State Aid

[clanchief]

I see that Sandy Cluness & other councillors are whinging about the SIC being reported to the EC for contravening state aid regulations.

 

The following guidelines are taken direct from the state aid web page:

 

How do you know if aid is present?

There are four tests that must be met for State aid to be present

 

Aid is granted by a Member State or through a State resource;

The aid favours certain undertakings or production of certain goods;

It is aid which distorts or threatens to distort competition: and

The aid affects trade between Member States.

 

Surely, when the SIC proposed to build a new £5m pier at Sellaness solely for the use of an Icelandic Fishmeal Factory the officials should firstly have checked whether this contravened state aid regulations.

 

The same with the investment in the Norrona.

 

Instead of blaming the person(s) who have now reported the situation to the EC, Sandy Cluness should be pointing the finger of blame at the SIC officials who didn't first of all clear the projects with the state aid regulators.

[Styles]

He said on the radio last night that the lawyers had cleared it, but from my experiance the lawyers do what they are told.

[david_jam]

The SIC... i have to try to laugh, otherwise I would indeed be crying.

 

but then, i'm not sure how amusing i should find their general levels of incompetence... considering the role they play.

 

I could write my dissertation on them, the problems (on a array of levels), their 'politics', their incompetency... i'd rather not, with little chance of change, I can spend my time thinking about better things!

 

They get away with so much rubbish, that when somebody finally calls them up on something (the EC being pretty much the only body that can), the toys come flying out the pram in all directions at fatalistic speeds. They certainly amuse and bemuse.

 

Shetland could be so very different... (get your legal books out and put your legal cap on and have a think! *coughcoughdependencycoughcough*)

 

There there poor peerie council, have mrs dolly back.

[little hitchcock]

councillor gussie angus is quoted as saying something about outlanders and how they shouldnt be investigating the sic.

 

hang on a minute, are the laws for the sic and the councillors different for them than for the rest of us? when we drive too fast, punch somebody in the pub or steal a packet of fags, we end up in court. thats the law. outlander or inlander, the rules are the same.

 

the present lot of sic councillors are more and more arrogant and lawless. they more or less claim that the rules that apply to other councils don't apply to them.

 

they keep saying that the oil money is our money and nobody should tell the sic how to spend it. actually, that way of doing things doesnt seem to work.

 

all the oil money just happens to flow towards friends, relatives, brothers in law, brothers, sisters and close associates of the guys at the top. being a mason is useful too.

 

that cant be right. its not their personal money but the money for the whole of shetland.

 

did any of you ever get any of this oil money? some folk have to sweat and toil and never get a penny while some associates get plenty of grants and loans they never have to repay.

 

i say, let europe check it all. they're not involved in our internal struggles.

if its all above board, then the sic has nothing to fear, do they?

[clanchief]

A commission spokeswoman for the legal unit of DG Fisheries, said she could confirm that they had received a letter of complaint and that the unit was conducting an initial assessment of a possible infringement of state aid regulations.

 

Valerie Tankink said she could not give any further details of the

 

complaint as these were always treated confidentially.

 

She said the complaint had been made "some weeks ago". The legal department was now in contact with the "national authorities" in the UK to establish the facts surrounding the complaint.

 

She added that it was far too early to say whether an investigation was to be opened, which is a decision that would be made once the initial assessment had been completed.

 

The above quote is taken from the "Fishupdate" website dated 15th June 2006. So why are the SIC currently expressing surprise at the complaint and why are the SIC & the Shetland Times grumping about the complaint being anonymous when the EC says that these things are always treated confidentially ?

[Colin]

I've read the reports in the local press and the comments here and I have a question.

 

Does anybody know just how much, in total, of 'our oil money' the SIC has spent over the years?

 

Why, because I seem to remember a Chief Executive (Ian Clark ?) telling us that, with the introduction of the Oil Funds, there would be no more Domestic/Business Rates (Council Tax ?) and that rents for Council Houses would be covered as well. Additionally, there were going to be vast improvements in other services.

 

I would like to get a handle on this to see if the figures add up.

 

As somebody else mentioned, the money was meant to be for the whole of Shetland and not just the Business Community.

[MuckleJoannie]

Does anybody know just how much, in total, of 'our oil money' the SIC has spent over the years?

 

I don't have an exact figure but I estimate the Charitable Trust must have spent easy £100 million over the years on building and running leisure centres, the welfare trust homes and the Xmas bonus, as well as supporting many local charitable organisations. The Reserve Fund subsidises the General Fund to the tune of £5 or £6 million each year.

 

Why, because I seem to remember a Chief Executive (Ian Clark ?) telling us that, with the introduction of the Oil Funds, there would be no more Domestic/Business Rates (Council Tax ?) and that rents for Council Houses would be covered as well. Additionally, there were going to be vast improvements in other services.

 

The story of no rates has been vehemently denied by Ian Clark ever since, but there must have been some truth in it before it gained such currency.

 

Anyone who has lived in Shetland over the past 30 years will realise that services have been vastly improved. However the rundown in income from the oil industry means that it is becoming difficult to maintain the current level of services .

[JustMe]

Colin wrote

Why, because I seem to remember a Chief Executive (Ian Clark ?) telling us that, with the introduction of the Oil Funds, there would be no more Domestic/Business Rates (Council Tax ?) and that rents for Council Houses would be covered as well. Additionally, there were going to be vast improvements in other services.

 

I seem to remember that the council had to charge council tax/business rates as otherwise they would lose all the government money that Shetland gets as the rate support grant.

[Styumpie]

I think it's obvious to most what goes on in the council. Spending the most of it all on services (creating costly unsustainable jobs) and bailing out there own personal vested interests, it's not going to help any of us in the long run. They really are wasting our money, we will regret this in the future when our money pot runs dry.

 

I think the money should have first been invested in things that would have provided real long term returns to us, such as cheap electricity from renewable energy, and a top notch infrastructure for our local industries so they can expand and create proper jobs.

 

We need to spend and promote the things that create real tangible wealth such as:

 

Agriculture

Fisheries

Tourism

All types of Shetland produce, and business which provide a net gain.

Cheap energy for all of us including business from renewables.

 

The golden rule: Always invest in real Assets, which provide a net income, and cut the liabilities, wealth will then prosper and quality of life will increase.

 

Investing in liabilities is just pissing the wealth away, this will end up with poverty.

[HonestJohnDoe]

Does anyone think that there could possibly be corruption amongst SI Councillors or other who hold office on local bodies responsible for doling out large amounts of money? you hear rumours, but it can't possibly be true? can it?

[Evil Inky]

Does anyone think that there could possibly be corruption amongst SI Councillors or other who hold office on local bodies responsible for doling out large amounts of money? you hear rumours, but it can't possibly be true? can it?

 

Of course not, the vast amount of public money that has disappeared into companies run by Morgan Goodlad's brother was money well spent.

 

And the moon is made of green cheese.

[Distortio]

And the moon is made of green cheese.

 

hey you, that's classified!

[sludgegulper]

Does anyone think that there could possibly be corruption amongst SI Councillors or other who hold office on local bodies responsible for doling out large amounts of money? you hear rumours, but it can't possibly be true? can it?

 

Of course not, the vast amount of public money that has disappeared into companies run by Morgan Goodlad's brother was money well spent.

 

And the moon is made of green cheese.

 

 

 

Couldn't find an emoticon that's hitting a nail on the head with a hammer.