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Post by gawa on Mar 13, 2024 10:53:20 GMT
You know what I think our biggest issue is right now as a country. Jobs for the fucking boys. I remember reading a story a few weeks ago about some school paying a few hundred quid every fortnight, even in winter, for grass to be cut. Why? Dodgy government contract negotiated on behalf of schools which they have no say over. Just seen this story in the bbc today - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68551949Guess who runs this? Yep a Tory donor - www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/free-school-meals-tory-donor-rashford-b1786501.htmlWe have the highest tax in history and the worst public services. And most of that comes back to dodgy contracts for tory donors costing us a fucking fortune. Just like their dodgy ppe contracts. I don't just blame the tories because Starmers pockets have been lined too in recent years and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same practices and golden contracts for his donors. It's treason. The wealthy bribing our politicians to syphon our taxes. Just like the same companies running our rail and water and other services. Fucks me off. And seems nothing gets done about it. Except more privatisation to further line some posh twats pockets.
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Post by cvillestokie on Mar 13, 2024 11:04:03 GMT
You know what I think our biggest issue is right now as a country. Jobs for the fucking boys. I remember reading a story a few weeks ago about some school paying a few hundred quid every fortnight, even in winter, for grass to be cut. Why? Dodgy government contract negotiated on behalf of schools which they have no say over. Just seen this story in the bbc today - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68551949Guess who runs this? Yep a Tory donor - www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/free-school-meals-tory-donor-rashford-b1786501.htmlWe have the highest tax in history and the worst public services. And most of that comes back to dodgy contracts for tory donors costing us a fucking fortune. Just like their dodgy ppe contracts. I don't just blame the tories because Starmers pockets have been lined too in recent years and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same practices and golden contracts for his donors. It's treason. The wealthy bribing our politicians to syphon our taxes. Just like the same companies running our rail and water and other services. Fucks me off. And seems nothing gets done about it. Except more privatisation to further line some posh twats pockets. It’s not treason but it is a problem. Lobbyists should be regulated. Campaign donations should be outlawed and any meetings with lobbyists should be minuted. It’ll never happen though. The perk of being that kind of rich is that you make enough powerful friends that would stop anything making your life harder dead in its tracks.
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Post by innocentbystander on Mar 13, 2024 22:13:42 GMT
On the few occasions have been asked to quote on a job for city or county council I have whacked the price up by 50% as I know that they will be a pain in the arse to deal with and that it will take months to get paid. Who ever you phone they will always be "off sick ", "in a meeting" or on holiday.
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Post by chuffedstokie on Mar 14, 2024 7:27:42 GMT
My late brother worked as part of a civilian team associated with the MOD. In his case it was the navy and he specialised in marine electronics. Whenever a vessel came in for re fit they'd carry out complete inspections in dry dock and decide, from start to finish what was required. I can't begin to imagine the costs involved. There was/is an approved list of private companies qualified to carry out MOD standard work. Contracts would then be agreed by him and his colleagues. Sums must have been eye watering. He told me many years ago that they'd all been suspended overnight and not told why, turns out that whoever was inspecting them decided that certain companies on the approved list were deemed to be getting too much work which clearly wasn't the case. After 3 weeks suspended he and his team all returned to work. He knew everything was above board but the scrutiny was immense when government contracts were being negotiated.
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Post by fullmetaljacket on Mar 14, 2024 8:21:43 GMT
I remember taking a look at a contract to get on list of companies offering services to the government.
Such a long winded bag of shite and very much centered around who do you know etc.
Ended up in the bin as it wasn't worth the time even starting to fill it out.
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Post by bigjohnritchie on Mar 14, 2024 9:13:04 GMT
Unfortunately the waste and exposure to possible " corruption " is vastly increased when NOT dealing with your own personal money or when financial decisions Don't directly affect you.
Another area that goes under the radar is the application for AND then scrutiny of grants given ( amongst others) by the National Lottery. The application process has become an industry in itself, professional help can be acquired to achieve bids and in my experience the scrutiny is very little if the correct feedback/ " audit" boxes are ticked.
I think the issue of government grants for things like house insulation may be the same from my Limited knowledge.
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Post by elystokie on Mar 14, 2024 9:38:26 GMT
Unfortunately the waste and exposure to possible " corruption " is vastly increased when NOT dealing with your own personal money or when financial designs Don't directly affect you. Another area that goes under the radar is the application for AND then scrutiny of grants given ( amongst others) by the National Lottery. The application process has become an industry in itself, professional help can be acquired to achieve bids and in my experience the scrutiny is very little if the correct feedback/ " audit" boxes are ticked. I think the issue of government grants for thongs like house insulation may be the same from my Limited knowledge. Hope they washed those thongs before sticking them in people's walls and ceilings 😄😉
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Post by bigjohnritchie on Mar 14, 2024 9:45:48 GMT
Unfortunately the waste and exposure to possible " corruption " is vastly increased when NOT dealing with your own personal money or when financial designs Don't directly affect you. Another area that goes under the radar is the application for AND then scrutiny of grants given ( amongst others) by the National Lottery. The application process has become an industry in itself, professional help can be acquired to achieve bids and in my experience the scrutiny is very little if the correct feedback/ " audit" boxes are ticked. I think the issue of government grants for thongs like house insulation may be the same from my Limited knowledge. Hope they washed those thongs before sticking them in people's walls and ceilings 😄😉 Brilliant
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Post by Northy on Mar 14, 2024 10:22:20 GMT
You know what I think our biggest issue is right now as a country. Jobs for the fucking boys. I remember reading a story a few weeks ago about some school paying a few hundred quid every fortnight, even in winter, for grass to be cut. Why? Dodgy government contract negotiated on behalf of schools which they have no say over. Just seen this story in the bbc today - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68551949Guess who runs this? Yep a Tory donor - www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/free-school-meals-tory-donor-rashford-b1786501.htmlWe have the highest tax in history and the worst public services. And most of that comes back to dodgy contracts for tory donors costing us a fucking fortune. Just like their dodgy ppe contracts. I don't just blame the tories because Starmers pockets have been lined too in recent years and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same practices and golden contracts for his donors. It's treason. The wealthy bribing our politicians to syphon our taxes. Just like the same companies running our rail and water and other services. Fucks me off. And seems nothing gets done about it. Except more privatisation to further line some posh twats pockets. I'm not sure what you are getting at here, the schools in Hampshire county and it's cities appoint their own food contracts don't they, they only use a government framework agreement and other contracts tend to be appointed by the county or city councils, and Southampton where the school is, is a Labour run council, so is it Labour in bed with a Tory donor to issue these contracts you are implying ? The Rashford link is a few years old, that person left 3 years ago, he doesn't run it anymore. I agree that there is too much easy contracts going on, but large government contracts have to go through a vigorous tendering procedure, where civil servants are involved, I think a lot of them should be looked at, if you remember the Vodafone tax and head of HMRC issue, someone who hasn't been elected should have the say of deferring £6bn in owed tax, the whole system needs to get tighter and be more open to scrutiny.
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Post by gawa on Mar 14, 2024 11:20:43 GMT
You know what I think our biggest issue is right now as a country. Jobs for the fucking boys. I remember reading a story a few weeks ago about some school paying a few hundred quid every fortnight, even in winter, for grass to be cut. Why? Dodgy government contract negotiated on behalf of schools which they have no say over. Just seen this story in the bbc today - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68551949Guess who runs this? Yep a Tory donor - www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/free-school-meals-tory-donor-rashford-b1786501.htmlWe have the highest tax in history and the worst public services. And most of that comes back to dodgy contracts for tory donors costing us a fucking fortune. Just like their dodgy ppe contracts. I don't just blame the tories because Starmers pockets have been lined too in recent years and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same practices and golden contracts for his donors. It's treason. The wealthy bribing our politicians to syphon our taxes. Just like the same companies running our rail and water and other services. Fucks me off. And seems nothing gets done about it. Except more privatisation to further line some posh twats pockets. I'm not sure what you are getting at here, the schools in Hampshire county and it's cities appoint their own food contracts don't they, they only use a government framework agreement and other contracts tend to be appointed by the county or city councils, and Southampton where the school is, is a Labour run council, so is it Labour in bed with a Tory donor to issue these contracts you are implying ? The Rashford link is a few years old, that person left 3 years ago, he doesn't run it anymore. I agree that there is too much easy contracts going on, but large government contracts have to go through a vigorous tendering procedure, where civil servants are involved, I think a lot of them should be looked at, if you remember the Vodafone tax and head of HMRC issue, someone who hasn't been elected should have the say of deferring £6bn in owed tax, the whole system needs to get tighter and be more open to scrutiny. I'm saying that a large number of government contracts aren't value for money and if anything the complete opposite where tax payers are being fleeced. The example I mentioned about grass cutting which is a PFI contract for 25-30 years negotiated by a local authority for all schools in the area. The contract has very good terms for the grass cutters in relation to inflation and the schools budget is crippled paying excessive amounts on something they are tied to due to their local authority which is part of government. The school with the food catering contract is also a PFI contract they have absolutely no control over. Southampton is a Labour run council Northy but not everything is about Tory v Labour. Starmer also receives lots of donations and will no doubt give out dodgy contracts too. And yes Southampton council is Labour run at present but do you know when the contract was made? I don't know when. I can see a reference to an article saying that it was before the school was converted to an academy in 2013 but I can't find when exactly this contract was signed and by who. For me. I don't really care if it is Labour, Tory or Lib Dem. More just highlighting that alot of these big companies provide shit service for big money and for me that's a problem. I don't know the inner workings of government or how tenders work in any real depth. But I bet our neighbours in Europe are probably getting a better deal for their government contracts than we are.
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Post by mickeythemaestro on Mar 14, 2024 13:27:44 GMT
Isolated incident but I bought a site for a large national developer years back. The site was owned by Manchester City Council. 3 mid rise towers needed demolishing and I got a best quote of 100k to take the 3 down and take up foundations. Council ended up late in the day saying they would deal with the demolition. Bumped into the demolition contractor a few months later and found out he still did the job and the council paid them 250k. And the foundations didn't even get pulled up. Councils, government, whoever it is piss our money up the wall like its confetti. Imagine the waste that's going on in the NHS. We are being robbed blind.
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Post by oggyoggy on Mar 14, 2024 13:47:30 GMT
You know what I think our biggest issue is right now as a country. Jobs for the fucking boys. I remember reading a story a few weeks ago about some school paying a few hundred quid every fortnight, even in winter, for grass to be cut. Why? Dodgy government contract negotiated on behalf of schools which they have no say over. Just seen this story in the bbc today - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-68551949Guess who runs this? Yep a Tory donor - www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/free-school-meals-tory-donor-rashford-b1786501.htmlWe have the highest tax in history and the worst public services. And most of that comes back to dodgy contracts for tory donors costing us a fucking fortune. Just like their dodgy ppe contracts. I don't just blame the tories because Starmers pockets have been lined too in recent years and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same practices and golden contracts for his donors. It's treason. The wealthy bribing our politicians to syphon our taxes. Just like the same companies running our rail and water and other services. Fucks me off. And seems nothing gets done about it. Except more privatisation to further line some posh twats pockets. I'm not sure what you are getting at here, the schools in Hampshire county and it's cities appoint their own food contracts don't they, they only use a government framework agreement and other contracts tend to be appointed by the county or city councils, and Southampton where the school is, is a Labour run council, so is it Labour in bed with a Tory donor to issue these contracts you are implying ? The Rashford link is a few years old, that person left 3 years ago, he doesn't run it anymore. I agree that there is too much easy contracts going on, but large government contracts have to go through a vigorous tendering procedure, where civil servants are involved, I think a lot of them should be looked at, if you remember the Vodafone tax and head of HMRC issue, someone who hasn't been elected should have the say of deferring £6bn in owed tax, the whole system needs to get tighter and be more open to scrutiny. I worked as a paralegal on the whistleblower case about the Vodafone (and others) sweetheart tax deals. It wasn’t the Head of HMRC that was the problem. It was the corrupt elected ministers.
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Post by prestwichpotter on Mar 14, 2024 13:55:56 GMT
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Post by Northy on Mar 14, 2024 15:07:30 GMT
I'm not sure what you are getting at here, the schools in Hampshire county and it's cities appoint their own food contracts don't they, they only use a government framework agreement and other contracts tend to be appointed by the county or city councils, and Southampton where the school is, is a Labour run council, so is it Labour in bed with a Tory donor to issue these contracts you are implying ? The Rashford link is a few years old, that person left 3 years ago, he doesn't run it anymore. I agree that there is too much easy contracts going on, but large government contracts have to go through a vigorous tendering procedure, where civil servants are involved, I think a lot of them should be looked at, if you remember the Vodafone tax and head of HMRC issue, someone who hasn't been elected should have the say of deferring £6bn in owed tax, the whole system needs to get tighter and be more open to scrutiny. I worked as a paralegal on the whistleblower case about the Vodafone (and others) sweetheart tax deals. It wasn’t the Head of HMRC that was the problem. It was the corrupt elected ministers. Who were the ministers, I only remember this side of the story ? www.theguardian.com/money/2011/dec/06/hmrc-tax-deal-vodafone
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Post by oggyoggy on Mar 14, 2024 17:09:31 GMT
I worked as a paralegal on the whistleblower case about the Vodafone (and others) sweetheart tax deals. It wasn’t the Head of HMRC that was the problem. It was the corrupt elected ministers. Who were the ministers, I only remember this side of the story ? www.theguardian.com/money/2011/dec/06/hmrc-tax-deal-vodafoneThere were many meetings between Vodafone and senior HMRC civil servants (including Hartnett) in 2009 under the Labour administration. It went quiet in early 2010. Then the election. Then the meetings became seemingly more lavish and involved some Treasury ministers in the new government, and mysteriously a deal was done. It looked extremely dodgy and Hartnett took the heat. But who authorised the deal and why was it suddenly authorised once the new administration took over?
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