Council to spend thousands of pounds on footpath maintenance

[Brian Hanson 10]

My company (ESCADON) recently offered to clear and maintain footpaths in Gleadless Valley completely 'FREE OF CHARGE'. The workforce would have consisted of forty eight unemployed people taking part in the government's work placement scheme over an indefinate period of time. But due to my company being 'new' and not having a 'track record' our offer to maintain the footpaths was turned down.

 

Since being turned down we've heard that Sheffield City Council is going to hire a company that has a long track record of maintaining footpaths. Obviously hiring the long track record company is going to cost Sheffield Taxpayers "thousands of pounds".

 

At a time when the Government is wanting everyone to save money it is ridiculous Sheffield Council spending thousands of pounds on hiring a company when they could have got ESCADON for free!

[Guest busdriver1]

My company (ESCADON) recently offered to clear and maintain footpaths in Gleadless Valley completely 'FREE OF CHARGE'. The workforce would have consisted of forty eight unemployed people taking part in the government's work placement scheme over an indefinate period of time. But due to my company being 'new' and not having a 'track record' our offer to maintain the footpaths was turned down.

 

Since being turned down we've heard that Sheffield City Council is going to hire a company that has a long track record of maintaining footpaths. Obviously hiring the long track record company is going to cost Sheffield Taxpayers "thousands of pounds".

 

At a time when the Government is wanting everyone to save money it is ridiculous Sheffield Council spending thousands of pounds on hiring a company when they could have got ESCADON for free!

 

They also have a responsibilty to ensure the work is done properly. Your company is new as you say with no track record. You surely need to ask them if there is a way you can gain a track record in order to be allowed to do this type of work.

[Bruce_Shark 10]

Is this thread a way for your new company to start to build a trusting relationship with the council then?

[Woodchuck 10]

My company (ESCADON) recently offered to clear and maintain footpaths in Gleadless Valley completely 'FREE OF CHARGE'. The workforce would have consisted of forty eight unemployed people taking part in the government's work placement scheme over an indefinate period of time. But due to my company being 'new' and not having a 'track record' our offer to maintain the footpaths was turned down.

 

Since being turned down we've heard that Sheffield City Council is going to hire a company that has a long track record of maintaining footpaths. Obviously hiring the long track record company is going to cost Sheffield Taxpayers "thousands of pounds".

 

At a time when the Government is wanting everyone to save money it is ridiculous Sheffield Council spending thousands of pounds on hiring a company when they could have got ESCADON for free!

 

What do they call this 'other' company?

[Customdiver 10]

Is this thread a way for your new company to start to build a trusting relationship with the council then?

 

:hihi:

[cgksheff 44]

What do you mean by "clearing footpaths"?

 

Not something you really need permission for. Is it?

 

Just go ahead and do it.

[HeadingNorth 11]

What do you mean by "clearing footpaths"?

 

Not something you really need permission for. Is it?

 

If there's some sort of organised effort involving unemployed, that wants to be recognised by the authorities, then it probably does need permission.

 

48 unemployed people who want to clear footpaths can, indeed, just go ahead and do it,but they would not get any official recognition for having taken part in any sort of a work initiative. I presume that's a relevant point here.

[cgksheff 44]

If there's some sort of organised effort involving unemployed, that wants to be recognised by the authorities, then it probably does need permission.

 

48 unemployed people who want to clear footpaths can, indeed, just go ahead and do it,but they would not get any official recognition for having taken part in any sort of a work initiative. I presume that's a relevant point here.

 

 

I'm guessing out loud here, but maybe he has a project that he wants doing and one source of free labour that he has thought of accessing is a scheme for the unemployed.

[Tony 10]

Just get on and do it Brian, but don't forget that your unemployed people will be doing voluntary projects to build up their work record to impress the people who pay wages from the contracts they get awarded from councils.

 

Good luck with your initiative.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Tony

[Zarniwoop 10]

The company concerned will probably be the one that gets the council highways pfi contract. They will have a long term contract to maintain ALL of the highways in Sheffield, so the council can't now legally go around giving parts of highway maintenance to anyone else as the bidders for the contract will have tendered on the basis that they will be doing it all.

[fake 10]

At a time when the Government is wanting everyone to save money it is ridiculous Sheffield Council spending thousands of pounds on hiring a company when they could have got ESCADON for free!

 

Hardly "free" is it as the company will be relying on tax payers money to pay for the scheme and also wages for staff and directors.

 

Did you do a H&S assessment?

Do you have insurance to cover those unemployed people to do the work?

Where will the money come from to kit these unemployed out with the necessary H&S training and equipment?

 

More importantly, by having people do things for free will my council tax get reduced?

[Darth Vader 10]

I'm not sure of the specific type of work you are looking for but the council definitely are lacking in the cleaning up and prevention of dog fouling on our footpaths. No matter how much is spent on footpaths, if they are covered in dog excrement, it won't be appreciated.

 

To be honest, I'm not sure I'd be in support of such a scheme you propose, I believe that a job such as that is part of necessary maintenance that should be taken care of by the council. I do believe in an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and people should be getting paid proper wages for such jobs. We seem to have enough for wars, olympics, papal visits, and tax cuts for big businesses, etc.

 

I wonder if perhaps you might be able to join up with some of the ongoing concerns that have seen their grants cut and aid them. I wonder if you could perhaps come up with a plan working with Heeley City Farm, Heeley Milleninium Park, or something like that, that is not too far from Gleadless, or perhaps helping cleaning up the woodland in the Gleadless Valley area?

Edited February 25, 2012 by Darth Vader