning brexit in another lecture.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Crazyterran wrote: So when is the pound going to drop so I can by me some Forge World? I thought that the UK telling Europe to feth itself (very British btw) was supposed to have already brought both the doom and the gloom.
It's probably not going to drop any further for a while. Maybe if we don't progress out of the early stages of talks in December it'll dip a bit, but it's unlikely to really tank unless we leave in 2019 with no deal.
You're probably as well getting what you can now, as a massive drop in the £ will probably put FW's prices up, since I assume the resin is imported from somewhere.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2017/10/26 12:30:41
For some political balance, someone who was seated next to Tory MP Sir Alan Duncan at a function recently asked the right honourable gentleman for his opinion on Theresa May, his party's beleaguered leader.
Hoping that he'd spill a little something juicy, they were disappointed to hear Duncan diplomatically explain the various issues he had with her style of leadership, her lack of core ideology and her unending dependence on bad advisors.
So they asked him for his opinion on Boris Johnson instead.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/10/26 13:16:21
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
Arrested on terrorism charges for owning part of "The Anarchists Cook Book"? Gakking hell.
Even more worrying is the gagging orders about it:
He also discussed for the first time the British government’s charges against him, which have not previously been publicized due to court-ordered reporting restrictions that have prevented news organizations in the U.K. from disclosing information about the background of his case. A judge lifted the restrictions late last month.
Is there actually anything illegal about volunteering in a foreign defence militia? Some kind of travel/visa violation, maybe?
Fighting for ISIS I can understand, it's a terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for attacks in Europe, but fighting against ISIS? I'm pretty sure we're not classing the YPG as a terrorist organisation?
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On a more abstract, theoretical level you don't have the right to go fight private wars, even for the best of intentions. The state has a monopoly on violence other than in immediate self-defence; that doesn't stop just because the cause you're fighting for is perceived as righteous. This person is clearly willing to ignore the democratic process and decide that he has the right to wage private wars. That's all well and good when he's fighting someone like ISIS, but once ISIS is dead how can we be sure he doesn't decide to do the same to someone we don't hate?
Part of being part of a democratic society is to accept decisions you don't like. The UK has chosen not to send armed forces to fight ISIS (other than special operatives). This man has chosen to disregard this democratic process. That cannot be allowed to stand.
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For thirteen years I had a dog with fur the darkest black. For thirteen years he was my friend, oh how I want him back.
