Home secretary wastes £5 million.

Duncan G · 22-09-2008, 10:32 AM

Our beloved Home Secretary has come up with the idea of employing 3,600 volunteers to act as a link between the Public - thats you and me

- and the Police and tell the Police what the Public are concerned about. This is going to cost £5 million. Quite why we the public are not able to do this to the Police direct I do not know.

Here's a thought why not spend the £5 million plus the millions spent on PCSO's on employing proper Police officers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7627746.stm

mjn · 22-09-2008, 11:30 AM

You mean , you're not a fan of "Plastic Policemen"?

**Steven** · 22-09-2008, 11:47 AM

So what of CSO's?

Decadence · 22-09-2008, 12:08 PM

Another load of crap designed to massage the unemployment figures no doubt...all these crackpot schemes waste tax money but help out on the statistics.

andykn · 22-09-2008, 12:21 PM

You wouldn't be one of those people who complains that the Govt doesn't listen, then?

krish · 22-09-2008, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decadence

Another load of crap designed to massage the unemployment figures no doubt

certainly looks like crap to me (Jacqui Smith 'announces' some BS or other every week) but £5 million (or "3,600 volunteers") is not really going to make a dent in any statistic

Bat-man · 22-09-2008, 12:50 PM

I am on one of these 'consultation groups' with the Police (and have been for some time - so it's nothing new).
I haven't noticed it make a scrap of difference to them opting out of just about everything!

Decadence · 22-09-2008, 3:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krish

certainly looks like crap to me (Jacqui Smith 'announces' some BS or other every week) but £5 million (or "3,600 volunteers") is not really going to make a dent in any statistic

No but they all add up...plus there'll be other people employed to analyse data, help with paperwprk etc...no doubt it'll be contracted out to a firm run by a relative of an MP or the MP's themselves...same as the Olympics. Crooked.

Jenn · 22-09-2008, 3:10 PM

Are they going to be employed or are they volunteers (I understand this as "not paid") ?

Because if the £5m represents their wages they're each going to earn a whooping £1390

And maybe they are needed after all because I don't know about you but I haven't seen a policeman for years (except the ones is their cars hidding on the side of the motorway with a camera - but it's hard to have a conversation passing at 70mph) despite the supposed record number of them patrolling our streets.
And if you phone them, unless the burglar's already stabbed you a couple of times and your just gasping on the phone then you can wait for a bit, if they actually turn up.
So someone who has the power to get a conversation with them can only help !

Maybe exagerating a bit but then again the only time we needed them we got told that the "kids" hadn't done anything wrong yet, call back when your car has been trashed - so I'm a bit cynical.

Decadence · 22-09-2008, 3:20 PM

Who know what they'll be doing, employed or not...generally the Police don't listen anyway. The specialist departments do ok, CID, Motoring etc. but the general patrol Police from the local station are useless almost without exception...but what do we expect when their hands are tied with red tape, paperwork and targets!

The Government just likes wasting money...simple as that.

JagoPlasma · 22-09-2008, 4:41 PM

you can only throw money at a problem for so long

dan1979 · 22-09-2008, 6:24 PM

Every announcement they make like this, I have to wonder what the point is. It all seems to be about addressing problems, the thing is though, having been in power for over a decade most of the problems were caused by their meddling in the first place.

Still it's only few million with nowhere better to go, it's not like they're about to close, sorry 'downgrade' my local hospital or anything

quarry2006 · 22-09-2008, 7:43 PM

When you say "most of the problems" which problems do you mean exactly? There's no hidden agenda to this question; it's genuine.

Steve.J.Davies · 22-09-2008, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JagoPlasma

you can only throw money at a problem for so long

indeed - but when it someone else's money (i.e.ours) HMG doesn't give a stuff. Plenty more where that came from.. FPNs all round...

*Wild Weasel* · 22-09-2008, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JagoPlasma

you can only throw money at a problem for so long

Hey, don't diss the Labour Party's only policy since 1945.

la gran siete · 23-09-2008, 7:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan G

Here's a thought why not spend the £5 million plus the millions spent on PCSO's on employing proper Police officers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7627746.stm

because police officers would cost a heck of a lot more therefore we woud get fewer of them to do a job PCSO are well capable of.They are the eyes amd ears of the force keeping an eye on the community and being generally helpful where they can.Of course their remit is limited which one expects.

at least New Labour HAS policies The Tories:????????

:conf used:

mjn · 23-09-2008, 7:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by la gran siete

They are the eyes amd ears of the force keeping an eye on the community and being generally helpful where they can.Of course their remit is limited which one expects.

Er.....you must get some special PCSOs where you live!

Duncan G · 23-09-2008, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by la gran siete

because police officers would cost a heck of a lot more therefore we woud get fewer of them to do a job PCSO are well capable of.They are the eyes amd ears of the force keeping an eye on the community and being generally helpful where they can.Of course their remit is limited which one expects.

at least New Labour HAS policies The Tories:????????

:conf used:

A Police Office gets £21,534 while training and £24,039 after training.

A PCSO in Sussex can get £20,139 while training then £22,038 on completing training. This can varie from County to County though. I would prefer a proper Police Office to be on the beat who has authority and the power of arrest rather than the cheap alternative.

Sonic67 · 23-09-2008, 11:59 AM

The more people who work for the government the more people who might vote for them.

Duncan G · 23-09-2008, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonic67

The more people who work for the government the more people who might vote for them.

That rules out all those in the civil service, job centres ect as they are still employed whoever runs the country.

Pecker · 23-09-2008, 12:05 PM

It seems to me we have a policy to try to solve a problem. From some accounts it may not have worked.

Is that wasteful? Or should we follow the old saying that anyone who never made a mistake never made anything? In the great scheme of public expenditure £5m is not an awful lot of money.

As for "you can't solve anything by throwing money at it", I thought even tory cabinet ministers dropped that in the early '90's, when everyone realised it was just a poor sound bite to cover up bleeding public services dry with underfunding. It's a highly inaccurate thing to say.

Ten years ago teacher recruitment was at an all time low, and most staff rooms resembled the UN with supply teachers flown in from all over the globe. The government 'threw money at it' and increased teachers' pay, and guess what - teacher shortage problem solved...well not quite solved, but the situation is far better than it was.

You can't wish doctors, nurses, teachers, soldiers, tanks, police officers, roads, trains, etc, out of thin air. They cost money.

Steve W