No new schools?

[vic]

Well, there's Mowat's first broken promise - made at the hustings at Bold Street church - that the Building Schools for the Future programme wasn't under threat.

[Dizzy]

Why what's happened has all the money been cut or something ?

[asperity]

The money wasn't there in the first place

[observer]

thought we were broke?!

[Dizzy]

What's wrong with all the schools we already have anyway

[Bazj]

Vic is merely pointing out that the money we never had to begin with that Labour said they were going to spend on building new schools (which we couldn't because the money wasn't there even though it was earmarked - which is difficult to earmark something which doesn't exist; but hey that was Gordon for you!) won't be spent on new schools as it didn't exist in the first place and Gordon was only hiding the truth until after the election when he too would have fessed up that the money didn't really exist!

 

This will happen a lot now because it would appear that Labour were promising all sorts of things and trying to woo the voter when in reality they would have done what they did for the previous 3 elections; and lie to get into power and then not do what they promised in the manifestos!

[wolfie]

Vic is merely pointing out that the money we never had to begin with that Labour said they were going to spend on building new schools (which we couldn't because the money wasn't there even though it was earmarked - which is difficult to earmark something which doesn't exist;

 

The money has been provided every year since 2005 when ?2.2b was spent.

The promise was only that by 2011, every Local Authority in England will have received funding to renew at least the school in greatest need.

By 2016, major rebuilding and remodelling projects (at least three schools) would have started in every LA

 

The funding was and would have been provided jointly by the government and the private sector.

 

Vic is correct it is a major U-turn, and it will be interesting to see if all the planned work can now be stopped considering that contracts may well have been agreed.

 

[vic]

They've frozen all schemes except where there's already a contractor, so that's 3 BSF schemes in Warrington frozen.

[Dizzy]

Which are the 3 BSF schemes in Warrington that have now been frozen.... and when were the proposals for these schools first put forward ?

 

How much money was Warrington being allocated for these 3 projects ?

 

Any reason why they didn't progress the plans quicker knowing that if Labour ever 'went' the 'funding' would be lost

[observer]

Perhaps they should have been NuLab PFI schemes, so our grand-kids could have paid for them?!

[vic]

The whole enterprise was jointly with Halton, with two consortia bidding; some were PFI projects (and William Beamont is linked with the Orford Project including joint facilities).

 

These things take time - Labour was committing the money in tranches (so the new Culcheth High is already on the way) but, despite the promises, the Nasty Coalition is bent on quickly cutting spending (and - ridiculous this - offering a tax cut!). Saying Penketh and Boteler would not get the money could well have cost Mowat the election. Has he started his career with a lie, or is it the parties nationally who have already broken their promises?

 

And these are the sort of projects that, if cancelled, will send us straight back into recession.

[Dizzy]

And these are the sort of projects that, if cancelled, will send us straight back into recession.

 

I hardly think that cutting back on funding for enhancing exisiting schools will send us back into a recession Vic Bit of an OTT statement there

 

Unless of course you know something the rest of us don't know

 

It will of course be a great shame of the schools don't receive the funding they have been promissed but then again these are already good schools and will continue to be so anyway.

 

Money can sometimes be applied for and in the long term 'wasted' as the result offers no real additional benefit value to the education of the children and in some cases it can even result in

a school failing

[asperity]

The message surely has to be that if the money for these projects isn't there, then the project will have to be put on hold until the situation improves. The sad thing is that millions will have been paid to private consultants beforehand when we are already paying civil servants to do the job in the first place. The whole system stinks.

[Dizzy]

Indeed it all does Asp

[Eagle]

?

 

And these are the sort of projects that, if cancelled, will send us straight back into recession.

Yes Ok, we have no money but let's spend it anyway.

 

Erm, if you don't spend money you haven't got or have to borrow, isn't it a good thing in the current situation.

Won't education continue in the current schools, so there is no loss there just a few millionquid kept in the coffers?

 

 

Warrington isn't the centre of the Universe FGS.

[asperity]

FGS? For Gordon's sake? Too late for that

[Peter T]

The message surely has to be that if the money for these projects isn't there, then the project will have to be put on hold until the situation improves. The sad thing is that millions will have been paid to private consultants beforehand when we are already paying civil servants to do the job in the first place. The whole system stinks.

 

Spot on there Asperity. Consultants have taken over WBC. They use consultants for everything. Is it any wonder that the debt keeps getting bigger.

[Eagle]

The next consultants will be hired to assess this year's increase in Councillors expenses and their fees will be in proportion to the increases that they suggest after lengthy and expensive deliberations.

[observer]

I think the theory behind using consultants is that supposed to be cheaper, as you don't need to keep in house staff with all the financial liabilities that that carries.

[Peter T]

That's as maybe, but consultants don't go out and check that jobs have been done properly.

[Eagle]

It can't be cheaper if consultants are being paid on top of the hordes of employees salaries being paid to staff who are incapable thus requiring a consultant to cover their failings.

[observer]

Think you'll find, that without outsourcing, the "hoardes" of employees would be even greater - however, that should be resolved in this period of austerity - as we save Council Tax by transfering them to the dole queue, and paying them dole for doing nowt!

[vic]

?

 

And these are the sort of projects that, if cancelled, will send us straight back into recession.

Yes Ok, we have no money but let's spend it anyway.

 

Erm, if you don't spend money you haven't got or have to borrow, isn't it a good thing in the current situation.

Won't education continue in the current schools, so there is no loss there just a few million quid kept in the coffers?

 

If we go into recession (or even a depression) tax take goes down, which means less money, which means....

 

My point is that the candidates - knowing cuts were coming - made promises that the schools building programme was safe. Even if there's a reason for it, it's still a false promise that helped get the candidate elected.

[Eagle]

So voters select their local candidate by listening to what they say? How strange, I thought most people binned junk mail without reading it.

[Bazj]

well by your logic Vic, they all lied and none of them should be in power except the UKIP or BNP candidates?

 

Of course they were all going to say things were safe, however I notice that the only things to be "ringfenced" are the NHS and overseas aid!!

 

I listened to a chap who explained the previous governments strategy on overseas aid which basically went something like this...... "here's some money, give us a call when you need some more....."

 

That money was then spent however the receiving country then wished; which could include spending it with Dutch or German or French contractors to provide whatever they wished.

 

The rest of the worlds idea towards aid is like this..... "here you go, here's a few billion pounds, BUT in order to get it you have to spend it with companies from our coubntry who will provide you with whatever you want."

 

Did you also know that we still give aid money to China?? in 2007 we gave them ?37m while they spent ?20Billion on the Olympics:shock: