Letter: Is council necessary for Shropshire?
Many will ask if Shropshire Council can do without a chief. Why does Shropshire need a council?
Many will ask if Shropshire Council can do without a chief. Why does Shropshire need a council?
Many years ago I remember Clun and Bishop’s Castle District Council was run very economically and efficiently by George Rogers, chief officer, town clerk and registrar, with Mr Bramwell carrying out the duties of housing, health, refuse and planning.
This happy arrangement continued until Westminster decided that big was beautiful and started the amalgamation and proliferation of chiefs, executives and departments, which eventually led to the unitary authority.
WF Kerswell
Picklescott
nr Church Stretton
Comments for: "Letter: Is council necessary for Shropshire?"
Andrew finch
We do seem to have obtained a lot of chiefs of this and that,groups etc etc and rather a lot of Councillors.
Unfortunately with progress especially in certain areas progress means "more money spent and more chiefs and some select little Indians".
Has streamlining missed this area of our society ?.
Colin.Dodd.
I'm sure that in the good old days, 2 people could quite easily manage a small council like Clun and Bishops Castle.
However, if you look at the size of Shropshire, and the variety of services they have to manage, it is plain that the management force needs to be much greater.
They are currently trying to streamline, thanks to government cuts, yet people are complaining about this. They are also farming out several services to the private sector, I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Previous privatisations have inevitably lead to higher prices for the consumer, gas, electricity, water, etc. etc.
It would appear they are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. I would agree that current wage and perk packages for management are excessive, Ryley was the best example of this. Sadly, those at the top know they can more or less dictate their own salary, unlike the "lower case" workers who have to take whatever is on offer.
Too much streamlining would eventually lead to total monopoly of council services by the private sector, then we would be begging for the return of the "good old days" of council controlled services.
Wenlock Un
Comparing staffing of Clun & Bishops Castle of yesteryear with Shropshire today, isn't really a valid example. At that time there were probably another 5-7 Shropshire District Authorities, plus SCC and if you were to aggregate the staffing numbers/costs across all of those, not to mention the bureaucracy of working across authorities, I'm sure today's staffing organisation would appear very lean in terms of both cost and breadth of focus. In terms of consumer satisfaction, I'm not so sure.
Over these years, the requirements on Councils have changed from performing services to contracting in services (often via newly formed companies established from former staff!) and this has required a completely different skill set. They have also been an increasingly soft-target for growth in accountability and the compensation culture.
Many of you demand this 'real world' environment at the Council and yet then complain at the likes of Veolia, Tesco and now Muller who take it to the next level for their commercial gain?
As Colin suggests, they appear to be damned if they do, damned if they don't.
tugboat
the only qualification i would recommend is that local people make the decisions about local issues. ie, It would be extremely detremental for a goveverning body say based in manchester, making decisions about shrewsbury. Local knowledge is paramount to an efficiently run service of any kind.
Port Hill Boy
Mr Kerswell conveniently ignores the fact that services such as education, libraries, adult and childrens' social care, roads, etc were provided by the county council.
Mike
Like what did the Romans do for us?