Council Leader on Radio Sheffield

[andygardener]

The dear leader came across as intelligent and businesslike while at the same time compassionate and in touch with the views of residents. And definitely not like retarded plankton after a massive stroke.

[LeMaquis]

Apart from the sheep who vote Labour because their dad voted Labour ,and because his dad voted Labour. )

 

You're so anti-Labour you moved to Barnsley?

[RosyRat]

And for all those who couldn't recognise a Sheffield accent if it bit them in the bum. From the Star :

Coun Dore grew up on the Wybourn and Arbourthorne estates and attended Hurlfield School - now Springs Academy where she is a governor.

 

On leaving school she became a quantity surveyor in the construction industry. She then worked for South Yorkshire Housing Association for 23 years until she was made redundant.

 

She now lives in Gleadless with her husband and two teenage sons.

[ricgem2002]

And for all those who couldn't recognise a Sheffield accent if it bit them in the bum. From the Star :

 

Coun Dore grew up on the Wybourn and Arbourthorne estates and attended Hurlfield School - now Springs Academy where she is a governor.

 

On leaving school she became a quantity surveyor in the construction industry. She then worked for South Yorkshire Housing Association for 23 years until she was made redundant.

 

She now lives in Gleadless with her husband and two teenage sons.

can you answer my question from post 25

[Tallgrass]

The dear leader came across as intelligent and businesslike while at the same time compassionate and in touch with the views of residents. And definitely not like retarded plankton after a massive stroke.

 

Yes I agree entirely. How can a council leader be expected to know the finances of every event, within every section of the council? Her job is huge! She's a leader - not a finance officer. She also is a mum from Sheffield who has a child with learning disabilities who has taken the brave decision to try and do something to make Sheffield better, unlike the moaning idiots on this forum who constantly misquote figures, slate people who get out there and try to make a difference for Sheffield, and don't bother to look up the real facts. Go and download the spreadsheet which shows local government settlement figures for 12/13. As well as the 19m cut they have had various other cuts made to education grants, council tax help for those on benefits etc which central government fail to mention. Do some proper research like looking up the budget and accounts figures on the SCC website which are freely available to all.

 

Workers at SCC like myself continue to work harder and harder, with more and more cuts in funding, less staff, a now 4 year pay-freeze, reduced hours and the expectation that we can maintain all the services Sheffielders get from the city council. We work under the threat of imminent redundancy, and have more and more loaded into our roles, whilst watching colleagues being made compulsarily redundant. Some of the posters on here - previously mentioned - and tory boys, if not far right in fact, just sit in their armchairs and moan without checking any facts. When was the last time any of you went and tried to take part in something to improve your local community? You go in there and try leading the council - I bet you couldn't do a better job. You wouldn't last ten minutes - for a start the finances are clearly beyond you. Oh yes, and I bet you'd have someone cooking, cleaning and ironing your shirts for you at the same time! You know who you are - or are you really that dense?

Edited March 17, 2013 by Tallgrass

[RosyRat]

can you answer my question from post 25

Where were you when all this was discussed?

 

All Local Authorities are given money by central government to fund public services - only a very small percentage can be paid for from Council Tax. However, the government ring-fences a large amount of the money it gives so that it can only be spent in certain areas and not used for other things.

 

This year, the amount the government has given Sheffield has been cut by over £50 million and some of that is for specific areas which the government no longer wants to fund. So the Early Years money previously given for nursery provision has been cut specifically & this is why you see threads on here petitioning for Children's Centres to stay.

Next year, the funding will be cut again by another £30 million and by £30 million again the year after.

 

This isn't bad housekeeping by the Council, it's a deliberate decision by the government to cut funding to Local Authorities. The premise being that public services will be run by the private sector for profit. Those that make no profit, like libraries, will either be run by the voluntary sector or, as has happened in many towns and cities, closed altogether.

It's happening right across the country, only the north of England is experiencing bigger cuts in funding than the more affluent areas in the south and south-east..

Edited March 17, 2013 by RosyRat

[ricgem2002]

Where were you when all this was discussed?

 

All Local Authorities are given money by central government to fund public services - only a very small percentage can be paid for from Council Tax. However, the government ring-fences a large amount of the money it gives so that it can only be spent in certain areas and not used for other things.

 

This year, the amount the government has given Sheffield has been cut by over £50 million and some of that is for specific areas which the government no longer wants to fund. So the Early Years money previously given for nursery provision has been cut specifically & this is why you see threads on here petitioning for Children's Centres to stay.

Next year, the funding will be cut again by another £30 million and by £30 million again the year after.

 

This isn't bad housekeeping by the Council, it's a deliberate decision by the government to cut funding to Local Authorities. The premise being that public services will be run by the private sector for profit. Those that make no profit, like libraries, will either be run by the voluntary sector or, as has happened in many tons and cities, closed altogether.

It's happening right across the country, only the north of England is experiencing bigger cuts in funding.

where were you when the council outsourced services to private contractors who are all in turn now cutting these services and making profits(which could have been going back to the council coffers)? where were you when the council are paying out thousands to union reps which should be coming from the unions subs? i know a manager who works in the care sector who could have saved the council money just by reorganising transport arrangements, but was told it couldnt be implemented because it would reduce the funding from the next financial year ( if thats not bad housekeeping tell me what is ) i wonder how many other departments could have done the same with a bit of tweaking here and there? then maybe the cuts wouldnt have been so harsh. bad housekeeping is what started this, i wouldnt send the council to do my shopping at morrisons :hihi:

[Hots on]

Roseyrat, your avater picture is very very apt.

[dafodil]

Yes I agree entirely. How can a council leader be expected to know the finances of every event, within every section of the council? Her job is huge! She's a leader - not a finance officer. She also is a mum from Sheffield who has a child with learning disabilities who has taken the brave decision to try and do something to make Sheffield better, unlike the moaning idiots on this forum who constantly misquote figures, slate people who get out there and try to make a difference for Sheffield, and don't bother to look up the real facts. Go and download the spreadsheet which shows local government settlement figures for 12/13. As well as the 19m cut they have had various other cuts made to education grants, council tax help for those on benefits etc which central government fail to mention. Do some proper research like looking up the budget and accounts figures on the SCC website which are freely available to all.

 

Workers at SCC like myself continue to work harder and harder, with more and more cuts in funding, less staff, a now 4 year pay-freeze, reduced hours and the expectation that we can maintain all the services Sheffielders get from the city council. We work under the threat of imminent redundancy, and have more and more loaded into our roles, whilst watching colleagues being made compulsarily redundant. Some of the posters on here - previously mentioned - and tory boys, if not far right in fact, just sit in their armchairs and moan without checking any facts. When was the last time any of you went and tried to take part in something to improve your local community? You go in there and try leading the council - I bet you couldn't do a better job. You wouldn't last ten minutes - for a start the finances are clearly beyond you. Oh yes, and I bet you'd have someone cooking, cleaning and ironing your shirts for you at the same time! You know who you are - or are you really that dense?

Every word you say is true and well done Julie.

But! She came on Radio Sheffield supposedly to answer contributers questions .

She did not. She talked over the callers and the they were conveniently cut off on what must have been some pre arranged system.

[RosyRat]

where were you when the council outsourced services to private contractors who are all in turn now cutting these services and making profits(which could have been going back to the council coffers)? where were you when the council are paying out thousands to union reps which should be coming from the unions subs? i know a manager who works in the care sector who could have saved the council money just by reorganising transport arrangements, but was told it couldnt be implemented because it would reduce the funding from the next financial year ( if thats not bad housekeeping tell me what is ) i wonder how many other departments could have done the same with a bit of tweaking here and there? then maybe the cuts wouldnt have been so harsh. bad housekeeping is what started this, i wouldnt send the council to do my shopping at morrisons :hihi:

 

I could probably answer your questions better if you were at least to use some punctuation now and then. However, if you could stop frothing for a moment, I'll try.

 

Where was I when outsourcing began? Working for the Council, so I saw it at first hand.

As another poster has pointed out, you obviously don't understand how Councils have to plan and deliver their budgets. Do us all a favour and read up on it - it might save you posting nonsense about departmental rollover budgets :

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/your-city-council/finance.html

Your last point about "tweaking" expenditure beggars belief. You don't think all departments have been cutting back for years? How on earth would "tweaking" make a difference to massive budget cuts?

But of course, you know a manager in the health care sector, whose offer to tweak a budget was obviously considered to be inappropriate, so you're an expert.

Go away, read the facts, think them over, post something we can read and perhaps you might make a meaningful contribution to this debate.