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[Thomas Banacek]

Went to watch the march and the speeches.

Probably about 2000 folk, although some union boss tried to say 8000.

The conduct at the speeches was appalling, the event was completely hijacked by Labour politicians, and some folk around me were advocating violence against some of the council administration who had turned up. Have to say the administration councillors who turned up were brave to do so. I certainly got worried that there was going to be something kicking off at one point.

The crowd reduced to less than 300 after the march very quickly.

Nobody suggested any alternatives to the budget issues, so it seems unlikely they will be resolved.

Was interesting to hear that some organisations are engaging with the council, and that there is some progress.

Pity others are more happy throwing abuse and avoiding discussion.

Still, not likely that anything will be changed by it but no doubt some politicians will have gained themselves some publicity at the expense of groups who may have a genuine protest, so they'll be happy.

[Jake Wifebeater]

Originally Posted by Thomas Banacek

Interesting to contrast their sensible and practical approach with the antics of folks like the Cyrenians.

I got approached to sign their petition yesterday by a bloke with a placard in one hand and a tin of Tennents Super in the other.

And that's exactly why their stance was only ever going to achieve the square root of fuck all. The problem is that the Cyrenians isn't a "cuddly" charity with good PR opportunities, they can't bring out old Flora in a wheelchair for the sympathy vote.

A lot of the clients (hate that word!) I work with have come through the system through the Cyrenians, and to be honest I'm starting to think the sooner they dissolve the better. They have this ridiculous, woolly approach to support work. It's all "you're special, you work with people everybody else has given up on long ago" kinda shit. Fucking tree-huggers. Wrapping people up in cotton wool and doing everything for them just leads to created dependency and means you're teaching them nothing in terms of independent living skills.

The thing is, if the money isn't there, then it's not there! And no amount of protesting/hand-wringing/snivelling is going to make it materialise. A mate of mine has not long started working for them, and he's working in Stopover, which is one of the residential units due for the chop. In real terms though, there's no guarantee of job security as you're working with the axe hanging over you from day one if it's council funded so this was inevitable in a lot of ways.

Either way, not

[Thomas Banacek]

See I am of the view that Cyrenians should really be in need of less funding each year if they were achieving what they should be achieving.

There are clearly too many managers if they are talking about £900,000 equating to 30 staff.

I heard they have a chief exec, two directors, and individual project managers for every single project.

That is a top-heavy approach, and I bet they could easily find the required savings by thinning down the bureaucracy.

Looks like there could be more nonsense from our local Labour politicians on Wednesday judging by the agenda for the full council meeting.

[Jake Wifebeater]

Originally Posted by Thomas Banacek

I heard they have a chief exec, two directors, and individual project managers for every single project.

That is a top-heavy approach, and I bet they could easily find the required savings by thinning down the bureaucracy.

You've done your homework, and that's pretty much how it is with them.

That's the main reason I'm not losing any sleep over it in terms of knock-on. In any company it's the same, the middle managers are always the first to go. They'll always need the folk doing the spadework, if you will. Folk like me!

[Bear]

The cuts are happening because the SNP said in their election manifesto that they'd freeze council tax in preparation for changing to a local income tax and people voted them on the back of it.

They did what they said, they froze council tax. With inflation running at, what, 3% - 4% every year? They'll have to (in real terms) cut spending by that amount, every year, until local taxation rises are allowed again. The council cannot increase council tax to keep doonies farm and the like open, they're simply not allowed too.

The cuts suck, but that's just what happens when people aren't prepared to pay any more tax I'm afraid. So I guess it's not really fair to just blame the council.

[daveofficer]

Originally Posted by Bear

The cuts are happening because the SNP said in their election manifesto that they'd freeze council tax in preparation for changing to a local income tax and people voted them on the back of it.

They did what they said, they froze council tax. With inflation running at, what, 3% - 4% every year? They'll have to (in real terms) cut spending by that amount, every year, until local taxation rises are allowed again. The council cannot increase council tax to keep doonies farm and the like open, they're simply not allowed too.

The cuts suck, but that's just what happens when people aren't prepared to pay any more tax I'm afraid. So I guess it's not really fair to just blame the council.

there's also the small matter of the previous administrations overspending by £50 million. that's gonna make it tricky to balance the books even if there had been a rise in council tax.

[Thomas Banacek]

Originally Posted by Bear

The cuts are happening because the SNP said in their election manifesto that they'd freeze council tax in preparation for changing to a local income tax and people voted them on the back of it.

They did what they said, they froze council tax. With inflation running at, what, 3% - 4% every year? They'll have to (in real terms) cut spending by that amount, every year, until local taxation rises are allowed again. The council cannot increase council tax to keep doonies farm and the like open, they're simply not allowed too.

The cuts suck, but that's just what happens when people aren't prepared to pay any more tax I'm afraid. So I guess it's not really fair to just blame the council.

Councils were given money if they agreed to freeze the council tax.

I think Aberdeen got around £3million which would have equated to a 3% rise or so in council tax.

I did some sums and if we wanted to stop any of the savings from happening we would all have to put our council tax up by around 20%, which works out at around £400 extra for Band D.

Not really a workable solution if you factor in pensioners and low income households who would also have to pay more.

[Tubthumper]

Let's all think of it as a harsh lesson in money management. In 10 years from now, it might look less bleak...

[Thomas Banacek]

Part of me feels quite sorry for the SNP in a way, they couldn't have known how bad the finances were before taking over the running of the council, yet are being blamed for stuff which happened over many years.

I guess that is politics for you!