“I remember the Council's annual printing bill being pretty high when Ms Pentney's lot were in charge. I raised questions about the large sums being spent on superfluous promotional material back then, but was witness to dark mutterings from councillors that they wanted to maintain a good working relationship with the local press by paying them an annual retainer for printing material of this kind. No disrespect to the Herald, but this was the explanation given by officers and Lib Dem councillors at budget scrutiny meetings I attended as an observer.

Perhaps if councillors from both parties were out door-stopping in their wards, communicating more effectively what needs to be said rather than enjoying free hospitality and heating in the Town Hall all week, there would be less need to publish everything in a glossy, printed format, surely?

Of course, Raikes has continued to invest heavily in creating career openings for well-paid PR professionals in the Council's Communications department in recent years, so they had to find something for them to do, I sup-pose?”

“Willie might be somewhere but not on this planet!
I submitted by expenses claim for January it was £12.”

“I'mj just going up stairs to get changed, I'l be coming out in a minute!!!”

“@ Devonian, Torbay

My goodness these revalations indeed come as a great shock.

Baggins remembers a certain prospective Mayor saying he would take a sythe to all these wasters and seat warmers - Not much time left now Bye-Bye.”

“Where I reside our calenders for this year where delivered in November by our dustbin guys, we have two lady dustbin ladies, Biffa are contracted to collect our rubbish. Guess what they visit every house, flat or business in the area. So no post
men involved.

I guess the vast majority of people love the calender up here. It is very common for all local authorities to have a calender so it is not unique.

I forgot it is the lead up to elections and Ms Pentney as a lib dem activist is playing her part, good on her.

Ms Pentney what is the total amount of expenses the councillors claim on a monthly basis, far beyond £22000, I suspect, so why do you not donate that money to help out your constituents or the money raised from your coffee mornings??”

“Yawn....”

“6) Cllr Kevin Carroll, leader of the Tory majority on the council, has also denied claims the wage reshuffle has left a 'poisonous' atmosphere at the Town Hall. Well maybe he should try having a walk and talk to the staff then, he would soon change his mind.

7) Let¿s be clear here, the problem is not just the JE, it is the lack of communication from the top, the so called COG, who has decreed that they are not there to make decisions, that would not be a problem if the management under them was capable of decision making but there lies the problem. That layer has hangers on waiting for their pensions; people with racial charges against them, incompetents, over spenders and of course not one of them who can make a decision. Junior managers who can see the need for change and then write reports stating not only what is needed but how to achieve it are totally ignored by both senior management and COG. Many of the older staff has no desire to change as they have seen it all and it will never happen attitude which stifles change within TDC. Change IS needed the wastage is phenomenal and remember Torbay tax payers are paying for it.

8) Staff think they are hard done by but actually they have been overpaid for years, all they had to do was turn up for work and they would receive a pay rise at the end of it called an increment. On top of that they would get an annual pay rise in line with inflation, do not forget the pensions, also the free parking tickets and a wonderful thing called flex time on top of annual holidays. Flex time usually involved hanging around your office for an hour or two after your work day was over, you were suppose to work but most people spoke to friends, some even painted their nails, after this you could add up all the hours you ¿worked; and had them off at a more convenient time. Some people were taking a week per month off.

9) According to the latest information, the new Hub which I understand is no longer called that, at Torquay Town Hall has been grossly underestimated as staff costs and certain projects have not been included as then the Council Officer in charge would not have got them past the Councilors. This is a £30 million pound project and this officer only works 2 days a week so what did he do? He hired two other project managers of course. The initial numbers of up to 50% of staff working from home as now become 100% working from the HUB as managers do not feel they can trust the staff to work from home. I have actually heard staff say to managers,

a) I will work from home on Wednesday as the children are home and I need time with them
b) I will work from home on Friday as my son has a nativity play I need to attend
c) I will work from home on Monday as I will be travelling back by train from a weekend away.
You might have noticed the lack of work mentioned in these work from home days, the staff did not.
On top of that is the cost of £250 for each staff member to have the needed computer lines to ACTUALLY work from home. Most people do not have dedicated studies so confidential documents could be being worked on kitchen tables in full view of staff partners, visitors, family ect. Within the HUB was suppose to be TDC partners, police, probation services ect, there now seems to be no room for them and yet last week councilors¿ were stating that a new Debenhams type store would revitalize that area, this suppose to be part of the HUB plans, I¿m unsure were that would actually go. I am sure that any M&S, Debenhams personal looking at perspective sites will welcome Factory Row on the left, the DSS in front and Drunks swigging from cans at the entrance to any new store.

10) Oldway has yet to be finalised as a sale due to the fact that the prospective buyer is short of funds, and heaven forbid that they should find out about the roof being held up by scaffolding a fact hidden from then as then they might not want to actually buy the building, This means ”

“So many bits and pieces have been said, ¿quoted¿ and aimed at Torbay Council that it might be worth clearing up a few things, and yes I have worked for TDC up until last year so I do know what goes on there

1) So Adrian Sanders is to question a government decree, he probably should have done that many years ago when the government announced it in Parliament, which is after all Sanders supposed day job. Of course we are just about to enter an election and so he probably wants you to remember his name, much in the same way that Nick Bye has suddenly started to have quotes in the HE.

.Sanders states ¿"One man is due to lose £1,500 a year, and he has just taken out a mortgage based on his present earnings," he said.
"But money is going to be taken later this year and it is open to question as to whether he can afford to keep up that mortgage¿.
2) The JE has been going on for 10 months with the prospect of salary drops and yet this man goes out and gets a mortgage based on his present salary? I hope he is not in charge of public money as he obviously has no financial knowledge.

3) The JE, was and always has been a Government Edict, TDC (Torbay District Council) have had to abide by it as have all other Local Government Offices. As to Sanders stating ¿could it have been brought in slower¿, this is a staggering statement from a man who is suppose to know about these matters as TDC are 2 years BEHIND everybody else in this matter.

4) Only one quarter of the staff is adversely effected by this JE, you would think all the staff had lost their jobs from the HE comments and the continual dragging up of this story. Staff at Honda Swindon, Nissan Sunderland have all accepted a pay cut as they realise the worldwide financial problems. Staff at Orange Bristol all lost there jobs overnight, this has not happened at TDC. Cornwall are going to need massive job cuts to help gain the 100million saving that they need, Devon has already looked at job cuts, Teignbridge District Council and Somerset Councils have done the same.

5) The Dustmen are threatening to strike and have approached the Union, interesting as the unions, 3 of them, have been involved with the JE process from day one and one woman shop steward whose Union has been heavily critical of her for giving in to quickly and to easy to TDC. Also the waste management team are about to be outsourced a process that has been going on for an eternity as the team putting the bid together have to keep starting from step one as they have no knowledge of this process, and this is born out by the fact that it started off as a golden share company, TDC to have 51% of the shares and a private sector company to have 49% of the shares, this after about 4 try¿s is now at 15% of the shares with TDC the rest are with the private company. One company out of the three contenders walked from the table saying they did not wish to work with such a disorganized outfit as TDC.”

“Facetious, Is there an extension no. for Mrs Raikes ?
I bet not!!!

viv.”

“I think it's marvellous of the council to give us this calendar, I'm always forgetting my dates. And so what if it's a bit late in arriving you can always use the January bit for January next year, you moaning minnies !”