flamboyant

Mike Dearings New ventures not so new .. ? http://companycheck.co.uk/company/08898037/AMEO-CONSULTING-LTD/directors-shareholders http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/1546112/january_2012_expenditure.pdf&sa=U&ei=RktuU6bjPITG7AbolIH4Cg&ved=0CBoQFjAC&usg=AFQjCNE3BtCktYKRrG9bANEIQWk4AzPk7g

Ameo Consulting Ltd http://companycheck.co.uk/company/08898037/AMEO-CONSULTING-LTD/directors-shareholders

Mike Dearing https://ww5.swindon.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s65133/Public%20Service%20Transformation%20in%20Swindon.pdf

Biomech my dear friend you are missing the point this is not about saving money it's about redistributing it! The Council are just moving what little money they have around to confuse the audit trail! There are no actual savings anywhere! Most if not all of the consultations conducted in recent months saw reductions in front line staff but there were many increases in management salaries. I am dreading the introduction of black bins the recycling bins look awful stuck outside people's front doors and should never have been given to properties if they didn't have rear gardens to store them in. These properties should have been given plastic bags as previously. The fronts of people's properties look so untidy with these bins stuck outside, it will look even worse when there are two! My wife is forever bleaching our bin but some of them are so filthy, I don't think they've ever been cleaned!

Biomech using your code checker on Herefordshire Council main website it comes back with known errors and potential errors. Can you explain what it means? There are a lot of visually impaired people in Hereford who use screen readers so I assumed the Council website would be accessible. Surely Hoople have the expertise to design an accessible website otherwise why are they charged with looking after all the ICT provision?

Rest assured they will be recruiting to this post as we speak if they don't they will be sharing the salary out!

Here's a link to a couple of job descriptions for out Esteemed Directors http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/2323744/Role_Profile_DPC.pdf&sa=U&ei=hvQhU-jpKcOd7QbWjoG4DQ&ved=0CCcQFjAH&usg=AFQjCNHGs7_VnECFStnyj2oQ4h6LbFB1gA http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/media/2323784/Rpt_HPS_AD_People_Services_Commissioning_Adults_Children_Health.pdf&sa=U&ei=hvQhU-jpKcOd7QbWjoG4DQ&ved=0CCYQFjAG&usg=AFQjCNFLzKS63vLwcTG27Jm0Tjlv7mcdIQ

Yes Cllr Powell that explains things thank you for taking the time Kind regards

Good luck with that Councillor It won't be easy getting anything past. Cabinet, but I for one appreciate all your endeavours. My kindest regards

GDJ you are absolutely right just looked again at the receipts Thanks for the clarification. I still disapprove of these costs but as Cllr Powell has already stated they are no longer allowed to claim Mileage to and from work I guess it's not such a great disaster if someone e has the odd sandwich

Try TWG well spotted lol

I forgot to mention When BBLP took over it was several months before they had any phone lines. Now if you don't have phone lines you don't have an internet connection and can't receive emails. So how during those first few months did BBLP receive emails from Hereford Council? How long was the delay in reporting potholes/ road issues to HC and BBLP receiving them? What was the contingency plan?

Well done Cllr Kenyon and thank you. Please accept my sincere apologies for doubting you. 24.Call centre enquiries how they are fed into the system at Balfour Beatty "pot hole list and general" Currently requests for service, whether originating through Info or from the website, generate an e-mail to BBLP; BBLP enter the service request into their asset management system, Confirm, which manages the allocation of work and resources. Emergencies are immediately passed by Info to BBLP by Phone Regarding the response above this seems like a very poor way of doing things. Why do the Council email complaints through to BB? I understand the Council purchased a piece of software for this purpose at a cost of 1.5 million. Doesn't this mean the work is done twice? A Council employee writes an email then a BB employee has to add it to their systems. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to cut out one of these processes? I have heard the Council have over 500 unanswered emails on their systems do you know if BB also have a back log?

Cllr Powell, Cllr Johnson was claiming huge amount!s of money in fuel allowances I know he lives in Malvern, do you know what type of vehicle he drives is it a 2/3 litre engine? Also were Councillors allowed to claim for more than one vehicle? He appears to have claimed fuel for two different vehicles on the same day. I also note there was a claim for fuel purchased from a garage in Strattford but no supporting evidence for what he was doing in Strattford. I am not saying he wasn't in Strattford on legitimate Council business but for claims such as these which are open to scrutiny all supporting evidence should accompany the claim.

I am sorry but I'm not sure it matters when it occurred, the facts are still the same. Are you saying that because this happened two years ago it's ok because they are not doing it now? Even if that were true, I'm more interested in the calibre of a man who would think these expenses were appropriate particularly as those very people listed are still serving Councillors. Maybe someone should pass those expenses claims to the Auditors and ask if they think it's ok? I am not sure I would have signed off in Tony Johnson's petrol allowances.

The following link makes interesting reading http://herefordheckler.co.uk/councillors-expenses-revealed-what-they-claim-for/

Maybe we are missing something here ... is it possible the Councillors who come on this forum all fired up to answer our questions and then don't are prevented from doing so?

Yes to my knowledge there is one exception I would agree with. I have noticed on several occasions Cllr Glenda Powell responding so she's not included in the statement above. TWG .... I also put questions to wizard wonky who never got back with a response either!

No Biomech they can't but I'm 99% sure the answer lies in the Contract.

DIPPY have you ever noticed that Councillors will only engage when they are looking for information? It's never ever a two way street. I have directly asked Councillors questions on a number of occasions but never once had a direct answer. The usual response being someone else is looking into that or I will get back to you, which of course they never do. Cllr Morgan's response to Bobby will be an example of how Councillors engage with the public. There was no way of responding to your question that was going to make Cllr Morgan look good.

With the recent hike in University fees Universities are struggling to get enrolments what makes Herefordshire Council think we can compete with the bigger City Universities? Hereford Colleges are struggling to get students. Also the Council are moving towards more and more staff working from home because they no longer have office space. They can't monitor staff working in the offices not sure how they are monitoring them working from home. One member of staff no longer has to pay for childcare so is absolutely delighted by the move. Isn't this one step away from bringing your children into the office? How exactly can you work with the distractions young children bring?

Hilarious! Well done Dippy! I was struggling as are the Council to see the obvious lol

TWG, BB are still not contactable by Phone. The Council have 1 emergency number for BB which can only be used for emergency reports they have been given no other direct numbers. During the recent floods the call centre struggled to get through to that number because it was constantly engaged! The Council send reports from customers through to BB via their electronic system, the one that doesn't work! They don't get updates on those reports like they used to because the system is not fit for purpose. I hear there are 500 emails sitting on the Council Servers waiting to be dealt with by the 5 staff I mentioned above in between the 100s of calls they take. The majority of those emails are road issues. Someone will be seriously injured or worse killed before the Council do anything. I know staff warned Senior Managers of the dangers of cutting staff in the call centre but they refused to listen. They didn't listen because if they hadn't cut those staff they wouldn't have been able to increase the salaries of the two Managers. It is also rumoured that BB want to take over incoming calls regarding road issues. My guess is if it's true the Council will jump at the chance. They will then have no control over our Highways no way of knowing the amount of jobs coming in or the work being completed. By keeping the reports coming in to the Council at least they can track the number of complaints and will know when a job hasn't been done. If we give them complete control we will lose that information. So there you have it we are as B47 would say doomed!

Cllr Chappell thank you for your response, could you please clarify the following please How many operatives were answering calls on the 11th and 18th of Feburary in the Councils call centre? To clarify I have done some research and I'm told that the emergency planning department don't take calls and there isn't a switchboard at the Council any longer all call go through the call centre. I'm not sure of the exact dates of the switch over to the call centre but even prior to the switch the calls would have gone to the call centre from. Switchboard anyway. My sources also tell me the call centre was extremely short of staff, 5-6 officers fielding 100s of calls and only 5 fully trained members of staff available because of recent redundancies in the department. Which begs the question in an emergency situation are the Council fully staffed to deal with an emergency/ disaster situation?

TWG I hear the Holme Lacy road is repaired and open ahead of schedule! Wonders really will never cease. Lol Cllr Kenyon did you ever get to the bottom of BBLP contract? Not sure these issues are going away anytime soon. The rumour mill is in full swing and the word on the street is .... BBLP are about to take over all the calls for Highways defects cutting out the Council! If this is true the Council will have no control over our Highways we won't know the number of reports coming in the amount of jobs raised or the number of repairs completed against those reports? Are we really considering this?