Sandy offers to help fund fire stations

[JustMe]

Just what is going on?. If Sandy wants to fund fire stations out of his own wealth then so be it but I do not accept that he can offer money from the already stretched finances of the SIC and the Charitable trust. For one thing it is not his money to offer and any such funding should be offered by the council or the trustees and secondly the financing of the Fire and Rescue service is a matter for the government and as such he should be lobbying for more money for the service from the proper source rather than using Shetland's money. If this happens or is even seriously considered we will be setting a dangerous precedent not only for Shetland but for all local authorities throughout Scotland.

[dB]

Just what is going on?. If Sandy wants to fund fire stations out of his own wealth then so be it but I do not accept that he can offer money from the already stretched finances of the SIC and the Charitable trust. For one thing it is not his money to offer and any such funding should be offered by the council or the trustees and secondly the financing of the Fire and Rescue service is a matter for the government and as such he should be lobbying for more money for the service from the proper source rather than using Shetland's money. If this happens or is even seriously considered we will be setting a dangerous precedent not only for Shetland but for all local authorities throughout Scotland.

 

 

Spot on.

 

Such profligacy has to stop.

[unlinkedstudent]

There are far too many services that end up being sponsored. For example, Barts & The London NHS Trust have their air ambulance sponsored by Virgin (well they did, the last time I saw the thing landing nearby). Nobody seems to bat an eyelid.

 

How many times do we get approached by charities asking us to donate towards finding a cure for cancer or towards opening a new hospital ward/hospice, etc., or, for that matter, towards the running costs of the lifeboats?

 

It is absolutely crazy. Harsh as it may sound, I never give to 'health charities' as I believe that the more people fund these out of their own pockets, the more Governments will want to spend less and less on services that they are responsible for providing and that we, as tax payers, pay for.

 

Oh dear, the NHS ... I've just returned from an appointment at Newham Hospital here in East London. Oooh, we've got a huge new annexe. Now where's Rheumatology Clinic? In the Rheumatology Department? Mmm, can't see it indicated anywhere on the signs. Oh, must be in a generic Outpatients Department then. Mmm, can't see that either ...

 

Silly me, my appointment with a Rheumatologist was in "Health Central"

 

Looks like they are far too busy renaming perfectly adequate departments with pretentious names instead of spending cash on healthcare. Now will my local minicab driver know where the entrance to "Health Central" is? Nope!

 

Typical.

 

Hope you understand where I'm coming from!

[Nigel Bridgman-Elliot]

What if eventually every service the local authority/government was supposed to pay for ended up being paid for by private means, would that mean we wouldn't need to pay for local authorities/governments at all..

 

Its all very nice to expect the services we pay for, but over the last few decades all I see is services getting worse and our bills/taxes going up.

 

If there was only a better lot to vote in, but it seems every time the new lot are just as bad as the last lot. (Though if you had my local lot who voted theselves a 113% payrise you might imagine they are the worst of the bunch!)