Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

vivatifosi

tomterm8 wrote: »

Old vinny boy lost a lot of my respect in that article...

What other funding streams from local government !!!!!!?

lemonjelly

michaels wrote: »

Lemon J - is this you?
:beer:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/family/2011/02/birmingham-citizens-advice-bureau-saved?utm_source=forum&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=box:beer:

There's a thread on the DFW responding to this article which I've posted on.

This is my post:

lemonjelly wrote: »

It isn't quite saved yet though.
From the information that I have, the council funding is in place up to the end of March. The council have not yet announced whether they will be giving any funding to Birmingham CAB in the next financial year.

Staff are still going to be getting their redundancy notices, & AKAIK the service will still face reductions.

Birmingham CAB originally believed that they would have to start winding down operations from 14 February. As it stands, it is business as usual for the staff and volunteers working there, but they don't know how long for.

MSE Guy, thanks for raising the profile of this story, including the lawyers2you aspect. It is a fantastic demonstration of an organisation looking at social responsibilities and impacts at a time like this.

I don't work there, & personally I feel that the statement "saved" could be risky, even misleading. Funding for the CAB in Birmingham is not secure for the next financial year, & the council have not changed their position as far as I am aware (though they may have indicated to CAB that they are willing to compromise - obviously that is information I wouldn't be aware of.)

What I do know is that the service will remain open for now, with the hope they can secure other funding to maintain a service (even if it is a reduced service).

MSE Guy did respond to advise that the CAB line is that they have saved the service.

I feel that MSE Guy has done a wonderful job in highlighting the issue, raising awareness, and also examining the dodgy fee charging firms trying to muscle in (vultures that they are). And I am grateful, as will be many in Birmingham.

I am extremely grateful to Martin for adding his name to the petition, & for being willing to put his head above the parapet.

And of course I am grateful to the many kind, gracious & thoughtful friends here who supported, clicked, liked and so on. I am indebted to you all.

I don't feel it is all over yet though, & don't want to be counting proverbial chickens.

As an aside, interesting that Cameron waded into the debate by saying that it was a council decision to withdraw funding from the CAB. Seems contradicted by both Cameron & Pickles stuffing their fat ugly noses into Manchester council saying they should cut their CEO's pay, & not buy so many statues.

Typical double standards & a blatant conmtradiction.

Cameron & his u turns are getting worse.

lemonjelly

On review, I suspect Vince is saying to LA's "don't get cutting this type of funding if you can help it".

vivatifosi

lemonjelly wrote: »

On review, I suspect Vince is saying to LA's "don't get cutting this type of funding if you can help it".

The problem is that LAs have already had a conversation with Pickles, telling him how much they can cut. How that is being applied will vary from LA to LA as they rightly have a degree of autonomy. However that fat isn't there. If I take the LA that I work for - and I don't know how the local CAB is affected by anything they do - then in that case they are already telling staff their jobs are being cut, already shaping the organisation for the new world order, etc. If they then have to find money for CAB, where will it come from?

I am an advocate for CAB, but like libraries, its one of those thing that comes down the list when you have statutories to fulfil, such as ensuring you have enough social workers to counter child abuse. When you can't cut those things back, then other departments (for example the one that fills potholes etc) get hit harder. Meanwhile the council tax payers are shouting "but I pay my council tax I want my: bins collected/potholes filled/libraries to stay open (delete as applicable). It's an almost impossible scenario. This is why I fear for council funding of charities, because they are NGOs, it doesn't get viewed as LA funded and the public doesn't shout about them when asked in "public consultation" what they want to keep.

lemonjelly

Perhaps Vince is on about this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-12493939

Yeah, a 48% cut as well as libraries and many other cuts...

I'm starting to think May could get quite interesting...

Wheezy_2

lemonjelly wrote: »

I'm starting to think May could get quite interesting...

Do you mean the AV vote, lemonjelly?

lemonjelly

Wheezy wrote: »

Do you mean the AV vote, lemonjelly?

To be honest, more the Local elections.

But the AV vote will be interesting to observe.

SingleSue

Proud mummy time again....middle son did an assessment in maths yesterday and got an 8C! So from October ish time, he has improved by one whole level, from a 7C to an 8C.

He is also in the 7's for music and science and high 6's for history and art.

vivatifosi

SingleSue wrote: »

Proud mummy time again....middle son did an assessment in maths yesterday and got an 8C! So from October ish time, he has improved by one whole level, from a 7C to an 8C.

Hi Sue,

Sorry, they've changed how these things work since I was at school. What's an 8c compared to a 7c? Congrats to son though!

Davesnave

vivatifosi wrote: »

Hi Sue,

Sorry, they've changed how these things work since I was at school. What's an 8c compared to a 7c? Congrats to son though!

It means he's better than many of us.