Incompetence: CCBC (and other Public Bodies and Statutory Undertakers...)

[mull]

Good to see they post the collection dates to each address.

Argyll & Bute advise the dates on line only.

[spotty dog]

While driving down O Colwyn prom this morning,I noticed CCBC engineers ,I use the term loosely,and Jennings Plant doing a survey of the sea defence

[norman08]

So Dummer and Dummer where there  I've never seen tenders for jobs with Ccbc , funny how Jennings seem to always get the work, the money they mus make out of us tax payers.

[Ian]

CCBC are sitting on something of a powder keg with regard to Refuse driver pay. I have it on good  authority that most drivers are being paid an extra 1.5 hours to wash down their wagons, when in reality they are gone by 1500 each day.  Not only this but the management is aware of this (paying them for 1.5 hours work they never do) and has done nothing about it.

Some of the drivers do not get this bonus and are understandably unhappy.

[Helig]

Norman08 has commented about work being given to Jennings. It is possible to establish what contracts they have been awarded and how much money has been paid to them in each year by doing a request to CBBC under the Freedom of Information Act. There is a site online which can be used to do this. It is What do They Know. It is very easy to use and the local authority would have to provide the details.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/

Helig

[norman08]

Helig Jennings got the work of dumping the rocks on the north shore, plus the ongoing work there over the years, for years the clearing of sand on westshore cycle path, plus work in colwyn bay, are they the only company capable of doing this work 🤔.

[Ian]

Thanks, Helig.  It's actually already on our list of really useful links, under 'track freedom of information requests'.

[Helig]

Thank you for that, Ian.

norman08, somewhere I used to live (I won't say where) the council put a huge amount of work out to one company. After a lady in the council got chatting to me one day, I discovered that this particular company paid money to certain councillors, say no more. Subsequent to that I did some Freedom of Information requests to find that none of this work was put out to tender.

Helig.

[spotty dog]

In answer to an FOI  I was informed that 7000 tons of green waste was collected last year to be composted. 12 tons was sent to Tan Lan nursery for distribution to the residents.
The rest was spread by the contractor on his own land.
That is 6988 tons which when converted to cubic metres of non-compacted compost at 1.5 cu.m per ton is 10500 cubic metres.
This has gone on for several years, has anybody seen a new mountain growing in the vicinity because this volume of compost would require an enormous area of land for it not to be noticed.
Further, enquiries revealed that the annual cost of collection will be about £35 but the council do not know the exact cost as yet because the tenders have not yet been completed.
Governance by Guesswork seems to be the order of the day
Copied from Facebook.

[SteveH]

Again it appears there was a lack of due diligence into those receiving public funded grants, probably give the new people a grant to take on the building.

The £1.3m headquarters left empty after a building contractor went bust could be about to get new owners after it was confirmed an offer has been made for the site.

GM Jones, in Llanrwst, had been one of the most successful builders in Conwy county - carrying out commercial and public sector schemes across the region.
It moved into the new HQ in 2018 backed by £400,000 from the Wales Economic Fund but then ran into financial problems - falling into administration in March 2019.   

Cont... “Forty workers were made redundant, and two major units supported by £400,000 of our tax payer’s money left empty and unused.

[SteveH]

This is not local, but shows the thinking ( or lack )  of Councils etc. I think my views on grants/funding/loans to private companies are known, and this seems to prove the point.

The controversial renovation of a Grade II* listed building as a luxury hotel has secured council funding.
Cardiff council has approved a loan - believed to be about £2m - to the owners of the city's Coal Exchange.

"controversial Liverpool company Signature Living."
"concerns over the financial and business background of the company's owner Lawrence Kenwright.
 "https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/lawrence-kenwright-tells-regret-over-17337790

The renovation was partly funded by private investment, with investors purchasing individual rooms for tens of thousands of pounds.
Rooms were then leased back to the hotel owners in return for an annual dividend of about 8% and the opportunity to eventually sell the rooms back to the hotel for a profit.
However, investors in other another Signature hotel said they have been through "a nightmare" trying to get money from the company.
( sound familiar )

Cont   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51228054

[Ian]

The WA has, at best, a mixed track record of encouraging investment and councils tend to be far worse.

[SteveH]

I just had to check out the BBC's afternoon news............                                  

A council is spending about £1,000 a day on a potholes consultant.
In an email seen by the BBC, Shropshire Council's boss said the appointment was part of a range of measures to speed up repairs of the county's roads.

An external company is already undertaking Shropshire's road maintenance in a £147m deal, but the same correspondence criticised their pothole repair.        cont   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-51355349

[SteveH]

The award for the wooden spoon ..........

'Why did it take South Wales to flood for Welsh Government to act' say council leaders
Denbighshire and Conwy's council leaders said First Minister only acted after South Wales floods - but the Welsh Government 'rejects' the accusation.

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/why-take-south-wales-flood-17785530

[Hugo]

The roving DVLA vans on the hunt to catch Welsh vehicle tax dodgers

This headline is not likely to frighten the hardened road tax dodger and will be about as effective as those Arrive Alive speed camera vans that seem to be permanently parked outside Llandrillo Yn Rhos College
Why are DVLA driving around streets looking for cars with no road tax when their own computers tell them when the road tax has expired and where the owner of the vehicle lives,  Surely personal visits to those defaulters addresses would be more cost effective?

I have written to the DVLA on a number of occasions under the FOI Act asking for specific information and each time they issue a waffled reply and don't provide the exact information I have requested and now I have been told that they will not reply to any FOI requests I make.
As I have said before as a debt management recovery office they are not fit for purpose.    I drive past a house sometimes that has up to 5 cars there and at least 3 of them have no road tax on them and one has no tax, MOT or insurance but is still being driven on the road.   But with the DVLA  it's like       

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/roving-dvla-vans-hunt-catch-17752498