Let's scrap more stuff

[Talksteer]

PRTVR said:

elster said:

As for scrapping the Energy & Climate change, then this is quite a serious department for the energy side. Not so much for the climate change side.

Ah the Energy department, the same department that has let the state of this countries energy needs get to the point were they are discussing black and brown outs.

Given that the policy imposed on them by successive governments is "let the market decide" you could well argue that actually what is needed is more state control in the energy market. The occasional blackout would probably be in the interests of energy companies in a truly de restricted market.

I for one would actually have very little difficulty with the base-load power plants in the UK being directly state owned and privately operated on a GOCO basis.

[PRTVR]

Talksteer said:

PRTVR said:

elster said:

As for scrapping the Energy & Climate change, then this is quite a serious department for the energy side. Not so much for the climate change side.

Ah the Energy department, the same department that has let the state of this countries energy needs get to the point were they are discussing black and brown outs.

Given that the policy imposed on them by successive governments is "let the market decide" you could well argue that actually what is needed is more state control in the energy market. The occasional blackout would probably be in the interests of energy companies in a truly de restricted market.

I for one would actually have very little difficulty with the base-load power plants in the UK being directly state owned and privately operated on a GOCO basis.

But what are they doing at the energy department that costs the tax payer so much if they have been instructed to let the market decide? I really do feel that each department should have to justify its existence and at the end of the year explain what it had archived and at what cost.

[PlankWithANailIn]

If you want to know what the departments spend their money on you can read their annual reports.

DECC's can be found at http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/our_go...

Accounts were qualified as it appears they did not generate the income required by parliament (missed by 10% which is loads for a NAO audit, they will qualify you a half a %) seems to be related to coal miners pensions. They also have no idea of what the costs of nuclear decommissioning will be which is bad as they are the ones that are supposed to make sure there is enough cash to pay for it.

They spent loads less on Admin than they forecast (198 Million => 157 Million actual) this is what the cost of their civil servants (2700 of em), buildings and other costs, is.

They have some assets but most are based on future income, so no asset stripping available.

The department itself is split into

1) Head office
2) Nuclear decommissioning (2.7 Billion)
3) Coal authority (did maggy not get rid of this?) (26 Million)
4) Nuclear police (1.7 Million)
5) Committee on climate change (4.3 Million)

They also give out grants (fuel poverty/Smart meters/Boiler scrappage, you didn't think these were free and or paid for by the energy companies did you?) to the tune of £400 Million, but nearly all of the spend is on decommissioning privately owned nuclear power stations.

Looks like if you cut the DECC you will just end up with larger energy bills as the private sector will have to bear all of their costs.

They did spend £8.2 Million on consultants, you'd think the government could save a shed load of money by having staff that actually new how to do their departments job.

[Gaspode]

einsign said:

I agree you can export other things but why not design and manufacture in this country? One single person designing a widget in the UK and exporting this to give 500 people a job in Germany making them, how does this help us, the numbers never stack up?

The UK is still, despite what many would have us believe, still a major manufacturing economy. But that's not to say we couldn't and shouldn't do more in this area. One of the reasons it is difficult, however, is that expectations are much higher than practicable. This is a problem not because employees think they ought to be paid large salaries, but also because shareholders expect high profits. Couple this with a H&S environment that adds additional costs to companies to provide appropriate protection for its employees, and production costs are forced up to the point where it is very difficult to manufacture anything at a price which can compete with even the rest of Europe, let alone the far east.

[einsign]

Gaspode said:

The UK is still, despite what many would have us believe, still a major manufacturing economy. But that's not to say we couldn't and shouldn't do more in this area. One of the reasons it is difficult, however, is that expectations are much higher than practicable. This is a problem not because employees think they ought to be paid large salaries, but also because shareholders expect high profits. Couple this with a H&S environment that adds additional costs to companies to provide appropriate protection for its employees, and production costs are forced up to the point where it is very difficult to manufacture anything at a price which can compete with even the rest of Europe, let alone the far east.

Are you involved in the manufacturing sector?

[ninja-lewis]

PlankWithANailIn said:

Coal authority (did maggy not get rid of this?) (26 Million)

No. When Major privatised the economic assets of British Coal, the Coal Authority was set up to take on industry-wide responsibilities such as licencing and dealing with historic liabilities such as subsidence claims from old mines.

A similar body was created when British Rail was privatised but the British Railway Board remained in existance. BRB (Residuary) Limited was responsible for liabilities, pensions, and owning and maintaining old non-operational railway property (which Railtrack did not take over when it was created) such as viaducts and bridges until disposal. However, BRBR Ltd will be wound up next year and it's functions transferred to the Department for Transport, London and Continental Railways and the Rail Safety and Standards Board.

[Gaspode]

einsign said:

Are you involved in the manufacturing sector?

My clients manufacture electricity, if that counts.