Hyndburn Council tax set to rise

Ken Moss · 23-02-2011, 08:14

Well there's a turn up for the books, the very question I was barred from asking at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting last week with the Leader of the Council and his entourage of yes men:

Hyndburn residents 'set for five per cent council tax rise' in future (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Say what you will about a Labour council, at least we've been upfront in the past about local tax rises.

heth · 23-02-2011, 08:32

Love this comment,

"Leader of the Council Peter Britcliffe said: “It is a forecast where we are preparing for the worst. We will be working in the meantime to make the savings needed and looking at the figures.”

How about this PB.................

STOP BUYING BUTTIES.
TAKE A CUT IN YOUR WAGE (to be honest you dont deserve a big un)
PORN YOUR MEDAL IN.
STOP SPENDING STUPID MONEY ON CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SWITCH ON.
STOP PAYING SILLY AMOUNTS TO SOME CHEF.

Mmmmmmm cant think of anymore at the min, tooooo early!

garinda · 23-02-2011, 08:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by heth

PORN MEDAL.

What did he get that for?

'Excellent performer' in a skin flick?

Barrie Yates · 23-02-2011, 08:46

What about the £750,00- underspend from last year? I also understood that the Central Government had decreed that there was to be no increases in Council Tax!!!!!!!!!

Ken Moss · 23-02-2011, 08:52

We need to get out of the mindset of 'we've been given it so we must spend it'. Administrations across the board are guilty of this and the standard reposte will probably involve the number 13 and words 'Labour rule' but it doesn't excuse the behaviour of this council.

Apparently, I'm too new to understand what ringfencing means but what I do understand is that blowing collossal amounts of money on stupid things just because the money is there is mindless waste.

You weren't skriking about Labour's reckless spending when the grants were rolling in.

Margaret Pilkington · 23-02-2011, 08:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by heth

Love this comment,

"Leader of the Council Peter Britcliffe said: “It is a forecast where we are preparing for the worst. We will be working in the meantime to make the savings needed and looking at the figures.”

How about this PB.................

STOP BUYING BUTTIES.
TAKE A CUT IN YOUR WAGE (to be honest you dont deserve a big un)
PORN YOUR MEDAL IN.
STOP SPENDING STUPID MONEY ON CHRISTMAS LIGHTS SWITCH ON.
STOP PAYING SILLY AMOUNTS TO SOME CHEF.

Mmmmmmm cant think of anymore at the min, tooooo early!

And while you are at it, you can save the money from the daft(immoral, irresponsible) celebrations for the Royal wedding......we can't afford it!

Ken Moss · 23-02-2011, 09:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrie Yates

What about the £750,00- underspend from last year? I also understood that the Central Government had decreed that there was to be no increases in Council Tax!!!!!!!!!

He's doing us all a big personal favour, it just happens to fall in line with Mr Cameron's threat to withhold a 2.5% council tax grant from any authority which raises council taxes.

The £750,000 underspend is something of a grey area with a lot of suspiciously round figures contibuting to it. It has now increased to £850,000 so I'm told but whether the VAT rebate has been accounted for yet again remains to be seen.

The bottom line is that HBC is £12.2m in debt and it has absolutely nothing to do with any Labour government but if they'd been a bit more prudent over the years we could have got that down a little. The interest payments each month would happily pay for a few flash mobs, or maybe even allow a certain toilet to remain open.

Saving pennies adds up to pounds, but who cares when it isn't their money?

garinda · 23-02-2011, 09:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Saving pennies adds up to pounds, but who cares when it isn't their money?

That's a truth that it seems many people can't understand.

Even millions of pounds are just made up of lots and lots of pennies.

heth · 23-02-2011, 09:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

What did he get that for?

'Excellent performer' in a skin flick?

Does no-one else know about the film that he made alot of money from??? ALEDGEDLY!!!

jaysay · 23-02-2011, 10:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

He's doing us all a big personal favour, it just happens to fall in line with Mr Cameron's threat to withhold a 2.5% council tax grant from any authority which raises council taxes.

The £750,000 underspend is something of a grey area with a lot of suspiciously round figures contibuting to it. It has now increased to £850,000 so I'm told but whether the VAT rebate has been accounted for yet again remains to be seen.

The bottom line is that HBC is £12.2m in debt and it has absolutely nothing to do with any Labour government but if they'd been a bit more prudent over the years we could have got that down a little. The interest payments each month would happily pay for a few flash mobs, or maybe even allow a certain toilet to remain open.

Saving pennies adds up to pounds, but who cares when it isn't their money?

I haven't heard one comment from the Labour mod on here about the millions that have been wasted since the Direct Works Department was scraped in 2002, one of the best run, if not the best run departments in Lancashire, a department that actually made money to plough back into the council coffers, now every penny profit made on on maintenance contracts, which before was retained by the council, now goes into the bank accounts of private contractors, now that is political vandalism at its worst

garinda · 23-02-2011, 10:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

I haven't heard one comment from the Labour mod on here about the millions that have been wasted since the Direct Works Department was scraped in 2002, one of the best run, if not the best run departments in Lancashire, a department that actually made money to plough back into the council coffers, now every penny profit made on on maintenance contracts, which before was retained by the council, now goes into the bank accounts of private contractors, now that is political vandalism at its worst

I do wish we all could stop laying blame on things past.

We should be worried about the here and now, and concerned with the future.

It's all George Slynn/Thatcher/Blair/Ted Heath/Lloyd George's fault isn't constuctive in the slightest, and is boring.

Less · 23-02-2011, 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

I haven't heard one comment from the Labour mod on here about the millions that have been wasted since the Direct Works Department was scraped in 2002, one of the best run, if not the best run departments in Lancashire, a department that actually made money to plough back into the council coffers, now every penny profit made on on maintenance contracts, which before was retained by the council, now goes into the bank accounts of private contractors, now that is political vandalism at its worst

Are you suggesting one of our moderators is not only biased towards the left but also responsible for 'scraping' the Direct Works Department?

Such powers! the rest of our mods must be green with envy!

heth · 23-02-2011, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

I do wish we all could stop laying blame on things past.

We should be worried about the here and now, and concerned with the future.

It's all George Slynn/Thatcher/Blair/Ted Heath/Lloyd George's fault isn't constuctive in the slightest, and is boring.

I agree with you G, should stop papping on about the past and look at what money people (or a certain person) is wasting.

The one big question is how does he get away with it?
I know that we will prob not get the answer though

Fatso · 23-02-2011, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

We need to get out of the mindset of 'we've been given it so we must spend it'. Administrations across the board are guilty of this and the standard reposte will probably involve the number 13 and words 'Labour rule' but it doesn't excuse the behaviour of this council.

Trouble is, this is a minsdet that is everywhere, throughout all sorts of organisations across the country (and probably globally), on the basis that if an organisation, or a department, is seen not to have spent all their budget for a financial year this means they don't need as much for the next year and will get a budget decrease. Hence, the mad rush every Feb/March to ensure every penny of budget is spent, even if on pointless stuff. Then they can say they spent all their budget, and must need some more. Also, if there's surplus at the end of the year, this is often taken back. There's no incentive to come in under budget.

Anyone that does blame it on 13 years of Labour Rule doesn't understand budgets, as it's a practice that's been going on for years. Long before 1997...

garinda · 23-02-2011, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Less

Such powers! the rest of our mods must be green with envy!

I think it must be a typo, and should read mob.

Unless he knows something we don't.

Perhaps he's heard Labour supporting Accy Web moderators are planning to put their parkas on, hop on their scooters, and head down to Broadway, to take part in some community art.

A Sixties Flash Mob Mod Drive By.