What Public service wastages do you see?

carolt

michaels wrote: »

You have your wish Carol - instead of paying me to make existing things happen more efficiently and improve the figures that decisions are based on you will soon be paying me (admittedly a fair bit less) to sit at home. However the savings from doing things more efficiently and making decision based on reliable figures will also not materialise which will cost you much more overall - however at least there will be one fewer consultant.

(As an aside given my charge out rate with a small company and the flexibility of not paying me when not needed or paying me redundancy etc, unlike most big company consultants I was not actually much more expensive than using in house staff)

Nothing personal, and I'm sure that as an intelligent guy you will have applied your intelligence to the best of your ability. That doesn't change the fact that someone who works in the sector permanently and knws it thoroughly is going to be at least as well-placed as you and probably better to make those same decisions. And given we're already employing them it seems wasteful to employ you to duplicate their work. I'd rather see people like you working for the public sector. But I suppose you went for the higher wages in consultancy?

Old_Slaphead

Traffic signs especially speed signs. What's the point of having a clearway sign followed 20 yards later by a "40". Loads of examples of this.

I recently passed 1 mile of roadworks and counted 97 temporary road signs one way and 93 the other.

Really2

Old_Slaphead wrote: »

Traffic signs especially speed signs.

Notice how they have got rid of the ones telling you what speed you are going.

Not surprisingly boy racers were competing to see who could get the highest number on them.:)

ILW

Really2 wrote: »

Notice how they have got rid of the ones telling you what speed you are going.

Not surprisingly boy racers were competing to see who could get the highest number on them.:)

I liked the ones that either gave you a smile or a frown, somehow the smile always seemed a bit of a failure.

dave4545454

i'm yet to see a single person doing some work ever during the countless interviews i've had at the council. really hard to concentrate on a written test in an office full of people gossiping about the weekend.

robin_banks

dave4545454 wrote: »

i'm yet to see a single person doing some work ever during the countless interviews i've had at the council. really hard to concentrate on a written test in an office full of people gossiping about the weekend.

Just how many job interviews have you failed at this council ?.

michaels

Intelligent guy - I think you have me confused with some one else.

If the different departments I worked for needed my skill set full time I am sure they would have an equivalent employee but is seems expensive to employ someone full time for the few weeks or months they actually need the skills. I have contemporariness in the public sector who do similar jobs and have similar levels of experience as me and I suspect after doing all the sums (pension, salary, NI, desk space, sickness, training, only employing me to do stuff when needed etc) I probably cost about the same (and I certainly don't earn any more especially when pensions are factored in). I chose to be a consultant for the (perceived) extra variety and to avoid the (again perceived) govt employee mindset (the majority of those who do the similar role to me in GORS (Govt OR service) don't have that mindset it turns out). It also means as I become more senior I don't have to become a manager rather than a doer which would be the case within govt)

And I completely agree with you that those doing the job have the knowledge about what it entails but I do not have the type of consultant role where I turn up with no knowledge and suggest a better way of doing things; generally it is just a matter of helping those on the ground structure their ideas or dig deeply in to their datasets which they may not have time to do themselves or necessarily as strong database and data analysis skills as they already have a full time job to do that doesn't resolve entirely around data and process.

carolt wrote: »

Nothing personal, and I'm sure that as an intelligent guy you will have applied your intelligence to the best of your ability. That doesn't change the fact that someone who works in the sector permanently and knws it thoroughly is going to be at least as well-placed as you and probably better to make those same decisions. And given we're already employing them it seems wasteful to employ you to duplicate their work. I'd rather see people like you working for the public sector. But I suppose you went for the higher wages in consultancy?

Graham_Devon

Really2 wrote: »

Notice how they have got rid of the ones telling you what speed you are going.

Not surprisingly boy racers were competing to see who could get the highest number on them.:)

Is that why they have all dissapeared!?

LOL. I thought they were quite a good deterrent myself. Just reminded you of your speed. The one I used to go past every day was handy, as it was yards before a speed camera and a school, so win win...but yup, all the ones I knew have certainly dissapeared.

Graham_Devon

As for the thread.

Wastage I'm not sure about. I know my biggest complaint of new comps every 3 years has now been axed. That was a complete and utter waste.

Personally, I think waste is somewhat personal anyway. A lot of people define waste as money spent on something, when they have absolutely no idea what the aim, or achievements are.

Unless you really understand what the aims and achievements are, it's far to easy to write stuff off as waste.

On saying all of that though, I think the biggest waste is just the amount of departments and beauracracy. Some of it's needed but it's gone extreme.

Orpheo

CRB checking.

I have been CRB checked 6 times in the last 10 years. My last CRB check was done in November 2009, but as I've moved to a new county I'm now in the throws of having another one done and I am unable to do my job until it is. I expect it to take them anywhere between 6 weeks to 3 months; I have never had one returned in a quicker timeframe than that.

The current cost for an enhanced CRB check is £36 a time, it used to be double that. A CRB check has no shelf-life, it expires pretty much immediately after it is disclosed. Guess who gets the CRB fee? Capita, a private contractor.

Now, I'm all for child protection, but this is madness.

I'm not saying that vetting should be stopped, just done more sensibly.