Re: Salford Council : Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:07 pm  

Marshy1 wrote:

Of course you can especially when you start to prioritise what is essential and non essential.

How can you undo the contracts that the Council and Peel signed last year with the stadium contractor and SCR? This loan was taken out for a community investment opportunity before any mention of government spending cuts and will be based on a sound buisness plan that has Peel Holdings as a partner. Do you honestly think a company of Peel's business acumen would be involved as a partner if it was a bad investment? The council will be providing excellent new community facilities (beyond just rugby) whilst repaying the loan from stadium rent and the day to day function/hospitality profits the venue will provide.

And talking about what is essential and non essential. Have you considered that the government obviously must feel there is now a lot of over staffing and natural wastage opportunities in local council departments? I genuinely sympathise with anyone losing there job but I don't see how a loan funded investment in a community stadium affects council job losses. Surely you don't think the solution would have been for the council to use the 20M loan for the stadium just to get around the spending cuts and keep everybody in work?

Re: Salford Council : Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:19 pm  

Marshy1 wrote:

Sounds like a typical Labour response...spend what you ain't got.!!

uhhh, you do know that the other option (Tory) is to cut (destroy) what you have got, leaving nothing?

You do understand the concept of investment don't you?

Re: Salford Council : Thu Feb 03, 2011 5:19 pm  

John Charnock wrote:

Keep the Salford Red Flag flying.

Re: Salford Council : Thu Feb 03, 2011 10:53 pm  

Bigpev wrote:

this now sounds like a Tory rant, build 9 planes to fly over britain as the first line of defence, pay out £9b and then scrap the lot,

Or draw up a contract that makes it cheaper to build two aircraft carriers than to cancel the order pre build

Spin eh !!

Re: Salford Council : Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:52 am  

billybradshawsmum wrote:

Are you Neal Keeling in disguise digging for more info.

That guy is like a fly on s##t about Salford, HE JUST WONT GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!

With respect to Neil Keeling he's just a local journalist and not a visionary. It would appear from the nature of the article that he's naively been groomed by people with their own political agenda.

I consider the MEN article to be unfairly damaging, unsupportive and it shows he has a complete lack of understanding for:

1. The concept of a loan funded investment.

2. The additional benefits of a community stadium beyond just sport for many other recreational/nonrecreational activities.

3. The value a professional sports club brings to a City in terms of sports tourism, employment, community work, local business suppliers, charity support, promoting the City's name on TV etc.

4. Rugby League clubs living 'hand to mouth' unlike Premier League football clubs with extremely wealthy foreign owners.

Re: Salford Council : Fri Feb 04, 2011 3:35 pm  

Salford red all over wrote:

Or draw up a contract that makes it cheaper to build two aircraft carriers than to cancel the order pre build

Spin eh !!

yes but the tories on the defence committee agreed to this before the election, they knew all the costs and are now trying to distance themselves from it, like the pre answer statement that the recession only happened in Britain, before actually answering a question, EG Damian Green Tory MP, who last night in two sentences about the self off of the forests, contradicted himself much to the ammusment of the audience, forests cost too much, its not about money.

Re: Salford Council : Sat Feb 05, 2011 1:14 pm  

[quote="theredshed"]I sympathise with anybody losing their job due to the recent government spending cuts

Sorry but I don't have any sympathy as long as they get rid of the right people. I've just spent 4 years working with the areas biggest LA and with all due respect there are plenty of people I worked with who contributed f*ck all to the Council. I've been working 15 years and I can honestly say the 4 years working for the Council were the most soul destroying I've had. A huge proportion of the staff are lazy, incompetent, sat waiting for their pensions and in all honesty they wouldn't get jobs anywhere else! The management structure is riddled with idiots who recruit staff in their own likeness and the whole organisation is so scared of the unions (another bunch of ill-informed to$$ers from my experience ) it means staff that aren't up to the job are protected and never get fired. I was a low-level Manager and I worked out that within my team alone (12 members) if 3 or 4 went there would be no impact on service due to their incompetency or laziness. Across the service there were at least 15-20 staff stealing a living but when the cuts are made they'll be the ones that keep their jobs!!!

The best thing I ever did was leave the Council and although it's hit me in the pocket short-term I'll never go back.

Sorry rant over, but having had to listen for months to all the sh!te in the media about "poor old Council workers losing their jobs" I had to get it off my chest!!!

PS. Don't even let me get started on Salford's Council Tax dept

Re: Salford Council : Sat Feb 05, 2011 2:10 pm  

Saleslim, if it was bad why did you what 4 years before getting out or were you lining your pockets doing sweet FA, I got TUPEd into the Employment Service in 2001, as a contract manager, i was away in 5 months, one of which was my months notice, too many managers stuck in the past and not able to change, even an area manager who didn't like using a computer so he had a PA, but lots of low level caring staff who did the work. I found another job and have never really looked back.
if i would have stayed 4 years i would have picked up all the poor bad management habits.
You are right about the unions being strong, but having worked in the private sector and seen how poor the staff conditions are and how many don't recognise unions, and having a son who is a student but works in a sports shop where to mention the word union leads to your job disappearing there is a place for unions. this particular shop pays minimum wage and often has staff work over their hours for no extra pay, but because they are scared of losing their jobs they carry on. the latest from the shop nearly all shifts cut to 8 hours or less a week. No union no rights, too few hours no job. Perhaps the council staff should do a swap as the government says, the private sector will pick up the slack, only the big stores are only taking on part time staff to avoid paying national insurance, creating another pension timebomb.
Rant over

Re: Salford Council : Sat Feb 05, 2011 2:59 pm  

Bigpev wrote:

Saleslim, if it was bad why did you what 4 years before getting out or were you lining your pockets doing sweet FA,

I stayed for 4 years for a variety of reasons...........

1) As stated, I was a low level Admin Manager. I took the job as I could do it with my eyes shut but I actually wanted to be a YOT Officer and work directly with Young Offenders as I felt I needed to be in a role where I went home at night feeling that I'd "made a difference". It was a way into the service. As I'm not a "Yes Man" it was obvious after a while that I had no chance of this happening as I am one to tackle problems rather than ignore them and it appears this is against the Council norm and puts you in the "rebel" bracket

2) As I'm sure you're aware BP it's not always easy to find suitable alternative employment. I was good at my job and always put in way over my contractual hours. At my level of management there is very little out there in the private sector which made things difficult although I was actively looking. In the end (after spending the last year in my job defending myself against claims of racism/prejudice etc) I left for my own health. Btw, the allegations were an absolute disgrace and it makes me sick how some "human beings" pull the race/gender etc card.

I was brought up to graft and that is what I have done since I started working at 18. Shame that this attitude doesn't appear to reap rewards in certain organisations where "kissing ar$e" or "towing the party line" is seen as the way forward. I've now decided that Primary School Teaching is the way forward and will be going back to study for my degree.

Oh and I'm not totally anti-Union it's just that they can be equally as dangerous if used for the wrong reasons as they can be effective in the right circumstances. Just happens that the 2 Union shop stewards in our service were 2 of the most uneducated, laziest tw@ts you will ever meet who used their Union role as a badge of honour and for their own job protection rather than
for helping those who need it.

Re: Salford Council : Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:31 pm  

If anyone here works for Salford council you can apparently see on the "Ask Barbara" section of their intranet that a member of staff has made the suggestion that the council should withdraw support from the Reds/stadium and she has responded by explaining the value and benefits of the council supporting the project and club. I don't have any further detail though.