Waste in the public sector

[mumzy]

AIBU to be incensed about waste in the public sector which we all pay for?. I was listening to the news about waste in the public sector which if reined in could fund essential services. I've worked in the public sector and in my time have come across shocking amounts of money wasted. Examples include:hospitals letting thousands of pounds of drugs to go out of date because fridges were'nt checked on a regular basis. Computer systems in the NHS which are so unuser friendly they are more of a hindrance than a help. A council department paying consultants mega bucks to come up with policies which were'nt fit for purpose when a perfectly good template was available free on the internet and we only needed to fill in our details. The same department paid a marketing company to come up with a promo event which we had to redo as users did'nt understand how to use it. Has anyone else come a cross similar waste in the public sector

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But again it goes back to what I said earlier - if Govt wants the 'job done' then it needs people to do the job. So it's no use complaining about bloated, overblown Local Authorities when the Govt has devloved responsibility to Local Authorities to deliver the initiatives it has promised the electorate.

And this Govt appears to be more badly addicted to creating law than any of its predecessors - and laws must be enforced - hence the Diversity Officer, the Sustainable Transport Officer, the Smoking ban enforcement Officer, the Direct Paymnets Team etc etc etc plus all the overseers to enact these laws in every local authority.

Cut the nanny state
Refuse to implement some of the more crazy EU Directives
Cut red tape
Stop making more and more law

Cyberman - only 3 months, I was in the Finance Industry before this (13 years)

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"Oh yes, we're all a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing losers who should be shot. I'm getting a little sick of the public sector bashing."

No one said the first. No one wants waste that's all.

The second: bad luck. The public sector doesn't get a get out of jail free card because it's the public sector. It's more intimately examined because it's public money, not the managers' money, not the authorities' money, not the administrators' money. It's public money, other people's money.

Public sector will always involve some waste because it's other people's money and the people working with it often seem to have forgotten this or don't care. There is empire building and overspending and unless it's scrutinised it won't stop.

Actually it doesn't seem to stop anyway.

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I've worked in both the private and public sector and waste in my personal experience tends to be quickly picked up in the former but not in the latter. Maybe thats because private companies are answerable to their shareholders whilst tax payers don't get an annual breakdown on whats been spent and where, prehaps its time we did!

I think the opposite as a public sector worker I am very aware that I am paid by the taxpayer. I try to limit every waste. When I worked in the private sector I did not really care one way or the other.

Ditto wastwinset. In fact I feel guilty for almost everything. I often don't claim subsistence allowances when I attend meetings, I never claimed for my interview expenses, I don't order stationary unless it's absolutely necessary, etc. I know there are many others who think differently though - I'm not that naive!

gaelicsheep,

"Yes there is! It's called taking pride in your work and wanting to do as good a job as you can, under what can be incredibly challenging circumstances."

Not every public sector worker is as saintly as THAT. Some people go to work to pay the mortgage and support a family. Many people have quite dull but nevertheless important jobs in the public sector.

The binmen and the dinner ladies are important people. You will find out quite how much we need them if they choose to go on strike. However I doult that being a binman is vocation. I expect the binman gets up at 6am in the cold and the rain to earn money. As a country we need to pay people enough to do unpleasant jobs.

" I often don't claim subsistence allowances when I attend meetings"

erm... why? If I am asked to drive 40 miles for work purposes then I CERTAINLY claim petrol.

I am lucky in that I do enjoy my job as it is quite interesting. I do my best, but I work inorder to live, not the other way round. I get quite a lot done because I am good at what I do.

I certainly don't do loads of unpaid over time. In fact my employer would rather have someone who produces good work in the hours they are paid than an incompetant who does loads of extra hours.

I think some elements of the public sector are worse than others. Whats bugs me is when people spend their left over budgets or rubbish, just so they can get the same money next year, WHY can't they carry it over rather than waste it!! Then other sectors (ie social care) are gagging for money

Its a tough one. I dont think that the private sector are beacons,however they can be be a bit more careful with money as its their buck in many cases.

In parallel private sector can take the piss with their expenses, in a way that public sector would not.

Ultimately its down to how chunks of $$ are allocated, and then managed

I don't think that taking pride in your work makes you a saint, if makes you rather normal IMO. I know very few teachers who are motivated by money . We get paid and of course thatvis welcome. But most of us could earn more money doing something else.

My grandfather was a caretaker in a school of course he needed the money but he also took great pride in his work and for him there was an element of vocati
on .

Doing extra hours does not always mean you are incompetant. There are times when my job requires a 15 hour day and others a 7 hour day.

Well the crunch is about to come and the cuts whoever wins the election will happen as we cannot afford how things now are. So in effect the market will right these wrongs. Haven't a load of public sector quangos just had to justify their existence or be exterminated?

I worked for an organisation a few years back who did lots of work for govt dept's.

In one instance they paid us £30k in advance to do a project to ensure they used up their annual budget. We never ever did the project.

There were many other instances of 'waste' that we saw.

Why do the fecking tax credits people send copies of the documents to both me and my husband, which appear to be identical except for the addressee?? Why not send one copy addressed to both of us? It is such a waste of paper! Obviously I recycle one copy but it is better to have not produced it in the first place!

Mumzy - YANBU, but I have to say the waste goes on in the private sector as well, in my experience.

Wetaugust seems to have hit the nail on the head- a change in high level mgt/ gvt means they will want to make changes to look like they have 'done' something. TBH this is where ime a lot of money is wasted.

BouncingTurtle: I agree that duplicate letters are a waste of money. My bank does it too regarding changes to our joint account. I've always assumed that it is to ensure that both parties are aware of changes to joint financial arrangements, not just mindless bureaucracy.

I remember working in a private company where you had to sign for every bit of stationary you needed, you were interviewed after your first day off sick and if you arrived late or left early it was soon noticed and you had to justify what was happening. Not pleasant I agree but people did'nt take the mick and it taught me as a manager how to minimize waste and improve efficiency. When I worked for the NHS I could'nt believe the amount of stationary departments got through, how many managers were regularly "working from home" on Fridays, the number of agency staff we had to employ due to staff sickness and how little was done to tackle long term sick leave. I never quite understood how people who worked in the public sector could be so much unhealthier than in the private sector, as reflected in the amount of sick leave taken by the latter.

I work in the public sector and we are interviewed after one day off sick too. Stationery is in a locked cupboard and you have to request access to it. Not all of the public sector is the same - just as you can't lump all of the private sector together.

No idea how things work in the NHS, though.

I think they could certainly do what the private sector does and not pay you off sick except SSP and just the statutory 6 weeks 90% pay maternity pay. Is that standard for the NHS and other state sector or do you get a better deal?

What IS cyberman saying to get deleted so rapidly?

Xenia - given that public sector salaries are pretty ldarned low already in comparison with the private sector, I think that would be fairly counter-productive, don't you? More sick people in the office spreading germs around who can't afford the time off - how exactly does that help anyone?

The only reason the private sector might find more efficiencies (and from what I've seen I seriously doubt it) is to make more big fat profits for the shareholders. The private sector is all about greed, from top to bottom.

IME extra hours (and a lot of sick leave) are down to having one person trying to do the work of two or three, either because unfilled posts have been frozen or the posts never existed in the first place.

Actually I do agree with reallytired to a point. I do a bloody good job, if I do say so myself, bringing projects in on time and budget, really positive media coverage, etc etc. But no bonuses, no overtime pay, and no deviation from the regime of increments that dictates once you reach the top of your pay scale there you sit for ever more. Unless you want to go and swan about move into management of course (which would be a fate worse than death IMO as I'd have to give up doing what I love).

I think the point is that the kind of people you find in much of the private sector, who require financial incentives in order to get up in the morning, let alone do a good job, you will not find in the public sector. In general (and it is a generalisation of course) the public sector will attract the type of people for whom financial reward is less important than enjoying your work and doing a good and worthwhile job.

The private sector does not pay sick pay when off sick and most people are employed by small businesses in the UK. You are paid after day 3 off sick though at SP rates. That at a stroke would really help us save public money. They soon start getting back to the workplace if they don't get paid for being off sick and if you're really ill you're too ill to come in and have to have saved up enough money to cope with 3 days unpaid.

Average pay in the UK is £20k a year. The public sector in many areas now outstrips the public sector. the private sector has had salary freezes and often mvoed to 4 day weeks. the publis sector is still getting rises. This is all about to stop as the grave train is over due to public debt. It will be fun to watch them squeal after they have over spent all that tax payers' money.

Xenia, while I see the sense in your idea the loss of pay if I was off sick would send me over the edge financially. Also if I have anything infectious I HAVE to avoid some aspects of my work (which involves alot of contact wth babies some of whom are premature). I would hate to see anyone potentially infecting a vulnerable baby with whatever bug they happen to have just because they know that if they stay off they would not get paid.

I have worked for the NHS since 1985 and have lost count of the unpaid overtime I have done in that time. Most people working in the NHS (and I mean on frontline type serrvices) are doing so because it supports others. I love my job and don't begrudge the excess hours I have worked unpaid but I DO get annoyed whenever I see the comments that we somehow have an easy ride compared with the private sector. I am on considerably less than 20k and saving up enough to cope with three days off sick is beyond my capability.

The private sector and state sector are two entirely different entities - the private sector is about profit and by and large the state sector is not. If I am at work at the end of my day and a mother comes in desperate for advice and support I certainly would not dream of saying "sorry love - I'm off so come back tomorrow". I sit down with her and make sure she feels able to talk and do so for as lpong as that takes. I don't get paid for that extra time because the money is not there in the budget. I am supposed to take time back but with the current level of understaffing that's impossible. I also rarely take a lunch break (so that's extra time I am unpaid). I appreciate the private sector has it hard too but let's not pretend it's the same because it isn't.