Overstaffed, overpaid, overrated...

Ever wonder where all the extra council tax goes - when it has more than doubled in 10 years - and, as a double whammy, why services change but don't seem to improve that much (if at all)?...well, one possible contributory factor (no doubt!) is that the number of local authority middle managers on £50,000 or more has risen more than nine times in the last decade, you didn't misread that: 9 times

Council Spending Uncovered 2: Middle Management Pay [Taxpayers' Alliance]

Key Findings:
1. The average local authority is employing over nine times as many people on £50,000-plus packages as ten years ago – 66 people in 2006-07 compared with 20 people in 2001-02 and 7 people in 1996-97.
2. By contrast, in the economy as a whole, the number of people earning more than £50,000 has increased by less than three times over the past ten years.
3. The average local authority spent over £4 million employing people on £50,000-plus remuneration packages last year.
4. The total bill for council middle and senior managers on £50,000-plus remuneration packages was almost £2 billion last year almost £1 in every £11 of total council tax revenues.
5. The remuneration of local authority middle and senior management is racing past that of MPs. There were 12,600 local authority middle and senior managers being paid at least £60,000 last year – equal to or exceeding the £60,277 salary of MPs in November 2006.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

"With council tax doubling in the past decade, it’s extremely disappointing that town halls have chosen to hire a new class of middle managers, many of whom are being paid more than MPs. Local authorities should study these findings carefully to see where savings can be made, instead of using their half billion pound PR machine to obscure their finances from taxpayers."

Council Spending Uncovered, No. 2: Middle Management Pay (PDF) (opens in new window)

The Local Government Association response "Councils respond to Taxpayers' Alliance report on middle managers" can be found on the LGA website HERE.

Overstaffed, overpaid, overrated...

Ever wonder where all the extra council tax goes - when it has more than doubled in 10 years - and, as a double whammy, why services change but don't seem to improve that much (if at all)?...well, one possible contributory factor (no doubt!) is that the number of local authority middle managers on £50,000 or more has risen more than nine times in the last decade, you didn't misread that: 9 times

Council Spending Uncovered 2: Middle Management Pay [Taxpayers' Alliance]

Key Findings:
1. The average local authority is employing over nine times as many people on £50,000-plus packages as ten years ago – 66 people in 2006-07 compared with 20 people in 2001-02 and 7 people in 1996-97.
2. By contrast, in the economy as a whole, the number of people earning more than £50,000 has increased by less than three times over the past ten years.
3. The average local authority spent over £4 million employing people on £50,000-plus remuneration packages last year.
4. The total bill for council middle and senior managers on £50,000-plus remuneration packages was almost £2 billion last year almost £1 in every £11 of total council tax revenues.
5. The remuneration of local authority middle and senior management is racing past that of MPs. There were 12,600 local authority middle and senior managers being paid at least £60,000 last year – equal to or exceeding the £60,277 salary of MPs in November 2006.

Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:

"With council tax doubling in the past decade, it’s extremely disappointing that town halls have chosen to hire a new class of middle managers, many of whom are being paid more than MPs. Local authorities should study these findings carefully to see where savings can be made, instead of using their half billion pound PR machine to obscure their finances from taxpayers."

Council Spending Uncovered, No. 2: Middle Management Pay (PDF) (opens in new window)

The Local Government Association response "Councils respond to Taxpayers' Alliance report on middle managers" can be found on the LGA website HERE.

Onus of obvious overissue...

The immigration in the UK has, naturally (!!!), raised the national birth rate; so fast has it been in some areas that some maternity units have closed so that staff and midwives could be moved to areas of urgent need...for instance: Slough, which brings to mind various articles from the last few years; like THIS: the total (immigrants in one year) was equivalent to around 8% of the town's population. This becomes more worrying when we find that now more than 20% of births are to foreign born mothers: "UK paying for migrant baby boom" [BBC Link]; please note some of these will be long time/permanent residents - indeed two of my own children were born in England 'to a foreign born mother' and so become part of those statistics albeit when the figure was nearer 10%. More worrying still is that in London the figure rises to between 60 and 70% of newborn: all this when...

"Births within migrant groups can often be more difficult, more dangerous and more expensive - with much higher rates of type 2 diabetes, tuberculosis and HIV..."

This coincides with what the Health Protection Agency (HPA) tells us, from the Department of Heath (2004 pdf) previous years about migrants' disproportionate health burden: over 70% of TB and malaria (2006 pdf) at least this latter is non-infectious! Extra cash promised is a help but is it the solution? "London-based Trusts have performed badly...[in reviews]...There are reasons why this may be the case: lower staffing levels, higher concentration of ethnic minorities in some inner city or suburban areas." Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).
This month the UK Department of Health and Home Office are expected to make public their plans for introducing identity and immigration status checks on people registering for GP care - necessary measures in my opinion - although the Migrants Rights Network (MRN) is supporting a campaign to oppose these measures.
This is all so depressing...how about getting back to Slough: Definition:
1. [n] any outer covering shed or cast off...
2. [n] a stagnant swamp...
3. [n] a hollow filled with mud
4. [n] necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass
5. [v] cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers; of animals

Nice...How did John Betjeman's poem go again? (albeit published 70 odd years ago!)...

Update: 2011 data: migrant health: still no better, still no strict immigration health checks!

Onus of obvious overissue...

The immigration in the UK has, naturally (!!!), raised the national birth rate; so fast has it been in some areas that some maternity units have closed so that staff and midwives could be moved to areas of urgent need...for instance: Slough, which brings to mind various articles from the last few years; like THIS: the total (immigrants in one year) was equivalent to around 8% of the town's population. This becomes more worrying when we find that now more than 20% of births are to foreign born mothers: "UK paying for migrant baby boom" [BBC Link]; please note some of these will be long time/permanent residents - indeed two of my own children were born in England 'to a foreign born mother' and so become part of those statistics albeit when the figure was nearer 10%. More worrying still is that in London the figure rises to between 60 and 70% of newborn: all this when...

"Births within migrant groups can often be more difficult, more dangerous and more expensive - with much higher rates of type 2 diabetes, tuberculosis and HIV..."

This coincides with what the Health Protection Agency (HPA reports ) tells us in previous years about migrants' disproportionate health burden: over 70% of TB and malaria (at least this latter is non-infectious!) Extra cash promised [DOH] is a help but is it the solution? "London-based Trusts have performed badly...[in reviews]...There are reasons why this may be the case: lower staffing levels, higher concentration of ethnic minorities in some inner city or suburban areas. " Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

This month the UK Department of Health and Home Office are expected to make public their plans for introducing identity and immigration status checks on people registering for GP care - necessary measures in my opinion - although the Migrants Rights Network (MRN) is supporting a campaign to oppose these measures.

This is all so depressing...how about getting back to Slough: Definition:
1. [n] any outer covering shed or cast off...
2. [n] a stagnant swamp...
3. [n] a hollow filled with mud
4. [n] necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass
5. [v] cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers; of animals

Nice...How did John Betjeman's poem go again? (albeit published 70 odd years ago!)...

Optical opus...

One for uncle rupe and photographers everywhere: The Capa Cache. (NY Times) "TO the small group of photography experts aware of its existence, it was known simply as 'the Mexican suitcase'." And in the pantheon of lost modern cultural treasures, it was surrounded by the same mythical aura as Hemingway’s early manuscripts, which vanished from a train station in 1922. The discovery of the suitcase containing thousands of negatives (image left) of pictures by Robert Capa, "one of the pioneers of modern war photography" is "being hailed as a huge event for more than forensic reasons. This is the formative work of a photographer who, in a century defined by warfare, played a pivotal role in defining how war was seen, bringing its horrors nearer than ever —

"If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough"

... was his mantra. Capa practically invented the image of the globe-trotting war photographer, with a cigarette appended to the corner of his mouth and cameras slung over his fatigues. His fearlessness awed even his soldier subjects, and between battles he hung out with Hemingway and Steinbeck and usually drank too much, seeming to pull everything off with panache. Capa established a mode and the method of depicting war in these photographs, of the photographer not being an observer but being in the battle, and that became the standard that audiences and editors from then on demanded.

"The discovery has sent shock waves through the photography world, not least because it is hoped that the negatives could settle once and for all a question that has dogged Capa’s legacy: whether what may be his most famous picture — and one of the most famous war photographs of all time — was staged. Known as 'The Falling Soldier,' [image left] it shows a Spanish Republican militiaman reeling backward at what appears to be the instant a bullet strikes his chest or head on a hillside near Córdoba in 1936. When the picture was first published in the French magazine Vu, it created a sensation and helped crystallize support for the Republican cause."

Photo archive can be seen HERE....and one version setting out to prove it was genuine or not (even now we hear how war correspondents often distorted the truth) HERE...

Optical opus...

One for uncle rupe and photographers everywhere: The Capa Cache. (NY Times) "TO the small group of photography experts aware of its existence, it was known simply as 'the Mexican suitcase'." And in the pantheon of lost modern cultural treasures, it was surrounded by the same mythical aura as Hemingway’s early manuscripts, which vanished from a train station in 1922. The discovery of the suitcase containing thousands of negatives (image left) of pictures by Robert Capa, "one of the pioneers of modern war photography" is "being hailed as a huge event for more than forensic reasons. This is the formative work of a photographer who, in a century defined by warfare, played a pivotal role in defining how war was seen, bringing its horrors nearer than ever —

"If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough"

... was his mantra. Capa practically invented the image of the globe-trotting war photographer, with a cigarette appended to the corner of his mouth and cameras slung over his fatigues. His fearlessness awed even his soldier subjects, and between battles he hung out with Hemingway and Steinbeck and usually drank too much, seeming to pull everything off with panache. Capa established a mode and the method of depicting war in these photographs, of the photographer not being an observer but being in the battle, and that became the standard that audiences and editors from then on demanded.

"The discovery has sent shock waves through the photography world, not least because it is hoped that the negatives could settle once and for all a question that has dogged Capa’s legacy: whether what may be his most famous picture — and one of the most famous war photographs of all time — was staged. Known as 'The Falling Soldier,' [image left] it shows a Spanish Republican militiaman reeling backward at what appears to be the instant a bullet strikes his chest or head on a hillside near Córdoba in 1936. When the picture was first published in the French magazine Vu, it created a sensation and helped crystallize support for the Republican cause."

Photo archive can be seen HERE....and one version setting out to prove it was genuine or not (even now we hear how war correspondents often distorted the truth) HERE...

Out of office...

Oh the irony...on the day that Hain resigned it was brought to my attention that there seems to be a pattern: look HERE and, in another time and another administration, HERE...and that's not the best bit: looking at my Saints calendar here in Catalonia it appears that today, 24th January, is the day of San Francesc; looking to the Catholic Saints and Angels list (as you do) of the half dozen or so saints on this day there is only one St. Francis who's feast day is today: Saint Francis de Sales (b: 1567 d: 1622) ...by sheer and ironic coincidence look what he he is Patron Saint of...[Link]

Out of office...

Oh the irony...on the day that Hain resigned it was brought to my attention that there seems to be a pattern: look HERE and, in another time and another administration, HERE...and that's not the best bit: looking at my Saints calendar here in Catalonia it appears that today, 24th January, is the day of San Francesc; looking to the Catholic Saints and Angels list (as you do) of the half dozen or so saints on this day there is only one St. Francis who's feast day is today: Saint Francis de Sales (b: 1567 d: 1622) ...by sheer and ironic coincidence look what he he is Patron Saint of...[Link]

Oval Office obstacles...

On the day designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day it's worth asking a question: are Americans more sexist than racist? Or are some isms worse than others? As Americans Ponder Hillary, Obama in National Race (Angus Reid Global Monitor) some adults in the United States believe their country might not be ready to embrace a woman as its head of state, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center: 24 per cent of respondents believe the fact that Rodham Clinton is a woman will help her, and 36 per cent say it will make no difference to voters. However when asked about Barack Obama, 26 per cent of respondents think the fact that he is an African-American will hurt him and 49 per cent say it will make no difference to voters - my point being the 36 to 49 saying it won't make a difference...)

...and the infighting continues (no real surprise?) but still oh so politely, "You know the former president, who I think all of us have a lot of regard for, has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling," Mr Obama said of Bill Clinton's interventions; as was expected "the two candidates' mutual dislike appears to be intense and growing." [BBC]

Back to the racism/sexism point; this becomes clearer (no I mean more obscure!) when we read in yesterday’s Times Online that Women turn on ‘traitor’ Oprah Winfrey for backing Obama. She’s one of the US’s female favourites but she’s paying a (surprising?) price for her intervention in the US presidential campaign. She was even been accused of racism (!!!) for "siding with Obama when such a well qualified woman as Clinton was running."

Remember this is only for the Democrat nomination; the 'problem' probably won't matter so much later this year at the Presidential election…I suspect however that a white woman would do better than black Barack at the national polls, just a feeling and perhaps other ethnics may hold the key: "It's not clear that there would be a lot of enthusiasm for an African-American from a Latino electorate," [Link] I wonder what MLKJr would make of that! To celebrate his day…

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr., speech, Detroit, Michigan, June 23, 1963.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.

Oval Office obstacles...

On the day designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day it's worth asking a question: are Americans more sexist than racist? Or are some isms worse than others? As Americans Ponder Hillary, Obama in National Race (Angus Reid Global Monitor) some adults in the United States believe their country might not be ready to embrace a woman as its head of state, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center: 24 per cent of respondents believe the fact that Rodham Clinton is a woman will help her, and 36 per cent say it will make no difference to voters. However when asked about Barack Obama, 26 per cent of respondents think the fact that he is an African-American will hurt him and 49 per cent say it will make no difference to voters - my point being the 36 to 49 saying it won't make a difference...)

...and the infighting continues (no real surprise?) but still oh so politely, "You know the former president, who I think all of us have a lot of regard for, has taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling," Mr Obama said of Bill Clinton's interventions; as was expected "the two candidates' mutual dislike appears to be intense and growing." [BBC]

Back to the racism/sexism point; this becomes clearer (no I mean more obscure!) when we read in yesterday’s Times Online that Women turn on ‘traitor’ Oprah Winfrey for backing Obama. She’s one of the US’s female favourites but she’s paying a (surprising?) price for her intervention in the US presidential campaign. She was even been accused of racism (!!!) for "siding with Obama when such a well qualified woman as Clinton was running."

Remember this is only for the Democrat nomination; the 'problem' probably won't matter so much later this year at the Presidential election…I suspect however that a white woman would do better than black Barack at the national polls, just a feeling and perhaps other ethnics may hold the key: "It's not clear that there would be a lot of enthusiasm for an African-American from a Latino electorate," [Link] I wonder what MLKJr would make of that! To celebrate his day…

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr., speech, Detroit, Michigan, June 23, 1963.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967.

"From edible to incredible": Carl Warner's 'Foodscapes' - made entirely from food products (note the peas hanging from the broccoli trees!) - were partly inspired by healthy eating campaigns...picture link to the series of pictures on the BBC website.

"From edible to incredible": Carl Warner's 'Foodscapes' - made entirely from food products (note the peas hanging from the broccoli trees!) - were partly inspired by healthy eating campaigns...picture link to the series of pictures on the BBC website.

Organ opt-out...

Gordon Brown, writing in today's Sunday Telegraph and adding to his vison for the NHS on the revamp of screening etc (Gildy writes...) , and despite voting against it 3 years ago, said he supports a move to allow hospitals to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent.

"The proposals would mean consent for organ donation after death would be automatically presumed, unless individuals had opted out of the national register or family members objected."

All details are not clear and it could be construed as being a bit spooky - hospitals will be rated for the number of deceased patients they "convert" into donors (!!!) - at least it may reduce illegal organ trafficking - and doctors would be expected to identify potential donors earlier and alert donor co-ordinators as patients approach death. Sounds a bit dodgy but it can work, as the Spanish system has proved: their system works on the same "presumed consent" and although initial thoughts would suggest "presumed consent is no consent", in Spain, which has the highest proportion of organ donors in the world, where the surgeon/donor coordinators "spend hours listening to bereaved relatives and asking them to consider organ donation."

"When a patient is declared brain dead and their body is only artificially sustained by machines the dialogue begins."

In excess of a thousand people die each year in the UK just waiting for transplants...where there is about 13 donors per million in our population. "This compares with about 22 per million in France, 25 per million in America and around 35 per million in Spain - the best in the world."...maybe this is the way forward although personally I would prefer a sustained effort to increase the number of donor-card carriers by less polemic methods first; what better place to start than NHS Organ Donor Register: My life, my gift. Go on...have a heart! (sorry...)

Organ opt-out...

Gordon Brown, writing in today's Sunday Telegraph and adding to his vison for the NHS on the revamp of screening etc (Gildy writes...) , and despite voting against it 3 years ago, said he supports a move to allow hospitals to take organs from dead patients without explicit consent.

"The proposals would mean consent for organ donation after death would be automatically presumed, unless individuals had opted out of the national register or family members objected."

All details are not clear and it could be construed as being a bit spooky - hospitals will be rated for the number of deceased patients they "convert" into donors (!!!) - at least it may reduce illegal organ trafficking - and doctors would be expected to identify potential donors earlier and alert donor co-ordinators as patients approach death. Sounds a bit dodgy but it can work, as the Spanish system has proved: their system works on the same "presumed consent" and although initial thoughts would suggest "presumed consent is no consent", in Spain, which has the highest proportion of organ donors in the world, where the surgeon/donor coordinators "spend hours listening to bereaved relatives and asking them to consider organ donation."

"When a patient is declared brain dead and their body is only artificially sustained by machines the dialogue begins."

In excess of a thousand people die each year in the UK just waiting for transplants...where there is about 13 donors per million in our population. "This compares with about 22 per million in France, 25 per million in America and around 35 per million in Spain - the best in the world."...maybe this is the way forward although personally I would prefer a sustained effort to increase the number of donor-card carriers by less polemic methods first; what better place to start than NHS Organ Donor Register: My life, my gift. Go on...have a heart! (sorry...)

Obvious omissions...

...and one great addition! Only three and a half weeks to go until the Six Nations; I think the Rugby World Cup has heightened interest a bit (or am I imagining it) and today the England Coach has introduced an intriguing possibility...[BBC link] The omissions are being discussed at length here (606 Radio5 Live Message Boards)

England coach Brian Ashton has sprung a major shock by including Tongan Lesley Vainikolo in his Six Nations squad.

Now really that's no different to a number of assorted 'foreigners' playing for various teams (New Zealand, Japan, Wales, Scotland, Ireland to name a few...) and by God it does whet the appetite! The ex Bradford Bulls Rugby League star will be a marvellous asset...he was nick-named The Volcano...

"There is a bit of the wow factor there with him. His transition to the union game has been fairly straightforward - he does not look like a rugby league player playing union," said England coach Brian Ashton."

He averaged a try a game in League and currently is the top try scorer in the Premiership.

Obvious omissions...

...and one great addition! Only three and a half weeks to go until the Six Nations; I think the Rugby World Cup has heightened interest a bit (or am I imagining it) and today the England Coach has introduced an intriguing possibility...[BBC link] The omissions are being discussed at length here (606 Radio5 Live Message Boards)

England coach Brian Ashton has sprung a major shock by including Tongan Lesley Vainikolo in his Six Nations squad.

Now really that's no different to a number of assorted 'foreigners' playing for various teams (New Zealand, Japan, Wales, Scotland, Ireland to name a few...) and by God it does whet the appetite! The ex Bradford Bulls Rugby League star will be a marvellous asset...he was nick-named The Volcano...

"There is a bit of the wow factor there with him. His transition to the union game has been fairly straightforward - he does not look like a rugby league player playing union," said England coach Brian Ashton."

He averaged a try a game in League and currently is the top try scorer in the Premiership.