Council non-jobs

[Iron]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12549785


Nuclear Free Local Authorities policy officer

Purpose: Identifying nuclear hazards and promoting alternatives to nuclear

Salary £37.5 K.

You couldn't make it up!

Here in Preston, when you enter council buildings, you see people in uniform stood around. When you ask them a question, they refer you to the enquiries desk. They could be security officers, but I don't think Preston's main library would descend into disorder without them! But I'm sure they must serve a useful function...

Jeff

[SilentDave]

He defends Liverpool City Council, which has come under fire from ministers for advertising the job of "assistant director of adult services" on a salary of £90,000.

Blimey, if the assistant director of adult services gets £90k, how much do the directors get?
And what the hell is a director of adult services anyway? The mind boggles...

[Iron]

That's a high salary for an assistant!

When I worked for a council, there was a second in command to the head of department. He had to run everything past the head of department, leaving people to wonder what the purpose of his job was!

BTW, that department (IT) was so inefficient, it was beyond belief! Some of the IT technicians would spend literally most of the day chatting and whinging about how busy they were, right in front of the supervisor. Meanwhile, if someone rung up to say that they couldn't work because their computer was bust, I'd have to tell them that we'd aim to get the problem resolved within something like 2 weeks! But if a director's mouse was sticking, someone would be right over to deal with it!

Jeff

He defends Liverpool City Council, which has come under fire from ministers for advertising the job of "assistant director of adult services" on a salary of £90,000.

Blimey, if the assistant director of adult services gets £90k, how much do the directors get?
And what the hell is a director of adult services anyway? The mind boggles...

[LeTiss]

That sounds about right

I used to live in Jersey, and people say the same thing about States jobs.
They are grossly overpaid for what they do, and employees basically take the piss because they have always seen local government jobs as easy money

[lilgreenback]

To try to answer your question, probably a 3rd more with the added responsibility om managing the assistant.

how much do the directors get?
And what the hell is a director of adult services anyway?

It's Social Services but for Adults (not Children/Young People), those with learning difficulties, disabilities, mental health, issues substance misuse etc to the elderly etc.

I work in a similar area so am aware of the Council's shortcommings however bad they may be they can't be as bad as some i.e. the banking sector at least Social Services did not bankrupt the Country.

Or the masterstroke of industry and commerce the splitting up and selling off of the utility companies leaving the nation at the mercy of French and German companies hiking up prices.

Again generalisations are poor; and the issue with the Concil's are not ideal also. As there is a Director of Education, Adult Services, Children's Services, Highways, Planning, Corporate Strategy, Leisure/Tourism etc etc, in each County or Shire.

The difficulty is I suppose that a lot of these Councils are recruiting Senior Management Staff and trying to compete with a salary level equal to that in the Private Sector or more likely against other Authorities looking for people with the same sort of level of expertise and responsibility.

When you dig down though there is a lot of waste; another mad example in our authority office printers are being removed to save money, however in a neighbouring authority they are paying for a Head Teachers Conference by the seaside.

Say No More

[Iron]

The difficulty is I suppose that a lot of these Councils are recruiting Senior Management Staff and trying to compete with a salary level equal to that in the Private Sector or more likely against other Authorities looking for people with the same sort of level of expertise and responsibility.

I think the problem lies partly in the fact that councils are allowed to compete with each other in terms of salaries.

The government could say "A Director of Social Services will get paid £x per annum, with an extra allowance for London councils, whichever council they work for".

Doing so would considerably lower the council wage bill. Whilst some staff might migrate to the private sector, my guess is that there isn't a massive demand outside of councils for people who've spent their career in social services...

In a neighbouring authority they are paying for a Head Teachers Conference by the seaside.

At least they didn't send them to Cannes at taxpayers' expense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QPyXiiRS3w

Jeff

[lilgreenback]

To be honest the private sector who often cater "hard to place children" is extremely well paid at the high end.

my guess is that there isn't a massive demand outside of councils for people who've spent their career in social services

The other issue is that areas like social services, education are statutory services governed by law as such they can't just be gotten rid of.

The government could say "A Director of Social Services will get paid £x per annum, with an extra allowance for London councils, whichever council they work for".

Both you and I would think so the JNC or Joint Negotiating Council which arbitrates wages and terms and conditions of service should say if you do one job in one area it's comensurate in another.

Here comes the classic cock up this is being implemented at present it's called Job Evaluation or Single Status. They have been trying to come up with a formula for it for 10 YEARS. It's cost Millions.

Just like the Govt ID card scheme, heath service computer system, The CSA et al. If you think the council's are bad it's nothing compared to the Civil Service and the Court Services and Legal Aid etc.

Anything where politicians start organising things is height of incompetance. It's always someone elses money they like spending.

[Iron]

On a similar matter, Lord Green's review into public sector waste showed that there were vast differences between councils in terms of what they were paying for supplies.

Surely it would be better if there were a central purchasing agency that said to (say) a paper company:

'We're compiling a directory of stationary suppliers. We want to know what you will charge councils throughout the UK for plain A4 paper during the next 12 months. Give us your best price, and we'll stick it in a database which can be accessed by all the councils'.

As the stakes are high, it would force suppliers to offer keen prices!

Also, you'd avoid purchasing managers in councils having to waste time phoning around for prices.

Jeff

Here comes the classic cock up this is being implemented at present it's called Job Evaluation or Single Status. They have been trying to come up with a formula for it for 10 YEARS. It's cost Millions.

[Iron]

First-time buyers offered £70,000 deposits by local councils:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... ncils.html

Blackpool Council is taking part in this scheme. They have just laid off a third of their staff and Blackpool is one of the poorest areas of the country, so it beggars belief that they think this is a prudent use of ratepayers' money!

Jeff

[Iron]

Laughter yoga teacher employed -

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/waste/ ... ek-27.html

You couldn't make it up!