Tag: bad economics

The comments from Mr Renard on the arrival (after a summer trial) of talking cctv cameras in the Railway Village are not the most ecstatic endorsement.

The residents of the Railway Village told us there were problems there. That’s why this is going in there. When we told them we had these mobile cameras which talked to people, the residents were keen. The police certainly find them very useful in gathering evidence for bringing people to book. There is a question about if the cameras just move people from one area to another. But what they do is allow us to identify perpetrators of crime and work with the police to deal with them. I feel that they will make a difference. The mobile camera in Welcombe Avenue produced results, there’s nothing to think these won’t.

It may not be significant expenditure at only £15,000, but I’m sure I’ve heard councillors condemn similarly priced spending plans with stronger cases than that.

Looks like Swindon Borough Council may have forgotten to maintain the payments for their website. Since the beginning of the weekend at least, it’s been showing the holding page from Netnames, the council’s domain registrar.

Update, Tuesday 13 November: the site is back to normal now.

It’s nice to see that the self-styled world’s local bank puts the security of its customers’ money below above increasing opportunities for it to flog them more debt. It has redesigned its internet banking. It has such improved security that even their online demo of the new system and FAQs have to remind customers not to forget they are logged, should they take advantage of the new feature of browsing the rest of HSBC’s website without logging out.

Is there anything important I need to remember when using the new-look service?
Remember that, whilst you are viewing other areas of the site, if you are logged on Internet Banking will remain active in the background. It is important that you remember this and don’t leave your PC unattended.

There is a brief explanation of why they have changed their internet banking service: the ‘increased’ security (nothing more than changing one of the on-screen prompts during login) is not part of that.

I have been reading the draft Community Strategy for Swindon which is currently open for consultation. It is produced by the Swindon Strategic Partnership (a government decreed body that oversees the strategy-document-heavy, consultation-rich, activities of the Swindon Local Area Agreement Partnership). It is called ‘A Shared Vision for Swindon 2008–2030’ but reads more like a socialist vision for Swindon.

These community leaders focus on the future and work in partnership to make decisions which deliver real benefits to the whole community. They don’t work in isolation, though: local people are passionate about the quality of their neighbourhoods and are involved in their development and improvement. Most importantly, those local people are happy to invest their time and energy to keep their neighbourhoods safe, clean and attractive….
This goal is achieved by public-sector organisations, voluntary groups and local people all working closely to promote healthy living and create caring, cohesive neighbourhoods….
By 2030, local communities are working with public organisations – like the police, the borough council and a wide range of voluntary groups, at neighbourhood level – to reduce crime, keep people safe and develop a sense of community and belonging.

Apparently, the private sector has no role in Swindon in 2030, except for providing jobs and paying taxes.

Nice to see that, so soon after he was elected following a campaign in which he criticised the blue nest for putting up Council Tax, Councillor Montaut has suggested that us Council-Tax payers pick-up the tab for any additional cleaning that’s required if there’s an increase in activity at Swindon Town Football Club’s ground.

Councillor Montaut: working hard to cost residents more!

Hat-tip: Broadgreen blogger & and the local blue egg.

I’ve been reading through the latest version of Swindon Borough Council’s Central Area Action Plan which is now out for consultation. It’s nice to see that, as hoped for, the Green Spine now has a bit more body to it, looking a little like a headless running stickman (though I think I detect a green football and a green sombrero in there too).

The plan includes some masterpieces of thoughtful insight. An observation on page 27 is the epitome of this erudition.

[Crime] hotspots remain and concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour are still evident in Central Swindon, and in particular in the Bridge Street and Fleet Street Area. In this area, the peak times for violent offences, is in the evenings and at weekends, which suggests a strong link with alcohol misuse.

Only suggests? Move on to page 65.

The dominance of drinking establishments in the Fleet Street area has by a large margin given rise to more crime in the area than at any other location in Swindon.

Aah… a little bit of realism at last. More seriously, this unclear thinking goes deeper than just presenting the obvious as thoughtful observations. When considering the not-so-obvious, some of the statements are, with a little thought, just plain wrong. Move on to page 94.

A significant proportion of these private rented properties are Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). This high proportion of private rented accommodation is to a large extent a by-product of the exodus of families from Central Swindon.

To confuse ‘cause and effect’ with ‘supply and demand’ is a serious mistake in a document whose prime purpose is to regulate the supply of property over the next twenty years.

The latest little glossy leaflet from the red nest fulfils komadori’s prediction for the election. In a strange reversal of political reality, it claims law-and-order to be the responsibility of the local council and waste and recycling collections to be the responsibility of national government. In a strange reversal of economic reality, it claims that ‘house conversions have continued unabated into unwanted flats’ yet of those same unwanted flats ‘The high rents have driven people into multiple-occupancy and overcrowding.’ Prices rising for an unwanted commodity…. Novel.
Most bizarre though are some of the implications about their candidate.

With over 26 years experience of community representation as a councillor I know when a community has been let down.

Would that be through personal experience of letting commun­ities down yourself? Perhaps the reason why you were unelected a few years ago?

Derique is a former Mayor with over 26 years experience as a Councillor in Swindon.
If the Tories were truly ‘In Touch’ why have they not sorted things out?

Err… and why didn’t you sort them out in your previous 26 years as a councillor, for much of which the red nest was in control?

As as a fine example of layout editing, in this glossy leaflet, below a photograph of a grimacing grinning Derique

They are happy to spend lots of your Council Tax money on glossy brochures full of cheesy smiling faces.

Someone take that pistol away quick, before they shoot themselves in the foot.

At least they’re telling me about their candidate, even if it’s not believable. So far communications from the red nest outnumber those from the blue nest four-to-one, and there hasn’t been a single chirp from the yellow nest yet.

Every evening I walk past The 12 Bar in Westcott Place. It has its opening hours on the door (and on its website)…. Except that most Tuesday evenings, well after the alleged 5 pm opening time, it is quite definitely shut, some weeks Wednesday too. Seems a very strange way to try and get custom really. If you’re heading to The 12 Bar on an evening when they haven’t got a band playing, I recommend The Greyhound just across the road. If nothing else, unlike The 12 Bar, it will be open!

Couldn’t help thinking that the DTI person that said the quote below at a meeting I attended today could do with a quick revision course on basic economics. He was speaking about a scheme intended to increase innovation in industry. He listed the benefits to the companies, individuals and other organisations involved in the scheme, then said

The main reason, of course that we, DTI, are involved is that it increases the organisation’s profits, which means more tax paid which means more money to invest in innovation.

And of course the DTI know all about investing in innovation. Hmm, perhaps leaving the organisations to spend the money themselves on innovation, rather than taxing them so that DTI can try to do it on their behalf, might be worth a try.