What Goverment spending would you cut? poll discussion

Butterfly_Brain

Our Council which has just become unitary spent £3 MILLION on a consultancy paid to a private firm for a giant aquarium to be built and nothing ever came of it :mad: And our council tax is one of the highest in the country.

Another thing that gets my goat about the council extortion fee is that it differs greatly wherever you live I think it should be set at the same rate throughout England, Scotland and Wales

jicms

"H. Social Protection (state pension and benefits - £171 bn)"

Seems strange to lump these two together. Yes benefits for spongers definitely need to be cut but state pensions are some of the lowest in the western world and need to be increased.

Pont

I work in education. Just recently over 100 of us were told to attend 3 days of meetings at an approximate cost of £75,000 to the tax payer. Each afternoon was dedicated to 'meditation'. Give me strength! I was totally disgusted at the total waste of public funds so didn't attend. This poll highlighted some obvious causes for concern, but there are many others.

mcjordi

i voted cut foreign aid.. charity begins at home..

lancs_ms

eileenfromplaistow wrote: »

Streamline the Police, AND CUT THEIR OVERTIME.

I have worked in the police for 20 years. I haven't been paid any overtime (in cash) for the last 5 years as I always prefer to take it as time off. Many of my colleagues are similar.

Before you make judgements such as this it's good to have some background info. Most officers do not want to work overtime. The requirements of policing mean that sometimes you have to, and you are given no choice about it! Here are some examples:
Football matches: officers will be kept on duty or have their rest days cancelled.
Demonstrations or incidents of disorder.
Major incidents such as a murder.
Unplanned demands e.g. arresting a burglar towards the end of a shift.

If you think about it, the police have to continue to provide the everyday 24/7 service even when there is an extraordinary demand, so the only way of getting the additional staff needed in these circumstances is by paying overtime or cancelling rest days.

When a murder occurs, officers need to work 12-14hr shifts to get as many enquiries completed as soon as possible during the first days of the enquiry. If they don't, evidence may be lost. Do you want them to go home at the end of 8hrs because of an overtime ban?

It can be done, but you need to consider the implications for detecting crime and YOUR safety.

shed_head_2

cuddiesduck wrote: »

Exam fees are an ever growing expense for schools. The currrent fashion for modular exams means students take more and more exams at a higher and higher cost each year. Examining boards used to be universities but are now private companies. Returning to the old system of exams being set by universities and take once at the end of the course would be cheaper.

I teach mathematics, the school I work in has put all the year 10's and 11's through every Maths exam that exisits for the UK and a northern Ireland paper. They are on a quest to try and get the compulsary C grade for the governement data. I hate to think what it has cost but last monday over 200 hundred pupils sat 5 different papers.

By the end of this academic year they will have sat 16 different exam papers with four different exam boards.

I totally agree with the OP bring back the old system

slopemaster

talking of malapropisms, it's swingeing, not swinging

fattyc

Yes, totally agree. The welfare system greatly benefits those who pay nothing into the system in the first place, and have no intention of ever paying into the system. I work for a social work department and am sick of people wanting to take take take from the system. They decide they want something, well they don't want to pay for it, they want it free. You would be amazed what social work will pay for these days! Makes you sick! Drug addicts get free train travel to their place of rehab (also funded by the tax payer - huge costs), single parents get taxis to take them to meetings to meet their offspring which they are not capable of looking after in the first place - and offspring which the taxpayer will be left to fund for their care. I work full time, pay taxes etc, if I want to go on a train or a taxi I have to pay for it!

malni wrote: »

i agree benefit fraud is big business and has to be stopped, why not make those on benefit and job seekers work for thier benefits obvioulsy depending on thier disability etc but those on job seekers should put something back into the country after all there getting paid for doing nothing

dolla_2

I would have definately voted that we should cut benefits! Namely because the scumbag that conned me out £700 was earning £100/night from her bar job but claiming dole/housing benefit and whatever else she could get.

However, since November, my view on government spending for benefits, etc has vastly changed.

My father worked all his life, paid his taxes, owned his own house was diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of 48. He has been phsyically unable to work and my mother has been told by the state that she must reduce her hours otherwise they won't be entitled to carer's allowance. They are SERIOUSLY struggling with their mortgage and bills are piling up. They got a letter from the council to say they will be providing 20p per week for them to live on and will pay half ther mortgage. What a disgrace!

Benefits could still be cut if they were better regulated wih inspections and random checkups. If you ever, God forbid, became in the same situation as my family and felt that feeling of dispair and desperation I'm sure you would feel a whole lot different about the spending on benefits.

Scousemaid

. Defence (military spending - £35bn) GET RID OF TRIDENT
B. Education (schools and universities - £32bn) USE SCHOOL BUILDINGS MORE EFFICIENTLY TO RAISE FUNDS. MANY ARE UNUSED MOST EVENINGS AND FOR THE WHOLE HOLIDAY PERIODS. REDUCE HEADS' SALARIES- SOME HAVE REACHED RIDICULOUS LEVELS
C. Environment (waste and pollution - £5bn) GIVE GRANTS FOR USING AND DEVELOPING GREEN ENERGY TO CUT IMPORTS
D. Health (the NHS £124bn) CUT MANAGERS BUT LEAVE THE NHS ALONE. AFTER THATCHER'S GOVERNMENT I HAD PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF 10 MONTH WAITING LISTS TO SEE A CONSULTANT AND THEN 4 YEARS WAIT FOR SURGERY. THIS MADE MY CONDITION MUCH WORSE AND INCREASED SUBSEQUENT COSTS. UNDER LABOUR WAITING LISTS ARE 12 WEEKS AND SURGERY IS 12 WEEKS LATER!
E. Housing £4bn INCREASE SPENDING ON SOCIAL HOUSING BUT TREAT ALL THE SAME. IF YOU PAY FOR YOUR OWN HOUSE YOU MAY HAVE FIVE OR SIX CHILDREN LIVING IN A THREE BEDROOMED HOME. CLAIMANTS WITH FIVE+ CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DEMAND A BEDROOM FOR EACH CHILD-IF THEY WERE PAYING THEMSELVES THEY WOUL NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD 6 BEDROOMED HOMES!
F. Law & Order (police and courts - £15bn) MONITOR POLICE OVERTIME AND STOP THE NONSENSE OF CLAIMING SEVERAL HOURS FOR A JOB THAT TAKES A FEW MINUTES.
G. Overseas aid (money to the developing world – £12bn) IF YOU HAD EXPERIENCED THE THIRD WORLD YOU WOULD NOT WANT THIS CUT- BUT THERE SHOULD BE GREATER MONITORING OF EXPENDITURE.
H. Social Protection (state pension and benefits - £171 bn) ONCE YOU HAVE FED AND HOUSED THREE CHILDREN SUBSEQUENT CHILDREN DON'T COST THAT MUCH MORE. YOU ALREADY HAVE THE HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE AND CLOTHES, TOYS ETC CAN BE PASSED DOWN. GREATLY REDUCE THE CHILD BENEFIT FOR THIRD AND SUBSEQUENT CHILDREN AND WATCH THE BIRTH RATE GO DOWN.
I . Transport (roads & railways - £11bn) SUBSIDISE PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND TAKE PRESSURE OFF THE ROADS. INCREASE/INITIATE FEES FOR LORRIES USING THE ROADS TO ENCOURAGE RAIL AND REDUCE THE PRESSURE ON THE ROADS.