Cost-cutting plans 'are clearly privatisation’ (From Daily Echo)

Ian Woodlan states "This will mean an inferior standard of services"

The citizens of Southampton dont need to wake up, Ian Woodland and his union does. The service will be no more inferior that the service we have been getting by his memebres overthe past 6 months.

Wake up Mr Woodland all Southampton citizens saw this coming expect for you that is.

This is your Tory future:

http://www.dailyecho
.co.uk/news/9329234.
Anger_at_new_refuse_
service/

Have your say, vote in May!

Perhaps the Council should engage the services of J & W Waste Services Ltd (the firm who have just been targetted by HMRC for VAT avoidance) to undertake this work? That way they could kill two birds with one stone- throwing away council tax payers' money AND failing to achieve acceptable waste clearance at the same time?

OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

If even more local services are going to be privatised, then what will be the use of having local councillors?
.
If we are not careful we could be on the way to losing whatever little has been left of local democratic control over important services
.
To blame the self confessed ‘Nasty Party’ (Tories) for pro-privatisation policies may be the easy, But let us not forget that during their 13 tears in power closet Conservatives of NuLabour by part privatising even our National Health Service have made this wicked policy acceptable. And most union leaders by failing to oppose economics of mad house by their friends in NuLabour may have tied themselves in knots and in the long run betrayed their members
.
Menace of privatisation can only be avoided if grass root members become active and start making their so called leaders accountable and making them to work for the interests of workers and start using political funds for backing pro workers candidates on the left instead of keep on feeding closet Conservative Milliband’s mob.

Those who think a reduction in council tax will happen seriously need to have word with themselves.

Privatisation leads to one thing and thing only, an increase in prices/charges to the consumer/customer.

A prime example is the privatisation of the energy companies and the hike in prices.

Good luck to aldermoorboy, I'm so glad I'm emigrating

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side.
I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations.
would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council?
Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service.
Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it?
The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

asaspacey wrote:
This is your Tory future:

http://www.dailyecho

.co.uk/news/9329234.

Anger_at_new_refuse_

service/

Have your say, vote in May!

Its not just the Torys that are heading this way so are the Lib/Dem, Labour, Ukip, First Party, BNP they all have the same agenda and that is to privatise every thing, put the extra cost on the less well off, things like having your rubbish bin emptied cost you about 90p mth at the moment, but under a private system it will cost you around the £22 mth, your bills will go up under private sector.

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

Council Tax went up because Central Government payments to Local Councils were reduced. The money to be spent on ludicrous Labour Spending policies.

Therefore the difference of monies for Local councils was made up with huge increases in Council Tax.

Inflation was only a TINY part of council tax increases.

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

I would like to be in your world, but you seem to be on a different planet most of the time! Council Tax coming down? Ha ha ha ha! Yeah right, it should have increased already to meet the increased costs, and those that can afford to pay more, should do so.

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

From the Edge wrote:
Those who think a reduction in council tax will happen seriously need to have word with themselves.

Privatisation leads to one thing and thing only, an increase in prices/charges to the consumer/customer.

A prime example is the privatisation of the energy companies and the hike in prices.

Good luck to aldermoorboy, I'm so glad I'm emigrating

Where are you going? Greece?!!

thinklikealocal wrote:

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't your colleagues monitoring any shortcomings from Capita or any other service provider? The paid employees of SCC run the place (all contract services and in-house services must surely be monitored/supervised
/managed, from the Chief exec down and not the councillors)) so what you're saying is that your colleagues are not doing their job properly?!

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

Council Tax went up because Central Government payments to Local Councils were reduced. The money to be spent on ludicrous Labour Spending policies.

Therefore the difference of monies for Local councils was made up with huge increases in Council Tax.

Inflation was only a TINY part of council tax increases.

So central govt reduce the contribution to local govt under Labour and Council Tax goes up.
.
Then central govt reduce the contribution to llocal govt under Tory/Lib Dem and the most needy in our society suffer. The elderly, disabled, transport links cut, plus the rest of local cuts.
.
Now which do you prefer ??
.

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

Council Tax went up because Central Government payments to Local Councils were reduced. The money to be spent on ludicrous Labour Spending policies.

Therefore the difference of monies for Local councils was made up with huge increases in Council Tax.

Inflation was only a TINY part of council tax increases.

So central govt reduce the contribution to local govt under Labour and Council Tax goes up.
.
Then central govt reduce the contribution to llocal govt under Tory/Lib Dem and the most needy in our society suffer. The elderly, disabled, transport links cut, plus the rest of local cuts.
.
Now which do you prefer ??
.

but the haven't....

they're actually giving more money to councils as a 'reward' for keeping Council Tax static

any council that increases their council tax, won't get the increase coming from government.

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

Council Tax went up because Central Government payments to Local Councils were reduced. The money to be spent on ludicrous Labour Spending policies.

Therefore the difference of monies for Local councils was made up with huge increases in Council Tax.

Inflation was only a TINY part of council tax increases.

So central govt reduce the contribution to local govt under Labour and Council Tax goes up.
.
Then central govt reduce the contribution to llocal govt under Tory/Lib Dem and the most needy in our society suffer. The elderly, disabled, transport links cut, plus the rest of local cuts.
.
Now which do you prefer ??
.

but the haven't....

they're actually giving more money to councils as a 'reward' for keeping Council Tax static

any council that increases their council tax, won't get the increase coming from government.

So why is this in the article.
.
Quote :- .The plan sets out how the Tory-run council will go about making massive budget savings following Government funding cuts. .........

George4th wrote:

thinklikealocal wrote:

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't your colleagues monitoring any shortcomings from Capita or any other service provider? The paid employees of SCC run the place (all contract services and in-house services must surely be monitored/supervised /managed, from the Chief exec down and not the councillors)) so what you're saying is that your colleagues are not doing their job properly?!

So when you say my colleagues aren't doing their job properly you mean dustmen, carers, street cleansers? Clearly not. The failure here is at a very senior level for not putting the correct procedures and monitoring in place and for negotiating a crap contract in the first place. Crapita must have thought it was like taking candy of a baby. Believe me, staff regularly moan, complain, report problems but nothing ever happens. You should be pointing the finger at both the political and non political people at the very top of the organisation. You are playing a dangerous game if you think having a pop at the ordinary workers in SCC is the answer every time because you are not really bringing the right people to account.

OSPREYSAINT wrote:
OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey this is on a website called
Portswood.info
Not about privatising services”

But deputy leader of the Conservative council Jeremy Moulton said that it’s critical that the council looks at new ways of working in order to protect services and meet the challenge of reduced budgets:

“If we don't deliver the change programme the council will be faced with having to make significant forced cuts to services to balance the books,” he said. “If we deliver it we can meet the financial challenge and continue to deliver good services. It is absolutely not about privatising services.

“The private sector does have a role to play in delivering services and we have some excellent partnerships, such as the highways partnership with Balfour Beatty and our leisure partnership. We are also looking to work more closely with other councils to deliver more for less… and considering other radical forms of service delivery such as local authority trading companies and even co-ops and mutuals.

Cllr Moulton said that the council had engaged proactively with unions and he was disappointed that they wanted to use this “as an opportunity to stoke up concern amongst staff and customers”.

“We want to work constructively with the unions to meet the challenges ahead. That is the best way to ensure we provide good quality services for residents in the city,” he said.
where does he agree with the article?

thinklikealocal wrote:

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

still we have given crapita a 30 mil office complex

thinklikealocal wrote:

George4th wrote:

thinklikealocal wrote:

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't your colleagues monitoring any shortcomings from Capita or any other service provider? The paid employees of SCC run the place (all contract services and in-house services must surely be monitored/supervised /managed, from the Chief exec down and not the councillors)) so what you're saying is that your colleagues are not doing their job properly?!

So when you say my colleagues aren't doing their job properly you mean dustmen, carers, street cleansers? Clearly not. The failure here is at a very senior level for not putting the correct procedures and monitoring in place and for negotiating a crap contract in the first place. Crapita must have thought it was like taking candy of a baby. Believe me, staff regularly moan, complain, report problems but nothing ever happens. You should be pointing the finger at both the political and non political people at the very top of the organisation. You are playing a dangerous game if you think having a pop at the ordinary workers in SCC is the answer every time because you are not really bringing the right people to account.

You said "as an employee of SCC" - your colleagues are ALL the people directly employed by SCC. If you want to divide them into "them" and "us" that's up to you.
>
And, if nothing is being done about the alleged wrong doings of Capita, how many other things are not being done correctly and going unreported?
>
You have people in charge from the Chief Exec down, no excuses. Are you telling me that the managers and supervisors are inept, and that the staff are too weak to complain through the right channels?
>

George4th wrote:

thinklikealocal wrote:

George4th wrote:

thinklikealocal wrote:

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't your colleagues monitoring any shortcomings from Capita or any other service provider? The paid employees of SCC run the place (all contract services and in-house services must surely be monitored/supervised /managed, from the Chief exec down and not the councillors)) so what you're saying is that your colleagues are not doing their job properly?!

So when you say my colleagues aren't doing their job properly you mean dustmen, carers, street cleansers? Clearly not. The failure here is at a very senior level for not putting the correct procedures and monitoring in place and for negotiating a crap contract in the first place. Crapita must have thought it was like taking candy of a baby. Believe me, staff regularly moan, complain, report problems but nothing ever happens. You should be pointing the finger at both the political and non political people at the very top of the organisation. You are playing a dangerous game if you think having a pop at the ordinary workers in SCC is the answer every time because you are not really bringing the right people to account.

You said "as an employee of SCC" - your colleagues are ALL the people directly employed by SCC. If you want to divide them into "them" and "us" that's up to you. > And, if nothing is being done about the alleged wrong doings of Capita, how many other things are not being done correctly and going unreported? > You have people in charge from the Chief Exec down, no excuses. Are you telling me that the managers and supervisors are inept, and that the staff are too weak to complain through the right channels? >

I'm not seeking to 'divide' anyone into a them and us but clearly not all SCC employees can be held responsible for the fiasco that is our current contract with Capita. I'm talking about the very few people at the top of the organisation who negotiated a bad deal and the very few people at the top of the organisation that are now responsible for bringing Crapita to account when they fail to deliver the goods. Believe me, that is where the failure is. I say all of this because it should be a great worry to the people of Southampton that the intention is clearly to outsource as many services as possible and judging by current experiences it will probably not be a good outcome for Council Tax Payers. If you want to put your head in the sand and carry on having a pop at ordinary workers at every available opportunity then go ahead, but you have been warned about the chaos (and I mean chaos) that might be coming.

Capita have run rings around this Tory controlled council, so much so that the council now rents out a floor at GS1 from Capita which SCC paid to have built.

Out sourcing services is privatisation plain and simply, what SCC can't out source they will get rid of.

I'm really sorry to say it but you have to admire Capita they are getting paid very handsomely for doing very little very poorly.

thinklikealocal wrote:

George4th wrote:

thinklikealocal wrote:

George4th wrote:

thinklikealocal wrote:

loosehead wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote: OK LH is it good or bad? I am a very sceptical that Private can be more efficient and less expensive, but if the figures are correct then that should be the way to go. Just hope the other Councillors make the right decisions.

Osprey if it goes private it would be between that company & the unions & no longer a political football for either side. I personally am in a dilema about this one as if it's controlled by the council if we have any problems ( not union) we could bring in outside help like the contractors we've used for health situations. would a private company do that? would a private company use british IT personnel or maybe Indian like Birmingham council? Most of us on here have been warning the workers this could happen many wanted it to happen after so long of putting up with a very limited bin collection service. Across the country councils have already done this & it seems to work quite well what's your opinion of it? The service I would like is one I could pick that would only collect my bins when I ask them to & only charge me for those bins.I only fill a bin once a month so this could save me a packet but this won't be happening so honestly do you think it's a good thing or bad thing?

As an employee of SCC I have several years experience of how 'wonderful' some of the services that have already been contracted out are like HR and Payroll. Of course the public aren't aware of just how absolutely awful (and I can't say this strongly enough) the performance of Capita (or Crapita as staff prefer to call it) are in these areas. A saving of £33m under this contract, I think not. The LA couldn't monitor a contract to save it's life so consequently Crapita fine us for every breach of our requirements but does the same happen to them - not on your life. Do you know that SCC pays £2K plus for every new IT workstation (even if it's not new but a decomissioned one that they have already paid for previously) because they have not met their targets in reducing overall numbers? That is just one example. Well done people of Southampton for slating employees trying to uphold their standards of pay and conditions, you have now give Royston Smith the green light (or so he thinks) to set about dismantling the current status quo. You will get what you asked for and trust me it won't be better, it's a shame you didn't realise it at the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't your colleagues monitoring any shortcomings from Capita or any other service provider? The paid employees of SCC run the place (all contract services and in-house services must surely be monitored/supervised /managed, from the Chief exec down and not the councillors)) so what you're saying is that your colleagues are not doing their job properly?!

So when you say my colleagues aren't doing their job properly you mean dustmen, carers, street cleansers? Clearly not. The failure here is at a very senior level for not putting the correct procedures and monitoring in place and for negotiating a crap contract in the first place. Crapita must have thought it was like taking candy of a baby. Believe me, staff regularly moan, complain, report problems but nothing ever happens. You should be pointing the finger at both the political and non political people at the very top of the organisation. You are playing a dangerous game if you think having a pop at the ordinary workers in SCC is the answer every time because you are not really bringing the right people to account.

You said "as an employee of SCC" - your colleagues are ALL the people directly employed by SCC. If you want to divide them into "them" and "us" that's up to you. > And, if nothing is being done about the alleged wrong doings of Capita, how many other things are not being done correctly and going unreported? > You have people in charge from the Chief Exec down, no excuses. Are you telling me that the managers and supervisors are inept, and that the staff are too weak to complain through the right channels? >

I'm not seeking to 'divide' anyone into a them and us but clearly not all SCC employees can be held responsible for the fiasco that is our current contract with Capita. I'm talking about the very few people at the top of the organisation who negotiated a bad deal and the very few people at the top of the organisation that are now responsible for bringing Crapita to account when they fail to deliver the goods. Believe me, that is where the failure is. I say all of this because it should be a great worry to the people of Southampton that the intention is clearly to outsource as many services as possible and judging by current experiences it will probably not be a good outcome for Council Tax Payers. If you want to put your head in the sand and carry on having a pop at ordinary workers at every available opportunity then go ahead, but you have been warned about the chaos (and I mean chaos) that might be coming.

I'm not having a pop at the "ordinary" worker - you are making it up!
>
The whole of the staff paid by SCC are RESPONSIBLE for the smooth running of council services - that's why we pay our local taxes! The councillors are a side issue. The deal with Capita makes financial sense even if you believe the implementation is not good.
>
Ultimately, someone has to do the jobs that need doing whether in the Public or Private Sector.
>

George4th wrote:

From the Edge wrote:
Those who think a reduction in council tax will happen seriously need to have word with themselves.

Privatisation leads to one thing and thing only, an increase in prices/charges to the consumer/customer.

A prime example is the privatisation of the energy companies and the hike in prices.

Good luck to aldermoorboy, I'm so glad I'm emigrating

Where are you going? Greece?!!

I fancy Italy,,,,Greece is far to skint for my liking,,,,I hope and pray the Euro will be gone by the time I get there.

What do you reckon George4th, good move or what?

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

Council Tax went up because Central Government payments to Local Councils were reduced. The money to be spent on ludicrous Labour Spending policies.

Therefore the difference of monies for Local councils was made up with huge increases in Council Tax.

Inflation was only a TINY part of council tax increases.

So central govt reduce the contribution to local govt under Labour and Council Tax goes up.
.
Then central govt reduce the contribution to llocal govt under Tory/Lib Dem and the most needy in our society suffer. The elderly, disabled, transport links cut, plus the rest of local cuts.
.
Now which do you prefer ??
.

but the haven't....

they're actually giving more money to councils as a 'reward' for keeping Council Tax static

any council that increases their council tax, won't get the increase coming from government.

Nod, Eric Pickles is giving councils who do not increase their council tax this year the opportunity to apply for extra money next year to freeze the council tax, I believe Royston has applied for it.

However that payment will be nowhere near the £25 million Eric Pickles has slashed from Royston's budget for next year, hence the need for privatising services.

Work out how the tax freeze will cost the Government compared how much the Government are slashing from the budget, I bet there is about £23.5 million in the Governments favour.

Does that explain it for you.

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Nod wrote:

Lone Ranger. wrote:

Elgy wrote:

aldermoorboy wrote:
Great news, perhaps my council tax will come down now, after doubling under labour.
The unions should get into the real world like the rest of us.

Yes, it doubled under Labour (disgusting) for no good reason but do you really think it will ever go down?? Councils pee away so much money on rubbish. Why can't someone go back and look at the 1997 council budget, find out what's caused the massive rise, and cut that instead!

So you cant think of anything that costs more now than it did in 1997.
??

Council Tax went up because Central Government payments to Local Councils were reduced. The money to be spent on ludicrous Labour Spending policies.

Therefore the difference of monies for Local councils was made up with huge increases in Council Tax.

Inflation was only a TINY part of council tax increases.

So central govt reduce the contribution to local govt under Labour and Council Tax goes up.
.
Then central govt reduce the contribution to llocal govt under Tory/Lib Dem and the most needy in our society suffer. The elderly, disabled, transport links cut, plus the rest of local cuts.
.
Now which do you prefer ??
.

but the haven't....

they're actually giving more money to councils as a 'reward' for keeping Council Tax static

any council that increases their council tax, won't get the increase coming from government.

So why is this in the article.
.
Quote :- .The plan sets out how the Tory-run council will go about making massive budget savings following Government funding cuts. .........

I note that Dodgy Dave who promised that the NHS was safe in his hands, and that the Tories would not privatise medicine, now has to explain why an NHS hospital in Cambridge is to be run by a private company from 1 February 2012.

Funny that the Portswood website has got all sides on their sites but the echo only has the unions scaremongering isn't it?
If the Tories were going to do whole sale privatisation why didn't they do it before now?
No strikes as it wouldn't be anti tory council & no chance of bad publicity this close to a local election.
No matter what you all think of the council they're not politically suicidal so why do it now?
A union has told it's members to vote no another wouldn't recommend either way7 & now just as the secret ballot is either happening or about to they come out with this & that idiot Whitehead jumps in on the bandwagon.
This is & they know it just scare tactics to get their members to vote against the proposal.
Whitehead should be careful as many people think we'd be better off with private contractors.
If you want to read it all go to Portswood.info

Seems to me the Council workers have shot themselves in the foot with their stance and strike action taken over most of this year ...
That's made it very easy for the Council to introduce something they were probably already planning anyway.
Sounds like the Union need a few strategic thinkers to get one step ahead of the Council and come up with a better idea for the way forward - and not more strike action which is a no-win situation for the Council workers and the public!

loosehead wrote:
Funny that the Portswood website has got all sides on their sites but the echo only has the unions scaremongering isn't it?
If the Tories were going to do whole sale privatisation why didn't they do it before now?
No strikes as it wouldn't be anti tory council & no chance of bad publicity this close to a local election.
No matter what you all think of the council they're not politically suicidal so why do it now?
A union has told it's members to vote no another wouldn't recommend either way7 & now just as the secret ballot is either happening or about to they come out with this & that idiot Whitehead jumps in on the bandwagon.
This is & they know it just scare tactics to get their members to vote against the proposal.
Whitehead should be careful as many people think we'd be better off with private contractors.
If you want to read it all go to Portswood.info

Its normally this Royston Smith and his Tory council that get the news printed from them.
You not going to get any thing from the council about privatising because this is there real aim of all Torys, to privatise every thing so it will cost you a lot more.
It would also point out why this council would not go to the table for talks, untill they had no choice over the matter.

southy wrote:

loosehead wrote:
Funny that the Portswood website has got all sides on their sites but the echo only has the unions scaremongering isn't it?
If the Tories were going to do whole sale privatisation why didn't they do it before now?
No strikes as it wouldn't be anti tory council & no chance of bad publicity this close to a local election.
No matter what you all think of the council they're not politically suicidal so why do it now?
A union has told it's members to vote no another wouldn't recommend either way7 & now just as the secret ballot is either happening or about to they come out with this & that idiot Whitehead jumps in on the bandwagon.
This is & they know it just scare tactics to get their members to vote against the proposal.
Whitehead should be careful as many people think we'd be better off with private contractors.
If you want to read it all go to Portswood.info

Its normally this Royston Smith and his Tory council that get the news printed from them.
You not going to get any thing from the council about privatising because this is there real aim of all Torys, to privatise every thing so it will cost you a lot more.
It would also point out why this council would not go to the table for talks, untill they had no choice over the matter.

Southy what utter tripe! I've been to America.I've lived in Thailand both are for private enterprise & are a darn sight cheaper than here.
I don't want to see all our industry going abroad but the nationalised industries had God knows how many industrial disputes look at British Leyland. The Unions had their days & were sorely needed but now we need moderate unions who can see the bigger picture & not drive industry away to Eastern Europe & the East.
You & your Ilk have been going on & on about the tory council well they have told us the truth so far & unless the courts say otherwise they're the only one in this dispute who have told the truth.
Make these people employed by a private company & then see what happens? I can hear them now " I want to be a public sector & work for the council why did I blow it? "

In California they're $120 billion in the red. This state is famous for out sourcing its services. I understand bournemouth council are following the same model so you people of southampton better wake up before you too have a colossal dept that can only be reduced by services cut or withdrawn and tax rises.