Council tax to rise 6% in Cardiff

[JamesWales]

There are many cultures in the public sector (as there are in the private sector).

I am out of it now, but when I was working (mostly public sector - but started in the private) I was exposed to Councils, Fire & Rescue, the police and parts of the NHS. There were pockets of excellence - both culture and performance. There were areas or services with poor leadership (or no leadership). There were places where funding and incoherent political direction was the main problem. There were many areas (especially in Council services) where decades of expertise and knowledge were discarded within a year (thanks George Osbourne).

My Council experience (from 1986 to 2014) moved from 'professional but paternalistic', through high performing, motivated and inclusive (staff and service users), to gutted and demoralised - which is where we still are as a country!

All valid points and you are correct there are numerous cultures within the very broad spectrum of the public sector. I refer more to local authorities and having worked in them before and after COVID and still know many working in it now, I think the change is remarkable and wholly negative. The difference is much starker than before or after the financial crisis and following austerity etc, although clearly the years of that impacted.

People are just not sharing information, engaging with colleagues, ensuring work gets done properly, allowing staff to develop etc now. It's a huge issue.

[Citizen's Nephew]

There are many cultures in the public sector (as there are in the private sector).

I am out of it now, but when I was working (mostly public sector - but started in the private) I was exposed to Councils, Fire & Rescue, the police and parts of the NHS. There were pockets of excellence - both culture and performance. There were areas or services with poor leadership (or no leadership). There were places where funding and incoherent political direction was the main problem. There were many areas (especially in Council services) where decades of expertise and knowledge were discarded within a year (thanks George Osbourne).

My Council experience (from 1986 to 2014) moved from 'professional but paternalistic', through high performing, motivated and inclusive (staff and service users), to gutted and demoralised - which is where we still are as a country!

It’s almost as if there are never any inefficient private sector companies or organisations in some people’s political vacuum. And this notion that more money isn’t the answer is such a red herring when in fact ‘less money’ due to austerity was supposed to be good housekeeping.

[JamesWales]

It’s almost as if there are never any inefficient private sector companies or organisations in some people’s political vacuum. And this notion that more money isn’t the answer is such a red herring when in fact ‘less money’ due to austerity was supposed to be good housekeeping.

The difference is the checks and balances in the private sector relating to profit.

I am a big defender of the public sector. Have proudly spent most of my career working in it, but current working practices are not in the interests of service delivery. They are undermining service delivery, so criticising it is helping the public sector IMO.

[Eric Cartman]

The difference is the checks and balances in the private sector relating to profit.

I am a big defender of the public sector. Have proudly spent most of my career working in it, but current working practices are not in the interests of service delivery. They are undermining service delivery, so criticising it is helping the public sector IMO.

Our council has just been forced to abandon it's main site due to finances and move every member of staff into an open plan call centre style office space that is built to take maybe 30% of the work force, I don't think this is an isolated case at all. Unfortunately resources/money influences working practice quite significantly.

Having worked here a long time, I don't need to be coddled to be effective at work and would struggle to work in a overbright open plan office so I steer clear unless we are meeting as a team.

It's not just a few broad cultures, because of the freedom/lack of control over management, your experience of working in the local authority almost entirely depends on how effective/engaged your line manager is. Anyone working any length of time in an LA will have encountered people who basically don't do anything (or even offer any useful coherent ideas) and also people who are kept away from anything important because they are useless. That has always been the case whether in the office 5 days a week or working from home full time during COVID.

[pipster]

What LA do you work for, I used to work for Cardiff Council a long time ago, more dead wood there than a timber yard.
Cardiff Council has plans to make nearly all of it’s work force remote

[Gofer Blue]

As others have said, you Cardiffians should just be thankful you don't live in Pembrokeshire with a 16% increase in Council Tax on the cards. Most of the folk in Pembs County Hall now seem to work from home so it is almost impossible to see anyone in person any more. The best you can hope for is a return phone call from someone at any time - might be today, might be tomorrow..... All numbers are witheld so it is impossible to call anyone back if you miss the call for some reason - you have to start over from scratch!

[Eric the Half a Bee]

The difference is the checks and balances in the private sector relating to profit.

It's an interesting point.

Imagine councils had to deliver a profit for shareholders every year. Do you think our council services would

a) Improve
b) Stay the same
c) Get worse

[Heathblue]

It's an interesting point.

Imagine councils had to deliver a profit for shareholders every year. Do you think our council services would

a) Improve
b) Stay the same
c) Get worse

I've only ever worked in a private sector Job, lots of waste and the spunking of money hand over fist on vanity projects and for the bosses that I've worked for who were elevated far beyond their ability, I've also worked for some excellent gaffers, when i started my apprenticeship in 1978 an old boy who i became friendly with introduced me to the phrase, "penny wise pound foolish" and that's how I would describe the private sector now as it was back then.

[JamesWales]

Put the Maggie photo down and wwwwash your hands you grotty little man.

She lost power 30 years ago you dinosaur.

[LeningradCowboy]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...e-set-28781358

Council tax in Cardiff will rise by 6% and black bin bag collections will be less frequent. The news comes after Cardiff Council voted through a number of proposals as part of its 2024-25 budget at a full council meeting on Thursday, March 7.