Local Authorities

The economic news has not been exactly promising today although the construction industry figures have been somewhat positive as have the latest employment figures. If the economy is doing as badly as the figures suggest how is it that the private sector is taking on more staff? What is concerning of course is the level of inflation and the unwillingness of the Bank of England to do anything about it. It is going to have to increase interest rates at some point and surely it would be better to do so earlier than later as the sooner we tackle the problem the sooner it will be resolved. With the polls showing the Tories neck and neck with Labour this would be a good time to do it and also to plough on with the necessary changes to the NHS. It is unfortunate though that the economy story has taken attention away from the disgraceful way in which so many local authorities are behaving. If they adopted correct policies there would be absolutely no need to reduce the number of the elderly in care and  Southern Cross would be profitable. Correct policies mean reducing the outrageous salaries senior officers are paid, the withdrawal of their cars and other perks, the dismissal of non jobs like the diversity and climate change ones, the sorting out of the child care mess, the banishing of the trades unions, bringing pension entitlement to private sector levels, reducing rates and generally concentrating solely on the basics. Eric Pickles is doing a good job but he needs to go faster and deeper.