Austerity 2.0

[Mojooo]

Are we ready?

Do we welcome it?

I suspect cuts to public services would have come anyway once we were a year or two clear of Covid had in not been for the war etc.

My feeling is that the current Government will have no qualms about making quite severe cuts.

[Cold]

Will anyone notice?

[frisbee]

With all the announced "cuts" to public services over the years they should be down to one bloke with a broom by now.

In reality they'll just shake the magic money tree a bit more quietly.

[NuckyThompson]

frisbee said:

With all the announced "cuts" to public services over the years they should be down to one bloke with a broom by now.

In reality they'll just shake the magic money tree a bit more quietly.

Be like triggers broom except there won’t be the money for any new handles or heads

[768]

I’m not sure we can afford the NHS budget increases from another round of austerity.

[Newc]

Perhaps we can repeat all the savage cutbacks in public spending we saw in the last round of 'austerity'.



(Source OBR, inflation adjusted)

[TCX]

768 said:

I’m not sure we can afford the NHS budget increases from another round of austerity.

NHS needs root and branch reform before any extra money is even considered
Empty the hotels of illegal/asylum seekers straight back to France,£2+billion a year we shouldn't be wasting
Ukraine arms and money stopped immediately,peace instead of the current prolonged,by west war, nobody bothered about Yugoslavia,boznia etc getting split up

[Sargeant Orange]

Social care is on its knees, so cuts to those budgets would be interesting, especially the knock on impact to health.

Sorting out mental health has seemingly just been another political soundbite.

Cuts to Education would be criminal following two years of disrupted learning.

[Mojooo]

frisbee said:

With all the announced "cuts" to public services over the years they should be down to one bloke with a broom by now.

In reality they'll just shake the magic money tree a bit more quietly.

I work in public sector - trust me - there literally are depts that had 20 people in 2008 that are down to 1 or 2 and are just there in name only.

[mikebradford]

Would be better value getting the public servents back in the office.
I know that a lot of council services are suffering and it's down to a large percentage working from home and refusing to go back into the office.
As such the service they provide is terrible.
Plus the large council offices are predominantley empty and as such a waste of money.

[pork911]

Mojooo said:

frisbee said:

With all the announced "cuts" to public services over the years they should be down to one bloke with a broom by now.

In reality they'll just shake the magic money tree a bit more quietly.

I work in public sector - trust me - there literally are depts that had 20 people in 2008 that are down to 1 or 2 and are just there in name only.

I'm not sure if that is meant to be praise or criticism?

[Mojooo]

pork911 said:

Mojooo said:

frisbee said:

With all the announced "cuts" to public services over the years they should be down to one bloke with a broom by now.

In reality they'll just shake the magic money tree a bit more quietly.

I work in public sector - trust me - there literally are depts that had 20 people in 2008 that are down to 1 or 2 and are just there in name only.

I'm not sure if that is meant to be praise or criticism?

Criticism of the Govt.

In that time the work hasn't gone down - if anything it has increased - it just isn't getting done - much to the annoyance of the tax payer.

[xx99xx]

mikebradford said:

Would be better value getting the public servents back in the office.
I know that a lot of council services are suffering and it's down to a large percentage working from home and refusing to go back into the office.
As such the service they provide is terrible.
Plus the large council offices are predominantley empty and as such a waste of money.

Do have evidence to show that working from home has resulted in council services suffering?

Genuine interest as the jury is still out at my place of work on whether to remain flexible or force more office days.

I think in the early days of lockdowns it took a while for people to adjust and to even get the right equipment for home (millions of people suddenly wanted laptops and corporate infrastructure had to cope with a lot more remote access). But now my personal experience is that people are as productive, if not more so, than when permanently office based. Except for new starters, it's hard on them.

I agree though that there is waste on running offices that are nowhere near capacity.

[Huff]

Mojooo said:

Criticism of the Govt.

In that time the work hasn't gone down - if anything it has increased - it just isn't getting done - much to the annoyance of the tax payer.

[vaud]

Sargeant Orange said:

Cuts to Education would be criminal following two years of disrupted learning.

Some of it yes. The Russell Group of Universities could afford to lose their charitable status and lose some cash reserves. Never make a profit, but plenty of surplus and a LOT of inefficiencies... and lots of ivory towers...

[faa77]

[quote=SargeantCuts to Education would be criminal following two years of disrupted learning.
[/quote]
Besides basic reading/writing and IT skills I'd say 80% of the population use absolutely nothing they learnt at school in their job.

[Randy Winkman]

faa77 said:

[quote=SargeantCuts to Education would be criminal following two years of disrupted learning.

Besides basic reading/writing and IT skills I'd say 80% of the population use absolutely nothing they learnt at school in their job.

I'd say that the benefits of a good education are more about skills, disciplines and habits than on learning facts that you then use in your job.