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Daily Archives: 25 Jan 2018
Parliamentary committee heavily criticises regulatory system for move between public and private jobs
“The Government is failing to take the faults in the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACoBA) seriously, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) states in its fourth special report.
ACoBA remains part of an ineffectual system for regulating the ‘revolving door’ between the public and private sector and the Government appears not to take the matter seriously.
The Committee’s original report published in April last year stated that the regulatory system for scrutinising the post public employment of former Ministers and civil servants is ineffectual and does not inspire public confidence or respect. The situation had got worse since the Committee had last looked at the issue in 2012.
The Government has responded to each of the report’s recommendations but the Committee considers that they are inadequate given the seriousness of the issues raised in the report and their potential to undermine public confidence.
The Committee inquiry revealed numerous gaps in ACoBA’s monitoring process with insufficient attention paid to the principles that should govern business appointments. The failures of governments in this regard have damaged public trust in politics and public institutions and led to repeated scandals.
The Committee have decided to relaunch the inquiry at a future date.”
Swire worries about urban foxes – presumably in London
… as he lives in rural Mid-Devon when not at his London mansion:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2018-01-17.123283.h&s=speaker%3A11265#g123283.q0
“Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with local authorities on increases in the urban fox population; and if he will make a statement.”
Shocking numbers of children living in poverty in East Devon
See here for a village by village and town by town breakdown – largest number in Coly Valley!
http://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/nearly-half-children-living-poverty-1115648
Public-Private partnership – the downside
“… PPP is one of those financial inventions that was sold as being a win-win for both sides: the companies could be awarded lots of lucrative contracts to build stuff for the state; the government would get new infrastructure more quickly and without the financial risk, as private companies would bid for the work and the market would ensure taxpayer value.
At least, that was the theory. What actually happened was that companies kept bidding for projects, but tough competition meant the contracts came with skinnier and skinnier margins. So, if problems occurred, a contractor’s 2% profit would not just be wiped out – huge losses could be incurred too.
Sam Cullen, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies, said: “That is why construction can be such a fundamentally horrendous business. Under pressure to grow the top line and operating on wafer-thin margins, everyone bids each other to death. It’s a situation not helped when your largest customer, the government, is under huge pressure to get value for money and is more susceptible to accept the lowest bidder.”
The big question is: why do companies keep bidding, if the contracts can cause so much pain?
The answer probably lies in the structure of major PPP construction deals, because they hand the contract winner a large chunk of cash upfront.
Work on construction can then begin, while contractors like Carillion may not need to start paying sub-contractors for another 120 days.
During those four months, much of the upfront payment might be used to pay other debts within the business, meaning these deals can create situations where firms have to keep winning new contracts just to keep going.
Or, as it turns out, not keep going.”
Owl says: bad news for Devon which has hundreds of miles of local roads that Devon County Council can’t afford to maintain, just one motorway only serving part of Devon and a handful of trunk roads.
“More money needs to be spent on England’s local roads by Government after it was revealed today that motorways and major trunk roads receive 52 times more central funding per mile.
The Local Government Association, which represents 349 English councils and carried out the analysis, has urged Government to reduce the disparity so its members can tackle the £12billion repair bill to bring local roads up to scratch – including fixing more potholes.
It found that the Government plans to spend £1.1m per mile to maintain its strategic road network between 2015 and 2020.
However, the LGA will provide councils with just £21,000 per mile for local roads over the same period.
This is despite an increase in the number of cars travelling on local roads, average speeds falling and local roads making up 98 per cent of England’s road network, according to the LGA. …
East Devon Watch 