PUBLIC SERVICE CUTS

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the National Audit Office's criticism of the Home Office apropos police cuts. It doesn't pull any punches and I applaud it. It's about time this farrago of denials and lies was brought into the full light of day. The statistics show quite clearly that due to no fault of their own, the service we get from the police force has deteriorated to a point where is can be described as a crisis by any reasonable observer. Now we have to see if the Home Secretary does anything better than 'going out to consultation', in other words kicking it again into the long grass.....

[Stanley]

I noted Cressida Dick speaking to the police conference yesterday complaining about the reduction of the pay award from 3% to 2%. She said it was making it difficult to retain and recruit officers. Remember her averring that cuts in numbers had no bearing on the increase in crime? The Home secretary's response is that police will be his priority next year..... I seem to remember him saying that treatment of immigrants was his priority as well at the time of the Windrush affair.
How many priorities can a man have? Will he be in post next year? How does this address the immediate and pressing problem? Answers on a postcard please......

[Tizer]

`Minimum wage: Workers underpaid by record £15.6m' LINK

[Stanley]

A timely link Tiz and note that this isn't a 'living wage' or anywhere near. Hard working families are being driven into poverty and despite her pledge to remember those 'just managing' May shows no sign of giving them a thought. Too busy being a 'states woman'. By the way, even nurses and police personnel are driven to use food banks.
We used to have statutory wages councils for different low paid trades and they policed the rates. They were abolished on the grounds they had out-lived their usefulness. Really?

[Stanley]

I'm sure you have seen the latest dire news about what is now being called 'The Thin Blue Line'. Forces setting percentages as low as 50% on how many complaints they investigate. The demise of the front desk and the local police station. This on the watch of the 'Party of Law and Order'.

[Stanley]

If anyone is in any doubt about the catastrophic state of social housing, go to iPlayer and listen to this morning's edition of Woman's Hour. A homeless lady tells her story and it is heart-wrenching and totally unfair. Please listen to her in the second quarter of an hour of the programme.

[Stanley]

See THIS very comprehensive article from the Guardian laying out the dangers of the impending roll out of the system. Breaking news suggests that leaked documents show that the government is beginning to take notice of the flaws and might be considering slowing the roll out down.

[plaques]

After years of Tebbit's 'on your bikes' and then behind 'closed bedroom curtains'. then the suggestion that unmarried mothers get themselves pregnant to get on housing lists, running together with the implication that all those on benefit are scroungers and should be looking for work. Also, promoting the general idea that those on disability benefit are trying to pull a fast one. The whole Tory ethos is that after all this negative propaganda its safe to think that the public will be on their side and go along with more benefit cuts.

[Stanley]

Very true P and it was always thus. Same arguments when Elizabeth I instituted 'The New Poor Law' over 300 years ago.
Interesting that after ignoring reports of increased use of food banks in areas where Universal Credit is rolled out even Tory MPs are using that fact to emphasise the problems with Universal Credit. Also reports that people in work are being forced down the same route and are liable to rent arrears. Particularly damaging was a report from the Police Federation that some serving police officers were in the same boat.....
Don't expect Philip Hammond to come riding over the hill like the Seventh Cavalry.
(Things may look even worse if Brussels goes as badly as it looks at the moment.)

[Stanley]

THIS report is well worth a read. Just one more example of how the really important aspects of society are being starved of funds and ignored while our leaders concentrate on what they believe to be the really important things like Brexit.
Have we completely lost sight of the priorities?
Who cares about immigration and sovereignty when little children are suffering.......
reports that the number of calls to Crimestoppers has increased: "Between July 2017 and June 2018, the organisation passed on 152,000 reports to police across the UK - up 6% on the previous year and 33% on 2015/16.". The organisation says that they believe this is largely because people have so many problems with the police line 101.

[Tizer]

There's a shocking story on the front page of The Times today about a 21-year-old autistic woman in care in Manchester. The paper got information released showing that her carers had been encouraging her to have risky sexual encounters with strange men so that she might `learn from her mistakes'.

[Stanley]

I don't know the details but heard reports of that Tiz. Good job we don't know everything that is happening in the world...... It would be insupportable.

[Stanley]

My day at Airedale was interesting, clean, well staffed and perfect service, absolutely top marks. One thing that struck me was that Susan asked to be informed when I had finished in endoscopy and they gave her a bleeper. It worked perfectly! Are we just lucky round here? We hear so many dire stories about the NHS but no complaints from me!

[plaques]

Yesterdays visit to the Colne swimming pool raised what is almost becoming an annual event. A strong rumor circulating that the Conservative run council is hell bent on closing the pool. No mention that the shortage of funding is because of the cut backs from the Conservative government. Just more of 'not me gov' we have got to make savings somewhere. Let's sell off some more council assets. If we close this pool we can save £XXX's. No detailed analysis of usage against costs or comparisons with other leisure facilities, Ace centre etc. Forget about the extra travelling, just jump in your car and add to the pollution. Kids can get their swimming lessons somewhere else??? the canal perhaps. The message is clear, if you want more cuts and more austerity Vote Conservative.

[Tizer]

If it's anything like down here the councils shut the pools and sell the land to the supermarket companies - remove the exercise and replace it with more eating and drinking! If you're lucky you might get another pool eventually but somewhere on the outskirts with access by car only.

[Stanley]

What a common story and the Tories say it's because they inherited such large debts from Labour in 2010.... There was a report on C4 news yesterday about the number of drug rehab centres that have closed down and in Particular, the last one in Bristol which has been doing useful work for 35 years. It will close in a fortnight because the local councils it serves can no longer afford to send clients. Think of the knock-on costs that policy generates. As P says, if proper cost/benefit analysis is done, we can't afford these closures!
Come to think about it, we can't afford the Tories!!

[Stanley]

I can't give a web address but further reports this morning that organised crime is now a bigger threat than terrorism. Home grown threat due largely to lack of policing due to funding cuts.....
Police are going to do the unthinkable, sue the Treasury for a judicial review of funding.
Our brave new world despite 'the end of austerity'. How did it come to this?

[Tizer]

Here it is: `Organised crime threat greater than terrorism - National Crime Agency' LINK
`The threat posed by serious and organised crime in the UK is now far greater than terrorism, the National Crime Agency has said. Its report said there were 4,600 serious and organised crime groups, costing the economy £37bn a year. The crimes they commit include child abuse, trafficking and drug dealing. Security Minister Ben Wallace said he wanted to target groups - such as accountants and estate agents - who launder money for the criminals...'

[Stanley]

That's the one Tiz!
"Minister Ben Wallace said he wanted to target groups"
I would be more impressed if he had given us more than an aspiration. To many promises and aspirations about.
Later.... I think we have all noted the criticism of the Chief Constable who said that the police should concentrate on the most important matters instead of using resources to investigate historic sex abuse cases and complaints about sexism. She immediately came under attack but I see that Cressida Dick, the most senior police officer has gone public supporting her saying that resources should go first to serious crime and violence. In the present circumstances of underfunding this is the only sensible response. The question arises whether police resources are the right ones to use in these other cases. They are important and perhaps a separate dedicated body would be better.

[Stanley]

See THIS report in the Independent on the latest stabbing in London. It looks as though the record numbers of violent murders in the capital is going to be exceeded again.
We are allowed to draw our own conclusions about a possible link between cuts in police funding and the dire crime figures we are seeing all over the country.

[Stanley]

See THIS for a BBC report on the latest death in London. I am not going to comment, you all know what my view is. Sadiq Khan seems to be talking sense to me after consulting with Glasgow where they are beginning to see an improvement after completely re-jigging their response. As Churchill used to say; "Action this day!"

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the pressures on children's social services. It is a grim picture, we are letting these kids down badly. This is of more immediate importance than Brexit which has blanked out coverage. Adult social care in the community is under the same serious pressures. What are the priorities? It appears that it is not these matters.

[Stanley]

HERE'S some news from Huffington Post on the failure of the government to accurately assess the numbers of rough sleepers on our streets. Huff Post are often a reliable source and if this is correct it's a serious matter as the number of rough sleepers is often used as a barometer in deciding what levels of welfare are needed. Even more worrying is the fact that having a lower figure might suit the government better than a higher figure.
I can't help thinking about my good sleep in a warm house and comparing it to the prospect of sleeping outside in weather like this..... I don't care if they are drug takers or work shy, it's a matter of common humanity.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on one specific social care case and further into the report, details of how much care budgets have been cut. Not a pretty picture, Wales and Scotland seem to have performed much better.

[PanBiker]

Did you catch the report about the number of vacant properties the MOD maintains, it's thousands of houses up and down the country. Many have been sold to housing associations and then are being rented back by the MOD to keep them in reserve. I think they pay something like 25 million per year for vacant dwellings. They say they have to do this for "operational purposes" but a lot of the properties they are still paying for have fallen into disrepair and have suffered vandalism. Beggars belief really when folk are sleeping rough and many of those are ex service lads.