Council tax banding

Fritz

quote:

The 'monopoly' of the Royal Mail, GPO, or whatever one wants to call it, is by definition 'Competition Free', and had always been a fat cow to milk for the greedy. As I've said recently, and as our Mick said earlier it will soon in 2007 be sold off into profitable chunks (govenment creaming the fee so to speak), and these losses and profits mentioned are purely ficticious ballderdash, and in reality are slowly getting milked away (as per always and as history not so distant shows, and taypayer picking up the tab, telekom comes to mind) wether to share holders (no doubt you are one our Mick ?) and to pension funds etc,

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Fritz...the above is pretty well spot on.

However you then said
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and if you seriously in this day and age believe (TRUST) that your fund will cover the next 40, let alone 400 years you're living a very stoned dream my handsome, innit. It's always good to bring certain debate into the open, especially if it's fresh and original, and I really wonder if by some querk of Maxwellian fate 'hopefully not' you'll be demonstrating in Trafalgar Square for your lost pension rights, when someone does the runner in the not too distant future with the kitty, or does that maybe apply only to the curiously labelled 'non Civil Service' branch of the Post Office ?

When the PO is chopped up and sold off, the three existing PO pension funds will be run seperately with no connection to the replacement service.

They will have nothing to do with the new service and will continue to run independently until the last pensioner drops dead. Then a rather interesting fracas will start on who takes the billions in the pot. My bet is the DTI will cop the lot.

Regards

Mick

quote:

Originally posted by oldie:
...do not become more right wing as they get older quite the reverse in fact, most people become more compassionate and tolerant with age!!

I can understand your frustration if you've had this debate with Mick many times before, but I have to say that I find your statement above to be outrageous (although a commonly held view on the Left).

As someone who is certainly more right wing than you are, I don't hold my views because of a lack of compassion or tolerance but simply because, in the most practical sense, I don't feel socialism works.

Regards
Steve M

Steve,
I think you have just missed the point by quite a margin,
I didn't say that people with right wing beliefs, could not be compassionate[althought in my experance it's fairly unusual ]What I said was that " Most of the people that I know of, that have been fortunate enough to reach a retirment age,and unfortunatly a great number of working people never do,do not become more right wing as they get older quite the reverse in fact, most people become more compassionate and tolerant with age!! I don't think that even with your blinkered out look on life that even you could call me right wing, or for that matter, yourself mainstream"
I never actully implied what their politics might be, just that I don't beleive, in my experance that people in general do not become more right wing as they get older,in fact I find most people become apolitical.

and just for the record I no longer get "Frustrated" with Micks all embracing statements,if you read enough of them you will see that they "generally" tend to change according to the audience at the time,The only constant through out is , well we all know what that is without me being impolite
oldie.

Well ok then. I'd hate for my Rightist views to brand me as the 'spawn of the devil' and, in any case, I believe that such spawn is already the subject of another thread.

Just call me a 'caring fascist' - I'm kidding, honest.

Regards
Steve M

I lived and worked in a former communist country (Slovakia) back in 1994 that until 1968 was actually richer than the now-richest country of the EU - Austria.

Socialism doesn't work, never did, never will.

One of the reasons why Council Tax has rocketed is because of Education.

During the last Tory government, schools were invited to opt out of local authority control and enjoy Grant Maintained Status. Many did, and this in itself meant that they were paid directly from the DfEE and not from their Local Authority, i.e: the Council Tax payers.

I guess that eventually ALL schools would have opted out of LEA control in order for them to enjoy all of their budgets being passed directly in their direction, cutting out the middle man and local bureaucracy.

Their budgets increased as a result by simply cutting out the middle man at local level.

Roughly 50% of your Council Tax goes to education of which 90% pays teachers' salaries. Go figure...

The school I worked at in 1999 was forcibly pushed back under LEA control along with all the other Grant Maintained schools (under New Socialism) and its budget was seriously cut resulting from the reinstatement of the local middle man.

As a result Council Tax has climbed higher and higher (as well as other costs to LEAs forced upon them by Socialist Central Dictat under Chairman B.Liar) and the money actually reaching the schools (and other front-line services) has actually been cut as the Great Socialist Super-Nanny State has squandered our resources on shoring up its power base and not spending the money where it's actually needed.

I still regard New Labour as an evil socialist government because whilst it has ditched Clause Four of the old socialist manifesto (direct state control), it still seeks to take overall conrtrol of the economy through stealth (notwithstanding the odd giveaway budget to play for time) by continuing to hand the means of production to the few and not the many.

True non-socialism (liberalism/toryism) is about empowering a mass of individuals with rights and responsibilities.

New Labour seeks to empower only a very few with such powers - be they chosen adherents to their own ideology, or a pragmatic selection ( through rigorous and progressive implementation of so-called EU regulation with a massive gold plate thereupon to kill off small business and small-time enterprise) in order to favour chosen honorary big capitalists.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Toy:
I still regard New Labour as an evil socialist government because whilst it has ditched Clause Four of the old socialist manifesto (direct state control), it still seeks to take overall conrtrol of the economy through stealth (notwithstanding the odd giveaway budget to play for time) by continuing to hand the means of production to the few and not the many.

True non-socialism (liberalism/toryism) is about empowering a mass of individuals with rights and responsibilities.

New Labour seeks to empower only a very few with such powers - be they chosen adherents to their own ideology, or a pragmatic selection ( through rigorous and progressive implementation of so-called EU regulation with a massive gold plate thereupon to kill off small business and small-time enterprise) in order to favour chosen honorary big capitalists.

Excellent - have you considered taking on the PR role for the Conservative Party?

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by long-time-dead:
Whilst pulling the country back together economically, she managed to alienate the Scots with the Poll Tax.

Compared to the horror that is the current Council Tax system I think I'd have preferred the Poll Tax...

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
The attitude down here is that we just want the Scots to put their money where their mouths are and go independant, but when they do, the tax payers moneys stops going in over the border.

That will save us a few billion each year.

It all depends who's spin you believe and where oil tax revenue is counted. Some parties say that Scotland over-contributes to the public finances and some say that it's a net receiver. Given that the parties saying that have their own agendas and are politicians who knows what the truth is.

On the subject of Scottish independence though I'd welcome it, if just so that we could be governed by our own group of arseholes instead of yours...

quote:

Originally posted by Steve G:
On the subject of Scottish independence though I'd welcome it, if just so that we could be governed by our own group of arseholes instead of yours...

Would we be then entitled to throw your arseholes out of ours?

Regards
Steve M

quote:

Originally posted by MichaelC:
Did Scotland ask for theirs?

Jesting aside - these assemblies strike me as yet another, and very expensive, layer of government and for what real purpose?

We did vote for our own assembly but there have been siginificant problems mainly due to a complete lack of political talent (we'd settle for just competence). Currently we're in a situation that what little talent the main party has is sitting on the back benches because they're not cronies of the party leader. It seems that as long as your willing to kiss McConnell's arse then any level of incompetence is acceptable and when the situation gets too bad you just get moved from one high level post to another.

Steve

I must admit if I was in your shoes, I would be asking for a referendum to settle the issue once and for all. It does make sense for you to have your own Parliament but you would be seperate from us with border controls etc.

With regards to revenue, you do have water which we need so there is a nice little earner.

Regards

Mick

quote:

Originally posted by 7V:
Would we be then entitled to throw your arseholes out of ours?

If they were sitting in a Scottish consituency then yes. We'd need them back anyway because, shite as they are, they're still a lot better than the idiots currently occupying the Scottish parliament.

quote:

Originally posted by Mick Parry:
I must admit if I was in your shoes, I would be asking for a referendum to settle the issue once and for all. It does make sense for you to have your own Parliament but you would be seperate from us with border controls etc.

We've had that referendum twice now and both times independence has not been the popular choice. Given the level of incompetence and cronyism that is evident in the Scottish parliament then I'd have expected it to be an even less popular choice now. In the future however there is one scenario which could see it gain greatly in popularity and that is if we get into a situation where there is once again a Tory government sitting in Westminster. As there is no way that the Tories will ever be anything more than a minority party in Scotland we'd then have a situation where one party was running the Scottish parliament and another (and a very unpopular one north of the border) running the UK overall. Hopefully then we'd see the Scottish parliament do it's job instead of bending over for anything B.liar wants to do...

quote:

With regards to revenue, you do have water which we need so there is a nice little earner.

Water, power (from renewables) and oil.

I do love the way the British contingent on here completely ignore the present fact of PFI funded Schools & Hospitals etc, and the 'ACTUAL PRESENT' (NOW) interest rates that are being paid on the never never to support them by local Councils ie, your local taxes. Why has not one person mentioned them in their schemes of things ? (I hear them mentioned in Parliament often, so they're not a figment of my imagination ! I wonder if those with interests in such schemes would prefer them not to be mentioned, as Steve pointed out earlier funding did previously change from local to opting out etc, but now it's changing again (VERY BIG STYLE) right in front of your noses, but this time it's across the board not just Edukaschun,'Wakie Wakie folks,' even the bloody Tories are terrified of mentioning the horrible truth at this juncture in time, to me it seems as clear as Clair Short soon being re-admitted to the Labour Cabinet under New Leadership, and I don't mean Gormless Sulky Gordon either, the Country is being financially bled to the core, innit.



Fritz Von Council taxes will be the very least of your problems

P.S. I think safe modern Nuclear Power is the only realistic way forward at present as the 'Cold Fusion' recipe will be kept under raps until much later for strategic porpoises, innit Aeroplanes are more dangerous than reactors³

quote:

Originally posted by Berlin Fritz:
... to me it seems as clear as Clair Short soon being re-admitted to the Labour Cabinet under New Leadership, and I don't mean Gormless Sulky Gordon either, the Country is being financially bled to the core, innit.

In my opinion, that lady should be mentioned on the 'something slimey' Natural Historians thread. It does rather look as if a certain Kofi Annan is about to resign - presumably for having too much 'moral authority'.

Regards
Steve M

And roll in Mr Clinton (short-term) to boost up a nice Parryesque pension, I thank you.


Fritz Von No suprises there then !

The PFI funding of various projects has been described as an Enron like activity to move debt off the countries balance sheet and so out of Gordon Brown's budget calculations and so show a better state of the countries debt - however the debt is still there and still has to be paid for.

Yes Del Boy quite right, and these debts are compounding year for year in massive interest repayments fopr local Councils, ie, tax. and less services, which in the real World is classed as confidence trickery I believe, though as I said before those involved get a slap on the wrist, and a golden handshake (funny ones too ?) plus generally speaking immunity from the law unless somebody is hurt or killed through their greed, negligence & imcompetence (Like so called Trusrt managers making Medical Decisions for instance, against the Pro's advice) the list is endless, in a culture (sub) of buck passing extraordinaire².

Fritz Von PFI is like a loan shark helping out Sudan

Here in Edinburgh the top council tax band is "over £212,000" however the average house price is now supposed to be £163,909, a figure which sits more than half way through the 2nd top of the current bandings (£106,001 to £212,000). It's therefore easy to see that the current bands are a nonsense (the lowest one is "under £27,000"!) and there is a clear justification for resolving that situation.

If the council and government also take the opportunity to increase their revenues as part of that exercise though (and who really believes that they won't?) then the situation is going to get interesting, especially in places like Edinburgh where the labour council already only has a 1 seat majority (which they might well not keep next time anyway due to the recent congestion charging farce).

The numbers for Edinburgh council are quite interesting:

Over 16,000 employees
Total population 448,080
Electorate 337,610
Total expenditure £790,300,000, of which
Education 37% (lots of people in Edinburgh send their kids to private schools so this might be lower than other areas)
Social work 26%
Police 8%
Fire 4%
Roads etc 4%
Culture and related 5%
Environmental and consumer services 6%

Interesting stats there Steve, those fire costs seem frighteningly low, innit ?

Fritz Von Daan the Castle innee

Band G £200 a month

In fact I'd happily pay more if Poole would elect a Labour council.

OK not too much more - but the the Lib Dems are ineffectual and the Tories are laughable.

Chris

Dolan,

You wouldn't get better quality services if Labour one in Poole, they'd just take and squander more of your money.

quote:

3 legged black lesbian

Must a bloody good runner Mick!

John.