Public services - wave of redundancies?

Lyncroft

I posted a few months back about how I decided not to take voluntary redundancy in the Civil Service. Well, they're running another one now! Must be desperate to get rid of people. This will definitely be the last one under the current terms. I'm putting in for an estimate. Not sure what my department will make of it as I withdrew at the last moment last time.

Desperately difficult decision to make. What I'm thinking is I could go now voluntarily under the current terms but under the new terms if they got rid of me compulsorily I'd be about 14k down on what I'd get voluntarily!

1jim

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

I imagine that the tories think it's utopian but surely reducing NHS administrators will have some affect on the service?

I think you are right, Im sure there are areas where there are too many managers but in fairness they are not sat around supping tea all day either,

When they talk about reducing managment in the nhs some areas are counting Band 6 staff and above as managment,,,,A band 5 is a newly qualified nurse, band 6 and above clinical staff are more qualified and have more clinical expertise, they usually work without supervision, independently, often prescribe and run clinics which reduces costs to the nhs as these would have been run by doctors before. When they start cutting these "managers" then services will suffer, patient care will suffer, and costs will increase when they have to pay drs to run more clinics

dave4545454

yes there are going to be a lot of cuts in the public sector. 6 million people working there is far too much, too many non jobs, too many in cushy jobs doing sweet FA all day

1jim

dave4545454 wrote: »

yes there are going to be a lot of cuts in the public sector. 6 million people working there is far too much, too many non jobs, too many in cushy jobs doing sweet FA all day

If the cuts are in the region of 40% do you really think there are around2.5million people employed doing nothing? do you really think there wont be a cut in service delivery? do you really think you wont notice a difference when you go into hospital, need council services, need social services, need education services. Who is going to pay reduncacy payments for all of these people. With these cuts do you think these services will be using the private sectar to fill a gap-unlikly so private sectar jobs go as well, doesnt sound like a failsafe system to keep us out of recession.

Perhaps most of these jobs will just be moved into the private sectar doing the same job and providing the same services which might be cheaper this year, might be cheaper next year but at some point when the services have been privatised to a point where they cant be renationalised then we will see the true cost of this policy. How long before you are asked if you want clubcards with every A&E attendance?

Jacey53

dave4545454 wrote: »

yes there are going to be a lot of cuts in the public sector. 6 million people working there is far too much, too many non jobs, too many in cushy jobs doing sweet FA all day

Successive governments have encouraged this kind of lazy thinking, in order to implement stupid "initiatives" which those who do the jobs know are a waste of time and money. They also try to scapegoat those on benefits as scroungers and the elderly as a drain on the economy which is patently untrue for all but a few.

Don't fall into this trap - try hard to think for yourself. I have worked in both the public and the private sector and there are inefficiencies in both. In the public sector it is not due to lazy people doing non-jobs, but to governments which are only willing to look at "quick fixes" - rewards that will come in their term of office and which grab the headlines.

My staff and I work long and hard at important jobs (for the people of this country - we are not celebrities so don't expect recognition).
Our pay is low and conditions poor. We get no bonuses. The only thing we have is our pension (which the ba***rds are trying to erode) and a decent leave allowance.

In the private sector I could earn almost double what I do now but I do not want to work for shareholders. I feel that I am doing a service to the public.

The reason the government is making cuts across the board is that there are no non-jobs. If there were - why would these not be targeted? Perhaps you could identify some specifically?

SarEl

dave4545454 wrote: »

yes there are going to be a lot of cuts in the public sector. 6 million people working there is far too much, too many non jobs, too many in cushy jobs doing sweet FA all day

What a stupid, short-sighted, bigoted view. Where on earth do you get "facts" like that? Don't tell me - the Sun? One thing is obvious - you have never worked in the public sector and know nothing at all about employment or jobs in the public sector. When your public services - and do remember, they are the services that you, your family, friends and community depend on - have disappeared without a trace, and you are left with nothing... When you are complaining that your local council doesn't do X. Y, or Z... when you are left queuing at the JobCentre to sign on for your benefits for six hours because there are no staff, and heh, where do you have to go since you are an unemployed "scrounger"...when children start dying because there are not the social workers to protect them... when old people die in their homes without anyone knowing because their carers are gone... I sincerely hope that you recall that you were in favour of this. It is the easiest thing in the world to follow the sheep and blame some other worker for the country's problems. Let us know what you do and we can tell you what we think of your job.

nimbo

thanks you to both SarEl, and Jacey - was actually spitting bullets when i read what that mindless person had written.

where i work we've just had the talk from the union which will cheer us all up no end i'm sure...

just wanted to say also 1Jim....

ajbisgr8

dave4545454 wrote: »

yes there are going to be a lot of cuts in the public sector. 6 million people working there is far too much, too many non jobs, too many in cushy jobs doing sweet FA all day

And, when those 2.5 million people (the vast majority of whom will have no option but to go onto the dole because - guess what those 'gold plated' redundancy measures are little more than a myth) - when those 2.5 million people can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that your employer provides, or your partners employer provides, or your families employers provide, and those employers start making redundancies and your job gets cut, I will be the first to come here and harp on about how your job was a non job (despite not knowing the first thing about it of course) and how you deserved to be made redundant.

It's about time that people grew up, realised it's not about public vs private and that cuts on this scale are bad news for everyone.

SarEl

ajbisgr8 wrote: »

It's about time that people grew up, realised it's not about public vs private and that cuts on this scale are bad news for everyone.

I agree. I regret to say that it is my sad conclusion that the major concern of most people in this country is the last headline they read in the tabloid press. True or not (and usually not). One's heart bleeds for David Cameron, who laments that there isn't a decent state school near Downing Street to send his children to. Like this will be an issue. Or for those poor abused politicians who now have so many rules about claiming expenses (I wonder why that is?) that they can't bear to make a claim for the pens they have to buy for work (hands up all public sector workers who have always bought their own pens!!!). People need to get real. Whatever happens to your and yours, you can be certain that those in government will be ok. After all, what was the biggest post-election news story? New minister "got confused" and stole public money - but according to the PM and others in government he was an honourable man and should be allowed to get back into government once he has been on the back benches a few months. Try that one on your employer and see what happens to you.

It's too easy to blame your neighbours and people you don't know for the ills of the country or the world. The supply chains that support public sector services are huge. Public sector cuts mean an impact on every part of the local economy. That's town and city centres, local shops, housing markets. local employers and suppliers - to say nothing of the vulnerable clients that will bear the brunt of the cuts. Anyone who believes that the government are targetting "cushy non-job managers" (whatever they are) needs to have a look at some of the actual cuts over the last few weeks. You no longer have a right to see your GP within 48 hours. No longer have the right to be treated in A&E within 4 hours. The poorest people in society have had their entitlements frozen or cut - and many of these are not just the unemployed (and I would be the first to put "scroungers" to work - but many of the unemployed aren't scroungers either) but hard-working low paid people. My best friend, who has a decent hard-working husband on low pay has already lost hundreds of £'s.

... Sorry, rant over. Almost. What makes me angry is not the people who do this (well, no, actually they do!) but the idiots who blindly follow the latest scapegoating, like its all the fault of someone else. To quote my old dad, "people fought and died for these rights and entitlements". They aren't free. We pay for them. They belong to us. You may not value them now - you certainly will when you want them and they are not there.

bobbyj_2

dave4545454 wrote: »

yes there are going to be a lot of cuts in the public sector. 6 million people working there is far too much, too many non jobs, too many in cushy jobs doing sweet FA all day

I totally concur my friend, well said. Not all are doing sweet fa but a damn good amount are. Deadwood, wheat from chaff n all that, get rid of the !!!!!!s and their fat gold plated pensions ;-)))))))
Then welcome them into the real world.