Public-private wage divide gets 50% wider

vigesimal

Sir_Humphrey wrote: »

To the numpty who complains that he does not use everything he pays for. That will be balanced by things he uses more than average.

1. Go back
2. read it in context
3. you will then understand

I'm know I'm on a safe be assuming you work for someone else.

MissMoneypenny

vigesimal wrote: »

I'm know I'm on a safe be assuming you work for someone else.

Sir Humphrey works in a governments ministry.

MissMoneypenny

beingjdc wrote: »

In the past, no, but building work and flood defences (as well as the quality of their maintenance) means that the areas which flood in the future might not always be the ones which flooded in the past.

We had a flood area near us, where when the very high tides came in it flooded some grazing fields. When the tide went out, the fields drained. It happpened several times a year. The environment agency came and put up a depot in the fields (paid the farmer) and built a wall to protect the nearby rail line. Next very high tide the water came right up to the top of the flood defence, but didn't go over as it was a still day. Next very high tide after that it was windy as normal and the river breached the flood defence and flooded the fields as they always had. When the tide went out, the flood defence stopped the fields from draining.

beingjdc wrote: »

Work to stop animal disease spreading is a big part of DEFRA's work - really that only directly benefits farmers (and even then, only the ones saved!), but it benefits the rest of the country in terms of not having a food shortage after a massive outbreak (even 2001 could have been a lot worse), and consequently our trade balance.

It was a bit strange that other countries knew we had F&M before it was found by our government.

Farmers did gain if their animals had F&M. One farmer had 20 old tups in a field. derfa said they needed culling and offered him £750. Farmer tried to get the price up but defra man stuck to his value. The cheque arrived for £750 each tup. Farmer laughed all the way to the bank as he would have strugled to get £500 for the lot at market.

beingjdc wrote: »

Fair point about the large contractors, but presumably the large contractors employ people with building skills so a builder could apply to go on the payroll if private work had dried up, or alternatively the large contractor employing lots of people means there's less competition for the smaller jobs as people are working for them?

I'm not sure how it works. I know some people on DFW say their builder OHs are not getting work in.

vigesimal

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Sir Humphrey works in a governments ministry.

That explains why he spends most of his working day on here.


I guessed that he wasn't a teacher.

carolt

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Turns a profit so that the company pays into the public purse. As oppose to taking money out of the public purse.



I didn't say that every public funded job was worthless. However, some of the civil servant jobs need to have the middle management fat trimmed off.



Our country would not be better off without teachers, nurses, doctors fireman, policeman etc. However, this government has created a large unnecessary increase in civil servant admin jobs at a huge cost to the tax payer.

Who can forget the bumbling Jim Hacker and crafty civil servant Sir Humphrey who was always trying to create jobs and get up to schemes to make himself feel important, in Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. This scene from The Empty Hospital (fully staffed with 500 civil servants and no medical staff) has always been a favourite of mine:D

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyf97LAjjcY&feature=SeriesPlayList&p=4007E473402A0A45&index=11

Now that the public workers have their salary in line with market value, what is your view on the pensions being in line with market value?

I love Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister too, as do all the civil servants I know...but you might want to recall that it was made 20+ years ago.

As an analysis of the current civil service, it's not terribly helpful.

For a start, if this was the modern civil service, it would feature large number of consultants, all from the private sector I should add, paid at wages that make any civil service wage - including the real Sir Humphreys - look like peanuts. I mentioned earlier the consultants paid £1000 A DAY - that's not hearsay, that's fact.

I also mentioned the Grade 7's I know offered jobs in the private sector in said consultancies at vastly higher pay.

That is comparing like with like - and the private sector pay deals FOR EQUIVALENT WORK are far, far superior.

I would totally agree with anyone who suggested the private consultants were (a) overpaid and (b) an utter waste of taxpayers' money.

I think the civil servants, on the whole, give excellent value for money - pensions and all.

Yes, of course there'll be the odd poor performer - but believe me, I've worked in enough private companies to know there are plenty of them there too. Indeed, the global economy seems to be in dire straits directly due to the appalling negligence, let alone poor performance, of some of the best-paid private sector workers in the world. Can't blame that on the civil service!

By the way, the civil servants I know refused offers for far more money from private consultancies for equivalent work because they couldn't have lived with themselves afterwards - they think the consultants are leeches, and being literal 'civil servants' ie serving the good of the nation, rather than being parasites on it, is very, very important to them. And the reason they chose to go into the civil service at all, rather than get a far higher-paying job in the private sector.

Oh, and forgot to add - most of the pen-pushing admin grades were pushed out gently over the last few years - anyone without recent knowledge might be unaware of this. What's left is a much leaner, fitter - if rather overworked - civil service.

Old_Slaphead

carolt wrote: »

That is comparing like with like - and the private sector pay deals FOR EQUIVALENT WORK are far, far superior.
I would totally agree with anyone who suggested the private consultants were (a) overpaid and (b) an utter waste of taxpayers' money.

Consultants in my view are a complete waste of time and money and are in no way representitive of payrates in general for the private sector. I suspect that the employment of these con artists is much more prevalent in the public sector because very few private enterprises could/would afford them.

The fact that they are paid such grotesque rates can only be due to their own marketing skills and the supply situation exacerbated by the demand created by our Government, resultant from their inability to manage their own departments effectively.

Clearly our Government are stupid enough to be taken in by these people who presumably promise the earth but in reality deliver somewhat less.

carolt

Well we agree re consultants being overpaid and useless then!

I'd love to agree re the 'consultants mainly work in the public sector' but of course you know that's laughable - this govt brought them in precisely because they believed in private = good, public = bad, and assumed that dropping in overpaid private-sector numpties with no experience of the policy area would be a vast improvement on public sector workers who actually work full-time in the sector and know what they're talking about.

Tony's cronies and all that..... :mad:

Old_Slaphead

I said employment of these individuals was much more prevalent in public sector. I know these are private sector bods who've sweettalked their way on to Government projects..

Only Government patronage can support the gross proliferation of the consultants gravy train. There is much less demand outside.

carolt

Do you actually know any consultants?

Sorry, but that's one of the most laughably inaccurate statements I've read on here.

Go talk to a few consultants and find if they get the bulk of their money from the public sector..... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Old_Slaphead

carolt wrote: »

Do you actually know any consultants?

Sorry, but that's one of the most laughably inaccurate statements I've read on here.

Go talk to a few consultants and find if they get the bulk of their money from the public sector..... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Yes I do and yes they do.

I also know one Cambridge graduate (not business related subject) who, about 4 years ago, took up his first job on leaving university as a consultant on £55,000pa. What he knew about business could have been written on the back of a postage stamp - but he could bulls**t for England!