Cleopatra Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Well... Well... Well... Councils have been trying to squeeze every penny they can out of joe public and blaming the recession for the austerity measures, cutting back on public services etc., and all the time, according to Eric Pickles, they are hoarding 16 BILLION pounds while pleading poverty. Wonder how much WBC have got stashed away? Would the answer be available under the FOI act? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Think there are such things as contingency funds (for road gritting, floods etc); and I suspect most of it is committed to pensions schemes; but assuming they spent any savings - then what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 The reserves don't include pension schemes and amount to a total of a third of total local government annual expenditure. The reserves have increased by around 15% in the past year alone - at a time when the local councils have all been squealing and pleading poverty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Bang on inky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Typical plea of a politician for councils to use their reserves and thus disguise the effects of any cuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 If they used it instead of leaving it sat in the bank there would be little need for cuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Do you mean like Gordon Brown did ? That would result in another fine mess as Oliver Hardy once said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 .... and how long would they last Queenie? Then what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Ahhh well...! If you all are happy to suffer the squeeze while your council is sitting on a small fortune why should I worry, living a life of luxury here, it isn't bothering me . Anyway can't spend anymore time arguing with you all tonight. I have to go down and make sure the staff are preparing for our new year party in accordance to my instructions. Happy New Year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 You seemed bothered in your first post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 The councils are sitting on reserves of 33% of total annual expenditure whilst squealing about cuts of around 1.5 - 2% next year. Since they were able to increase their reserves last year by around 15% (6 times the rate of inflation ) on top of a reduction in money from the government (ie. the taxpayer) then they obviously still received significantly more of my money last year than they needed. Making good the next round of cuts from reserves - without having to make any savings at all - would still see the reserves last 20 years or more! And that's ignoring the effect of interest on the piles of money they've got sitting in the bank! In reality, the reserves could easily last as long as 30 years before anyone needs to feel any pain at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 So where exactly is all this money and are they getting a good rate of interest on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 I know a lot of councils lost big chunks of money in Icelandic banks, but they seem to have already made good their losses on that and one would hope they've learnt their lesson! Maybe they should be buying UK Government Bonds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Ahhh well...! If you all are happy to suffer the squeeze while your council is sitting on a small fortune why should I worry, living a life of luxury here, it isn't bothering me . Anyway can't spend anymore time arguing with you all tonight. I have to go down and make sure the staff are preparing for our new year party in accordance to my instructions. Happy New Year! Glad to hear that you are living the life of luxury over there Cleo but if I was in your imaginary shoes I'd have given my 'staff' the night off from boring duties running around after me and mine so they could have a bloody good party of their own and I'd also have given them the next week off on double pay so they could recover. In fact I'd have given them the whole of xmas and new year off and more besides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 Lovie. they were happy to do the work involved because once everything was prepared they were able to join in the celebrations with us and they thoroughly enjoyed it. They may be servants but they are well paid for their services and enjoy their work because they are treated more as friends and not as slaves. Forget the images you might have of servants dressed in uniforms following orders barked out at them. Having said that, let me explain something to you. Here Christmas is celebrated only by the coptic christians and not by muslims. We did not celebrate as you did but by way of my being british we did have a typical christmas dinner without all the falderals of decorations paper hats and crackers etc.,. The coptic christians (not muslims) in fact celebrate christmas day on January 7th. Now. the Egyptian new year is not on the 1st of January (would you believe it?) but in fact 11th September, or 12th September in a leap year. Again, by virtue of my being british we celebrated last night/this morning and no doubt there will be one or two people moaning about the fireworks at midnight but, hey, it's only once a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 You seemed bothered in your first post. It may have seemed that way to you, probably because you wanted it to seem that way, but I can assure you that I wasn't. Just a statement and a thought of how much do the council really have at their disposal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 Inky, lad, you are the only one talking any sense on this topic - apart from myself that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 I think that you mean he is the only one agreeing with you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 and that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 Eight Billion pounds paid out in town hall pensions last year and nearly six billion came from guess where? - You the taxpayers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 And MPs’ Gold plated final salary pensions cost the taxpayer £14 million a year, so lets start austerity at the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 And work down eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 So?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleopatra Posted January 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 So what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 So, my new years resolution is to stop being so cynical, but i bet thats exactly what you want me to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.