Council Finances - Where we are now.

[odders]

Mr Moss and Mr Jones have since their arrival on this forum, stated what their hopes and gains would be for their representative area/local council if they had control. Ken Moss has made it a task upon himself to see where cuts could be made, and he reported them on here, whenever he could find them. Graham Jones has spent endless time in trying to sort out the housing, amongst other projects, same goes for Ken.

I think we have never had a era locally, where clarity and public knowledge are a keystone to a party policy, as well using the public to air their views, and hopefully get answers. If you don't work/communicate with the people who vote you in you will be soon out, because the back handers, are gone for a long long time.

WE GOT NO MONEY

[odders]

I would rather have people singing from the same hymn sheet, than one writing the words himself, whilst humming a different tune

[Margaret Pilkington]

Me too.
I really, really wish that they would take politics out of local government.
Perhaps then there would be more time spent on what could be done with the resources available, without the petty point scoring and mud slinging....after all it takes a lot of time and effort to wipe all that mud off.

[gynn]

As in all these stories, I prefer to trust the word of officers rather than politicians. The only public reference to the views of officers is the following"-

'The Lancashire Telegraph understands the claim of a ‘black hole’ baffled town hall accountants, as the council’s budgets have all been balanced in recent years'

I have expressed concerns about some of the income predictions, which no doubt officers are monitoring closely, but they won't allow the Council to spend money it hasn't got, or promise money that isn't there.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by odders

Mr Moss and Mr Jones have since their arrival on this forum, stated what their hopes and gains would be for their representative area/local council if they had control. Ken Moss has made it a task upon himself to see where cuts could be made, and he reported them on here, whenever he could find them. Graham Jones has spent endless time in trying to sort out the housing, amongst other projects, same goes for Ken.

I think we have never had a era locally, where clarity and public knowledge are a keystone to a party policy, as well using the public to air their views, and hopefully get answers. If you don't work/communicate with the people who vote you in you will be soon out, because the back handers, are gone for a long long time.

WE GOT NO MONEY

You're right.

Both Graham, and Ken, have used this medium, which is Accy Web, to communicate their political ideas to us, the electorate.

I applaud them for it.

It's a way of reaching us, that's open to every politican.

They haven't always said the right thing, and some of the Graham/Cyfr bickering made me cringe, but through their openess and honesty, have gained admiration and respect. Sometimes even from their political foes.

Tellingly, all the prospective parliamentary Conservative candidates joined Accy Web, in order to woo us. Though without any great sucess.

Personally I'd love the new council leader to post on here. So we could get to know the man behind the (comparatively few) photos of him in the press.

It is a new era, a new style of leadership, we're told.

Action, rather than a high media profile, 'showing' us how active they've been.

A new style, as far as local politics in Hyndburn is concerned.

I guess we'll have the opporunity to say which type of leadership we prefer...at the next election.

[g jones]

It's a new era. We all have to work together on our side. British dem

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by gynn

As in all these stories, I prefer to trust the word of officers rather than politicians. The only public reference to the views of officers is the following"-

'The Lancashire Telegraph understands the claim of a ‘black hole’ baffled town hall accountants, as the council’s budgets have all been balanced in recent years'

I have expressed concerns about some of the income predictions, which no doubt officers are monitoring closely, but they won't allow the Council to spend money it hasn't got, or promise money that isn't there.

Well that has always been my take on the situation too gynn, and you know what your talking about. for these, what can only be said to be total financial mismanagement, would have had to involve officers, because unlike popular believe officers ARE there to make sure a budget IS WORKABLE, otherwise they would be culpable, something which I find very very hard to believe.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by jaysay

Well that has always been my take on the situation too gynn, and you know what your talking about. for these, what can only be said to be total financial mismanagement, would have had to involve officers, because unlike popular believe officers ARE there to make sure a budget IS WORKABLE, otherwise they would be culpable, something which I find very very hard to believe.

So all we need is a report published by Hyndburns chief finance officer and we will know who is telling the truth once and for all.

Can't see it happening but I hope it does.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by Neil

So all we need is a report published by Hyndburn chief finance officer and we will know who is telling the truth once and for all.

Can't see it happening but I hope it does.

No but it would be a damn sight nearer than the one published on here, as I've said before I'll wait for the auditor's report, which will leave no stone unturned and will give the TRUE facts, not those based on political biases. I can't really understand why Graham actually bothers with all these statistics, to be quite honest there is only one person on here who would be able to decipher what Graham posted and that's gynn, and I would think he would be struggling because he hasn't access to the relevant data.

[Neil]

Being a simple lad I dont even know what the auditors report is and when it is published.

[Benipete]

Originally Posted by Neil

Being a simple lad I dont even know what the auditors report is and when it is published.

Auditors are the people that make accountants (embezzlers with A levels) figures look right to the layman.

[gynn]

Originally Posted by jaysay

to be quite honest there is only one person on here who would be able to decipher what Graham posted and that's gynn, and I would think he would be struggling because he hasn't access to the relevant data.

In a nutshell, Graham is arguing that the previous administration made promises that it couldn't deliver, committed as much money up front as possible to limit the scope that any incoming administration could spend on, and failed to address the future savings that the current round of government cutbacks will force upon the authority.

It is fair comment in the knockabout world of politics, but from an officer and auditor point of view it doesn't matter WHO takes the decisions as long as they are taken. It's just a case of which party takes the flak!

The budget will be balanced one way or another, you can be sure of that!

[Tealeaf]

Originally Posted by gynn

The budget will be balanced one way or another, you can be sure of that!

Yep. But the question is will the expenditure be balanced from income or will the council now have to dip further into reserves or borrow? There is no doubt that PB went on a spending spree back in March, both in actual cash terms and in promises made. No doubt he saw the writing on the wall. Now whether that is to the extent that Graham has suggested is debatable.

By the way, I notice that HBC are advertising for the post of chief bean counter - salary 50K pa. If any of you lot fancy a go, get your CV's in today, because that's when the offer closes.

[setayas]

Auditors are the people that make accountants (embezzlers with A levels) figures look right to the layman.

Beni, you bad. But spot on.

[gynn]

Amid all the political bluster and talk of millions of pounds of black holes, broken promises, money spent that isn't there etc etc etc, it is reassuring to read the sober assessment of the budget in the Chief Finance Officer's report to this week's cabinet.

'The forecast spend for the year to 31 March 2012 is £13,622,651 against a budget of £13,583,991. This indicates a potential adverse variance of £38,000 by the end of the financial year. This is less than 0.3% of the total budget.'

Hardly a black hole!

As I've always said on this site, listen to the officers, not the politicians