Free swim programme to go as Government cuts funding to Southend Council (From Echo)
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Free swim programme to go as Government cuts funding to Southend Council
2:55pm Monday 12th July 2010 in
NATIONAL cost-cutting measures have seen £1.4million of Government funding withdrawn from Southend Council.
The loss of the money, which was pledged in the form of capital and revenue grants, will mean cuts will have to be made to several grant-aided services.
The austerity measures will be implemented with immediate effect, and councillors will discuss where the cuts will have to be made at a meeting on Thursday.
Funding for the free swimming programme for youngsters and older people has also been removed, meaning the council is withdrawing the service from the end of this month.
Also set to suffer are plans for a £660,000 athletics track at Chase High School, which will now not go ahead.
Council leader Nigel Holdcroft said: "We are fully aware that these cuts will have a real effect on people across Southend, but we have been left with no choice."
Coming just four months into the financial year, the cuts will mean the council has to re-think its plans.
Mr Holdcroft said: "In-year cuts are always the most difficult to manage because plans have already been made against an expected level of income.
"This is a particularly challenging time for the council, which has been working extremely hard to minimise the impact on frontline services."
Comments(34)
anon anon
says...
3:46pm Mon 12 Jul 10
Peter Pantsless
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3:53pm Mon 12 Jul 10
Somehow i dont think they wouldve been so accomodating compaired to what he's said!
DannyK86
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4:26pm Mon 12 Jul 10
gitreal wrote:That's a bit harsh! There's already a 2yr pay freeze on and most local authority workers don't earn a massive amount of money as it is, they are the most poorly-paid public sector workers with the exception of senior management. The tea and fancy biscuits are hogged by the councillors anyway.
How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk.
torridpiper
says...
5:14pm Mon 12 Jul 10
If they do not like living ten to a bed tough!
essex beaufighter
says...
5:14pm Mon 12 Jul 10
DannyK86 wrote:Slash this cost overnight. Get rid of a useless and pointless tier of management known as Heads of Service. Departmental managers will then be accountable to directorates and decision making will be quicker with more accountability. Sooner all council departments are outsourced the better.
gitreal wrote: How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk.That's a bit harsh! There's already a 2yr pay freeze on and most local authority workers don't earn a massive amount of money as it is, they are the most poorly-paid public sector workers with the exception of senior management. The tea and fancy biscuits are hogged by the councillors anyway.
Nebs
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5:24pm Mon 12 Jul 10
BMNO6
says...
5:35pm Mon 12 Jul 10
anon anon wrote:A grant allocated by a Labour government and taken away by the CONlibs and you still blame Labour you PAYE torys just do not get it, the tory toffs will take your vote, but you will never be part of the real tory party, you are not part of the picture working class torys they do make me laugh.
Tough measures but they are needed, Labour only got us into 900billion pound of debt...
bigidiot
says...
5:49pm Mon 12 Jul 10
essex beaufighter wrote:At my place of employment, we all have had to endure a 10% pay cut, on top of the already 3 year pay freeze that we are on. So it should be easy for the six figure earners at the council to take a pay cut of at least this without even noticing it. After all, they do this job to supposedly represent us.
DannyK86 wrote:Slash this cost overnight. Get rid of a useless and pointless tier of management known as Heads of Service. Departmental managers will then be accountable to directorates and decision making will be quicker with more accountability. Sooner all council departments are outsourced the better.
gitreal wrote: How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk.That's a bit harsh! There's already a 2yr pay freeze on and most local authority workers don't earn a massive amount of money as it is, they are the most poorly-paid public sector workers with the exception of senior management. The tea and fancy biscuits are hogged by the councillors anyway.
Ivanna Goodhump
says...
6:07pm Mon 12 Jul 10
gitreal wrote:"Everyone that WORKS" That wouldn't save much :) - now if you cut the salaries of everyone EMPLOYED by the Council then your talking !
How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk.
Seriously though how about the Council produce a list of everyone employed by them (permanently or on a contract) that earns over £40k per annum and their job title.
If they won't then the Echo should request it as a freedom of information enquiry.
I imagine many of the titles will be for "non jobs" that didn't exist 15 years ago.
As for salary cuts - start at the top with immediate 30% salary reductions for the Chief Exec and his fellows followed by a further 10% per annum until pay and benefits are 50% of the current level.
These people won't get jobs elsewhere as many have no concept of working in the real world so will have to lump it.
Only once these salary cuts have been implemented will any reduction in funding or benefits for the "workers" be considered.
Southendman
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6:16pm Mon 12 Jul 10
nails
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6:30pm Mon 12 Jul 10
maureen
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6:56pm Mon 12 Jul 10
See-the-real
says...
7:02pm Mon 12 Jul 10
torridpiper
says...
7:03pm Mon 12 Jul 10
Even as a child if my parents sent me out with 10 bob to buy a loaf of bread and I spent all the money and then borrowed another £1 form the shop and spent that as well I would have been sitting in the naughty corner with a saw backside.
gitreal
says...
7:28pm Mon 12 Jul 10
DannyK86 wrote:Good, freeze them for another 2 years. Pension payments to them should either be dropped (wishful thinking) or they should be made to contribute more. Turf anyone with the title diversity, environmental etc.
gitreal wrote: How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk.That's a bit harsh! There's already a 2yr pay freeze on and most local authority workers don't earn a massive amount of money as it is, they are the most poorly-paid public sector workers with the exception of senior management. The tea and fancy biscuits are hogged by the councillors anyway.
Free swimming costs nothing to the seniors so keep that. Blast the benefit scroungers into outer space, that should save a ton.
Impose fines for litter bugs, people who dump their bin bags on the street 2 days early, fine the doggie doo doo people who don't pick up after their dogs (and fine them heavily and ENFORCE it)
Loads of income there. Anything with the word quango, tuirf em, we don't need em....
Auction off Holdcroft and Anna waite as domestic servants (heh heh) and that should generate a good income.
Sell off the pier and let some forward out of the box thinker develop it.
I could go on but why bother? Savings are there. Our council is just too stupid to think of the sensible ones.
gitreal
says...
7:32pm Mon 12 Jul 10
Ivanna Goodhump wrote:Goodhumpie, good thoughts and these cuts to the council lazy gits will happen. Their cushy lives as they know it will come to and end, financed by the taxpayer. So will the scroungers and I for one will be happy to see it. Let a few people miss a meal or two before they realise, there ain't no free lunch.
gitreal wrote: How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk."Everyone that WORKS" That wouldn't save much :) - now if you cut the salaries of everyone EMPLOYED by the Council then your talking ! Seriously though how about the Council produce a list of everyone employed by them (permanently or on a contract) that earns over £40k per annum and their job title. If they won't then the Echo should request it as a freedom of information enquiry. I imagine many of the titles will be for "non jobs" that didn't exist 15 years ago. As for salary cuts - start at the top with immediate 30% salary reductions for the Chief Exec and his fellows followed by a further 10% per annum until pay and benefits are 50% of the current level. These people won't get jobs elsewhere as many have no concept of working in the real world so will have to lump it. Only once these salary cuts have been implemented will any reduction in funding or benefits for the "workers" be considered.
Buffalo Bill
says...
8:26pm Mon 12 Jul 10
1. Deficit was run up to stop the banks collapsing.
2. Dear old Maggie Thatcher moved us from a manufacturing economy to a Service economy, meaning that we were far more exposed to collapsing banks than some other countries.
3. A lot of the deficit was spent on Quantative easing.
4. The Tories voted to support these measures.
I don't know, if you had 1/2 a brain you would be dangerous!
There ought to be a computer licence.
essex beaufighter
says...
9:20pm Mon 12 Jul 10
Sooner they are all outsourced the better. Managers won't be able to cut in the real world and there work ethics won't save them if ever they become employed within the private sector.
fletch12107
says...
10:15pm Mon 12 Jul 10
How about closing down the Civic Centre and move all the staff onto the old Camp Bling site.
The council were never in much of a rush to shift the unwashed so perhaps after a short spell in a tree house they may feel different if theres a next time.
The free swimming can still go ahead in the "sea".
Theres a perfectly good athletics track at Garons that all can use.
Hope this is some help to everyone.
vanilla ice
says...
10:38pm Mon 12 Jul 10
marshman
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11:05pm Mon 12 Jul 10
Don't the Tory voting bankers get any of the blame?
After all they gave you 125% of a properties value and lent like there was no tomorrow. But they still get their high salaries and super bonus.
The ConDems are starting to sound like a stuck record. Change the track please.
karen29
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12:26am Tue 13 Jul 10
I@m3rr0R
says...
2:42am Tue 13 Jul 10
karen29 wrote:Few more years you say? Thats a **** shame, for most of us just aren't that patient. Am I the only one who notices that 90% of the comments about our council on this page are negative and show the oppinions of people who share the view: YOU ARE OVERPAID AND TOTALLY USELESS! I feel only the pompus and overprivaliged could disagree.
The civic centre is subsiding anyway. Apparently a water main fractured and wasn't noticed for years so the bit at the back near the registrars office is cracking and falling away from the rest of the building. Few more years and the whole building will fall into a big hole.
I@m3rr0R
says...
2:44am Tue 13 Jul 10
I@m3rr0R wrote:The astrix are for the word D@MN! How stupid!
karen29 wrote:Few more years you say? Thats a **** shame, for most of us just aren't that patient. Am I the only one who notices that 90% of the comments about our council on this page are negative and show the oppinions of people who share the view: YOU ARE OVERPAID AND TOTALLY USELESS! I feel only the pompus and overprivaliged could disagree.
The civic centre is subsiding anyway. Apparently a water main fractured and wasn't noticed for years so the bit at the back near the registrars office is cracking and falling away from the rest of the building. Few more years and the whole building will fall into a big hole.
gitreal
says...
7:10am Tue 13 Jul 10
YOu silly fool. A big part fo this debt is dow to the pensions of the civil servant list. 6 million employed by the state, 5 million not working, half of those have never worked and have no intention of working. Too many giveaways from Labour created this mess. The banks had their hand in it, don't get me wrong, but not the the extent the media (wrongly reports) Labour never put money away in the good times, like some countries did. It was a free for all here, hands out all the time. This country wastes so much money it is embarrassing. Times are a changing and it is going to be interesting to see.
essex beaufighter
says...
8:13am Tue 13 Jul 10
vanilla ice wrote:You have hit the nail on the head. That is exactly how local authority management operates. No one wants to be responsible for making a decision so emply consultants to do it for them. That way when it goes all pear shaped the useless invertabrae can step back, pat each other on the back and blame the consultant. Thankfully the public are now waking up yo the epitamy of bad management that is, local authorities.
We’re are told we have to pay the heads of council department’s high wages to attract the very high calibre of people needed but as soon as they have to make decisions about anything they call in a firm of highly paid consultants to advise them on something the ratepayer is already paying a high price for . Pity they don’t get consultants in to advise us the wage payers, how the road sweepers turned con artists got the jobs in the first place.
village of the damned
says...
9:40am Tue 13 Jul 10
DannyK86 wrote:whats harsh about that? i think its a very good idea :)
gitreal wrote:That's a bit harsh! There's already a 2yr pay freeze on and most local authority workers don't earn a massive amount of money as it is, they are the most poorly-paid public sector workers with the exception of senior management. The tea and fancy biscuits are hogged by the councillors anyway.
How about everyone that works at Southend council takes a 5% pay cut and pay freeze. Cut out the chocs, biscuits and fancy tea and live like the normal folk.
DannyK86
says...
10:06am Tue 13 Jul 10
essex beaufighter wrote:Yes, outsource all local services to some call centre in India, very clever. All private sector outsourcers do is drive their own costs down whilst presenting a high bill to the taxpayer/ Worst of both worlds!
Q ,Why does Southend Councils Civic Offices have so many windows? A, So the staff there can look out of them for something to do. Sooner they are all outsourced the better. Managers won't be able to cut in the real world and there work ethics won't save them if ever they become employed within the private sector.
gitreal
says...
10:13am Tue 13 Jul 10
Whilst I agree that there are some hard working council workers, there is a lot who take their jobs for granted.
The council could cut a lot of money down by not publishing all information in so many different languages. In some countries they only publish information in English and French!
radioman
says...
6:16pm Tue 13 Jul 10
jolllyboy
says...
7:13pm Tue 13 Jul 10
torridpiper
says...
11:09pm Tue 13 Jul 10
radioman wrote:short question but very true.
Question for discussion, will the council ever be able to live within our means?
essex beaufighter
says...
9:19am Sat 17 Jul 10
DannyK86 wrote:I don't remember saying outsource to another country Danny, but outsource to private companies within the UK. That is happening to many local authority services already. Take refuse collection and revenues as an example. Local Authorities employ more man hours than are necessary to carry out any job compared to the private sector. Why? because the whole sector is rife with the inefficient and lazy who work to an ethos of I'll only do what it takes to keep my job because that is all I need to do. Privatise the lot of them and put services out for competative tender. Make the whole process transparent so "friends and families" are subject to the same competition. Council's talk now of "transparency" but at best it is merely transulent.
essex beaufighter wrote: Q ,Why does Southend Councils Civic Offices have so many windows? A, So the staff there can look out of them for something to do. Sooner they are all outsourced the better. Managers won't be able to cut in the real world and there work ethics won't save them if ever they become employed within the private sector.Yes, outsource all local services to some call centre in India, very clever. All private sector outsourcers do is drive their own costs down whilst presenting a high bill to the taxpayer/ Worst of both worlds!
This would reduce the pension deficit and the costs associated with the opulent and quite unecessary civic centres. Cut out the pomp and circumstance of the expensive civic ceromonies. Who do the councillors and mayor think they are? Are we really interested in another picture of self gratitude and acclaim in the papers or joining them for titilating and enthralling conversation. Not me, just get on and do the job to which you were elected. Forget the photo and functions and make that difference which was promised at election time!
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gitreal says...
3:19pm Mon 12 Jul 10