This week our intrepid leader put pen to paper and allegedly composed a letter to the supreme being.
Reporting in his blog, Kieran assumes that readers will most likely have seen coverage of the correspondence between the Prime Minister and the Oxfordshire County Council Leader.
So, not be out done, he called in his scribes and demanded they too, write to the PM!
In it he compares himself to other leaders of Local Government, who have always suspected that national politicians have little idea of how Local Councils work (or in Tameside's case, not work) or understand the services they provide. And goes on to say that the most troubling aspect for him is the assertion that Council’s should be looking for ‘creative solutions’ to their budget challenge and reducing back office functions.
He concludes by saying; "Having suffered from budget cuts for more than five years, he's not sure why the Prime Minister would believe that Tameside are yet to do those things!"
It’s for this reason, he tells us, that he has written to the Prime Minister and the full text is reproduced above.
He finishes with; "If and when I receive a reply, readers of this blog will be the first to know!".
I wonder whether he'll be so keen to publish it, if the reply goes anything like the one below?
Spot on ,LABOUR have ruined Tameside,except for Ashton of course.Latest crackpot scheme renaming bus stations Interchange 1,2 &3.
ReplyDeleteHaving watched on the sidelines for well over 40 years now I see no more than the pain which local government is now suffering is no more and no less than self inflicted.
ReplyDeleteThe reorganisation of councils back in 1974 should have brought with it huge opportunities for cost savings, enabling delivery of truly effective local services. Instead those in charge became self appointed guardians of the social conscience. In the late 70's and early 80's they moved away from local services into creating all sorts of politically correct jobs surrounding diversity; apartheid; equal opportunities and so it went on. Effectively, the balance in local government expenditure shifted from local services for local people in favour of national campaigns.
At the same time local councillors became less interested in local issues; local government became far too politicised, and the creation (later on admittedly) of the cabinet style of local authorities took power away from the Council as a body and concentrated it in the hands of a few. Whether these "few" had the ability to run what was effectively a multi million pound business is open to question. In some areas it did happen, in the majority they failed abysmally.
As the financial crisis grew the ability of local government to adapt was hugely hampered. A financial position which reflected an imbalance between local service delivery and an involvement in things which quite simply were not, are not and never will be the responsibility of a local authority charged with delivering local services. Added to this the inability of councils to manage declining resources is substantially about a lack of ability at the top. This is not a Tameside specific problem - it's endemic throughout local government. Multi million pound concerns facing financial challenges should never be left in the hands of (well paid) amateurs.
I thank you for your comments which display a thoughtful insight into the current state of local government in general and Tameside council in particular.
ReplyDeleteHowever, over 40 years of ineptitude cannot be accidental!
For the real truth, follow the money.
See who is benefiting from this situation.
Look on the council website under 'council spend'
Being Tameside, it's not kept up to date, but the recently published spreadsheets should tell you enough!
Thanks again for reading and I look forward to hearing future comments.