Where's the money going?

[twowheelsgood]

I've said this before, but I think it bears repeating. Hoople is not an arms length company, it is a "Teckal" company - under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 the Council is supposed to exert the same control over  the company as it does over its own internal departments. Its primary function is to provide services to its shareholders (i.e the Council and whatever has replaced the PCT) on a not for profit basis.  Only 20% of its activities by turnover can be for third parties and potentially profit making.

 

Arms Length tends to be a term specific to housing management (as in the recent Grenfell Tower tragedy). For the ex-councillor to claim that Hoople is arms length demonstrates woeful ignorance at best,  and at worst deliberate disingenuousness.

 

I stand corrected on the terms (and it was me providing the information to the ex-councillor, not the other way round), but the point I was making is still valid ie other than having heard of it, the ex-councillor had no idea about how Hoople worked or its limited accountability. Your ref to dimwit councillors is on the nail.

[Pete Boggs]

I thought the "arms length" point was worth mentioning because as the extent of the Hoople fiasco becomes known there may be attempts to portray the company as some sort of out-of-control, rogue entity. This shouldn't be allowed to wash. The Council are supposed to have direct control over it,  just like one of their own departments (although I am tempted to add, like Michael Caine in Get Carter, "since when was that good enough?")

[twowheelsgood]

I thought the "arms length" point was worth mentioning because as the extent of the Hoople fiasco becomes known there may be attempts to portray the company as some sort of out-of-control, rogue entity. This shouldn't be allowed to wash. The Council are supposed to have direct control over it,  just like one of their own departments (although I am tempted to add, like Michael Caine in Get Carter, "since when was that good enough?")

 

 

Given Cllr Matthews comment "I  had to obtain this information from Companies House, because members generally have never been briefed with respect to the workings of Hoople Ltd, which is after all financed by us, the taxpayers of this county" it would seem that the Council(ors) have no control (or knowledge) at all.

[Pete Boggs]

Given Cllr Matthews comment "I  had to obtain this information from Companies House, because members generally have never been briefed with respect to the workings of Hoople Ltd, which is after all financed by us, the taxpayers of this county" it would seem that the Council(ors) have no control (or knowledge) at all.

 

They should do - who's running the Council, them or the officers?  That said a lot of members aren't too bright and/or have a tendency not to want to get their hands dirty when it comes to the actual workings of the authority. As evidence we can also point to the appointment of two senior officers with dismal records of corruption and malpractice as heads of legal and finance. You'd think councillors might want to do some background reading, via google if nothing else, on the appointment to such important roles - but apparently they didn't.

 

[Denise Lloyd]

I would say they do read up on the various subject but because the majority of them have their own agendas they decide to stay stum and not rock the boat.  The ones that do rock the boat aren't around long 

[Cambo]

They should do - who's running the Council, them or the officers? That said a lot of members aren't too bright and/or have a tendency not to want to get their hands dirty when it comes to the actual workings of the authority. As evidence we can also point to the appointment of two senior officers with dismal records of corruption and malpractice as heads of legal and finance. You'd think councillors might want to do some background reading, via google if nothing else, on the appointment to such important roles - but apparently they didn't.

 

That was a excellent set of posts pete

[Pete Boggs]

That was a excellent set of posts pete

 

Thanks, just trying to give a bit of context to the misbegotten beast that is Hoople, and perhaps correct some of the myths that may have grown up around it, not least among councillors.

 

Denise, I'm sure you're right. I expect we can all name members for whom being on the Council is a way to advance their own business interests or those of their mates from down the Lodge.

[megilleland]

The council are now publishing expenditure at 3 monthly intervals. The latest figures for April, May and June are available here.

£49,618,861.29 spent over the 3 months and here are the top 10 single payouts.

£6,660,000.00    Worcestershire County Council
£3,188,139.38    Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd
£2,008,638.35    Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd
£1,957,751.68    Balfour Beatty Living Places Ltd
£1,386,250.00    Hoople Ltd
£1,386,250.00    Hoople Ltd
£1,296,090.29    West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner
£1,296,088.00    West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner
£1,296,088.00    West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner
£1,016,604.38    Worcestershire County Council

£19,483,261.73    Total for 10 cheques - 39% of total spend (4861 cheques)

Hoople was paid £3,286,660.58 inclusive of all payments

 

Worcestershire County Council was paid £9,736,492.85 inclusive of all payments

So it's not only the BBC that pays above the norm.

[megilleland]

Budget tomorrow. Mainstream media headlines today are focused on Britain's record national debt, which just surpassed £1 trillion, a figure that can only exponentially increase unless the entire mechanism of Government finance is overhauled. The truth however is much worse, factoring in all liabilities including state and public sector pensions, the real national debt is closer to £4.8 trillion, some £78,000 for every person in the UK.

 

Makes our offer of £40 billion for our EU exit look like small change.
 

National Debt Clock

[megilleland]

The Daily Mail - 29th November 2018

Bleak winter for the NHS: More than 100,000 jobs are unfilled, trusts are £4.3 billion in debt and 1,000 more patients are waiting a year for treatment than in 2017, report warns

* NHS had 102,821 dr and nurses vacancies across its trusts at end of September
* And 3,156 were waiting more than a year for treatment when summer ended
* NHS Providers' chief executive warns 'this winter may be worse than the last' 

On the same day in the same paper:

The Daily Mail - 29th November 2018

UK aid spending tops £14 billion for the first time with the most money spent in Pakistan and Nigeria, official figures reveal

* Government spends 0.7% of national income on foreign aid spending every year
* The cash figure rose above £14 billion for the first time in 2017, latest data shows  
* Total rises each year if the economy grows but is very controversial among MPs
* Around 63% of aid is spent directly by the UK in other countries, led by Pakistan
* The remaining 37% is ploughed into aid agencies for a multilateral response  

Pakistan received the most direct cash from the UK, receiving more than £400million in development assistance. Nigeria was second on £327million. 

Almost £530million was also ploughed into multi-national efforts to respond to humanitarian crises caused by wars in Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Yet we supply arms to Saudi Arabia to blow to pieces the Yemen