Council tax to rise 6% in Cardiff

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Originally Posted by goats

Interesting, a warmonger? What do you think of Tony Bliar then?

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Another Tory twat! That woman went to war against her own people though, the recent Miners Strike documentary, Orgreave dear me!!

Arguing over two cheeks of the same areshole, this place doesn't change I hate them all :biggrin:

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Originally Posted by Heathblue

Arguing over two cheeks of the same areshole, this place doesn't change I hate them all :biggrin:

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Arguing the merits between Blair and Thatcher is a pretty legitimate discussion to have. she would have been very proud of him :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

Arguing the merits between Blair and Thatcher is a pretty legitimate discussion to have. she would have been very proud of him :thumbup:

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She was very proud:

In 2002, twelve years after Margaret Thatcher left office, she was asked at a dinner what was her greatest achievement. Thatcher replied: “Tony Blair and New Labour...."

https://economicsociology.org/2018/0...t-achievement/

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Originally Posted by splott parker

She did no good whatsoever, she was a warmonger, she revelled in the Falklands conflict, whipping idiots up into a patriotic frenzy. Then turned on the working man. A horrible person who destroyed lives, communities and a whole way of life to line the pockets of the few. It was a horrible time to be a run of the mill worker in those dark days.

I hated her with a passion and that hate will never go away. A horrible, uncaring shithouse.

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Let’s not forget either that it was a decision by the incoming Government to cut down on the military presence in the Falklands which, effectively, gave Argentina the green light to invade.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/...cuts-falklands

Public sector is absolutely f****d since Covid.

It was inefficient before. It is on another scale now.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Let’s not forget either that it was a decision by the incoming Government to cut down on the military presence in the Falklands which, effectively, gave Argentina the green light to invade.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/...cuts-falklands

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A far right govt invaded British territory and you lot still manage to blame Thatcher 🤣

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Public sector is absolutely f****d since Covid.

It was inefficient before. It is on another scale now.

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Inefficient?

Is that code for hollowed out, destroyed by the Cult of Austerity, underfunded or not funded, left with core statutory responsibilities but without the money to pay for them, overwhelmed by rising demand, subjected to inadequate and incoherent direction from central government, and (and final nail in the coffin) abused by a Tory fan-boy on CCMB.

Dark days!

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Originally Posted by jon1959

Inefficient?

Is that code for hollowed out, destroyed by the Cult of Austerity, underfunded or not funded, left with core statutory responsibilities but without the money to pay for them, overwhelmed by rising demand, subjected to inadequate and incoherent direction from central government, and (and final nail in the coffin) abused by a Tory fan-boy on CCMB.

Dark days!

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No, it's to do with poor working practices, silo cultures, WFH, dreadful guidance and communication, poor decision making etc etc.

Money issues don't help one bit. But there is never enough money, the US military would say they are underfunded so this is more an issue with the culture.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

No, it's to do with poor working practices, silo cultures, WFH, dreadful guidance and communication, poor decision making etc etc.

Money issues don't help one bit. But there is never enough money, the US military would say they are underfunded so this is more an issue with the culture.

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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!

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Originally Posted by jon1959

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!

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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.

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Originally Posted by jon1959

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!

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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.

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Originally Posted by Citizen's Nephew

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.

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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.

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

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.

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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.

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

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!

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

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

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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

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Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

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

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She lost power 30 years ago you dinosaur.

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.