I took a trip to Ashton today to see how the Tax Payers Alliance were getting on during their Tameside ‘day of action‘. I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of people signing their petitions and I decided to do a ‘mystery shop’ to see if they really could convince me that tax payers money was being needlessly squandered on unnecessary council schemes and projects.
I was fortunate to speak to a very attractive bespectacled lady representing the TPA and I am sure I could detect a slight Canadian accent as she spoke. This lady certainly knew her onions and she explained in great detail how the council is directly funding trade union activities in the borough of Tameside to a sum in excess of £300,000. She said that despite this considerable figure seeming enormous, it was only the tip of the iceberg in relation to the overall sums squandered on non-essential ‘pet projects‘.
It was a pity threats from the legal department of the council prevented the TPA handing out leaflets to shoppers in what was a surprisingly busy Ashton under Lyne (despite the traffic wardens who were out in force), but nevertheless from what I witnessed they got their message out to those who were prepared to listen and well done to all concerned for making the effort.
83 comments:
Has anyone asked when the TPA did their FOI? TMBC shed 1000 staff in last 12 months. Me thinks they are peddling old data!
Thanks for that Sandra.
Anon 20:50
You are welcome
New Labour tried to keep itself in power by creating vast numbers of non-jobs. The Coalition has promised to start cutting them. Here are some examples from around the country of non-jobs that cost the taxpayer a fortune but are a complete waste of money.
Chauffeur-butlers for the mayor
Access to nature officer (Helps people locate their nearest green space)
Befriending co-ordinator (Helps people who are lonely)
Chewing gum removal labourer
Climate change officer (Gives advice to Councils on how to save the planet)
Communications waste strategy officer (Gives advice on how to reduce the phone bill)
Community empowerment network programme manager (Helps "minorities" feel good about themselves - bless)
Community engagement apprentice (Helps to bring different ethnic groups together, whether they like it or not)
Community well-being co-ordinator (Makes sure racial harmony is maintained). Thought we had a police service for that.
Composting supervisor
Dedicated 'breastfeeding peer support co-ordinator' (I don't fancy that one)
Falls prevention fitness adviser for the elderly
Future shape programmer
Group equality & diversity officer
Part-time ceremonial sword bearer for the Sikh community. (I got turned down for this one)
Part-time toothbrush adviser for infants
Roller disco coach
Skate Supervisor
Street football co-ordinator
Street mediator (deals with kids arguing on street corners)
Trampoline coach
Walking Co-ordinator
Walking Instructor for the elderly.
Weekend explainer
Wellbeing officer for ex-prisoners.
Where would we be without all these "jobs"? Better off, that's where!
NCB
And none of them jobs are in Tameside. Well done TMBC
Back in the day when I left school(thirty years ago) it was well known that if you went into public service, you would be poorly paid, but would get a decent pension.
Nowadays it seems councilers award themselves payrises and seem to forget who actually pay their wages.
We live in a supposed Democracy, and while I have no problem paying taxes,to keep my street clean,communal areas grass cut, and my bins emptied, I have no wish to fund the extravagant lifestyle of any public sector worker. I work a lot harder than them, but unfortunatley I can not award myself a payrise.
Can anyone who works in the public sector explain to me how they have improved my life in the last ten years. Can I see a reduction in my council tax any time soon. Probably not.
Wankers, one and all.
And another thing, I've just returned from a holiday in Paignton.
Our roads In Tameside are really atrocious.
If sparsley populated areas like Devon and Cornwall can keep their roads servicable, why did I have to return to pothole heaven, aka tameside.
Something is seriously amiss in tameside. We have enough people living off the back of hard working taxpayers, but the private taxpayer not only funds the parasites, we also fund the proffesional leeches/looters.
One day, in the near future, TMBC is going to run out of money,the cashcow can't be milked forever.
muggins by name muggins by nature. You have not got a clue about how a local authority works. For you information you mug it is the Highways Agency and not the council who are charged with maintaining public highways.
TMBC should be privatising everything but the basic essentials. Why should the public sector be free from the financial suffering millions in the private sector/real world are undergoing.
'TMBC shed 1000 staff', yes they put people out of work but still pay for trade union officials. Well done.
Unions should pay for their OWN representatives.
Muffins
I agree with 'Bak to Skool...' you are Muggins by name And Muggins by nature. How about considering the different winter weather conditions when looking around the country at how roads have faired? Derbyshire County Council was hit particularly bad as was most of Greater Manchester. As for claiming you work harder than 'them' that's a very sweeping statement that I reckon could easily be disproved. I'm sure your request for information on how public sector workers have improved your life could be easily demonstrated but I think from your posts you are not really receptive to having that information.
I see we have a council apologist in our midst. Firstly trying to pretend councillors don't get big discounts on their parking permits and now claiming its the highways agency that look after road maintenance.
Tut, tut apologist @00:46 you aren't telling the truth are you? The highways agency maintains the motorways and major through routes. The council are meant to maintain the rest.
Never has the ARUT principle been more applicable and prevalent than the current geopolitical crises in occupied Libya and occupied Palestine. The Zionist mainstream media has gone to lofty lengths to present an absurd narrative revolving around the ‘liberation of Tripoli’ while covering up NATO’s gruesome savagery in the Libyan capital and deflecting the attention of the globe far, far away from the latest round of Zionist butchery and humiliation of Palestinians in illegally besieged Gaza, occupied al-Khalil and holy al-Quds. This is psychological warfare in its purest, deadliest form and it is attached to an expansionist blueprint that involves the heinous plot which Zionists have always foreseen as an eventuality and not just a pipedream, Greater Israel, in addition to the widening of the MENA regional conflict into World War III, burning down all those who oppose Zionist hegemony in the process.
Anon 09:49
You are right. In Tameside the Highways Agency are only responsible for Motorways and Trunk Roads. TMBC are responsible for the rest but my point is that Muggins needs to take account of a lot of factors rather than just compare Tameside roads with those in Paignton. In the last 3 years the North of the country took the brunt of bad winter weather. This had a big impact on the roads and hence you will find northern councils struggling to repair. I would say there are far worse areas than Tameside.
I am not being a council apologist but it's not as simple as Muggins makes out.
And I don't like this bunch of twats "Tameside Tax Payers Alliance" taking the piss out of me.
Why don't they all get a job we do a gret job for the comunity.
Muggins......If sparsley populated areas like Devon and Cornwall can keep their roads servicable
That sentence says it all. The roads aren't used that much so they won't be as bad
Wow! What a devastatingly incisive analysis of Zionist aims and ambitions vis a vis their long held dream of a Greater Israel.
But if John Taylor really did write the article then I am Colonel Gaddafi.
Does anyone think using council taxpayer's money to fund trade union officials should take precedence over subsidised parking for the disabled?
The council do, because funding trade union officials ISN'T 'under consideration', while subsidised disabled parking IS.
Has Steven Pleasant been forced to take a pay cut? Is that 'under consideration'? Is it fuck, he's one of 'the exempt.' Just like the councillors.
Nebraska
Don't believe everything you read. Some Union officials left the council in March. The TPA data is out of date.
I'm well worth £200,000 and my holiday home in Spain.
JT. You've worked hard for it. Some people on here don't know the great work you do. Ignore them and carry on
Cllr John Taylor has one of the finest political minds in Tameside; his penetrating insights into local issues in the letters page of the Tameside Advertiser are always well worth a read.
Now then, if you don't mind, I'll return to my padded cell, as the nurse is waiting to give me my hourly injection. Goodnight.
Two leaflets for next week
(see link) this picture on a one sided leaflet, saying.
This Councillor can't control his temper.
Elected to serve the people, then interviewed under police caution for assault and criminal damage.
And some other stuff.
***********************************
Other leaflet saying, does Cllr Jim Fitzpatrick get paid to come into the community spreading smear and allegations?
MR West the porn star ? Roy can i ask what the fuck happened to that moustache is some rich bird now wearing it around her neck like a mink? TELL ME DID YOU AUCTION THE CUNT.
aluman NG loyalist past BNP Candidate Droylsden.
aluman was NG and Martin Webster once gay lovers?
Now who,s this Roy ? Is it your girlfriend Nigel
aluman once had this great idea of making 5,000 dvd's of himself wearing a pork pie hat, talking a load of Dyslexic bullshit.
Now who,s this is it your roy or is it the girlfriend again, and by the way can you also tell me if you use micale grow when you grew that fucking thing.
Why is Tameside Citizen so affraid of the gay mafia? it's clearly evident for all of us to seeeeeeee!
sorry for about that TC bout roy just cant help him self ? but im right about that tash tho LOL
Homosexuals are always where the money is: And were young boys are. Is a FACT you can't prove me wrong.
Is Hindley still pretending that his son is disabled?
KL said ' Why should the public sector be free from the financial suffering millions in the private sector/real world are undergoing.'
I like to go to Manchester Airport and watch the world go by. I also watch the planes go over every day. Plane after plane taking off and landing with thousands of people on the move. And very few are probably public sector workers. I have a friend of a friend who works in a Manchester Hair Salon. £80 or £90 a throw. Need to book 6 weeks in advance. He doesn't have any public sector clients. So give it a break the public sector are suffering.
How the hell in Gods name (other deities are available) have the post about Tameside Taxpayers Alliance degenerated into'The love that dare not speak it's name'
In my opinion, if you are white collar staff working for the council, I want a revue of all your expenditure. I want my street swept and my bins emptied.That is all.
Love and kisses to all my fans.
Muggins said 'How the hell in Gods name (other deities are available) have the post about Tameside Taxpayers Alliance degenerated into'The love that dare not speak it's name'
Well maybe not everyone agrees with you and you don't have that many fans.
Click above to meet the UK's smallest mass movement!
Time to give it up lads! LOL!
Anonymous 1907, what has Manchester Airport and your mate the hairdresser got to do with anything?
Some of the public sector may be suffering a bit, but not to anything like the same degree or in the same numbers as the private sector.
The gap's getting wider all the time, go and check out the job centre and see the epidemic of low wage crap that's on offer now. If you don't want it, or can't afford to take it, there's a queue of imported slave labour a mile long.
Can someone clear up this councillor's free parking business.
Hard to believe the snouts in the trough brigade would pay without a struggle. They wouldn't hesitate to make the disabled pay though.
Fuck internationalism
The point is that people in the private sector are doing ok thank you very much as seen by masses still spending their money. By contrast the public sectors are getting hit. I sympathize with your plight but my point was to say that the public sector are not immune as many on this site would have you believe.
You can have my scraps
Yes all councillors pay for their parking.
at a highly subsidised rate not available to you or me
An individual posting on this blog is being investigated by the benefits agency; we have evidence to suggest he is fraudulently claiming disability allowance on behalf of a relative and he will be contacted soon.
DWP.
Anon 20:45
Give us a clue. Go on give us a clue.
I applaud Liam Billington's efforts to expose TMBC's cronic waste of taxpayers' money, and his unstinting and unrelenting work in bringing all of this to the attention of the general public, who appear to be completely in the dark on such matters, relying, as they must, on the Tameside Advertiser, which is nothing more than the mouthpiece of the local Labour party.
Now then, I have to go. There are two men in white coats knocking on my door.
Shalom
Frank Bruno
Yes you need men in white coats if you applaud Liam Billington. TMBC provide value for money as demonstrated by many an Audit Commssion inspection. We should all celebrate having a council like TMBC.
I celebrated plenty after I had to have four overloaded bins in my back garden and after the charity I was about to have a paid job working for was closed.
I celebrate everyday as I see an unecessary tramline being built in the middle of my once pleasant town and the money lending shops and pawnbrokers that are the result of that tramline bring me nothing but ecstatic joy.
Im so happy I could cry, oh it seems I am doing that already.
Does the black and white picture look better than the colour one?
SS
You'll love it when Metrolink is running. Get all those people out of their cars. They won't be able to complain about parking charges if they travel by tram. What will we debate on TC then
SS
You'll love it when Metrolink is running. Get all those people out of their cars. They won't be able to complain about parking charges if they travel by tram. What will we debate on TC then
I must have missed the story but what did TC mean when they said legal threats about the leaflets?
Tonydj
I think it is because the info is out of date and not correct and therefore legal action threatened if leaflets distributed
Anonymous 1817, no-one said the public sector were immune just that they've been hit far less than the private sector. Spending's dropped through the floor from private sector employees from a few years ago because they've got virtually no disposable income left after spending on essentials. The cost of living's rocketed in the last few years alongside wage cuts and freezes and real terms earning power is now at levels not seen for decades. If anyone doesn't want to work 'plantation style' and be exploited, New Labour's mass importation of cheap foreign labour WILL. Caused by the Party founded to STOP the exploitation of the British working class, what a sick joke.
Ronnie Rabbit, yeah all those hundreds of thousands of people are going to get out of their cars and squeeze on 70 trams. What a fucking moron.
I've got a car, so have the vast majority of others. Why would I pay exorbitant tram fares to get off four miles from where I live and then get two buses. I'll carry on using my car like everyone else because trams are considerably more shit even than buses. Trams were got rid of for a good reason, they are expensive, useless, inflexible crap that above all GET IN THE WAY. Fancy putting tram lines on some of the busiest urban roads in the world. A socialist crank agenda and Green bullshit has brought them back. The money should have gone on train and bus improvements. What was up with the 216? I know loads of people who use it and it was and still is a very good service (tram jams excepted).
The tram, another Labour councils masterstroke.
I agree, public transport and buses in particular have a place. The Metrolink is like the £30 billion being proposed on a high speed businessman's express railway up the West side of the country. It will cut through some of our most beautiful (and rapidly diminishing) countryside to give a miniscule proportion of the public a slightly shorter journey. Even a large number of the rail lobby, who have an irrational obsession with rail, say the massive sum of money should be spent on the rest of the network'
The high speed rail line, like the Metrolink is driven by politics, (and the pro EU lobby who want a European High Speed train network, whether it's suitable for Britain or not) not reason, balanced judgement or common sense.
Anon @ 22:09
Thanks for the information.
It would therefore be instructive to know what the now inaccurate information was in order to monitor the council to see whether they have really changed their policy.
FoI request anyone?
Politics 1- 0 Reason
Interesting but consider this. Regardless of what you do the West Coast Mainline will be at capacity in 10 years. Every other country who have introduced High Speed Rail have seen significant jobs created in the areas where the train runs. A line between Manchester and London will halve the journey time but also free up space on the existing line. I'd say that was a reasoned argument.
High Speed West Coast Line.
I remember a report some years ago to the effect that people were preparde to spend up to TWO hours commuting to London in the morning and the same time back. The time to London from Manchester at that time was 2hrs 40mins. Scheduled travel time now 2hrs 7 or 8 minutes.
It is obvious to me what the high speed train will lead to, commuters moving further out from London snapping up the cheaper NW housing and driving up prices.
High Speed Rail London to Manchester would be around 1 hour 15 minutes. That would bring jobs to NE
HS2 is crucial to our long term economic survival. Every major industrialised nation is investing in high speed rail as they have the foresight to see it is the way forward. We are decades behind the Germans, French and Japs and I fully support the scheme to build HS2.
Even Morocco has more High Speed Rail than the UK. We are streets behind Germany, Spain, France, Japan.
Bring it on. HS2 is a must for the North.
We have too many people who are totally ingorant of the benefits a well integrated light and heavy rail system can deliver. Most of the loudest protesters are car drivers who have probably never even been on a train or tram. Thank heavens the authorities have more sense that once again we as a nation are investing heavily in rail. I do how ever feel total disgust at the way the £1.5bn Crossrail rolling stock order was awarded to Siemens and not Britain's last surviving train builder whiich has resulted in thousands of British jobs being lost.
There may well be short term job creation and some other job creation if HS2 is built, but how much. Is it worth a massive £30 billion, let alone in the middle of a recession. Many people in the rail lobby itself don't think so. Add in all that quiet, beautiful, precious and rapidly diminishing countryside ruined and the whole thing doesn't add up.
The actual capacity (and this applies equally to light rail) is miniscule and will do next to nothing to alleviate Britain's gridlocked roads/motorways. The HS2 is a businessman's express but if it didn't cost so much and do so much enviromental damage AND only benefit such a small number of people it might be worth it.
Much of the same applies to the tram but it has the added disadvantage of running on some of the busiest urban roads in Britain, in other words it will CREATE traffic problems while doing virtually nothing, in terms of capacity, to alleviate them.
Something suiting another country isn't a reason to build the same here. France, for example is 500% larger than England.
IF the roads weren't so crowded. IF trams didn't trespass onto that roadspace.
IF trams could carry more than a few percent of the public.
IF they had a tenth of the flexibility of the car (or even the bus).
Then they might be worthwhile.
Trams never were or are a solution. The modern version has been reimposed by politicians, usually Green or socialist, with their own agendas. Notably, both of these groups, for their own reasons, hate the private car and actively try to make the use of it as unpleasant and expensive as possible. All experienced and intelligent motorists know this already.
I hope you like my third leaflet for Dukinfield Cllr Taylor.
(See Link)
I want to give the good people of Dukinfield a real insight into your gutter methods since 2007.
The violence and incitement you've used against me during the elections in Dukinfield.
It could produce £44bn GVA and upto I million jobs outside of London. Much needed jobs in the North. All other nations with HSR say it outperforms any forecasts they originally made. I'm afraid some people on here dint understand the economics. And as for the use look at the current WCML. The business men pay a premium in peak time. The rest of us can use it at much reduced rates but it will be at capacity soon. Some people don't understand progress.
Funny that the TPA claim to be well received ... i think this article is a little closer to the truth!
http://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2011/09/exclusive-tpa-lost-near-manchester-2.html
poor billy no mates
The progress made by the socialists and the greens always feels more like regression.
Herr Vikernes has a similar view:
http://www.burzum.org/eng/library/a_bards_tale07.shtml
There is plenty of independent research to show High Speed Rail will bring jobs to areas like Manchester. Estimates of 1,000,000+ jobs to areas outside London. Train journeys will be just over 1 hour from London - Manchester with HS2. The current West Coast Main Line will be at full capacity before too long and it's not full of business men. Yes they travel and pay a premium during peak times. The rest of the time ordinary people make the journey. HS2 is needed and whilst there are environmental considerations the economics mean it's a cert!
I am glad to see there are many posters on this site that can see the benefits of HS2 and the benefits it will bring to the north of England. Greater connectivity will only lead to more jobs for areas outside of London. Couple HS2 with Metrolink providing improved public transport across Greater Manchester and we'll see further economic growth in the area.
Absolutely spot on Ronnie Rabbit. As far as I am concerned I cannot see how any reasonable person could object to a ultra modern high speed rail link connecting north and south. With a high speed link to the south and the channel tunnel we in the north would be far better placed to attract inward investment from manufacturers who could be persuaded to set up shop here as land prices are significantly cheaper than in the overcrowded southern part of the country.
THEY cant stop crashing the thing at low speeds ? So god help us if they get fast ones
and its about time that the people that use them payed for them aswell
TAXI FOR ALUMAN ?
No-one's saying the HS2 wouldn't bring some benefits, just that the cost: £30 billion (minimum); the miniscule capacity; the destruction of our rapidly diminishing countryside; and speculative estimates of the economic good it would do make it unjustifiable. If economic considerations were the ONLY one, in my view it still wouldn't be worth it.
The money would be far better spent on improving/widening the motorway network as that would benefit 90% plus of the population and increase average travel times for millions instead of a tiny few.
The fact is the vast majority never or virtually never use the train, and a thoretical 50% shift from car to train (a total impossibility in reality as rail is already at full capacity and STILL only moves 6% of the total moving public) would result in only a 4% drop in overall car usage.
This is about cost, capacity and crucially WHAT is actually going to solve transport problems in Briatin. The train/tram can never do it anyway and whilst the former has a part to play the latter has been brought in for a combination of placating the anti-private car brigade and to satisfy lobby groups.
Even the train lobby, normally a pretty irrational bunch, are split over HS2 as they know spending that much on one line, that would do that much environmental damage, in a recession, is unjustifiable.
Should read: 'Theoretical 50% increase in train usage would result in only a 4% drop in car usage overall.'
Politics 1-0 Reason
You're ignoring all the evidence. If people aren't using trains how come the West Coast Main Line will be at capacity in 10 years? Answer...everyone is using the train. In terms of capacity it will more than double passenger numbers. In terms of economics an independent study has shown the potential for 1 million extra jobs and additional £44bn of GVA. Journey times halved. Evidence from nations where HSR has been introduced can show a significant shift from car to train. Why do you ignore the evidence?
No, you're selectively emphasising speculative 'evidence' that suits your predisposed favouritism towards a particular form of transport.
I never said 'people weren't using trains', I said they were at full capacity, which is one of the reasons a significant section of the train lobby are against HS2 and want the money invested in other parts of the network.
'Everyone is using the train', correction 6% of the moving public use the train. The network which was supposed to be privatised is propped up by billions of pounds of taxpayer's money every year PLUS it consumes 35% - 40% of the transport budget. If the train operating companies were told to absorb that cost tomorrow they'd either shut down or be forced to raise prices astronomically. In effect the rail network exists due to government subsidy because it's too expensive to maintain for private operators to do it and still make money. This subsidy might be justifiable if trains moved 800% more people but that or anything approaching it is an impossibility.
'It will double passenger numbers', and that will still be a relatively trivial amount compared to the millions of people moving by road every day. £30 billion in a recession should be spent where it will do the most good, it's time the motorist got back what they put in. Currently 6% of road tax is spent on the roads, the rest goes on subsidising other forms of transport and other sectors of government.
One million jobs and £44 million GVA from one extra rail line is pure conjecture, especially considering the mega investment of £30,000 million (minimum).
Journey times halved, yes but again, for only a tiny proportion of people.
A 'significant' shift from car to rail is a logistical impossibility due to the massive disparity in usage and capacity between the two. As stated before a theoretical 50% increase in train usage would only result in a 4% drop in car usage.
According to the latest statistics an average person takes 992 trips per year, 637 by car and 27 by train. Currently road gets about £10 billion a year, the rail network get £5 billion from the government. A gross and insupportable disparity when given the relative workloads and capacities of the two forms of transport.
My final comment in this subject as I think the case for HS2 is sound and it will go ahead. £44bn return on £30bn investment seems good business. Trains are going to be at capacity so something else is required and that's not more 'conventional' track it's HSR. As for the investment during a recession this project is a 20 year investment with Manchester operational in 2033 so the money is not all spent this year!
BENT REF BANNED FOR LIFE.
There is intensive debate and dispute even amongst the train lobby as to whether the case is sound AND whether it will go ahead.
The £44 billion return is speculation, especially given the scale and duration of this project.
Trains ARE at capacity despite the £5 billion a year CURRENT subsidy from government which is 35 - 40% of the entire transport budget, despite rail only moving 6% of the public, an unjustifiable return.
The £30 billion could be invested in widening and improving our motorways and other strategically important parts of the road network where it would benefit four out of five members of the moving public. With the increasing population, affordability and above all VOLUME will assume increasing importance. The latter is something trains cannot deal with. It would need a level of investment so astronomical as to be pure fantasy for rail to even approach 15% of movements.
It's time pressure groups and politicians gave way to reason and the vast majority were prioritised.
The national economic benefits of improved and prioritised traffic flow on our roads are immense.
There is no doubt that you can get more passengers from A to B if the train is twice as fast. And £30bn investment over next 20 years is a small price to pay for the benefits. Those benefits have been demonstrated in every nation that has introduced HSR. Let's hope the Secretary of State introduces the legislation to make it happen.
MATCH ABANDONED: 90% OF FANS DELAYED SEVEN HOURS BY GRIDLOCKED MOTORWAYS.
Twice a proportionally miniscule amount of passengers is a proportionally miniscule amount of passengers.
£30 billion would be better invested (i.e. there would be a worthwhile return) in expanding and improving strategic parts of our motorway and roads network. As opposed to simply spent/gambled on one railway line, used by a proportionally insignificant number of the 'right' sort of people, in the speculative hope it would generate justifiable economic benefits.
What suits other, often much larger and always different, nations isn't necessarily good for our massively overcrowded small island where increasingly, VOLUME of transportation of people is king.
A lot of the proponents of this line have their own agendas: personal advancement/aggrandisement (this particularly applies to politicians); political; financial; environmental; pro the EU project etc and aren't interested in reason, balanced arguments or the enormous problems our major road network will face in a few years without very significant investment.
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