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Post by Eggybread on Jun 26, 2024 9:57:53 GMT
Apparently Stoke now has the most people living in fuel poverty in all of the Uk.This city is well and truly lost.We come bottom of everything we shouldn’t be and vice versa.😕
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Post by salopstick on Jun 26, 2024 10:20:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2024 10:38:37 GMT
The Energy Companies need bringing into line. Profits are soaring, whilst people can't afford to put the heating on.
OFGEM are a complete wet lettuce.
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Post by phileetin on Jun 26, 2024 10:58:30 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ?
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Post by Eggybread on Jun 26, 2024 11:37:02 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ? People need better paid jobs around here,its the councils job to attract businesses into the area.But as we are classed as a low wage economy in Stoke its almost impossible to catch up and attract better paid employers.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2024 12:21:32 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ? People need better paid jobs around here,its the councils job to attract businesses into the area.But as we are classed as a low wage economy in Stoke its almost impossible to catch up and attract better paid employers. I can’t imagine that many councils are big enough to actually have much of a sway on regional issues. They perhaps may be able to grant/not grant certain projects or making planning a little easier by providing more support, but what else can they do? Stoke needs investment but it needs to happen from a National body. England is a tiny country. Cities other than London should be given some sort of priority because proximity just isn’t really an issue.
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Post by Eggybread on Jun 26, 2024 12:41:48 GMT
People need better paid jobs around here,its the councils job to attract businesses into the area.But as we are classed as a low wage economy in Stoke its almost impossible to catch up and attract better paid employers. I can’t imagine that many councils are big enough to actually have much of a sway on regional issues. They perhaps may be able to grant/not grant certain projects or making planning a little easier by providing more support, but what else can they do? Stoke needs investment but it needs to happen from a National body. England is a tiny country. Cities other than London should be given some sort of priority because proximity just isn’t really an issue. They control the business rates,the land for new premises and many other smaller ways to help .Infrastructure, guidance,collaborations,training programs etc etc.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2024 13:12:10 GMT
I can’t imagine that many councils are big enough to actually have much of a sway on regional issues. They perhaps may be able to grant/not grant certain projects or making planning a little easier by providing more support, but what else can they do? Stoke needs investment but it needs to happen from a National body. England is a tiny country. Cities other than London should be given some sort of priority because proximity just isn’t really an issue. They control the business rates,the land for new premises and many other smaller ways to help .Infrastructure, guidance,collaborations,training programs etc etc. Well then, people in Stoke shouldn’t vote for Labour as they’ve had the local power to change things and have failed the city for decades.
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Post by dutchstokie on Jun 26, 2024 13:20:27 GMT
B'stard nails it ! ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/800541/images/kwfoKwtHI0jglJZ4qZf6.gif)
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Post by tommycarlsberg on Jun 26, 2024 13:37:03 GMT
Just been with a client this morning who is touring the country, and played Viccy Hall earlier in the month.
I asked them how was the Stoke leg and they said, as candid as anything, I couldn't get over how poverty stricken and rundown it was.
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Post by Eggybread on Jun 26, 2024 13:40:06 GMT
They control the business rates,the land for new premises and many other smaller ways to help .Infrastructure, guidance,collaborations,training programs etc etc. Well then, people in Stoke shouldn’t vote for Labour as they’ve had the local power to change things and have failed the city for decades. Whether or not you judge present day politicians by the actions of older ones is a separate issue.But yes the council have let the city down badly ,and it seems to be an ongoing problem dating back to when the city was first inaugurated as one ,we have always had shit councillors apart from the odd one or two.
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Post by stiggerstackle on Jun 26, 2024 14:52:27 GMT
Well then, people in Stoke shouldn’t vote for Labour as they’ve had the local power to change things and have failed the city for decades. Whether or not you judge present day politicians by the actions of older ones is a separate issue.But yes the council have let the city down badly ,and it seems to be an ongoing problem dating back to when the city was first inaugurated as one ,we have always had shit councillors apart from the odd one or two. I've had the 'pleasure' of dealing professionally with Stoke City Council (among many others) for many years over many different subjects / themes / contracts. They have always been in my 25 year experience, been absolutely and without exception the most difficult Local Authority there is to deal with. They are utterly characterised by a 'we know best' attitude, a lack of engagement and consultation, and posses zero ability to think beyond the current financial year. The Officers are shit-scared to make any decisions of note, in case they piss off the elected members, and the elected members are nothing more than a glorified old boys network, with little to no interest in moving the City forward, only in maintaining the status-quo and keeping their mates around. Whenever I mention Stoke to other Local Authorities I work with, and the difficulties experienced, there is almost always a knowing smile, a little chuckle and a rolling of the eyes, with several telling me that they actively avoid working with them on anything due to the problems in dealing with them. Stoke have been a failing council for over 20 years and always a whisker away from being put into special measures. I am Stoke born and bred, but we are held back by the very authority charged with taking us forward. I have no idea what the solution is, but I am constantly dismayed by my dealings with them.
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Jun 26, 2024 15:29:58 GMT
Two possible political solutions:
1 Create the position of an elected Mayor. Very dependent on who gets elected but they would have the power to shake up the old boy network and could have the vision and authority to make things happen.
2 Establish a regional authority with better financing and clout including a bigger budget from central government. This what happened recently in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in forming an East Midlands authority.
Either way Stoke needs a massive investment from outside - it just doesn't have the money to invest in itself. Doing things like cutting business rates is just robbing Peter to pay Paul and will just drive more people into poverty.
Thatcher's plan was to just let industrial cities like Stoke that couldn't transform into hubs for the service sector and finance rot, forcing young people to leave and thereby accelerate their demise. Unless someone comes up with a vision for the city and has the means to deliver that's what is going to happen.
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Post by prestwichpotter on Jun 26, 2024 15:34:28 GMT
Whether or not you judge present day politicians by the actions of older ones is a separate issue.But yes the council have let the city down badly ,and it seems to be an ongoing problem dating back to when the city was first inaugurated as one ,we have always had shit councillors apart from the odd one or two. I've had the 'pleasure' of dealing professionally with Stoke City Council (among many others) for many years over many different subjects / themes / contracts. They have always been in my 25 year experience, been absolutely and without exception the most difficult Local Authority there is to deal with. They are utterly characterised by a 'we know best' attitude, a lack of engagement and consultation, and posses zero ability to think beyond the current financial year. The Officers are shit-scared to make any decisions of note, in case they piss off the elected members, and the elected members are nothing more than a glorified old boys network, with little to no interest in moving the City forward, only in maintaining the status-quo and keeping their mates around. Whenever I mention Stoke to other Local Authorities I work with, and the difficulties experienced, there is almost always a knowing smile, a little chuckle and a rolling of the eyes, with several telling me that they actively avoid working with them on anything due to the problems in dealing with them. Stoke have been a failing council for over 20 years and always a whisker away from being put into special measures. I am Stoke born and bred, but we are held back by the very authority charged with taking us forward. I have no idea what the solution is, but I am constantly dismayed by my dealings with them. totally incompetent, and lacking any vision whatsoever for our great city. It's very sad......
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 17:29:40 GMT
via mobile
Post by iancransonsknees on Jun 26, 2024 17:29:40 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ? For a start they could have avoided spunking £19m on an inoperable district heat network.
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Post by iancransonsknees on Jun 26, 2024 17:32:35 GMT
Whether or not you judge present day politicians by the actions of older ones is a separate issue.But yes the council have let the city down badly ,and it seems to be an ongoing problem dating back to when the city was first inaugurated as one ,we have always had shit councillors apart from the odd one or two. I've had the 'pleasure' of dealing professionally with Stoke City Council (among many others) for many years over many different subjects / themes / contracts. They have always been in my 25 year experience, been absolutely and without exception the most difficult Local Authority there is to deal with. They are utterly characterised by a 'we know best' attitude, a lack of engagement and consultation, and posses zero ability to think beyond the current financial year. The Officers are shit-scared to make any decisions of note, in case they piss off the elected members, and the elected members are nothing more than a glorified old boys network, with little to no interest in moving the City forward, only in maintaining the status-quo and keeping their mates around. Whenever I mention Stoke to other Local Authorities I work with, and the difficulties experienced, there is almost always a knowing smile, a little chuckle and a rolling of the eyes, with several telling me that they actively avoid working with them on anything due to the problems in dealing with them. Stoke have been a failing council for over 20 years and always a whisker away from being put into special measures. I am Stoke born and bred, but we are held back by the very authority charged with taking us forward. I have no idea what the solution is, but I am constantly dismayed by my dealings with them. Amen brother 🙏
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 17:41:45 GMT
via mobile
Post by elystokie on Jun 26, 2024 17:41:45 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ? For a start they could have avoided spunking £19m on an inoperable district heat network. Is that money just gone with nobody being held to account?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2024 17:47:26 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ? For a start they could have avoided spunking £19m on an inoperable district heat network. Not to mention the £14m Car Park that no one needed / uses.
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 18:15:15 GMT
via mobile
Post by iancransonsknees on Jun 26, 2024 18:15:15 GMT
For a start they could have avoided spunking £19m on an inoperable district heat network. Is that money just gone with nobody being held to account? Some bullshit now about partnering with SSE. More taxpayers money siphoned off.
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Post by knype on Jun 26, 2024 18:20:57 GMT
is it tory council , don't know what the council can do anyway . Any suggestions ? People need better paid jobs around here,its the councils job to attract businesses into the area.But as we are classed as a low wage economy in Stoke its almost impossible to catch up and attract better paid employers. And which party has had more or less total control for the last 30 years?
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 18:21:57 GMT
via mobile
Post by elystokie on Jun 26, 2024 18:21:57 GMT
Is that money just gone with nobody being held to account? Some bullshit now about partnering with SSE. More taxpayers money siphoned off. What went wrong?
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Post by iancransonsknees on Jun 26, 2024 19:01:31 GMT
Some bullshit now about partnering with SSE. More taxpayers money siphoned off. What went wrong? Put all the infrastructure in and never connected it up. It's unlikely to work I believe as the investment to get a return will be astronomical. As ever a complete lack of joined up thinking. They ripped Station Road and College Road up as part of the pipeline install then reinstated it. 2 years later they're ripping it all up again for a bus route and some shambolic public realm works. But none of gets reported so nobody gives a fuck and nobody gets held to account. I persistently ask Abbie Brown about it on Twitter every time she spouted about the goods yard, in the end she made it unable to reply to what she tweeted.
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Post by stiggerstackle on Jun 26, 2024 19:17:53 GMT
Two possible political solutions: 1 Create the position of an elected Mayor. Very dependent on who gets elected but they would have the power to shake up the old boy network and could have the vision and authority to make things happen. 2 Establish a regional authority with better financing and clout including a bigger budget from central government. This what happened recently in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in forming an East Midlands authority. Either way Stoke needs a massive investment from outside - it just doesn't have the money to invest in itself. Doing things like cutting business rates is just robbing Peter to pay Paul and will just drive more people into poverty. Thatcher's plan was to just let industrial cities like Stoke that couldn't transform into hubs for the service sector and finance rot, forcing young people to leave and thereby accelerate their demise. Unless someone comes up with a vision for the city and has the means to deliver that's what is going to happen. I think an elected Mayor is a good shout. I know we tried it with Mike Wolff a few years ago, but he didn’t have long enough and didn’t get much support, but a strong character to shake things up couldn’t be any worse than what we have. Re a combined authority, the worst thing Stoke and Staffordshire ever did was separate into 2 entities. I’ve sat in many meetings with both individually where they wouldn’t consider doing something if it was something the other was doing, or would actively replicate, spunking millions up the wall rather than collaborate or co-design. They go out of their way to pretend each other don’t exist - it’s absolutely maddening. I work a lot with the WMCA and they (although there are still issues voiced by the other LA’s) seem to be starting to get it right - Richard Parker talks a lot about facilitating coordinated actions and activities and shared plans by the 6 LA’s on patch, and it has to be the way forward. Stop the replication and waste, and pool the bloody resources for the areas benefit - works for me.
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Post by Eggybread on Jun 26, 2024 19:22:37 GMT
People need better paid jobs around here,its the councils job to attract businesses into the area.But as we are classed as a low wage economy in Stoke its almost impossible to catch up and attract better paid employers. And which party has had more or less total control for the last 30 years? All have been bad and Labour have not had as much total control as you suggest if you look at the history.And we all know who has dished out the pittance of money to our council to spend .Yes the government,which has predominantly been tory forever. The city has also lost out on European grants and funds as Stoke was classed as an Impoverished area. Well done Brexit (reform ) voters. ![:-X](//storage.proboards.com/800541/images/84w9NwSsj6YY9VWeECaY.gif)
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Jun 26, 2024 19:26:13 GMT
And which party has had more or less total control for the last 30 years? All have been bad and Labour have not had as much total control as you suggest if you look at the history.And we all know who has dished out the pittance of money to our council to spend .Yes the government,which has predominantly been tory forever. The city has also lost out on European grants and funds as Stoke was classed as an Impoverished area. Well done Brexit (reform ) voters. ![:-X](//storage.proboards.com/800541/images/84w9NwSsj6YY9VWeECaY.gif) Who’s distributed the money to build totally unnecessary car parks? I honestly don’t know so would appreciate someone telling me
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 19:40:35 GMT
via mobile
Post by elystokie on Jun 26, 2024 19:40:35 GMT
Put all the infrastructure in and never connected it up. It's unlikely to work I believe as the investment to get a return will be astronomical. As ever a complete lack of joined up thinking. They ripped Station Road and College Road up as part of the pipeline install then reinstated it. 2 years later they're ripping it all up again for a bus route and some shambolic public realm works. But none of gets reported so nobody gives a fuck and nobody gets held to account. I persistently ask Abbie Brown about it on Twitter every time she spouted about the goods yard, in the end she made it unable to reply to what she tweeted. I well remember the previous Leek Rd nightmare, there's another one now outside the Uni car park. At least I had some idea what was going on with the first one and had hope it was for the greater good 🤦 College rd outside Hanley Park has been a mess for months, outside the station is chaotic and I now avoid Leek Rd beyond the Joiners Square roundabout. It seems very arrogant to me to not at least put some signs up explaining to the poor buggers sat wasting their time why it is they're there. Any idea why the heat network couldn't be connected?
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 19:41:27 GMT
via mobile
Post by knype on Jun 26, 2024 19:41:27 GMT
And which party has had more or less total control for the last 30 years? All have been bad and Labour have not had as much total control as you suggest if you look at the history.And we all know who has dished out the pittance of money to our council to spend .Yes the government,which has predominantly been tory forever. The city has also lost out on European grants and funds as Stoke was classed as an Impoverished area. Well done Brexit (reform ) voters. ![:-X](//storage.proboards.com/800541/images/84w9NwSsj6YY9VWeECaY.gif) Labour have fucked Stoke over more than anyone else.
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Post by lordb on Jun 26, 2024 19:43:17 GMT
All have been bad and Labour have not had as much total control as you suggest if you look at the history.And we all know who has dished out the pittance of money to our council to spend .Yes the government,which has predominantly been tory forever. The city has also lost out on European grants and funds as Stoke was classed as an Impoverished area. Well done Brexit (reform ) voters. ![:-X](//storage.proboards.com/800541/images/84w9NwSsj6YY9VWeECaY.gif) Labour have fucked Stoke over more than anyone else. More than Thatcher, more than Austerity, more than Brexit? Local government in the UK has very little power Absurd statement
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Poverty
Jun 26, 2024 19:45:26 GMT
via mobile
Post by knype on Jun 26, 2024 19:45:26 GMT
Labour have fucked Stoke over more than anyone else. More than Thatcher, more than Austerity, more than Brexit? Local government in the UK has very little power Absurd statement Yes as much as those have done. Look over the years what the council has done and wasted ?
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Post by stiggerstackle on Jun 26, 2024 19:45:51 GMT
And which party has had more or less total control for the last 30 years? All have been bad and Labour have not had as much total control as you suggest if you look at the history.And we all know who has dished out the pittance of money to our council to spend .Yes the government,which has predominantly been tory forever. The city has also lost out on European grants and funds as Stoke was classed as an Impoverished area. Well done Brexit (reform ) voters. ![:-X](//storage.proboards.com/800541/images/84w9NwSsj6YY9VWeECaY.gif) The City has lost out on an absolute fortune over the years for a range of reasons including incompetence and councillors insisting they know best. Part of the city was awarded £1m by the national lottery a few years back now, to be decided upon and spent by members of a particular community. They did a good job, so much so that the lottery earmarked and actually signed off a second £1m for the same area. Then a prominent local councillor got involved, started trying to call the shots, repeatedly tried to circumvent the lottery and agreed local decision making processes, and lo-and-behold the 2nd £1m was withdrawn - directly due to unwanted councillor interference, insisting he knew best.
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