derick Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Agree wi Infiltrator on priorities. Actually councilors are just human, well most of them anyway, and are doing their best. A thankless task. I wid say that constantly electing a council of 'independents' means Shetland can never change 'the administration', can never vote for a different set of policies, and never get a coherent programme, and always get pork barrel politics (in which the outlying areas entirely predictably come off worst, every time, compared to the Central Belt around da Toon). Hence you lie in a buil o your owin makkin IMNVHO PS after 4 years of a council tax freeze down here in Sunny Falkirk District as across Scotland yes including Shetland I see absolutely no difference in the service I receive from Falkirk Cooncil. Not a dust. But I do see a difference on my bank balance (i.e. still zero) cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuckleJoannie Posted February 13, 2012 Report Share Posted February 13, 2012 Shetlands situation 1960's - economy shrinking, depopulation1970's - oil discovered, lets build lots of stuff1980's - blimey, where did all this money come from, partytime1990's - better start to invest some of this money, anyone got any daft ideas, Sturgeon farm anyone?2000's - Oops, how did the council get that big, if we keep it quiet no-one will notice...2010's - the brown smelly stuff has hit the rotating windy thing - who can we blame?the future - see 1960's The 1960's were actually a period of prosperity for Shetland whan knitwear and fish processing started to create jobs. When it was first proposed to bring oil to Shetland the community was against it. In the 1970's the boom was provided by construction work at Sullom Voe. Much needed infrastructure such as major new roads and schools came in this period. In the 1980's oil money was used to bring some of the facilities such as Clickimin and provide investment capital for local businesses. In my opinion the rot started in the 1990's that was when the urge to build vanity projects started. Also about that time the SIC lost the ability to set its own rates on business properties. Previously increasing these by a small amount could bring in a huge sum due to the effect of the Sullom Voe terminal. Instead the had to rely increasingly on the Reserve Fund to pay for shortfalls in income. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie53 Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2012/02/10/trade-unions-voice-contempt-for-disastrous-budget-slashing I think this link tells all. Our elected representatives should be fighting to support Shetland. Single status has destroyed many incomes and their potential spending ability I now work many hours for nothing and am forced to considering part time employment which will create the need for employment of more staff to give adequate cover. Give it a couple of months and watch house prices falling Short sighted or perhaps worse, single status should be revisited if only to create fairness !!And the original idea was ???????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 It raises an interesting point though. what do you think the impact on local businesses will be if the SIC begins to cut services?SIC cuts will hurt local businesses. Both by direct cuts in SIC purchases and by the SIC having less staff meaning that people have less money to spend. But this is unavoidable unless the SIC finds ways to reduce the budget without much in the way of cuts to services. Certainly not hiring consultants to make decisions for the council would help. Getting the entire council workforce to find ways to save money would help and having a rethink about the minimum size the reserve fund could drop to would certainly help. A complete ban on making grants for a couple of years might be worth considering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whalsa Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Regarding the charges to the S5 and S6 pupils for food in the Hostel I agree with Councillor Duncan that it is a complete disgrace. No student in Shetland should be forced to pay simply to be able to attend school. Within the Council there often seems to be bias against the rural and island communities of Shetland in favour of centralisation to Lerwick. Happy to see there is already a petition on facebook against such a move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mildred Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Regarding the charges to the S5 and S6 pupils for food in the Hostel I agree with Councillor Duncan that it is a complete disgrace. No student in Shetland should be forced to pay simply to be able to attend school. Within the Council there often seems to be bias against the rural and island communities of Shetland in favour of centralisation to Lerwick. Happy to see there is already a petition on facebook against such a move. If the s5 S6 pupils who do not stay in the hostel parents/carers are having to feed themIs it not fairer the parents/carers of the children in the hostel put a contribution to the childrens keep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordcapri Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 ...and yet still da army o' yellow council vans and pickups head to various employees homes for da night!?...no signs o stoppin dat farce yit den? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 ^^ That was one of the more sensible policies introduced not that long ago which actually saves money in real terms, both in fuel and wear and tear traveling to and from the depots and in working time by travelling directly to and from places of work. Indeed many other authorities have increased their fleet sizes and encouraged more employees to use them rather than paying mileage etc. As I've mentioned here before - the easy targets are the visible ones, and most of these have either been cut to the bone already, or are fashionable myths (like turning off street lights) I wonder why a longer terms view has never even (as far as has been reported) been considered/presented? I understand the need to present better figures to auditors ASAP but as long as a clear plan was there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordcapri Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 saves money??? hmm.. travelling too and from work with whit is basically a company car?(saves da employee money as he doesnt hae ta drive his ain car!)how dat saves da cooncil money?Aa dae tings indicated above i.e. fuel,tyre wear etc. costs da cooncil money! I kaen o two cooncil vehicles near to me, that park within 2 car spaces of each iddir! they travel to work in da mornings tae dir depot to recieve orders fur dadae, den fenesh at da end o da day to drive home, 1 heads home frid dennertime! every friday. Why cant cooncil employes use thier own cars to get to and from work?? (dae can still claim mileage) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urabug Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Just one point to bear in mind . Thanks to Health & Safety , many of the tools in these vans will be personal issue like ladders, gas appliances,power tools & so each employee has to use there own . No compensation if you are injured while useing someone elses issue. That I believe to be the main need for so many vans ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ll Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 saves money??? hmm.. travelling too and from work with whit is basically a company car?(saves da employee money as he doesnt hae ta drive his ain car!)how dat saves da cooncil money?Aa dae tings indicated above i.e. fuel,tyre wear etc. costs da cooncil money! I kaen o two cooncil vehicles near to me, that park within 2 car spaces of each iddir! they travel to work in da mornings tae dir depot to recieve orders fur dadae, den fenesh at da end o da day to drive home, 1 heads home frid dennertime! every friday. Why cant cooncil employes use thier own cars to get to and from work?? (dae can still claim mileage) If employees collected their vans from workplace and returned them in the evenings, maybe too, it would be easier to see they worked till 5pm each night instead of being home at afore 5! I wonder too, how things stand when council vans and land rovers (especially ports and harbours) are regularly seen ferrying around bairns in child seats. Do the SIC use child labour, or is this something else going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staney Dale Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Council workers can't claim mileage for going to and from their normal place of work, they can only do it if they're asked to work hours outside the norm or to go elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 Why cant cooncil employes use thier own cars to get to and from work?? (dae can still claim mileage) That how it used to be. But a fortune in time was lost every day travelling to and from the depot, not to mention the waste in fuel and wear and tear already mentioned. It is much more efficient to travel straight to and from the place of work, maximizing working time and minimizing travel whilst eliminating mileage. Whatever happens, workers need vehicles, plant and tools. Tradesmen aren't very good value for money if they cant get from A to B Again, it just shows how the visible things attract attention whilst the thousands/millions being spent on consultants and reviews etc tends to be forgotten about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordcapri Posted February 14, 2012 Report Share Posted February 14, 2012 if da cooncil wis a fitba club dae wid a haed da administrators in alang time ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 If employees collected their vans from workplace and returned them in the evenings, maybe too, it would be easier to see they worked till 5pm each night instead of being home at afore 5!Assuming that their hours actually finish at 5...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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