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.
Saturday, October 04, 2025
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
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.
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.
Friday, September 26, 2025
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
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
Thursday, September 25, 2025
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?
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?
Wednesday, September 03, 2025
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/
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/
Sunday, August 31, 2025
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/
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/
Monday, August 25, 2025
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.
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.
Thursday, August 21, 2025
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.
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?
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?
Monday, August 18, 2025
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
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
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
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/
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/
Thursday, August 07, 2025
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
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
Sunday, July 27, 2025
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
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
Friday, July 18, 2025
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
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
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
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 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
Wednesday, July 02, 2025
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.
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.
Monday, June 30, 2025
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.
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.
Friday, June 27, 2025
And they say there ain't no sanity clause
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.
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
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.
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.
Friday, June 20, 2025
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
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
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