Or more specifically 'Planning Ahead' - the Friday rant.

Don't laugh but I work for Local Government in Scotland Environmental Services or The Planning Department as it used to be known. There has been this deadline that has been know about for quite some time - years in fact but, even following Englands disastrous reaction to this new legislation, Scotland (and my particular authority) has stumbled on blindly ignoring the deadlines and has now got itself into a bit of bother

I'm talking about the new neighbour notification legislation that transfers from the responsibility of the applicant/agent submitting a planning application to the responsibility of the council (feel free to jump in anytime snowy). Just over a year ago, England went on to this new system and struggled yet Scotland has blindly ignored any deadlines and is now in real trouble. In my authority teams have been set up to implement the new legislation. Reports have been written, English authorities visited on fact-finding missions and suggestions have been made as to when to start preparing for the transfer. Three months is the minimum suggested and yet we're well into June, the report has to be accepted by the committee on the 23rd June, the transfer happens on the 3rd August and Im off for half of July (Did I mention that I've been dicked for this task (no, it's not a typo))?

So, I've got roughly 17 working days to get this up and running Nothing can happen before the committee decision, puters have to be ordered, configured and installed (dual screens though). Codes of practice written, systems have to be amended to incorporate the new data, staff have to be trained and I have to manage the new team. Oh, and the biggest laugh of all - I have to do my existing job as well??? My colleagues in England are gobsmacked by the incompetence.

Rant over - for now...

Al

Sounds like congratulations are in order

Local Government, incompetence? NEVER!

On a serious note, I want a job in a local authority, but there aren't any in the department I'm after anywhere between here and Hampshire.

Yup congratulations.

Sounds like the average business to me...

Well done for sticking around Al, hope you make it out the other side OK.

You should be the one laughing at us. You're the one with the gold plated pension scheme, not us.

Hi from Fife where true incompetence reigns supreme in local government. I had hoped the breaking of the Labour stranglehold would help but they share powwer with the Liberals and the reality is little has changed (I suspect that says much more about entrenched attitudes and the public servants than lack of LD effort to achieve change too). Not a pop at either party, the reality is any party in power to long is almost always bad news. I live next door to one of my three councilors who is Labour and he's hinted privately he's leaving next election after about three terms and that the reason has a lot to do with administrative and service delivery incompetence and fellow politicians self interest rather than service to the community (He and one other are fine, the third is blatantly a career politician and pretty useless to the community really). There are good public servants around I'm sure and trying to do a good job like you but going nowhere surrounded by fools, placeholders, back scratchers and stabbers etc. I know a few a little and have yet to meet a genuinely competent, motivated and professionally balanced one. Especially professionally balanced. The neighbour is on the planning committee (his views on some of its decisions aren't repeatable ) so I might ask if Fife is doing any better. I rather doubt it.

The bad news is central government and all the assorted quango's are no better. Where I am at the moment yesterday someone came back from a meeting with a quango with news of a change that is so breathtakingly ignorant it's unreal. To say the boss was mad about it was putting it mildly. And this has already been passed as policy by the quango but still has to go to the Scottish Parliament. That's been a huge disappointment to me frankly but hopefully even it will see the change is stupid, stupid, stupid.

The good news is ... can't think of any at the moment.

Richard.

The trade-off is generally lower pay...

OK - here's a first hand example of local government...... erm....... practice

Man breaks neck and (eventually) goes back to work. Man struggles somewhat and asks Personnel ( ) to quote for early retirement on health grounds. Answer: we can't answer that as you're working full time and therefore it's not applicable... So I ask when I can apply for a quote.... Answer: when you're signed off and it's reasonable to assume you can't return because of your injury..... but you have to be signed back on for action to be taken???

So.... knowing that the employee is struggling, management give him a new task to organise (1 - 2 years secondment) with all the advice gathered pointing towards 3+ months preparation time and give him 17 working days to implement the scheme. Nothing like a bit of pressure.....

Crisis bloody management

Al