Yet more Evidence that the Coalition is incompetent

chewmylegoff

LauraW10 wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19809717

Can't wait 'til they are gone. Couldn't organise the proverbial

given that labour MPs have been demanding that the decision to go with first group be reversed, i presume you think that labour are incompetent too?

princeofpounds

Branson's main complaint was that the FirstGroup tender looked more attractive because it generated more revenue over the life of the contract by predicting a peak in passenger numbers in the last 2 years.

Yes, I had seen that, which I do understand, but that's not actually the deficiency at the root of the problem. That is FirstGroup's 'exploitation' of the flaw in the process, which presumably allowed the train companies to come up with any old forecasts they like.

paddyrg

For those who instinctively feel that beardy boy's bid must be best because he's on telly a lot, that's obviously flawed. First Group run the network in the SouthWest, and frankly they seem to do a perfectly respectable job. Trains are significantly comfier than the Virgin ones too, TBH. I was pleased when they won the bid.

Thrugelmir

LauraW10 wrote: »

Can't wait 'til they are gone. Couldn't organise the proverbial

and the legacy left by PFI?

By October 2007 the total capital value of PFI contracts signed throughout the UK was £68bn, committing the British taxpayer to future spending of £215bn over the life of the contracts

DervProf

I won't claim that I know all of the ins and outs of this story.

What I will say is that it's always the same with government spending, they are spending other people's money. The bidders for government money know that the people who make the decisions on who gets the contract are not spending their own money.

How much does it cost for a hospital to get a lightbulb changed ? I think we've all heard stories about how much public sector organisations pay for fairly ordinary work to be carried out. It's often susprisingly expensive. The reason ? The person handing over the cheque isn't the one who is paying the bill, it's the taxpayer. OK, the person handing over the cheque is partly paying for it, but it's hardly significant (especially on their, no doubt, decent salary).

Would the person handing over the cheque for the lightbulb replacement pay that much for a lightbulb to be replaced in their own home ? I doubt it.

There's too many people spending too much of other people's money. Make those who award contracts (large and small) much more accountable for their actions. There must be a way to make people who spend tax payer's money much more careful on how that money is spent.

Thrugelmir

DervProf wrote: »

There must be a way to make people who spend tax payer's money much more careful on how that money is spent.

Put private sector finance managers into the public sector.

Graham_Devon

Seems labour are going all out to attack the tories on this. Seems they will let the lib dems off though....which seems a running theme at the moment!

DervProf

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Put private sector finance managers into the public sector.

Won't that simply make them public sector finance managers ?

Here's an idea......

Right, Mr (or Mrs, this is an equal opportunities post) Person responsible for changing hospital lightbulbs. Here's your £1,000,000 budget for changing hospital lightbulbs this year. We want you to organise bulb replacement. Your salary will be whatever you have left at the end of the year. We expect 98% of lightbulbs to be function properly all of the time. Any less than this, and your salary will be reduced by 5 x the % shortfall.

Instead of......

Here's your £1,000,000 budget and a £35K salary. See how you get on.

CLAPTON

DervProf wrote: »

Won't that simply make them public sector finance managers ?

Here's an idea......

Right, Mr (or Mrs, this is an equal opportunities post) Person responsible for changing hospital lightbulbs. Here's your £1,000,000 budget for changing hospital lightbulbs this year. We want you to organise bulb replacement. Your salary will be whatever you have left at the end of the year. We expect 98% of lightbulbs to be function properly all of the time. Any less than this, and your salary will be reduced by 5 x the % shortfall.

Instead of......

Here's your £1,000,000 budget and a £35K salary. See how you get on.

is that how the private sector work?

GeneHunt_2

The current coalition government is working flat out to eclipse memories of Gordon Brown's incompetence. It is succeeding to such an extent that only two years after he was a minister in Brown's team, Miliband can, with a straight face, stand on a stage and lecture the Tories on competence...