What Goverment spending would you cut? poll discussion

deedee71

slummymummyof3 wrote: »

Get rid of free prescriptions in Wales and Scotland.

Devolved states get a budget and choose how to spend their "pot". In Wales and Scotland we have forgone something else (layers of NHS management??) to allow for free prescriptions. Getting rid wouldn't save money as the money would be spend elsewhere in the NHS instead.

rag31

Oh how very daily mail this thread feels

Having worked (voluntarily) on various committees in our local NHS PCT I can vouch for the astonishing waste of money that goes on. E.g. our local PCT has two hospitals. They decided to close down both maternity units and open a new super-unit on a third site. Two years, a quarter of a million pounds and countless 'consultants' 'designers' and committees and they realised there was no room for the special care baby unit on this site and the whole thing was quietly dropped.

Not to mention the zillions of managers I met whose job was *entirely* to attend various committees and meetings and examine and implement various guidance and targets that were coming out. In the years I was there none of them came to fruition before a new guidance came out and they started again.

I can't, however, see how this could be changed without just starting afresh. Constantly trying to fix something that is so broke just creates more cost, more bureaucrats and I feel something else is needed. What? I don't know.

I'm sure universal benefits (child benefit) could be means tested without any hardship to families. Simplify the benefits process, it's so complicated and difficult, and again - levels of bureaucracy is just mad.

I also wish there was more long term thinking. Lots of things could save us money long term but cost more than doing the same old same old in the short term.

No, I wouldn't cut the overseas budget. Frankly it sickens and saddens me that this is what people latch onto. Short term thinking in action. If it needs to be properly and more efficiently directed then we could do worse as a country to give to NGO's who do a fantastic job of creating change on a shoestring.

Environment and public transport?? NOOOO. Short term thinking AGAIN. This is where we should be investing, sorting out our future energy situation and getting a decent public transport system to reduce car ownership and oil consumption.

keith26

Cut benefits for a start, then add a surcharge on all those who have voted labour over the years as they are the ones who got us into this mess yet again. Never been in debt, never voted labour, never had anything off the government I dont see why its now MY problem at all.

charliewiggs

NorthWalesGraham wrote: »

I am a benefit fraud investigator for the past 12 years and from my experience I can state that fraud within the benefit system is rampant. If this Government is serious about reducing the massive public sector bill which the last Government ( and previous Governments) have accumulated they must address the fraud in the welfare system. Despite what the last Government has claimed in that they had reduced the fraud in the system I and my colleagues in local authorities and the DWP would challenge this. I agree with the comments of some of the other contributors to this post and it's insulting to those hard working, taxpaying members of the public who witness day in day out benefit claimants blatantly stealing money from taxpayers. Remember it's the taxpayer who funds the public sector not the Government ! So here's what I would do:

Abolish Child Benefit (There's Child Tax Credits which is means tested)

Abolish Job Centres and replace them with Employment agencies run by the private sector and reward the agencies by the number of claimants they place in employment.

Stop single parents on benefit from being given more money every time they have another child.

Make all benefits taxable.

Could not agree more.benefits need to be reduced to below what a working person on minimum wage gets then some of them might get a job

keith26

As for means testing child benefits, I fail to see why the unemployed should get more and those that work again lose of to keep them in beer and fags.

jenster

Gordon_the_Moron wrote: »

A. Defence (military spending - £35bn)
Get our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, more to save lives than save money, they shouldn't be there

B. Education (schools and universities - £32bn)
Employ someone like Martin Lewis to cut waste and you could save a fair bit

im suprised Martin isnt involved in some way - (maybe hes been asked )

he could certainly do a job

i said before Martin for PM LOL

LilacLouisa

stevemcol wrote: »

I stared at the options for a good couple of minutes and couldn't make myself vote for any of them. Just shows what a difficult job the politicians have ahead of them.
I'm disappointed in the large proportion wanting to cut overseas aid. Compared to the plight of many developing countries, our difficulties seem a little trivial really.

I voted for overseas aid. Not because I don`t realise how lucky I am or because I don`t care about third world countries, but people either from Africa or those with African Caribbean ancestry have been saying that aid has turned Africans into beggars, and are calling events like Live Aid "Death Aid".

The feelings of at least some is that Governments just rely on aid coming in rather than making efforts themselves (and maybe siphoning the money off for themselves)

I have talked about this many times with friends, coming to the conclusion that it would be better to gradually phase aid out, but pay a decent rate for whatever they produce, and also prevent western countries exploiting third world countries resources.

I don`t know how effective Fair Trade goods are, but I try to buy them, and apparently the sale of Fair Trade bananas is at least helping the Windward Islands somewhat.

I also sponsor a child in Haiti, I can only hope that is helping too and not causing problems.

woodcook

Get rid of OFSTED. School inspectors used to inspect and advise and were useful to schools and society. Now they just look for (desperately some times) anything to complain about BUT offer no advice. There aim is now self justification. I am not a teacher but have contact with multiple schools and teachers and this is a permanent complaint. OFSTED is now a useless organisation as far as improving schools is concerned.

USEDTOBEABABE

Picking up on what Slummymummyof3 said, are many people aware that Diabetics get ALL prescriptions free? ie if they get a cold & get a chesty cough then the drugs for that are free.

I'm all for the drugs to do with their condition being free, but not for anything else they toddle off to the Drs for. It also defies logic that a person who has had a transplant & needs anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives have to pay for these!!!

jenster

worried_jim wrote: »

Stop all jsa after 6 months.
No more child allowance or tax credits after the second child, its time to show some social responsibility and put a condom on it 'cos we ain't paying for it any longer.
Cap council spending, we don't need to be paying £40k for a weekend play time advisor.

Stop all payments to single mothers. Govt give 12 months notice from today that there will be no special treatment so cross your legs. This will ease the strain on social housing and will also stop generation after generation repeating the same mistakes and clogging up the estates with feral scum.

agreed but i say upto 3 children only should be given child benifits after that then stop!