PUBLIC SERVICE CUTS

[Tizer]

There's still room for an equivalent of National Service but not with a military objective. No guns, no fighting but away from home working on useful projects, mainly outdoors, learning practical and social skills, in uniform, all treated the same, looking after each other, learning to respect and to observe discipline, travelling, gaining wide experience and knowledge etc.

[plaques]

There's still room for an equivalent of National Service but not with a military objective. No guns, no fighting but away from home working on useful projects, mainly outdoors, learning practical and social skills, in uniform, all treated the same, looking after each other, learning to respect and to observe discipline, travelling, gaining wide experience and knowledge etc.

This idea was part of Franklin D Roosevelt's 'New Deal' to combat the depression in America. Of course they were in the midst of a deep recession where millions were out of work and people were literally starving. Not quite the same situation here but we are getting there.

[Tizer]

Of course they were in the midst of a deep recession where millions were out of work and people were literally starving. Not quite the same situation here but we are getting there.

Boris is doing his best to get us there.

[Stanley]

I agree with everything that has been said. Of course I would do because that is what I did but something has to be done to give our children greater horizons than appearing on Love Island and becoming a millionaire celebrity.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of a report on the 20,000 new police officers.
Officials working on Boris Johnson's pledge to recruit 20,000 new police officers in England and Wales within three years say more than 50,000 will actually be needed. Home Office and police officials say the target is not high enough because so many are set to leave the service. It comes as campaigners say officers need a starting salary of £24,000 or more for the original target to be met.
The government says that 'recruitment is proceeding apace'. So that's all right then.

[Tizer]

It beggars belief that the Post Office was allowed to carry on wrecking these people's lives...
`'Post Office false theft claim left me bankrupt'' LINK
`A postmaster says the Post Office spent £320,000 suing him over £25,000 he was falsely accused of stealing. Lee Castleton, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, was made bankrupt after he lost a two-year legal battle with the Post Office. A recent ruling found problems with the Post Office's accountancy software could instead be to blame for the losses. The Post Office has apologised and accepts its "past shortcomings".

[Stanley]

Give PE their due, they sussed the Post Office out as soon as all this happened and are still hounding them.
None of the top management held to account. Big golden handshakes. Sounds like the old story.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the latest evidence of mental problems, including suicides, that are directly related to Universal Credit and Benefit cuts after flawed assessments.
"The researchers found no links to any impact on physical health, however, or any evidence universal credit had led to an increase in the number of claimants finding jobs. Launched in 2013, universal credit, which combines six benefits into one, was an attempt to simplify the welfare system and get more people into work. But its implementation has been criticised for introducing long delays and a tougher use of sanctions. Numerous concerns have been raised by MPs, charities and select committees and there have been several cases of vulnerable individuals killing themselves after having problems with the new system. The researchers followed more than 52,000 working-age people between 2009 and 2018, who were taking part in Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study."
Do we need any more evidence that austerity is very bad for the poorest in society? Some lives are evidently very cheap.

[Tizer]

..BBC account of the latest evidence of mental problems, including suicides, that are directly related to Universal Credit and Benefit cuts after flawed assessments.

To be fair, they may be `directly related' in the sense of a statistical correlation but it doesn't prove that one caused the other. As in so many of those claims about affects of things on our health. That's not to say that I wouldn't expect the Universal Credit and Benefit cuts after flawed assessments to have some effect on mental health of some people, of course.

[Stanley]

In the last few days cases of deaths directly attributable to cuts in benefit have been cited in Parliament. One death is too many! There are many stories of flawed assessments and the success rate of appeals against them is over 80% but the problem is that another cut, in Legal Aid, has precluded many from appealing. It's got to the stage where the Justice System, while supporting those who represent themselves, have pointed out that these cases take longer and are clogging the appeal system.
The impression I get is that the private companies who run the assessments have a vested interest in stopping benefits presumably because their contract with the government is based on success rates in lowering expenditure. But of course, due to the old canard of 'Commercial Confidentiality' we can't know this for certain.

[Tizer]

I've related in the past how one of our friends could no longer work due to heart disease but he was told that he couldn't continue with getting his benefits unless he turned up at the benefits office. He drove there, had a heart attack in the car park and died.

[Stanley]

A case in point Tiz. Who's to say his condition wasn't exacerbated by the stress of being called in? As I said, some lives are cheap and it is an inhumane system, completely contrary to the principles that underpinned its inception.
Modern governments have lost sight of the principles that should motivate policies, the good of society.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of a report by Crisis drawing attention to the shortfall in efforts by councils to help homeless rough sleepers caused by shortage of funding. The councils are reduced to advising rough sleepers to contact private landlords. Try to imagine what sleeping rough could be like in weather like this. Then reflect on the display in Westminster Abbey yesterday.
We are losing our way and neglecting what should be the priorities.

[Stanley]

One of the questions Johnson was asked yesterday was about the effects of the current fast moving situation on the Budget and in particular, funds for alleviating the worst effects. We got a vague answer admitting that things had changed and alluding to the Benefits System but nothing concrete.
Being a pessimist in these matters I don't think that anything will be done about Local Council cuts to services, Social Care, food banks or the effect UB is having on families including evictions. Vague promises about 'mortgage holidays' which are outside the Government's remit don't cut it. I fear for anyone on the edge.

[Stanley]

Noticeable that any mention of cuts in the number of beds and neglect of staff in the NHS over the last twenty years is totally absent. How many times did we hear arguments for the reduction in bed spaces which said that as so many people were out of hospital sooner many beds were redundant. Add the freeze on nurses pay and you get a situation where use of field hospitals and takeover of private hospitals is being considered.
One can only hope that these lessons are being learned and will be applied in the future. You can economise on many things but not on provision for health care!

[Tizer]

Absolutely mind-boggling - this is the sort of world we live in now...
`Postmasters were prosecuted using unreliable evidence' LINK
`The Post Office prosecuted postmasters over missing money despite having evidence its own computer system could be to blame. Hundreds were accused after the Horizon system showed cash shortfalls at their branches. But a BBC Panorama investigation has revealed managers knew problems with Horizon could make money disappear....Postmasters up and down the country were held responsible for missing money because they supposedly had sole control of their Horizon accounts. It led to many being fired, going bankrupt or even sent to prison....But senior Post Office managers were told back in 2011 that computer technicians also had access to the system and could change postmasters' data. An Ernst and Young audit report, which was sent to Post Office directors, says it "has again identified weaknesses" in the Horizon system. It warns that some IT staff have "unrestricted access" to postmasters' Horizon accounts which "may lead to the processing of unauthorised or erroneous transactions".'

`Evidence from the system was still used by the Post Office to secure convictions against postmasters like Seema Misra. She was pregnant when she was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2010 for stealing £74,000 from her branch in West Byfleet. At her trial, the Post Office argued computer errors could not be responsible for the missing money. But Panorama has seen internal Post Office emails which show its legal department was told about Horizon errors shortly before her trial...'.

[Stanley]

Indeed and as you and I have been pointing out the PO have been playing dirty pool right from the start. See PE articles on it for years. Estimates are that over 900 cases are being reviewed and this is no where near ended. Look at what happened to Venells, got off scot free with a CBE and moved on to another lucrative post. (LINK)
On another matter. A scandal is brewing over the flare-up of domestic violence under lockdown. Charities in the field are warning that Local Government cuts have caused closure of many refuges and this is making the problem even worse. Police are reporting a massive increase in complaints.

[Stanley]

News this morning that the privatisation of Probation services by Chris Grayling in 2014 to save money is to end and the service brought back to the old model of public provision. Re-offending rates have gone up 30% under privatisation and it seems that this has at last been realised. (LINK)
Yet another of Grayling's 'reforms' bites the dust....

[Whyperion]

News this morning that the privatisation of Probation services by Chris Grayling in 2014 to save money is to end and the service brought back to the old model of public provision. Re-offending rates have gone up 30% under privatisation and it seems that this has at last been realised. (LINK)
Yet another of Grayling's 'reforms' bites the dust....

Aye, but worth emphasising from the link

Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell said curtailing the involvement of private firms in probation services was "likely to be welcomed by many".

He said part-privatisation had "severely tested" the probation service, with CRCs denied "essential funding" because of "fundamental flaws" in their contracts, including a payment-by-results model.

However he cautioned that "shifting large volumes of cases" back under state control was "not a magic bullet for improving performance by itself".

"The probation service must be properly funded," he said.

"Vacancies for probation officers must be filled, and staff properly trained for their new responsibilities."

[Big Kev]

From the BBC

Funding of £1bn for 50 major school building projects in England is being promised by the prime minister.
There will also be a further £560m for repairs to crumbling school buildings.
"It's important we lay the foundations for a country where everyone has the opportunity to succeed," said Boris Johnson.
But head teachers said the National Audit Office had identified a backlog of £6.7bn repairs needed across England's 21,000 schools.

Brown paper, string and a bit of sticky tape comes to mind...

[Stanley]

Quite right Kev and part of the austerity that I commented on yesterday. It's a popularity seeking eye-catcher that leaves a lot to be desired. Par for the course of course. I'm just listening to Gavin Williamson tying himself in knots trying to defend the policy. To hear him you'd think everything is all right!

[Whyperion]

From the BBC

Funding of £1bn for 50 major school building projects in England is being promised by the prime minister.
There will also be a further £560m for repairs to crumbling school buildings.
"It's important we lay the foundations for a country where everyone has the opportunity to succeed," said Boris Johnson.
But head teachers said the National Audit Office had identified a backlog of £6.7bn repairs needed across England's 21,000 schools.

Brown paper, string and a bit of sticky tape comes to mind...

Which I think was already in the budgets anyway, (from things like CIL - desmond - and other developer contributions) re-heated rather than oven ready

[Tizer]

Not sure where to put this one...
`People urged to check tax credits after HMRC error' LINK
`More than one million tax credit renewal notices with incomplete information have been sent to homes by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)...'.

[Stanley]

Why is it that so many of my responses this morning are to suggest incompetence? Could it be that I am somewhere near the truth?
Could it be anything to do with the fact that whilst under enormous pressure HMRC have just announced 2000 new staff cuts on top of their already reduced budget?
One good piece of news from HMRC emerges in PE. They have had a major success in producing at very short notice a computer programme to deal with distributing the furlough money and administering the scheme. Grudging tribute has been paid even by critics, it has been remarkably efficient. According to PE this was built and commissioned by their own in-house IT specialists and not an outside consultant. Could this have been cheaper, faster and more successful than going outside and employing 'experts'?

[PanBiker]

That reminds me, I need to have another go at recovering the overpaid tax they owe me. Lets hope they have fixed what was wrong with the system last week.