tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post7266171482131286054..comments2023-08-16T12:07:22.995+00:00Comments on The Daily (Maybe): A time of cuts: what should councillors do?Jim Jeppshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-16481918449608174112011-02-15T14:26:17.186+00:002011-02-15T14:26:17.186+00:00I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m g...I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. ThanksAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-26763640306218419772011-01-22T12:13:04.086+00:002011-01-22T12:13:04.086+00:00Awesome post. Really enjoyed reading your blog pos...Awesome post. Really enjoyed reading your blog posts..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-4297198447604901302010-12-10T21:42:11.507+00:002010-12-10T21:42:11.507+00:00Rashid, while I agree that some service users are ...Rashid, while I agree that some service users are unlikely to organise campaigns many can and are. Sadly it means there's an unevenness between campaigns to save libraries than homelessness shelters, but where campaigns exist we should support them.<br /><br />However, I think we basically agree on the role on cllrs who should be looking for ways to protect services despite limited powers and even more limited financial circumstances.Jim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-19668944526094474472010-12-09T16:46:48.322+00:002010-12-09T16:46:48.322+00:00Thank you for posting this, it was quite helpful a...Thank you for posting this, it was quite helpful and told a lotAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-43298282927902388952010-12-09T10:58:51.445+00:002010-12-09T10:58:51.445+00:00The most vulnerable, isolated people are in no pos...The most vulnerable, isolated people are in no position to organise and highlight their plight. Councillors could use council reserves and "prudential borrowing" to buy time and build a mass campaign in order to bolster their demand for more money from central government.rashid1891http://www.jobz.pknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-67261645020548679632010-12-06T23:23:11.355+00:002010-12-06T23:23:11.355+00:00Супер, Какие нужные слова... супер, отличная идея...Супер, Какие нужные слова... супер, отличная идеяAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-54223178564440856062010-12-05T19:52:51.680+00:002010-12-05T19:52:51.680+00:00Lib Dem Sheffield has cut its numbers of top manag...Lib Dem Sheffield has cut its numbers of top managers, over the objections of Labour. Made some savings there, but not enough.<br /><br />At the end of this process, in 2015, we are going to end up with the same share of national income spent by the public sector as there was in 2006. Was it savage then? I struggle to see the justification for your hyperbole.<br /><br />And on the alternative of increasing Council Tax, I would just point out that Council Tax is one of the most regressive taxes we have. Far worse than VAT. The left should have been up in arms at Labour's relentless driving up of council tax over the last decade. But I guess the left employs a double standard when it comes to what Labour does.Joe Ottenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18380362092159905533noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-53530254188251031772010-12-02T16:47:19.329+00:002010-12-02T16:47:19.329+00:00Sweet web site, I hadn’t come across blog.angelsfr...Sweet web site, I hadn’t come across blog.angelsfromabroad.com before in my searches!Carry on the fantastic work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-50123469310391351082010-11-30T15:00:14.840+00:002010-11-30T15:00:14.840+00:00I don't accept advertisingI don't accept advertisingJim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-60902633809931885222010-11-30T14:39:36.926+00:002010-11-30T14:39:36.926+00:00I’m wondering now if we can talk about your sites ...I’m wondering now if we can talk about your sites statistics – search volume, etc, I’m trying to sites I can buy adspace through – let me know if we can talk about pricing and whatnot. Cheers mate you’re doing a great job though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-69732736830194409452010-11-29T16:43:57.710+00:002010-11-29T16:43:57.710+00:00I'm sure we do agree on some of this - but I&#...I'm sure we do agree on some of this - but I'm not arguing that cutting exec pay will solve the crisis, only that it directly translates into saving some jobs that would otherwise be lost.<br /><br />While I agree that "we need to be aware of the limitations of working within the framework the right gives us." although I'd have said government rather than right because it's a concrete fact not just ideology.<br /><br />The difficulty I'm specifically trying to grapple with here is how councillors play the hand that is dealt them. Now, as a political party, we shouldn't be bogged down in what our councillors have to do and allow it to obscure our wider political analysis and campaigning work - BUT - there are specific decisions those councillors are going to have to deal with and we need to help provide them with positive proposals.Jim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-61609065266991287072010-11-29T16:08:31.868+00:002010-11-29T16:08:31.868+00:00As I say if we can make significant saving through...As I say if we can make significant saving through efficiency then we should do that. I don't know about England and Wales and NI but I do know that up here councils have already seen real cuts over the last few years and I don't know how much can realistically be found through savings. I'm happy to cut exec pay too, but how much does that really raise? If there's not going to be a major difference between cuts we (as progressives and lefties generally, not just Greens) impose and those central government would, then what's the risk? Maybe the difference would be significant, though, I don't know the details well enough to be honest. (Has anyone quantified any of this?)<br /><br />It's not about wishing a movement into existance, however. It's about creating one. Councils refusing to collaborate would be a huge statement, and if you talked to other stakeholders before you did it maybe you could find support. I actually think that simply trying to make awful cuts merely very bad risks reducing your power to oppose the broader issues and leaves you reliant on someone else forming that extra-parliamentary movement that must be essential if we want to have any real effect.<br /><br />I don't mean to say that incremental progress isn't valuable, or possible, and there will undoubtedly be situations where we should take it, but we need to be aware of the limitations of working within the framework the right gives us. To that end, I think it's worth at least considering the effects of action like illegal budgets. Maybe they would be counterproductive and merely make cuts worse for no political gain, but I do wonder if the only way we can make the coalition roll back their plans more generally is to make the country essentially ungovernable.Alasdair Thompsonhttp://www.brightgreenscotland.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-11360764526296246522010-11-29T14:54:46.060+00:002010-11-29T14:54:46.060+00:00I'm glad someone's going to make the case ...I'm glad someone's going to make the case for illegal budgets.<br /><br />I think there is a difference between voting against a budget that does not meet our standards and setting an illegal budget.<br /><br />Where we only have one or two councillors (or none) we generally don't have the capacity to provide an entire fully costed alternative budget anyway, but if we have suggestions that can save jobs and services through efficiency savings or cutting PR then that's the right thing to do.<br /><br />I'm very relaxed about cutting the pay of the top execs. who are massively overpaid at the moment - or sharing execs with local PCTs or neighbouring councils. You can save council staff and get little or no reduction in service by doing so.<br /><br />As it happens I don't think any siggested saving has to balance the entire budget, but if it helps prevent even some redundancies then it's worth pursuing.<br /><br />What I don't think is worth pursuing is forcing the national government to come and do that work for the locally elected government because they will be brutal. There is no current strike wave to tap into and wishing it into existence is not the way to save jobs and services.<br /><br />We must be part of the movements and organisations that fight the current economic policies but councils that hope someone else we ride in and save the day for them are playing fast and loose with the future of their borough's citizens.Jim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-1301052091465357532010-11-29T14:43:37.144+00:002010-11-29T14:43:37.144+00:00Some interesting points, particularly on prudentia...Some interesting points, particularly on prudential borrowing, which I don't really know much about.<br /><br />I'm going to take issue with your outright rejection of setting illegal budgets a little, though. <br /><br />If there are other options that can ameliorate all or most of the cuts then those should obviously be advocated and implemented where there is support. I'm not at all sure though that cutting senior pay and efficiency can cover all of the shortfalls and I don't see why councillors who oppose cuts should be forced to implement them and accept some of the responsibility and blame. As you say Greens have refused to vote for bad budgets in the past and should continue to do so.<br /><br />If councils refuse to help implement cuts and force central government to take over that does send a very strong message. If you can coordinate that with workers in the affected councils taking strike action or with occupations or good work strikes we could make it very difficult for the coalition to implement their policies. I accept that would require a great deal of cooperation and to happen on a large enough scale, but we need to think creatively and optimistically about our ability to resist.Alasdair Thompsonhttp://www.brightgreenscotland.orgnoreply@blogger.com