Police stitch-up over Maccabi Villa ban

Why is anyone surprised the West Midlands Police have been exposed for fabricating evidence to justify banning away fans from Villa Park for the Europa League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv?

After all, the force has a history of stitching people up.

Admittedly, in the past, the Serious Crime Squad was bent on locking up villains but the football fiasco is at one with the WMP’s long and ignoble tradition of falsifying evidence to deliver the verdict they first thought of.

It could just be the oxymoron of police intelligence was even worse than usual and they really did believe Maccabi Tel Aviv played a match against West Ham as described in the report leading to the ban (Chief Constable Craig Guildford blames ‘social media scraping’).

Yet they didn’t bother to check with, let alone consult, those who policed games that really did take place at Chelsea and Stoke City.

All this and a great deal more was made clear in the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee’s meeting with Mr Guildford and soon-to-be-abolished crime commissioner Simon Foster on Monday.

Also giving evidence was Lord Mann, the Government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, who said of the police justification for the ban: ‘I think the evidence has been fitted to try to get a solution—which is a solution, because if you do not have the Israeli fans, there is no conflict.’

After the hearing, former Dudley North MP and Villa fan Lord Austin wrote in ‘The Telegraph’: ‘It’s clear that not only have West Midlands Police failed to tackle the growing spectre of flagrant extremism on their own streets, there is legitimate concern the force is actively placating it.’

Asked by an MP if he still had ‘full faith’ in the Chief Constable, Mr Foster replied with 350 words of waffle ending: ‘The matter has not yet concluded, but to date, I am confident in, and satisfied with, the response that the chief constable has provided so far.’

At a football club, when the chairman says something like this, it’s time for the manager to start clearing his desk.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12/01/police-used-fictitious-game-in-report-led-ban-israeli-fans/

Waste not, want not for high-flying diners

Birmingham Council spent £36,000 paying off tenants’ rent arrears in October which may explain why they aren’t too fussed about spending £8,895 renting a three-bedroom holiday home in Harborne.

The money spent on preventing homelessness comes from ‘the Government’ (ie taxpayers nationwide rather than just Birmingham taxpayers) and, since 2022, it totals £3.7 million.

As for the holiday home, Noormak Nights, it’s a three-bedroom apartment with some reasonable reviews on booking.com

The council is very accommodating: If you’re still looking for somewhere to rest your head, why not try one of the hotels enjoyed on the council credit card? In October, £10,500 went on hotels including £3,600 for a couple of days at Coulsdon Manor Hotel and Golf Club in Surrey.

The council’s cradle-to-grave generosity extends to funerals too. It spent £18,000 last month with its ‘preferred partner’ Wesley Media for providing audio, visual, and webcasting services for funerals bringing the total since May 2022 to £160,000.

And then there’s the real high life – a meal at 24 Stories, ‘Birmingham’s highest and most spectacular restaurant, with breath-taking views and iconic rooftop cocktail bar’. Starters range from £12 to £21, chicken’s £32, cod £33. A council credit card forked out £363 there on November 1. Nothing’s too good for the workers…

Oh, and while the bin strike is set to continue until after the next local elections, the city that can’t collect the rubbish is spending £8,867,500 buying 375,000 wheelie bins, 345,000 slop buckets and 345,000 external food caddies ‘to support Birmingham City Council's Waste Transformation Programme’.

Doubleplus-ungood

Rachel Reeves's Budget was a nightmare but Kemi Badenoch was excellent.

Anyway, here's a short vid to accompany my new book "The Ministry of Theft". https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I2za5IKHUkc

The Ministry of Theft - special Rachel Reeves Budget edition

My new novel “The Ministry of Theft” is published this week and it can be downloaded for free on Amazon Kindle from Monday to Friday this week as a Rachel Reeves Budget Special. At least there’s something that might cheer you up as you count the cost of Rachel from Customer Complaints’ depredations.

Set largely in the Black Country in the very near future, it’s all over for the rich. Banned from leaving Britain. Forced to work for the maximum wage. Subject to a new wealth tax. There’s not much point in building a business any more.

When engineer Dipak Patel’s company goes bust because the Government won’t pay its bills, he doesn’t give up. Instead, he uses his expertise to help develop the State’s vastly expensive nuclear fusion programme.

When the Government finds out, Dipak’s wo

rk is confiscated by a jealous State, and his hopes disappear. He tries to get a job on the programme but finds himself accused of murder and sentenced to death.

If you’ve read “1984” or “Atlas Shrugged” (Liz Truss’s first love token to her MP lover Mark Field), it’s vaguely reminiscent of both of though nowhere near as good except it won’t detain you as long and might be mildly more amusing.

And unlike a speech by Rachel Reeves, “The Ministry of Theft” is entertaining, satirical, short and free.

(Alternatively, you can get a proper paperback version for a fiver which has the added benefit that the author may make a few pence from his endeavours)

Oh and there's a new video about it: https://youtube.com/shorts/I2za5IKHUkc?feature=share

Brum's cyclepaths on the road to ruin

Irony of ironies, Birmingham Council is spending another £580,000 expanding the coverage of its ‘average speed’ cameras.

You’d think this was a waste of money given it’s almost impossible to drive at any reasonable speed through much of the city thanks to its long-term campaign against motorists.

Still, you can’t be too careful. Not everyone has yet switched to bicycles, which may explain why the city is spending £4 million on its Big Birmingham Bikes Provision and £2.3 million teaching kids to cycle.

In case cyclists still feel neglected, the city’s paying £22,652 to a Mr Paul Baker to ‘conduct intercept surveys of cyclists’ and another £8,500 for ‘bicycle counter equipment’ as well as £50,000 for ‘a series of e-cargo and cycling support projects to increase cycling uptake’ and over £200,000 on air-quality monitoring.

Meanwhile, the city’s latest contracts register shows its agreed to spend at least £5.6 million on 20 mph zones, bollards and road closures, double yellow lines and ‘modal filters’ to prevent through traffic, all designed to make life difficult for drivers.

Then there’s speed limit reductions from 40 to 30 at ‘multiple locations’ which will cost £305,331.65, civil engineering works for number-plate recognition cameras are costing £169,019.88 though that’s less than the £165,220 going to Waterman Infrastructure and Environment Ltd and a bit more than the £136,934 for a transport planning secondee from Constella Public Ltd.

Flowbird Smart City UK gets £140,000 for the repair and maintenance of pay and display parking machines ‘required by the Council to ensure that citizens are able to pay for their parking sessions in a timely and efficient manner’.

Oddly, the council is giving Guardian Angels Catholic Primary School £56,240 to buy ‘a saloon or estate car’ while Calthorpe Academy gets £36,027 and Cadbury Sixth Form College has to make do with only £23,385.20 under the same heading.

It’s bizarre the city is buying cars for colleges when it’s now planning to waste £14.3 million on cycle lanes along the A45 Coventry Road – a scheme opposed by more than two-thirds of those who thought it worth bothering to express an opinion in the face of the council’s arrogant intransigence. Birmingham: the city of cyclepaths.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-council-defends-cycle-route-32683731?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1760545372

The BBC a has reached its sell-by date

It’s time to do something about the BBC now we know it can’t be trusted.

Like every taxpayer-funded quango, it has its own smug opinions and woke agenda. The difference is the BBC used to be one of the world’s most reliable sources of news. Alas, no more.

So what should we do? The answer is privatisation. Make the BBC (with the possible exception of the World Service) fight for customers and money like all its competitors.

It doesn’t deserve a guaranteed income when it can tell lies and squander millions like so many other quangos.

Privatisation is easy. Just scrap the licence fee and invite viewers to subscribe instead.

The added benefit of axing the broadcasting poll tax would be that every TV licence could be automatically converted into one share in the new business. Who knows, those shares might be worth something one day? If you see Tim, tell him.

ICAEW’s bonfire night bombshell

This is the text of a letter sent to the chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales:

To: Peter Wyman, Chair, ICAEW Board, with copies to the Chairs of Audit & Risk Committees & ICAEW President


Letter of Concern: Formal Concerns Raised by Elected Employee Representatives Regarding the Collective Consultation Process

5 November 2025


Dear Mr Wyman,

We write in our capacity as Elected Employee Representatives for employees identified as being at risk, following the proposed restructuring announced on 6 October 2025.

In accordance with our responsibilities under the collective consultation framework, we consider it both appropriate and necessary to raise serious concerns with our employer when we believe there may be breaches of regulatory obligations or governance standards, or matters that could adversely affect employees, the organisation, or the wider public interest. Despite repeated efforts to engage constructively with Pamela Harding, Chief People Officer, as the designated lead for this process, we regret that our concerns have not been adequately acknowledged or addressed. As responsible employees and representatives, we cannot in good conscience disregard these issues, as doing so would compromise our integrity and, we believe, the best interests of ICAEW.

We wish to emphasise at the outset that we do not oppose the principle of organisational change, nor do we dispute the strategic direction or rationale underpinning the new ICAEW strategy and its associated pillars. We recognise the importance of transformation in ensuring ICAEW remains relevant and resilient. However, we have significant concerns regarding the way the consultation process has been conducted, the absence of transparent and meaningful information, the lack of clarity beneath the strategic rationale, and the resulting detrimental impact on employees and organisational integrity.

1. Lack of Transparency and Procedural Integrity

We are concerned that the collective consultation and related individual redundancy processes have not to date been conducted in accordance with the legal standards of transparency, procedural fairness, and meaningful engagement required under employment law and expected of a public interest body.

From our direct involvement, it is evident that material deficiencies were present before the formal commencement of consultation. These include:

· Inadequate preparatory work · Incomplete or inconsistent data validation · Insufficient provision of meaningful consultation with, and provision of information to, both representatives and affected employees, particularly below the Chief Officer and Managing Director levels.
In our view, the process has not met the statutory threshold for meaningful consultation, nor does it reflect the governance standards that ICAEW is expected to uphold. The absence of procedural rigour raises concerns regarding compliance with relevant statutory duties, including those under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and associated case law. We are also concerned that these deficiencies may undermine the business rationale for the proposed restructure, despite the significant investment ICAEW has made in the project.
2. Deficiencies in the Foundational Stages of the Restructure
The Discovery Process (Stage 1), intended to establish verified, up-to-date information on job roles and organisational structure, appears to have been substantially incomplete. In the absence of robust baseline data, subsequent assessments of redundancy risk and business need are inherently speculative and unreliable.
Similarly, the Role Selection Process (Stage 2) lacks the necessary clarity, consistency, and transparency. We have not received a sufficient explanation of the methodology, or criteria used to designate roles as “at risk.” In some cases, roles identified for redundancy appear to be replicated under different titles, while other roles not flagged as redundant have been materially altered or removed. These inconsistencies raise serious concerns about the credibility and fairness of the process and may render decisions made on this basis legally and procedurally unsound.

3. Inadequate Preparation and Governance

Given the scale and complexity of the proposed restructure, we believe that insufficient preparatory and governance measures were in place prior to launching consultation. This has given rise to operational and procedural issues, including:

• A significant data breach that identified all colleagues at risk, affecting 150+ employees and breaching their right to confidentiality in the consultation process.

• An apparent failure to ensure compliance with statutory requirements relating to the HR1 notice, resulting in its return for resubmission.

• Poor scheduling of consultation and pillar meetings, and the lack of accurate or comprehensive meeting notes being circulated.

• The repeated rejection, without adequate justification, of reasonable requests to use Teams transcription for internal and confidential record keeping purposes, including requests made on grounds of reasonable adjustment.

• Deadlines established by HR or leadership are frequently not met, with insufficient resources within the HR team and related areas frequently cited as the primary reason.

• Insufficient training and support for employee representatives, limited to a one- hour presentation by ICAEW’s legal advisers.

• The absence of clear documentation or agreed terms of reference underpinning consultation meetings.



• Avoidable stress and fatigue experienced by employee representatives due to the above factors.

• We do not believe that a full and proper equality impact assessment has been completed, which can create significant legal, reputational, and procedural risks for the organisation.

We were informed at the outset of the consultation on 6 October that the ICAEW Board had approved the restructure and the commencement of the consultation based on the proposed structure. However, on 3 November we were advised that, following the Board meeting on 30 October, nine of the new roles proposed in that structure within the Chief Information Officer pillar would no longer proceed at this stage. We were told this decision followed further Board discussions regarding the IT roadmap, which is still being developed and agreed.

This development calls into serious question why these roles were included in the original proposals if the underlying roadmap was not yet finalised, and why the proposed structure has been altered after the Board had reportedly given its approval. Such inconsistencies raise broader concerns about the transparency and governance of the process, and about whether decisions are being made on a fully informed and robust basis. They also undermine confidence among both staff and representatives that the consultation is being conducted with the necessary clarity and due diligence

We now understand, as confirmed by Pamela Harding earlier today, that this change to the CIO pillar alone may have the effect that the consultation process needs to be restarted.

4. Insufficient meaningful consultation and pre-determined outcomes

We have concerns that procedural breaches of the requirement to consult meaningfully have impeded or undermined the collective consultation and any subsequent individual consultations. For example, it appears that the required three-stage consultative process regarding ‘pooling’ has not been sufficiently met. Furthermore, during some consultation meetings and communications, comments have been made to suggest that some issues had been pre-determined, such as the structures which would not change, thereby undermining the consultative nature and purpose of the consultation process itself.

5. Insufficient Consideration of Role Interdependencies and Wider Organisational Impact

We are concerned that the restructure has not adequately considered the operational interdependencies between job roles, nor the broader organisational impact of proposed changes. A meaningful assessment of restructuring implications requires a thorough understanding of how roles interact across departments and functions. We believe that the current approach fails to account for the potential impact of changes to “at-risk” roles on those not formally identified as such. This oversight may result in material changes to roles that are not currently flagged, which, in turn, could render them “at risk” under the principles of fair consultation and role mapping. We also believe that a broader, more inclusive consultation process is necessary to fully understand the implications of the restructure and determine whether it will achieve its stated objectives.

6. Restriction of Consultation Scope

When the need for broader workforce involvement was raised with Pamela Harding, we were advised that, for legal reasons, only employees formally identified by ICAEW as being “at risk” could be included in the consultation process. We are not persuaded that this interpretation reflects the full extent of the legal or best-practice obligations under collective consultation frameworks.

In our view, meaningful consultation, particularly in the context of a restructure of this scale, should include broader engagement with employees whose roles may be indirectly affected, or whose input could inform a more robust and inclusive process, restricting participation solely to those deemed “at risk” risks undermining the credibility and effectiveness of the consultation.

7. Misleading Information

We are concerned that, on at least two occasions, Pamela Harding seems to have misled the Representatives regarding the following:

During a collective consultation meeting, one of the Employee Representatives said that the role of a Representative in the collective consultation process appeared similar to that of a Trade Union Representative. Pamela Harding dismissed the comment as an invalid comparison, and the point was shut down as incorrect. However, on investigation, it was shown that the comparison was generally valid, leaving the Representatives feeling that they had been misled.

When the Representatives said they wanted to facilitate an informed consultation process, Pamela Harding noted that inviting certain employees at risk to attend some pillar consultation meetings was not possible, as it would constitute a breach of the procedural process. This point arose in the context that Pillar Head, David Franklin, had been allowed to have two employees who were not at risk attend a Pillar meeting because of their particular knowledge and insight, which would help ensure a productive consultation.

However, after a subsequent call with ACAS, an Employee Representative was told there was nothing in the legislation that said or implied that an employee at risk could not attend a consultation meeting of this nature if they were asked to do so by an Employee Representative (particularly when based upon a similar rationale as articulated by David Franklin, which received support from Pamela Harding). Representatives are particularly concerned by this incident, as the information they were given appears to be incorrect and undermines trust and confidence and impedes a meaningful consultation process.

These incidents raises concerns that Representatives may have been given unreliable information or misled in other respects, casting a shadow on the integrity of the consultation process more generally.

8. Detrimental Impact on Morale, Wellbeing, Trust & Confidence, and Institutional Credibility

The cumulative effect of these issues has led to a rapid and marked erosion of morale and trust among both at-risk and unaffected employees. Many staff members, at risk or not, perceive the process as predetermined, and feel excluded from a genuine dialogue regarding their futures within the organisation. The wellbeing of many staff has also been greatly impacted. The collaborative culture previously characteristic of ICAEW has been seriously adversely affected. In fact, some employees have gone so far as to describe the current culture within the organisation as increasingly toxic.

As a public interest entity, ICAEW must maintain an unimpeachable standard of fairness, transparency, and ethical governance. The manner in which this restructuring process has been managed risks undermining both internal confidence and external reputation. Recent media reports have already drawn negative attention to these matters, likely to the detriment of ICAEW’s standing.

9. Insufficient Effort to Explore Redundancy Mitigation Measures We are further concerned that the organisation has not meaningfully explored potential mitigation measures to avoid or reduce redundancies, including:

• Voluntary redundancy schemes.

• Flexible or reduced working hours.

• Job sharing arrangements.

• Retraining or redeployment strategies.

While we understand that over 100 new roles have reportedly been introduced in the UK, many appear to be concentrated in highly specialised areas such as technology, which may not be accessible to most displaced employees. Earlier and more inclusive consideration of mitigation options could have reduced both the scale of redundancies and their human impact.

We also note with concern that new/vacant roles have been advertised during the consultation period, despite being linked to a proposed organisational structure that has not yet been finalised or agreed. At the time of writing, the consultation remains ongoing, and the counterproposal stage has not yet concluded. In this context, the publication of new roles appears premature and risks undermining the integrity of the consultation process. It may reasonably be interpreted as indicative of a predetermined outcome, which is inconsistent with the legal requirement for genuine and meaningful consultation under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and associated case law.

Request for Independent Review and Corrective Action

Considering the issues outlined and the potential procedural and reputational risks to ICAEW, we must express that our continued participation as employee representatives within the current consultation framework is becoming increasingly untenable.

We submit this correspondence in good faith, with the intention of safeguarding both employees' interests and the organisation's long-term integrity.

Should evidence be required to further substantiate any of the above we would be happy to provide this information.

We therefore respectfully request that the Board initiate an urgent, transparent, and independent review of the consultation process. Such oversight would help restore fairness, confidence, and trust, and ensure that the restructure is implemented in a manner consistent with ICAEW’s ethical standards and statutory obligations.

We further request that the consultation be paused pending the outcome of this independent review, and that its findings be transparently disclosed to all stakeholders.

We would appreciate a formal response to this Letter of Concern within fourteen calendar days of receipt, given the urgency of the matters raised.

We reserve all rights to amend or supplement this Letter of Concern as appropriate. We also rely on the protections afforded to us, collectively and individually, under applicable legislation, including, but not limited to, the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, the Employment Rights Act 1996, and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

Yours sincerely,

Elected Employee Representatives x 14

On behalf of Affected Employees, ICAEW Email – icaewemployeerepresentatives@gmail.com

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

As Rachel from Customer Complaints prepares to squeeze the not-very-rich until the pips squeak and even Reform-led councils like Worcestershire threaten to increase tax by ten per cent, what about all the ways the public sector wastes our money?

Over the past few months, I’ve looked at various ways our cash is squandered and it never stops. The depressing truth is Birmingham’s apparently-not-bankrupt-after-all city council is so confused about money its most recent publicly-available spreadsheets seem to duplicate many of its payments.

Maybe the council is coughing up twice for the same job and hasn’t noticed, perhaps its laughable Oracle system is still not up to the job or is it user-error?

Still, for an organisation where money’s too tight to mention, it’s instructive to trawl through its most recent contracts database where you will find almost £15 million going on next year’s European Athletics Championships, £13.3 million on temporary accommodation with Metropolitan Surveyors Ltd and £499,000 on a ‘support hub for sanctuary seekers’.

Then there’s £9,800,000 to POhWER for advocacy services, ‘empowering people to have a voice and to make a real difference to their lives.’

Things are obviously not going swimmingly otherwise why spend £6.4 million with KPMG on ‘Consultancy, Support and Capacity to aid recovery and improvement plans’ or £121,200 in three months on two business analysts from PWC?

Maybe they just can’t get the staff, given they’re spending £18,900 just to recruit a new ‘executive director, city operations’.

They’re obviously worried about the birth-rate as £150,000 is going on a project to ‘deliver a bespoke Creative English programme, tailored to focus on pre-pregnancy health and wellbeing and risk factors that impact on infant mortality’.

Meanwhile it’s £19,032.83 to Birmingham City University to research the use of hookahs, bongs and shisha pipes (‘responses are completely private’), £92,960 on cricket nets in Sparkhill and £24,800 to a PR firm for ‘conceptual creative writing and content production for Birmingham City Council’s Birmingham Growth Story campaign’.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Coming soon: Birmingham’s war on motorists

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout Till you have drench’d our steeples, drown’d the cocks!

The BBC revelled in Hurricane Melissa which has caused devastation in Jamaica and led to dozens of deaths, describing it as ‘the worst storm in modern history’.

The clear implication is this is another ‘extreme weather event’ caused by man-made climate change and we must brace ourselves for a return to the Middle Ages to rid ourselves of all polluting energy sources before it’s too late and we’re all doomed.

But note the use of the word ‘modern’ because these 185 mph winds are not the worst in history. Back in 1780, the Caribbean was hit by no fewer than three hurricanes in one month.

The first October hurricane ‘decimated Jamaica’s Montego Bay to the extent that scarcely a vestige remained’. The second, the Great Storm, saw winds of 200 mph, threw cannons through the air, deposited a warship on the top of a Barbados hospital and stripped bark from the trees. It left 22,000 people dead. The third hit Cuba and Barbados where 6,000 people were killed, according to historian Nathaniel Philbrick’s “In the Hurricane’s Eye”.

Philbrick says the devastation caused the Spanish, French and British navies to change their strategies, which contributed to the United States winning independence. The point being that ‘extreme weather events’ are not a modern phenomenon. Even if the climate is changing, and even if we are partly responsible for it, the weather has always been with us. It’s always been fearsome, unpredictable and beyond our control. It’s wise to be a BBC-sceptic even if you’re not a climate-change sceptic.

https://allthingsliberty.com/2022/07/the-great-hurricanes-of-1780/

Jess and the disappearing majority

It’s very unfair making Yardley MP Jess Phillips take responsibility for the grooming gangs inquiry especially as there’s no chance it will come to any conclusion that states the bleedin’ obvious.

That would be more than Jess’s job’s worth because she will be fighting not merely the grooming-gang victims but a large proportion of her own Birmingham electorate.

Jess has seen her majority fall from 16,574 in 2017 to a mere 693 last year after a campaign of fear and intimidation against her and her supporters.

Given the state of politics in Birmingham, it seems unlikely Jess could have been given a more exposed role than that of Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.

Quite why another grooming gangs inquiry is necessary is open to question. We all know the terrible truth. We all know nobody will do anything about it. We all know an inquiry will take ages, cost a fortune and change nothing.

And in the meantime Jess Phillips, a decent MP worthy of respect, will lose her seat to some violent non-entity.

Whoops

Client ICAEW
Region UK
Sector Public Sector, Health and Not For Profit
Offering Organisation Design
Buzzwords
ActivityQ Data analytics Organisation design Organisation effectiveness OrgMaps Target Operating Model (TOM)
The Challenge

ICAEW – the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales – is the leading professional membership organisation for accountants and finance professionals in the UK.​

ICAEW was struggling to maintain it’s competitive edge, driven by a lack of member focus and an unclear value proposition. At the same time, the organisation was suffering from siloed working, outdated processes, and widespread duplication of activity, impacting efficiency and effectiveness. Recent organisation design efforts had been driven by individual preferences and had led to increased confusion and a lack of accountability, highlighting the need for an organisation-wide review using OD best practice.​

Q5 was asked to review the organisation and develop a new Target Operating Model, aligned to their new strategy, and design the organisational structure for the leadership teams down to two layers below the CEO. ​

Our Approach

Conducted 45+ stakeholder interviews​

Held three half-day workshops with the ‘Design Team’ comprised of all ICAEW leadership team members​

Developed a set of design principles and identified five key value drivers to guide the OD​

Analysed ICAEW’s People Data using Q5’s OrgMaps tool, deep-diving into spans and layers, tenure, salary and grading​

Surveyed the whole organisation using Q5’s Organisational Effectiveness survey (76% response rate) to uncover key pain points and themes to explore further​

Quantified activities for the top 60 managers in the organisation using ActivityQ to quantify and justify design decisions​

Presented a series of significant design recommendations to the Steering Group, as findings emerged from our quantitative and qualitative analysis

Key Outcomes

Developed a new Target Operating Model, centred around ‘Member experience’, organised across eight key pillars, each led by an executive team member​

Defined organisational structures for all roles down to N-2 (two layers below the CEO), encompassing the key leadership roles in the organisation​

Identified opportunities for cost-saving, to be explored further in detailed design​

Developed 30+ team charters for the key teams experiencing the most change​

Developed a high-level implementation plan, including a People Impact Assessment and Comms plan

The enemy within

Do we really have any state secrets worth stealing? I somehow doubt it.

Our Prime Minister may have misled Parliament and so on but the idea that we have top secret intelligence the Chinese are desperate to acquire seems a bit far-fetched to me.

Yes, they nick all our innovations and then reproduce them much more cheaply (a friend is seriously tempted by a Land Rover clone at half the price of the British-made vehicle).

But once a product is on the open market, it’s difficult to stop competitors fashioning their own cut-price versions which may, or may not, be inferior to the original.

But, serious though industrial espionage may be, that’s not the issue with the collapsed trial.

It just seems unlikely there’s anything much the Chinese or any other not-enemies might covertly glean that would somehow undermine our country and our way of life.

That’s happening already without any help from China or other not-enemies of the state.

All that glitters with our gold

Isn’t it great to see Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, supporting local consultants to the tune of well over £800,000 in August alone?

From big companies to small digital marketing experts, Mayor Parker continues to spread our money far and wide.

He even paid £27,500 to the Trades Union Congress for its advice on adult education not to mention £72,500 for Oxford Innovation to dispense business advice to small companies.

Then there’s August’s £297,000 spent on agency staff not to mention the £38,800 which went to our very own LinkedIn for staff recruitment costs.

Oh and he’s just paid £253,000 to Wolverhampton Council to meet its Mayoral election costs which is obviously a bargain.

Probably the most exciting payment was the £650 spent marketing ‘cycling for everyone’ with Amanda’s Face Painting, Glitter and Gems. I’m sure everyone looked lovely.

https://www.facebook.com/Amandasfacepaintingglitterandgems/?locale=en_GBThe

Brum coughs up for its own clean-air zone

While drivers entering Birmingham’s ‘clean air zone’ have paid out more than £100 million, it seems one group of motorists is exempt from the charge – the council’s own employees.

Since June 2021, they have used the bankrupt city council credit cards 2,500 times to meet the cost of the £8-a-day charge for using an old banger (£50 for HGVs, buses and coaches) in the city centre. This comes in at £388,084.

In October 2021, the council paid £19,766 in clean air zone credit card claims and the figure has been falling ever since, presumably because employees now walk to work to save the planet. However, even this August the city forked out £4,752 on its credit cards in clean air charges on employees’ vehicles.

The credit cards’ travels include £19,293-worth of Uber rides and £4,425 on taxis as well as £10,438 on Eurostar journeys and £4,500 with Virgin Atlantic.

I wonder if staff zapped by the council’s anti-car speed-limit reductions – apparently a ‘road-safety emergency’ and nothing to do with raising money – will get their fines paid by the taxpayer as well.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/36885229/speed-limits-changed-birmingham-city-road-laws/

Andy Burnham's chauffeur-driven car habit

Andy Burnham, the Man Who Would Be PM, certainly knows how to live like a king if his £4,000-a-month chauffeur-driven limousine habit is anything to go by.

The alleged ‘King of the North’, ‘Prince Over the Manchester Ship Canal’ and ‘Old Pretender’ racked up a £12,765 bill with Prestige Chauffeurs Ltd between April and June this year.

In the first quarter of this year, he spent £9,315 on Prestige cars (the fleet includes Volvo V90 Estates and E Class Mercedes). In the last quarter of 2024, the bill was £12,416.

Oddly, the Mayor’s ‘transparency reports’ for June to September have been ‘cleansed’ to reveal only £333,000 of ‘legal liabilities’ out of an apparent total spend of £205 million.

Still, between April and June last year, the Mayor spent £11,940 on Prestige Chauffeurs bringing the total for four (non-consecutive) quarters to £44,711.

In the most recent quarter, this spending is mostly listed as being incurred by the Mayor’s Office. In earlier spreadsheets it’s listed as ‘Officers Travel & Subsistence’ so it’s possible the cars are being used by the Head of Paperclips or some other important functionary.

Otherwise, the Manchester Mayor’s spending is on a depressing par with his counterpart in the West Midlands with tens, or hundreds of thousands, doled out to organisations which seem to have been set up with the sole aim of providing a safe space for taxpayers’ money to be thrown in the vague hope that some of their pious promises may actually amount to something.

For instance, Greater Manchester Combined Authority paid £392,000 to Change Grow Live, a health and social care charity which turned over £307 million in 2023-4 and has £43 million in the bank. It coughed up £148,000 to We Are With You, a drug, alcohol and mental health charity who boast their social media content was viewed more than a million times. And another £195,000 went to Turning Point, who provide ‘free and non-judgmental support’.

Mind you, when I saw they’d paid £46,000 to a company called Squire Patton Boggs I thought it was a joke. It turns out to be a global law firm, not a purveyor of outdoor conveniences to the gentry.

Police charity doles out millions on the back of unwary motorists

A new conspiracy against motorists is taking shape in the West Midlands where the political boss of the police, Simon Foster, and the mayor, Richard Parker, want to keep more money from speeding fines.

They’ve been whingeing about the money going to the Treasury for some time. What they don’t admit is that the whole system is far more convoluted than it may seem.

The money from speeding fines may go to the Treasury but hundreds of thousands of motorists a year attend speed awareness courses and, financially, these are nice little earners for the police, not the Treasury.

That’s because these courses are managed by a company set up by the police themselves called UKRoED (Road Offender Education Ltd) which enjoyed income of £94 million in the year to March 2024.

Out of that, £86.8 million is accounted as “cost of sales” most of which went back to the police forces who nabbed the motorists because UKRoED guarantees to cover their costs while some forces run courses themselves, another nice little earner.

In the case of the West Midlands Police, they budgeted to pay UkRoED £4.5 million in January this year (apparently this was an accounting provision based on an estimated cost. After a long chat with a very helpful spokesperson, I am none the wiser about what the police get in return though we must assume they end up in profit).

Meanwhile, UKRoED pays its boss, Ruth Purdie, £173,000 (up from £135,000 the previous year). Its directors’ pay totals £459,000 while the wages bill for its 30 staff rose 26 per cent from £1.5 million in 2023 to £1.9 million last year. The company had £5.4 million reserves and 1,650,322 people attended speed awareness courses (other courses are also available).

It gives its profits (£1.6 million last year) to its owner, the Road Safety Trust (also run by Ruth Purdie, once an assistant chief constable in Cheshire).

The Road Safety Trust has doled out £12.2 million in grants to various deserving causes. These include the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (£231,650); Transport Scotland (£313,300); the Bikeability Trust (£231,352); £127,000 lobbying Parliament; and £49,000 to Nottingham Trent University for ‘understanding and explaining the differences between the mental-models of motorcyclists and car drivers for detecting hazards: from theory to training’.

In other words, a multi-million-pound industry has been created on the back of motorists, most of whom get done for driving slightly over arbitrary speed limits imposed by the people who profit from these misdemeanours.

There is a fine line between using speed limits to protect lives and merely as another way of increasing taxes but that line was crossed a long time ago. And it’s not as simple as our glorious leaders in the West Midlands moaning to the Treasury over a couple of million quid.

The last thing they should have is any incentive to exploit motorists any more than they do now. Mr Foster’s claim local speed enforcement schemes face a £2.2 million deficit is just not credible.

Big Brother owns you

As Margaret Thatcher once said: ‘No! No! No!’

She was talking about the EU not the imposition of identity cards but it is definitely the sort of totalitarian nonsense she would have derided as offensive to any idea that we live in a free country.

I know all the arguments about how we have to identify ourselves in a thousand different ways already so why not consolidate it in one mobile phone app supplied by The State?

But we are still at liberty to leave home without being obliged to prove who we are to any interfering secret police person who happens to take a dislike to us.

ID cards will do absolutely nothing to affect the immigration crisis or our population explosion. They will just add yet another layer of bureaucracy, State interference and busybody Starmer-knows-best to our already over-regulated lives.

And the idea it will only be imposed on people who work is complete nonsense. If we have any interaction with the State (using the NHS, paying taxes, driving a car, applying for a passport) an ID card will be unavoidable.

And once all that stuff is stored away somewhere on the internet, how long before China, Russia, scammers, fraudsters and shysters are using it to destroy our lives, our livelihoods and, quite probably, our country?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxz2WGl6KA

The sex capital of Lancashire

It’s tough, saving money. That’s why Rachel Reeves doesn’t bother. It’s even tough for recently-elected Reform Party county councillors. But if they can’t manage it, what hope is there for Nigel Farage’s party, let alone the hard-pressed taxpayer?

Reform’s leader in Lancashire, Stephen Atkinson, recently admitted it wasn’t easy and he’s going through the county council’s spending line by line.

If he needs a little help, perhaps we might draw his attention to Blackpool, apparently a den of iniquity judging from the council’s payment of £2.2 million in July to the local NHS for the cost of sexual health clinics.

The council says: ‘Our clinics offer a free and confidential sexual health service to everyone in Lancashire, regardless of your age, gender or sexual orientation. We won't judge or lecture you.’

(I suppose if Reform councillors axed that spending, it would be typical of politicians: here today, gonorrhoea tomorrow).

As with every local authority, Lancashire relies heavily on agency staff, to the tune of at least £1.8 million in July alone. I wonder if anyone would notice if they simply stopped employing temps for a month or two.

Then there’s £4.5 million paid to Edenred in July (when, for the most part, kids were still at school). Edenred provides free meals for kids during school holidays using a voucher and gift-card system.

It might also be worth checking out Whinney Hill landfill site in Accrington where the council spent £4.6 million in July on fees, taxes and dumping rubbish.

The £18 million dished out in grants to eight district councils to improve facilities for the disabled might raise a question or two, along with almost £1 million spent with charity CGL Services dealing with drug misuse in adults and £344,000 paid to support victims of domestic abuse.

Still, for a local authority over-spending by £28 million this year, this may be small beer and I don’t suppose there’s any chance of a reduction on last year’s £1.7 million pay and expenses bill for Lancashire’s county councillors let alone or the £1.4 million they paid their top seven executives.

Anyway, with £1.2 billion of ‘usable’ reserves, what’s there to worry about?

Speech in Britain has never been free

We have never enjoyed freedom of speech in this country. From the dawn of the printing press (banning the Bible in English, regulating newspapers during the 17th century etc). The State has always regulated what we are allowed to say.

The ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ trial in 1960 (‘Is it a book you would even wish your wife or servants to read?’) supposedly ushered in a more permissive era.

But the libel laws are always there to suppress any real dissent (In the ‘60s, The Move pop group lost a libel suit brought by Prime Minister Harold Wilson over a postcard suggesting he was having an affair with Marcia Falkender). These laws are still regularly used to stifle inquiries into the rich and powerful.

Judges can slam injunctions on reports ‘not in the national interest’ and there’s always contempt of court, a device making it nigh-on impossible to display contempt for the courts or our legal system.

The only difference between the 17th century and today is that the police and lawyers have more opportunities than ever to stifle dissent, shut people up and close down legitimate inquiries. We are not even allowed to say anything nasty.

Activist, politically-motivated lawyers are taking over from Parliament; unelected judges impose their right-on views; the State media has become the thought police; most of our politicians are compromised or complicit. And as for the police, I daren’t say what I really think.

Then there’s the weight of public opinion (albeit usually a tiny minority of the public especially in our fatuous universities) which punishes anyone expressing a contrarian view no matter how much they may be stating the bleedin’ obvious.

We are not a tolerant or liberal society. I doubt if we ever were. The tragedy is it’s getting worse and the forces of oppression – politicians, lawyers, police, the State media and vocal lobbying groups – are stronger than ever.

As Shakespeare’s Jack Cade said in ‘Henry VI Part ‘2: ‘Is it not a lamentable thing… that parchment, being scribbled o’er, should undo a man?’ Mind you, I’m surprised it is still legal to quote Act 4, scene 2, line 68 of the same play.

And won’t be long before even this sort of diatribe is repressed. I’ll come quietly, officer, but society is to blame.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/09/03/farage-us-congress-speech-free-speech-britain/

Worcestershire buying influence for £30,000

It’s £50 to become an Aston Villa member. It’s £3,450 to join Soho House. Life membership of the MCC can be as little as £7,000. A subscription to the County Councils Network costs £30,000 while the society of county treasurers is a more modest £4,500, at least according to the latest monthly spending figures for Worcestershire County Council.

Worcestershire (£600 million in debt) is one of 37 local authorities in the County Councils Network, which says it is ‘one of the most influential organisation (sic) in local government’

No doubt the minority Reform administration won’t sacrifice Worcestershire’s membership for the sake of a mere £30k when, in July, they spent £59,000 on seeds and plants, £27,000 on legal fees, not to mention grants of £100,000 to Boundless Outdoors Ltd, £41,000 to Workpays Ltd and £4,740 to Everybody Dancing.

The county’s taxpayers laid out £375,000 to Matrix SCM Ltd, who ‘revolutionise the way employers attract, recruit and manage’ temporary staff on top of the £59,000 paid to Matchtech Group Ltd, ‘a STEM recruitment specialist, with over 40 years' experience in successfully matching STEM professionals with hiring employers in multiple sectors’.

The county paid Oxford Innovation, which ‘help towns, regions and communities to flourish by providing the support that encourages entrepreneurs and small businesses to start-up and to scale up’, £51,000 in July and spent £101,000 with Civica on computer maintenance and support.

Of the £88,000 spent on county council credit cards in July, £13,068 went to Amazon, £7,634 to Airbnb, £4,223 to Argos, £2,817 to Morrison, £2,396 to Asda, £2,043 to Currys but a frugal £97 to Waitrose.

Council tax in Worcestershire rose 4.99 per cent this year (0.01 per cent below the legal maximum).

https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/25425708.reform-finance-chief-councils-new-deputy-leader/

The working camel's State-sector burden

Here’s a great ‘twofer’ offer for every private sector employee: a State-sponsored dependent of your very own.

At least half the country now lives off the State, leaving real working people to carry the whole burden.

There are 26 million private-sector workers. Their taxes sustain 55 million adults in Britain.

Of the country’s 13.1 million pensioners, 1.2 million rely solely on the state pension to get by while 5.2 million receive public sector pensions (almost all unfunded and paid out of general taxation).

Then there are 10.6 million people on working-age benefits, largely universal credit and disability benefits but including housing benefit, jobseekers’ allowance, employment support allowance and so on.

The Government itself employs 6.1 million people in the civil service, the NHS, local government, police, armed forces, railways and so on.

Add at least 106,000 asylum-seekers and we get 23.1 million people – 42 per cent of the adult population – directly dependent on the State.

On top of that, it’s reasonable to include 1 million people working for State-backed charities and 2.4 million in the State-subsidised arts bringing the total to 26.5 million.

Even this excludes hideous public-sector projects like HS2 so it’s clear the State provides for at least half the nation’s adults.

This means every single wealth-creator (ie someone who earns money which doesn’t come one way or another from the taxpayer via the Government or tangled web of offshoots) must carry one State-sponsored dependent.

Yet Rachel from Complaints wants to add more straws to the camel’s back. The last straw can’t be far away.

Ever-so 'umble

What a wonderful and caring city Birmingham is, spending £4.3 million ‘working towards a society where newcomers feel welcome, valued and lead dignified lives’ as well as £305,000 on an Employability Service for Sanctuary Seekers.

Not to mention the millions on temporary accommodation (£51 milion with one business alone) as well as smaller sums.

The caring city council is paying no less than £94 million to look after sexual health in a way that’s ‘non-judgmental and for people of all ages, genders and orientations’.

If that isn’t enough, what about the £90,000 being spent on Cultural Humility and Safety Training with Strawberry Words. Apparently, ‘Cultural Humility is a framework that offers a compassionate way through learning about systemic discrimination and racism.’

Birmingham may be bankrupt and the bins may still be full but at least the city is getting rid of Union Jacks and flags of St George and showing how much it cares, in a truly meaningful way.

Mind you, one has to wonder why it’s paying HS2 £2.5 million to take Curzon Street Station off its hands.

Rubbish is not the only waste piling debt on debt

As Rachel from Complaints prepares to extract blood from the taxpayer stone, we should be demanding spending cuts and a careful husbanding of resources.

Yet a casual glance at the sums splurged by public bodies like Birmingham Council, the Mayor of the West Midlands or the Police and Crime Commissioner prove they are only interested in wasting taxpayers’ money.
And I really do mean wasting it.
There is absolutely no evidence these clowns have any interest in reducing public spending, getting value for money or providing taxpayers with a decent service.
Having trawled through their spending spreadsheets, it is clear they think the money will just keep on flowing free.
And if these ‘public servants’ are wasting billions in the West Midlands, you can be certain they are wasting billions everywhere else as well.
It’s disgusting and surely the time is coming very soon when Government debt rises so sharply, and taxpayers’ ability to fund it slumps so severely, there will be a real financial crisis.
The tragedy is that so many businesses as well as individuals now depend entirely on the taxpayer that the real wealth-creators are becoming a smaller and smaller oppressed minority.
The inverted pyramid will collapse under the weight of all those dependents. No wonder millionaires are fleeing the country while they still can. Who is John Galt?

Out and about on the council credit card

Just thought it might be worth flagging up that Birmingham Council’s own taxpayer-funded motorists are among those vulnerable to a misplaced Union Jack.

In July, local taxpayers paid out about £34,000 on council credit cards at petrol stations, mostly in the city but some as far afield as Cornwall. They also paid almost £7,000 to e.on next which is ‘perfect for electric vehicles’.

With all this driving about, it’s natural local taxpayers would have to stump up for hotels from time to time. They’ve paid for accommodation at Holiday Inns, Hiltons and similar in places like Sunderland, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Stockton-on-Tees and even Birmingham (which seems a bit odd).

Local taxpayers also spent at least £16,600 with Amazon on council credit cards last month. This helped bring total spending on our flexible friends to £232,000 in July and £4.5 million in the past 12 months.

Other purchases included various sums at shops like Asda, Tesco, Pret-a-manger and McDonald’s (£54 last month, well down on last August’s £625), the Old Joint Stock (£415) and Rudy’s (£267).

Event professionals Off Limits got £3,894; Wesley Media, who provide ‘truly personal and unique ceremonies’ got £13,500; WaterPlus, who offer ‘tailored water solutions’, were paid £25,000.

As for Birmingham’s clean air zone, council credit cards paid £4,008 in July, not bad considering the council staff’s old bangers cost local taxpayers £19,766 in October 2021 but a lot worse than the £334 spent this May.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15003113/Fury-Labour-run-council-tears-dangerous-St-Georges-Union-Jack-flags.html

Spend, spend, spend with Mayor Parker

Birmingham Council may be bankrupt but Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, is spending money like it’s going out of fashion.

When you’re splashing out £10 million teaching people how to exploit artificial intelligence, perhaps West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker could save money on consultants, who cost him £1.7 million in June alone.

The consultants, providers of ‘external advice’ or of ‘professional advice, ranged from London lawyers Addleshaw Goddard (£185,000) and Deloitte (£89k) to Gazebo Theatre Company (£18k) and actress Lorna Nickson-Brown (£2,666).

There’s lots more about ‘cash for jollies’. See below…

Mr Parker’s open-handed use of taxpayers’ money saw him spend £470,000 on temporary staff in June (Hays Specialist Recruitment got the lion’s share as usual). This suggests he just can’t get the staff, which is odd given his West Midlands Combined Authority employs 389 people earning more than £50,000 a year.

It seems the subscription to the National Fire Chiefs Council costs £48,831. Luckily Mr Parker and his crew can cool off in this hot weather thanks to the £15,210 they spent on air conditioning maintenance and they can read all about themselves via the Financial Times press cutting service (£6,819).

Mr Parker appears to be proud of how he is squandering taxpayers' money on 'new small grants programme for artists, creatives, and organisations to boost their international profile, create new partnerships abroad, and promote their work on a global scale'. This is his list of grants between £2,500 and £8,000:

• Work with Jamaican creatives and artists to develop the play "Nanny's Home", exploring the complex relationship of the Windrush generation and Jamaica;

• Exploring family structures & dynamics in China through the eyes of disabled artists & other marginalised groups

• Attending Le Guess Who Festival in Utretch, Netherlands, one of the most forward-thinking festivals in the world and is a peer to Supersonic festival.

• Gazebo Theatre | United States of America and Canada - To develop long term collaborative relationships in Seattle, USA, undertaking sharing of ideas, knowledge transfer, exchanges & workshops.

• Philippines - Building a network with the LGBTQ+ community & creative scenes in Manilla, Philippines to engage in performances, knowledge exchanges & workshops.

• A photography project in Bangladesh capturing the everyday existence of the Sundarbans honey harvesters as they experience the devastating effects of climate change.

• Funding a delegation of artists to develop a new partnership with Gulf Photo Plus. This will provide an opportunity to meet with leading international gallerists, curators and artists, which has the potential to expand and propel their practice.

• To fund a number of dancers to participate in Dearborn 2024 Para Dance Sport USA Open. This opportunity will have a transformative effect on their individual capabilities and on Propel Dance’s future.

• To develop an existing relationship with the artistic community in Ghana, leading to a new immersive show and long-term collaboration with Ghanaian artists.

• Support for a residency and professional networking to promote a collaborative project in Toronto, Canada to explore themes of post-coloniality and migration.

• An R&D project to develop partnerships on the island of Stor Pelling, Finland. The result of which will influence a new creative project analysing the complexities of island life.

CREATIVE LEGACY GRANTS:

1. Master Peace Academy CIC | Kenya - Working with local jewellery makers and miners in Kenya to develop relationships and invest in the creative community.

2. Notnow Collective | Bosnia & Herzegovina - Developing a collaboration with artists and creatives, examining the collective experiences of grief and loss in the post-colonial and post-conflict memory.

3. House of Emanuel I and I C.I.C | Ethiopia -Funding a cultural delegation to Ethiopia, focusing on street art, sustainability, and cultural unity to foster cultural education and bridging diverse heritages.

4. TECTUM Theatre CIC | South Africa - Working with early-career South African musicians and actors to develop the musical language and test out new material with actors in the Market Theatre space.

5. Friction Arts Ltd | Indonesia - Delivering a series of workshops and collaboration events in Bandung, Indonesia and undertaking research into socially engaged artists in the region, and to share experience and expertise.

6. We Don’t Settle CIC | Botswana - Developing an artist-in-residence program in Botswana, specifically focussed on supporting artists from underrepresented backgrounds, culminating in the co-creation of an exhibition and online gallery.

7. Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces | India - To develop a partnership with Serendipity Arts Festival with the intention to foster innovative international collaboration.

8. Extraordinary Us CIC | Rwanda & Kosovo - The Weight of War will be an internationally co-created performance exploring themes of inherited grief whilst asking the question ’when does the war actually end?’. The opportunity will strengthen existing relationships and enable a deeper insight into their cultures.

9. Bright Young Minds | Ghana, Malawi, Zambia & Jamaica - Working alongside established authentic cultural dance tutors/choreographers to share their skills, knowledge and dance techniques within a short series of master classes and performances.

If you find this an unbelievable waste of public money and therefore think it can't possibly be true, check it out here: https://www.wmca.org.uk/what-we-do/culture-and-digital/culture-and-creative-industries/projects/cwglef/international-fund/

Will Reform reform Warwickshire?

It seems Warwickshire County Council is suffering from the same disease as Birmingham in filling its jobs with temporary staff costing a fortune.

In April, the county council spent more than £680,000 on agency staff.

If Reform are to prove their ability to tackle excessive public spending, it will be interesting to see how George Finch, Warwickshire’s 19-year-old leader, plays his part.

I thought I’d have a look at the online spending data published by the council (it says they publish this information every month but I can find nothing later than April and when I emailed, the automated answer warned there might be a delay in answering because of the ‘upcoming bank holiday of 26/5/25).

As Warwickshire is the county of Shakespeare and George Eliot, perhaps that explains why it spent £117,000 on ‘books, newspapers and periodicals’.

It spent £460,000 in April on hardware, software and other IT-related expenses as well as £194,000 on consultants and handed out £111,000 in ‘grants and donations’ though why Henley Ice Cream only got £696 when the Spaghetti Agency got £6,000 is unexplained.

The council’s motor insurance bill with Zurich Insurance was £325,849. Looks like somebody crashed the no-claims bonus.

Meanwhile, as a believer in the benefits of sport, especially after the recent cricket tests between England and India or the Women’s Euros, I shouldn’t be so cynical but I can’t help thinking Birmingham City Council is not a body I would trust to use sport – or anything else for that matter – as a means of countering extremism and terrorism.

In June, the (still bankrupt) council spent £38,000 of Counter Extremism Programme money. Of this, £11,600 went to 9Up which says it is ‘a Community Interest Company in Birmingham, focused on sports and recreation education, fitness facilities, and physical well-being activities’.

Another £8,000 went to Strike9T. They ‘believe in the power of sport to inspire, engage, and uplift young people. Our mission is simple: to provide accessible, high-quality sports programmes that empower children and young people to build confidence, develop essential life skills, and feel a true sense of belonging’.

The Counter Extremism Programme coughed up £15,000 for the Bosnia & Herzegovina UK Network which is ‘improving the quality of life for 10,000 Bosnian refugees’. Oddly, British Gas also got £4,047 under the same budget heading.

So far this year, local taxpayers have spent £154,000 fighting extremism.

Admittedly this is small beer like the £5,566 for Women and Theatre (Birmingham Ltd) compared with the £2.2 million on new Dennis Eagle bin lorries (bringing the total so far to about £7.3 million) not to mention the £1.1 million on Extra Personnel for the bin-strike department though obviously that has nothing to do with the strike itself because the council says it doesn’t.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-george-finch-asylum-seeker-contempt-of-court-risk-b2801638.html

It's all Greek to me

There was some consternation among Guido Fawkes readers when it was revealed the Department for Work and Pensions has spent £7.6 million on translators and interpreters for benefit claimants.

That provoked me to check bankrupt Birmingham City Council’s spending and it turns out in the past two years, the local taxpayers have forked out £916,800 under the same two headings.

In all, £716,000 went on translation and £200,800 on interpreters in Birmingham in the two years to June. Which makes you wonder how much money is being spent all over the country and what languages are involved. I somehow doubt if Spanish or French are much called for.

https://order-order.com/2025/07/25/exc-taxpayer-forks-out-7-7-million-on-translation-in-just-one-year-for-benefit-claimants/#comments

Why is world cricket ignoring Imran's cruel fate?

Why are cricketers ancient and modern ignoring the fate of the man who is arguably the sport’s greatest all-rounder, Imran Khan?

Where are the protests? Where are the strongly-worded condemnations and ineffectual flappings of impotent outrage? Where is the boycott of Pakistan’s cricket team?

What’s the difference between Vlad Putin jailing his opponents on fatuous, transparently trumped-up charges and Pakistan’s military junta doing exactly the same thing?

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/imran-khans-call-from-jail-hold-asim-munir-accountable-if-anything-happens-to-me-alleges-harsh-treatment/articleshow/122581528.cms

Follow the money (down the drain)

Without wishing to stir things up for Unison and Birmingham Council, it seemed worth checking out bin-related online expenditure data.

Birmingham Council says, so it must be true: “We strongly refute any suggestion that agency workers have been carrying out work normally undertaken by striking workers. We continue to deploy the same number of agency workers on days of action as it we would on any normal working days.”

Odd, though, as the cost of agency workers listed under the heading ‘fleet and waste operations’ was £7.1 million in the first six months of 2024 and £13.1 million in the same period this year.

Total spending under the heading ‘fleet and waste operations’ was £38.3 million in the first six months of 2025 compared with £35.8 million at the same time last year.

An appalling cynic might think that, as the bin strike drags on, the council is spending a small fortune filling the void with temporary binpersons despite its strong refutation.

I did ask the council if there was any explanation for the rise in the employment of agency staff other than the obvious but, as usual, answer came there none.

Unite claims the strike is over plans to downgrade 171 people at a cost to each dustperson of £8,000 a year, ie £1.4 million (the council says only 17 people would lose £6,000 each, ie £102,000). Meanwhile, one way and another, Extra Personnel Ltd is cleaning up.

As it’s a nostalgic month for Birmingham music (Black Sabbath, ELO) here’s a Longbridge-inspired ditty (RIP Dave Cousins):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J56IicSNuEY

Birmingham's £10 million-a-month habit

Good news and bad news. The good news is Birmingham City Council has been warned of the huge cost of employing temporary staff almost permanently.

The bad news is that the warning was issued 22 years ago by former councillor Mike Olley, when the cost to the local taxpayer came to a then-worrying £19.3 million.

Today, the cost of temporary staff can conservatively be put at £10 million.

Every month.

The 2003 report highlighted lack of financial control, management failure, lack of ‘quality control’ over the people recruited and pointed out the private sector didn’t immediately call a temping agency every time a vacancy needed filling short-term. ‘There is a clear recognition of the need to challenge unnecessary cost,’ the report said.

What do we find today? In the first five months of this year, the council paid Hays Specialist Recruitment £41 million, Extra Personnel £5 million and £6 million on agency teachers. £51 million in five months or £10 million a month.

In 2003, Coun Olley said: ‘Whilst the motivations and level of accountability are different in the public sector, this does not mean that we should not seek to operate to the same level of efficiency as the private sector. Certainly in a climate where we as a Council need to find £31m in 2003/4 and £42m in 2004/5, we are in no position to discount how economies with agency staff might contribute to this.’

£31 million and £42 million? Ha! Chickenfeed.

A spokesperson from Hays, said: ‘Hays has worked with Birmingham City Council operating as their managed service provider since 2017. We supply a broad range of temporary workers across roles including finance, admin, social care, project management HR and technology.’

Obviously most of the cash the council pays Hays and others goes in wages and tax but it seems reasonable to assume 10 per cent is profit. In its 2024 annual report, Hays reported a profit of £105 million on a £1.1 billion turnover.

Who says the Crime Commissioner doesn't pay?

The good and worthy causes supported with taxpayers’ money by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster are manifold. The following list contains most, probably not all, the charities and organisations he gave money to during the month of March this year.

This list includes brief snippets about what these organisations do, mainly culled from their websites. The total amount listed adds up to more than £2 million.

• Advent IM Ltd £23,650. Security consultants;

• AJB Media £36,624. Specialist supplies, professional services and public engagement;

• Avision for Empowerment £37,805. ‘We are a Community Interest Company and the driving force for the empowerment and development of people to achieve personal and professional success’;

• Anawim Women Working Together £101,297. ‘Provides trauma responsive services including holistic support and advocacy in Birmingham to empower women’;

• Barnardo’s £9,776. ‘Helping vulnerable children’;

• Birmingham City Community Football Trust £5,000. As visited recently by Chancellor Rachel Reeves;

• Black Country Women’s Aid £440,116. ‘Black Country Women’s Aid is an independent charity which has supported survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the West Midlands for 30 years’;

• Blesst CIC £9,936. ‘BLESST focuses on developing deprived families and young people through employability training, community safe space learning, and cultural identity’;

• Bringing Hope £36,991 ‘Bringing Hope is a charity based in Birmingham UK that works in prisons and the community with those involved in serious violence and crime’;

• Buddi Ltd £11,470, alarms for the elderly;

• Birmingham Says No £10,000, ‘We are a multi award-winning campaign aimed at tackling the pressing issues of knife crime and youth violence across the West Midlands’;

• Centre for Civil Society (Living Wage Foundation) £2,137. ‘We are the movement ensuring everyone earns a wage to meet their needs’;

• COPACC £2,495 subscription. ‘CoPaCC now has a portfolio of services, collaborating to optimise organisations to meet their governance and management challenges and opportunities’;

• Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre £6,633. ‘Specialist support for adults and children in Coventry who have been impacted by sexual violence or abuse at any time in their lives’;

• Catch 22 £74,403. ‘For over 200 years, Catch22 has designed and delivered services that build resilience and aspiration in people and communities’;

• Centre Spot CIC £3,976. ‘Centre Spot CIC is a creative social enterprise that uses Sports and Physical Activity to engage and build capacities of people, particularly young people’;

• Cranstoun £424,900. ‘Empowering people, empowering change’;

• Children Heard and Seen £11262. ‘Supporting children with a parent in prison’;

• Dare2lead £2,359. ‘Dare2Lead is a social enterprise dedicated to unlocking the leadership potential of people, organisations and communities. Our range of leadership training and motivational programmes are tailored to suit everybody, regardless of their ability or industry’;

• Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire £11,130. Unclear what the money’s for but the university offers degrees in professional policing;

• Engage Youth Empowerment Services £1,056. ‘Delivers bespoke creative projects for young people, direct family and significant others’;

• First Class Foundation £6,250. ‘We create projects and programmes that serve young people and their families across the city’;

• Global Media Group Services Ltd £2,500. ‘On-air, on Global Player and outdoor – through these platforms combined, we entertain and reach over 51 million individuals across the UK every week’;

• His Majesty’s Prison Service £12,574 for ‘targeted initiatives’;

• ICVA (subscription) £1,750. Independent Custody Visiting Association;

• Inclusive Sports Academy £5,000. ‘Delivering well-being and physical activity to audiences with special educational needs and disabilities across the West Midlands’;

• Living Xperience Connexion £12,500. ‘We develop bespoke empowerment programs for offenders and those on the periphery of offending’;

• LuxeventsUK Ltd £1,200. ‘We’re an independent, female-owned agency based in Edinburgh, and we’ve built a reputation for delivering events that are strategic, seamless and memorable’;

• Man at Work CIC £3,866. Set up ‘to deliver transformative training for professionals in supporting the healthy personal development of boys and young men, challenging sexism and fostering violence-free relationships and communities’;

• Mentoring Arts and Diverse Education CIC £740. ‘Tailored mentoring and outreach services’;

• Midland Langar Seva Society £2,050. ‘The charity now provides over 150 thousand hot meals per month alongside many other amazing projects both in the UK and abroad’;

• Networkfour £3,999.43. ‘Alleviating poverty, breaking the chains of homelessness and criminality to offer hope and transformation to people in Birmingham and the West Midlands’;

• Positive Youth Foundation £10,000. Provides ‘intensive frontline services to young people’ and supports ‘the local, regional and national youth work sector’;

• Phoenix Psychological Services £61,000. ‘An independent psychological practice specialising in trauma across the lifespan with individuals, families and organisations’;

• Prospects £70,000. ‘We guide millions of students to make the right choice’;

• Partnership Bridge Ltd £11,970. ‘Public order and safety activities’;

• Rethread Youth Ltd £22,312. ‘We are Redthread, a national charity delivering transformative youth work in hospitals and health settings’;

• Remedi – Restorative Services £100,000. ‘Remedi exist to enable those accessing our services to be the people they can and want to be, through the creative and proactive use of restorative approaches’;

• RSM UK Risk Assurance Services LLP £7,140. Internal audit;

• Recite Me Ltd £3,325. ‘From creating WCAG (web content accessibility guidelines) compliant websites to providing customised user experiences, Recite Me is here to support you to be more inclusive online through a range of accessibility solutions’;

• Red Snapper Recruitment Ltd PCC £10,000. ‘Experts in public safety’ (also agency staff for the dog unit £26,900);

• Rockc CLC £3,500. ‘At ROCKC, we’re on a mission to raise awareness around gang culture and violent crime through the powerful combination of art and education’;

• Round Midnight Ltd £14,000. ‘We are Virtual Decisions. We create engaging VR content that allow difficult decisions to be safely simulated, improving outcomes and saving lives through experiential VR learning’;

• Sarbat Wolverhampton £3,620. ‘We promote diversity and inclusion thus integrating the local community. We deliver these through a range of activities which includes multi sports projects, community engagement activities and education’;

• St Regis CofE Academy £4,700. Probably related to Wolverhampton police cadets;

• Titan Film and Hire Ltd £2,168. Public engagement;

• Unite and Uplift Together CIC £4,708. ‘We are on a mission to ensure everyone regardless of age, gender, social economic class, sexuality and disability have access to professionally organised support programs in a safe environment so they achieve their full potential for themselves, their communities and society as a whole’;

• Safer 2gether £33,945. ‘A venture launched to support practitioners from all sectors, navigate the ever evolving and complex safeguarding landscape’;

• Safer Now £2,150. ‘SaferNow exists to close the gaps between what organisations within children and adolescent safeguarding arenas can do, and what our communities require of us’;

• The Feast Youth Project £3,000. ‘Our desire is to bring together teenagers from different faiths and cultures to build friendships, explore faith and change lives’;

• The Mentoring Project £2,500. ‘We are dedicated to supporting change in the outcomes for Children’;

• Trailblazers Mentoring £4,000. ‘A UK charity which provides 1:1 mentorship and practical support to people in prison and post release’;

• Victim Support £60,275. ‘Provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime’;

• Weapons Surrender Ltd £13,474. ‘We offer a complete ‘start to finish’ service to the Police, public, local authorities, government bodies and supporters of anti-knife crime’;

• West Midlands Media Ltd £1,950. IT support;

• YMCA Black Country Group £17,000. ‘Everyone should have a fair chance to discover who they are and what they can become’;

• Zoe Lodrick Ltd £883.84. Sexualised trauma specialist.

And they say there ain't no sanity clause

Once upon a time a Government employed KPMG to tell them what they wanted to hear. KPMG duly obliged, announcing that a high-speed railway line from London to the provinces would generate £15 billion a year, mainly in the Midlands and the North.

That was in 2013 and it’s taken more than a decade for us to wake up and realise it was all just a dream.

But if you turn back to the KPMG report ‘HS2 Regional Economic Impacts’, you will see it is littered with disclaimers suggesting, to the cynic, especially in hindsight, that the firm didn’t really believe its own conclusions.

The report declares: ‘Any party other than HS2 Ltd that obtains access to this report or a copy (under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, through HS2 Ltd’s Publication Scheme, or otherwise) and chooses to rely on it (or any part of it) does so at its own risk.’

It says: ‘We accept no responsibility for the consequences of this document being relied upon by any other party, or being used for any other purpose, or containing any error or omission which is due to an error or omission in data supplied to us by other parties.’

And it goes on: ‘Whilst KPMG LLP has undertaken the analysis in good faith, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made in respect of the accuracy, completeness or appropriateness of its assumptions, calculations or results. No reliance may be placed upon the analysis by any party, except where specifically referred to in an agreed KPMG LLP letter of engagement. All users are accordingly advised to undertake their own analysis and due diligence before making any decision or entering into any commitment based on the information in this report.’

It also points out, further distancing the firm from what its report says: ‘The project has been peer-reviewed by an advisory panel of independent experts set up by HS2 Ltd.’ And they say there ain’t no sanity clause….

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/05/hs2-report-overstated-benefits-expert

Pity they didn’t read my reports

In 2013, I wrote:

When it comes to a sensible, reasonable, rational assessment of whether the thing will provide value for money, though, our politicians fall back on a variety of reports.

These are commissioned by the Department for Transport and paid for by the Department for Transport so it rarely comes as a shock when they are widely trumpeted as proving the case for HS2.

I actually took the trouble to read the last one all the way through. The truth is I could not make head or tail of it. When it descended into rocket science, I knew I was lost.

In 2015:

Nobody really knows how much HS2 will cost when it’s finally opened. The official figure is now apparently £43 billion and Labour has said it would withdraw its support if the bill rose to more than £50 billion.

But it is said that in the corridors of power it is widely accepted that the bill will eventually come in at something like £73 billion.

It’s clearly the case with HS2 that the simplest way of estimating the cost is to think of a number – any number – and then double it.

There is no chance it will bring any added long-term prosperity to the West Midlands. Just as the true cost of HS2 is pure guesswork, so is its ability to create jobs. But whenever its backers come up with a number, halve it if you want something like the true picture.

And in 2016:

It’s probably unlikely the Birmingham to London high-speed trains will actually derail when they hit a top speed of 223 mph. Because the might never go that fast.

Research by engineer Prof Peter Woodward warns that at such a high speed there could be ‘significant issues’ with track instability.

The HS2 company says it’s taken into account the fact that its trains will run about 40 mph faster than the rest of the world’s high-speed trains and there’s nothing to worry about.

Let’s hope so because speed of travel is one of the key arguments for building the line in the first place. If trains can’t actually go as fast as advertised then, even if they don’t crash, the whole financial case for this infinitely costly (latest guesstimate now £55.7 billion) line will certainly run into the buffers.

Fetch the comfy chair

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin with news that the West Midlands Police have spent £67,000 so far this year with a company called Back Care Solutions.

If you find that staggering, you may need to sit down when you learn that, in March, the police paid £497,000 to Abbott Toxicology, who test officers and recruits for drugs and booze.

A cursory glance at Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster’s on-line spending declarations for the first four months of the year show has been splashing the cash.

He’s given £45,000 to the West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network while The St Giles Trust, which helps people ‘held back by poverty, unemployment, the criminal justice system, homelessness, exploitation and abuse to build a positive future’ has had £739,000.

Many payments are relatively small sums: Birmingham LBGT has been given £40,000; Birmingham Pride got £2,000; Relate’s had £88,000; Sikh Women’s Aid £39,000; the New Testament Church of God’s was blessed with £3,200; the Romanian Community Centre, £4,000; Women in the Shade, £2,000; and Edu-k-fun, £2,160.

The commissioner obviously believes in the transformative power of sport having given Streetgames UK, £20,000 and Support through Sport Youth, £3,678; the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation, £3,080; Sporting Spirit, £3,859; Guardian Ballers £2,400 and Streetgames £20,000.

Mr Foster’s membership of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners cost taxpayers £49,695, his taxis £7,000, his earnings £100,000.

Happily, he’s got more money than ever to spend, having put up local taxes by £13.95 (6.5 per cent, 5p below the legal limit) but even with a budget of £984 million, he’s not happy. He blames ‘central government’ for the police being 800 officers short even though the force claims crime fell six per cent in year to March.

Maybe. Still, His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary’s most recent assessment gave the force no ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ ratings, two ‘adequates’, three ‘requires improvements’ and three ‘inadequates’.

The inspector said: ‘I have serious concerns about how well the force investigates crime, protects vulnerable people and manages offenders and suspects. We have highlighted these problems in previous inspection reports, but the force’s performance has declined.’

Fetch the comfy chair.

The rubbish keeps piling up in Birmingham

It really does look as if the Birmingham Commissioners, appointed by the Government to sort out the chaos that is the city council, are digging their heels in as far as settling the bin strike is concerned.

They have ‘instructed’ – note the word ‘instructed’ as it proves the commissioners now run the city – to stick with its ‘best and final offer’ made to the unions via ACAS.

In a waffly notice issued recently, the commissioners say: ‘Bringing this action to an end by lawful and financially prudent means is fundamental to resolving outstanding issues and prospective legal action in relation to the equal pay issue. In this matter time is of the essence.

‘Commissioners have concluded that the best and final offer, which takes all of these matters into account and provides an agreed framework for the implementation of a modernised waste collection service delivering in addition recycling and food waste collection on a best value basis, and which Commissioners have been briefed on, is required to be submitted via ACAS by no later than close of play Friday 30th May 2025 and is essential.

‘If this offer is accepted the Council can proceed to implement it following a report to Cabinet which sets out the financial implications. If not, Cabinet should consider a full report on the next steps that can lawfully be taken. The Council is instructed accordingly.’

This instruction was issued after the Unite union claimed the commissioners had sabotaged by the commissioners.

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2025/may/birmingham-bin-strike-escalates

A run-away disaster for Birmingham and Britain?

The cost of Birmingham Council’s Oracle computer disaster may be as much as £343.5 million – even higher than the worst estimates.

Uncollected business rates were supposed to add up to £12.5 million but, in reality, the figure is £140 million, according to Lib Dem Paul Tilsley, the city’s longest serving councillor.

He told a meeting back in March: ‘That (Oracle) system didn't work and it has left us with a bill. We don't know how much but certainly, as far as business rates, £140 million as a starter.'

I asked this week if the figure was accurate and he told me: ‘I would never quote an inaccurate figure.’ I also asked the council but, as usual, they didn’t respond.

The original Oracle budget was £19 million. The official cost is now £131 million. A union-sponsored report by Sheffield University’s audit reform lab added extra costs supposedly caused by the Oracle disaster: £12.5 million in business rate bad debts; £4 million council tax deficit; and £69 million written off in budgeted savings that never happened. That all comes to £216.5 million.

But – and it’s a big but – if Coun Tilsley is right and the business rate deficit is £140 million, that makes the Oracle cost at least £343.5 million. The £140 million represents one third of the city’s budgeted business rate revenue for the current financial year.

And it makes you wonder if this represents something worse than just an incompetent local authority failing to chase up bad debts – a flight of rate-paying businesses out of Birmingham.

The council claims the number of businesses in the city rose by 255 (0.7 per cent) last year but as 89 per cent of them are micro-businesses, that doesn’t mean much. Manufacturing was down 2.7 per cent, construction down 4.3 per cent, hospitality down 1 per cent and transport down 4.9 per cent. Retail business rose 1.2 per cent representing 21 per cent of all the businesses in the city.

But the one big increase was a 6.6 per cent rise in public service ‘enterprises’ (surely a contradiction in terms).

The dreadful possibility has to be that the city is enduring an irreversible decline in genuine private-sector wealth-creating businesses. If that’s true, we may soon see a decline in the other growth-sector, professional services (up a modest 0.3 per cent) not to mention a further fall in business rate revenue.

And you do have to wonder: Is Birmingham’s parlous state representative of the state of the country as a whole?

Sue me, sue you blues

What a litigious city Birmingham must be. In the last two years, the bankrupt council paid more than £27 million to our learned friends.

Bevan Brittan, which received £8.6 million, is the largest single lawyerly recipient of Birmingham taxpayers’ money.

They say on their website, ‘We have advised Birmingham City Council for many years on a series of major projects and transactions, all of which we have secured through tender.’

The city’s cash is widely spread, however, and sometimes we are not allowed to know who gets it. On April 7, the city solicitor paid out £211,320 in legal fees. This is reported under the heading ‘redacted personal data’. I wonder who got all that dosh?

In the first five months of the year, £431,427 of redacted legal fee payments were made to anonymous beneficiaries.

(Talking of redacted, I note Birmingham Law Society redacted its International Lawyer of the Year Award 2014 from its honours board. It went to Phil Shiner, struck off three years later for making false claims against British soldiers in Iraq.)

The barristers at St Philips Chambers don’t do badly. They earned £743,527 in the last two years.

These chambers (I always think they deserve an apostrophe but apparently not) were the professional home of the Recorder of Birmingham, Judge Melbourne Inman, the man who sentenced Twitter criminal Lucy Connolly to 31 months imprisonment.

Watch his judgment here....

It doesn't half pay at the WMCA

In March, the West Midlands Combined Authority spent £4.5 million on consultants, a step up from the first two months of the year when its 1,226 staff paid almost £3.7 million for ‘consultants, external advice, legal advice and professional advice’.

It’s not just going to lawyers, accountants, engineers and so on.

Recipients include a digital marketing expert, a communications specialist, an artist and an actress who ‘works with the The Laban-Malmgren System of Character Analysis, the Stanislavski Method and live improvised music to discover and awaken inner lives and physical responses’.

Birmingham Hippodrome theatre got £10,000 (How to put on a decent panto? Oh no it wasn’t).

Dr Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt offers ‘unparalleled knowledge of creative health at the intersection between practice, policy and evidence’.

Good Afternoon Experiences Ltd got £9,100. They ‘conceptualise and lead the creative direction of playful installations and experiences and games that incorporate creative technology, play or interaction.’ Well, it’s more interesting than bus shelters.

But then, the West Midlands Combined Authority has an embarrassment of riches which it can’t spend fast enough.

In the 2023-24 financial year, it had £591.9 million to spend on the Midland Metro, railways, social housing decarbonisation and so on. Alas, it only managed to get £386 million out the door.

A proper business would be delighted to spend £215.3 million less than planned but in the public sector it’s a disaster. How do you justify your unending demand for more money when you can’t get rid of what you’ve already got?

And they’re plainly understaffed, having paid £250,000 to Hays Specialist Recruitment in January, £286,000 in February and £534,297.83 in March.

As for staff, like a good employer, they’ve paid £1,484 to Back Care Solutions, £1,913 to Posturite and £7,740 to New Leaf Health to help them hit their ‘workplace wellbeing goals’.

They’ve also set aside £1 million to pay for untaken holiday entitlement.

The Labour Party doesn’t do badly either. The authority paid £16,998.57 in January and another £8,258.62 in February to the Labour Party to cover the employment costs of people seconded to work in the office of Mayor Richard Parker.

Luckily, Mayor Parker has secured more money from the Government with a £1.2 billion budget this year which ‘includes £389m as part of the government's Integrated Settlement, which gives the authority power, funding and responsibility for local priorities’. And that’s before the billions to allow Blues fans to get to their new football ground by tram.