Examples of waste in public sector?

[Hammy02]

I started a 3 month temp contract and they put me on a 2 day induction course. I didn't need to know the minutae of the organisation for a 3 month contract.
Had to fill out a form to get a book of stamps.
Had to fill out a form to get space in Outlook increased. No-one was EVER turned down for this so what was the point in the form?!

Back to Basics I didn't begrudge funding my own tea and coffee when I was nursing. What I did begrudge was the freebies doled out to those higher up the food chain.

Agree Bakelite. And in my office we buy all tea and coffee ourselves, and this same tea and coffee is used for all visitors - so any meetings, interviews etc etc.

I don't mean to be petty, but that is a bit much if you ask me!

People won't be happy til we're licking our own equipment clean, fashioning our own materials out of waste paper, using an abacus rather than a computer, having no breaks at all and coming into work when we have the plague. But we will still have to supply a first class professional service to the public. The people at the top, the quangoes, the trust HQ types and so on will go on wasting money and cutting front line services whenever they can.

See i feel sorry for public sector workers (the lower band pay scales) but public sector scroungers (mid management who do nothing) not so much.

After going on a training course today it got me thinking about this thread. You see, on the one hand "the public" wants full information about everything the public sector spends money on. On the other hand, "the public" complains about waste in the form of red tape and bureaucracy. Does "the public" ever stop to think that perhaps the two things are connected? Just think about the amount of time and effort, and therefore money, that goes into recording things just so that Freedom of Information requests can be answered. Our hands are tied.

The funny thing is that the people wasting our time with petty FOI requests are frequently the same ones complaining about red tape and bureaucracy.

I think it's also awful that as our team works with older people, we seem to get less resources, too. No-one seems to care if they have to use horribly decorated, drafty old buildings miles away from anywhere. I think management rely on their families being too exhausted to complain.

IME public sector wokers do fantastic jobs with the best outcomes possible in difficult circumstances. They absorb so much negativity but still produce valuable work esp. for those socially disadvantaged. Hate this bashing of 'waste' in the public sector.

Suspect the OP is just a 'agent provocateur' in an attempt to soften public opinion for gvt. cuts. But that is just my speculation.

Temp staff emplyed where full time staff have the capacity to cover (just not the inclination).

Yes, I'm talking about the NHS.

All that free accommodation for politicians and their wifies, and free school transport in posh cars for their children.

The rifle range in the House of Commons we paid for for about half a century.

Portcullis House in all its nasty flashness.

PCH isn't that flashy. I should know I work there. What rifle range!?!

The one they've turned into a creche with only about 2 children in it.

PCH may not be that flashy but the food is heavily subsidised and it cost an arm and a leg to build

The 90% private boarding school fee subsidy for the forces (see other thread).

However what we really need to tackle are where the biggest costs are.So need the information to look at where the biggest waste is and concentrate on that even if it leaves someone else getting expensive biscuits. If we got rid of paid sick leave for those public sector workers who get it that might help.

Far too many people in the public sector take massive liberties with paid sick leave in ways that would just not be tolerated in the private sector.

And I think the HR departments are reluctant to challenge it for fear of being dragged through endless lengthy union disputes or tribunals paid for by legal aid.

i would really like to see a fully itemised, to the penny,breakdown of the millions they claim it will cost to evict the travellors - however, no doubt that to supply this would be charged out at another million quid

When the local council were bringing their houses up to decent homes standard, they told my friend that if she wanted her ex-council house bringing up to the same standard then the building company were charging them £12k per property for the work. My friend wanted the work doing but thought this was a lot to pay. She spoke to the building company who said they would do the same work on her property for £5.5k. Makes you wonder how they justified charging the council over twice as much doesn't it?

I think price fixing among private sector contractors bidding for public sector contracts was, and probably still is, widespread. This is why the public sector can end up paying silly amounts for things and it is effectively handing public money straight to the private sector shareholders.

I'll get off my soapbox now

PFI

I worked within an RDA on a one year contract. It was the biggest joke of an organisation. The majority of our funding went on salary and accommodation costs (30K on a reception desk!) with very little measurable benefit to show for the investment. How they got away with it for so long is anybody's guess, being entirely unaccountable probably helped. I am not a Conservative voter but the decision to abolish the RDAs seemed like a good one to me.

agree with La Tristesse
my father lives in an ex council property that he bought and when his council neighbours were having their upgrades the council offered him the same and asked him to pay £19,000 - when he investigated further he had the same work done for just over £7000 - when i was working as an accountant i saw the crazy amounts local builders were --ripping off-charging the council - making £1000 + profit on a basic white bathroom suite, supply only !!!!

a stationery firm that supplies our local council approached my DH to supply his business with staty and the pens that I pay 59p for 10 in tesco cost over £1 each - files in tesco 79p - staty co. £3.95
5 Litres of domestos - cash and carry £2.99 on offer - usually £5.99 are £18.99 with staty co. etc
and they said - yes but we deliver !!!!

does the post office count? i applied for a job that had so many interview stages it would have taken 5 days (for similar roles with every other org it was 2).

my friend works for the inland revenue, she is allowed x amount of paid sick days per year, if she hasn't been sick x amount of times she is told to use them up by the end of the year! This is something done by the whole of her department.