23 January (Part 1) - Send them to Coventry
I kept the postman busy this morning. One SpecSaver leaflet, one pizza advert
and four Bexley related letters. The one on Bexley council notepaper was the
most puzzling. It said the council aren’t going to include paying-in
slips with the next council tax bill. Why should I care, I’ve never used them?
My file of council tax bills doesn’t include any payment slips but I probably
threw them away and I vaguely remember there may have been ten of them in a
pack. If I am right it looks as though 24,500 people will have received a letter
like mine plus all those people who actually used the slips.
I don’t understand how any money will be saved this year or perhaps for several
years, It’s all been wasted on postage costs. Why wasn’t an advice note included
in the tax bill envelope? It’s not as though the advance notice will give any practical advantage.
It is perhaps an illustration of just how desperate Bexley council’s financial
woes are. Within the past few days we’ve learned that the council is
tightening the
screw on the sick and disabled and saving money by
sending the homeless to Manchester,
even though one couple were in local employment. I think I have a brilliant idea…
Move council jobs up there too.
There must be some back room jobs that could be done anywhere. What about the
desk jobs in the parking gestapo? The parking shop is long gone, everything is
done by phone or internet now. They don’t have to sit in a London office.
The same goes for some of the Contact Centre staff. The fad for large companies hiring
support staff in Delhi is largely over, but BT, for example, had, probably still
has, support staff working from home on the end of fast net connection. Do we
need all the planning staff to be on top of the job? Maybe a mobile handful to
tour the borough while the rest stay in their offices.
OK, so you think I have gone off my rocker, but according to council insiders
this is exactly what we have to look forward to. Relocate or resign.
Note: Not necessarily Manchester, just somewhere cheaper than Bexley.