With our heads still spinning from the vagaries of the recent Advantage West Midlands conference, a WMTPA supporter sent over a flyer for a “FREE Diversity Week Workshop” sponsored by…well, guess. Open to SME business managers and employees, the workshop will be delivered by First Oracle and is entitled... Read more...
A couple of weeks ago the WMTPA commented on how Sandwell Council wardens appeared to have been somewhat over zealous issuing on-the-spot fines, doling out an enormous 2,200 compared to just 336 in neighbouring Dudley. Well now an article in today’s Express & Star presents us with some of the... Read more...
The grand total of government jobs advertised in the Guardian has crept up again this week to 556, with almost double the number of positions in the £80-£100k category compared to last week. There’s clearly an executive drought in the public sector or perhaps frontline redundancies have freed up the... Read more...
John Major gave evidence to the Public Administration Committee yesterday on the subject of ministerial appointments. He offered some sound suggestions to the members present, including reducing the number of MPs and the payroll vote (the MPs who are paid-up members of the Government or in roles attached to Government).... Read more...
Not a corner to hurry round Yesterday, the front page of the Times proclaimed: Poll shows Britons see good times around the corner People are more optimistic about the economy than at any time for the past 18 months, according to a Populus poll for The Times today." Which was surprising, given... Read more...
The FOI question to Surrey Police concerning the non-officer numbers increase was received but gave only the narrative explanation of deep change in working practices under Home Office guidelines. A reply on re-billing costs from each borough awaits the completion of individual invoicing and settlement. This needs following up. ... Read more...
Well another November brought with it another extravagant Advantage West Midlands conference where – as usual – public sector executives vastly outnumbered the very private sector business people who create jobs in the region, and each speaker managed to identify just why the RDA model doesn’t work without actually addressing... Read more...
Today yet more “the polluter should pay” rhetoric is buzzing around the British policy domain. Everyone is waiting for Lord Smith, the Environment Agency’s chairman to suggest that individuals should be given an annual carbon ration and face financial penalties if they exceed it.The rationing scheme will be based around... Read more...
At the end of last week, I gave a presentation at the Capitol in Washington, DC about the problems with the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, and the lessons for US policy makers. This followed on from our report, The Expensive Failure of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. Here... Read more...
The chief executive of Coventry City Council has been accused of failing to lead by example in today’s Coventry Telegraph after hiring himself a second personal assistant whilst driving administration cuts through the rest of the authority. Martin Reeves, who reportedly brings in a cool £175,000 per year for his... Read more...
The same old picture The Department for Work and Pensions has just slipped out its annual estimate of welfare fraud (summary table above). Overall, it reckons overpayment due to fraud and error is now running at around £3bn pa, or 2.2% of benefits paid - an increase on last year's 2%.That's bad enough,... Read more...
Well last week there were almost 500 public sector jobs advertised in the Guardian, this week there are over 500 (526 to be precise!) and a distinct overuse of the word ‘champion’ as various councils and quangos seek to hire armies of highly paid cheerleaders to ‘motivate’ their frontline workers.... Read more...
In our recent guide to the UK's semi-autonomous public bodies (available here), we asked readers to let us know if they spotted an omission. We tried our utmost to capture all the relevant organisations, but there are just so many that it's possible we missed some. When we made that... Read more...
Another day, another damning select committee report on ICT. Today it is the turn of the National Offender Management System (NOMS) to feel the wrath of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a poorly-run project. Announced in 2004 at a cost of £234 million, C-NOMIS was intended to track offenders... Read more...
Yesterday the Welsh Assembly brought in the first tranche of reforms to Assembly Members' expenses and allowances. Having given evidence to Sir Roger Jones' Getting it Right for Wales review, I was very pleased to see the first 28 of 108 measures introduced, with no kicking and screaming. From... Read more...
The dismissal of Professor Nutt is something of a perfect storm. Resignations, public criticism, front-page news. Every one of the Government's desperate efforts to move beyond the story seems to simply bury it deeper in it. Some exquisite schadenfreude is being enjoyed. Beyond the pleasure of seeing arrogance getting its... Read more...
All parties agree that spending cuts are required. All parties have suggested that the semi-autonomous sector is a good place to start. Cue public bodies sniping at each other, in a fraught bid to survive the cull. The Times Educational Supplement this week carries details of the UK Commission for... Read more...
A new report (PDF) from the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) reveals the high costs being imposed on British and European consumers by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The ETS is intended to reduce carbon emissions across Europe by increasing the cost of energy for households, businesses and other organisations.... Read more...
It is reported today that now we have seen some strong recommendations coming out of the Kelly Inquiry, 'Peers expenses will be reduced'. Although granted not by much. The daily allowance will go from a current maximum £174 to around £140, although a final decision has not been made on this. Perhaps... Read more...
The EU has just launched the latest stage of its anti-tobacco campaign, a ludicrous and undoubtedly costly cartoon series aimed at children. "Helpers" continues the patronising and nannying trend of the EU's campaign on the issue so far, with an added dash of childhood propaganda. Helpers follows three characters... Read more...
A film backed by taxpayers via Screen West Midlands may not be screened in Birmingham on the advice of West Midlands Police according to today’s Birmingham Post. The movie ‘1 Day’, shot on the streets of Handsworth, looks at gang culture in the city and will go on general... Read more...
Almost 500 government jobs are featured on the Guardian jobs site this week, with a particular rise in the number of positions advertised in local government. Not sure ‘spoilt for choice’ is really the right term, with a Benefit Maximisation and Take Up Manager in Liverpool in the running... Read more...
(As the Eastern Daily Press reports today) Norfolk's Conservative county councillors yesterday voted en masse to block a move to discuss the allowances of its 'twin-hatters'. Following the council election in June, 50 members of Norfolk's 84 seat County Council are twin-hatters, councillors who sit in both in the county... Read more...
Ofsted are coming - we're doomed! Autocratic regimes always employ legions of government inspectors. Their job is to tour round the various outposts of the centralised state and put the fear of God into local bureaucrats - to remind them who's boss.It was back in 1836 that Nikolai Gogol wrote... Read more...