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June 27, 2012
The 'Local Government Association' costs £56m per annum
Hands up anyone who doesn't work in local government who has ever heard of the 'Local Government Association' (the 'LGA') ?
It is hard to believe but this is a body who lobby one part of government on behalf of another part of government to ask for more money and to ask that it be given less onerous tasks to conduct. It is the ultimate useless quango - tha last back office of the back office.
This is the body that tries to persuade central government that they shouldn't be asked to provide public libraries: that libraries don't need books, don't beed buildings and don't need experienced staff
Most of the people who draw expenses from it aren't actually elected to be in power and responsible positions - they are councillors and council officers who have no actual role in the governance of their own councils -and are just job fillers of non jobs, expensively rewarded
And the cost of this negative, unproductive, useless body turns out to be £56m per annum- and that includes about £27m of consultants' fees and a stonkingly expensive huge building in the dearest part of London
It should be shut down - it does nothing for the public and the money could be far better used.
If we have managed without the Audit Commission for two years, we can most certainly manage without the LGA
Posted by Perkins at June 27, 2012 3:45 AM
Comments
So often what seems brilliant at 3.45 a.m. turns out to be rubbish at 3.45 p.m.
This is not one of those ideas - it is in fact brilliant 24/7!
BUT...if it were abolished what proof is there that the £56m would be spent on soomething mega-important such as libraries?
Posted by: Jim O'Neil at June 27, 2012 2:21 PM
Jim
It could be used to cut some deficit - it is what I would call 'waste'
One wouldn't even be making many people redundant - most of this is to give people second jobs and second sources of income
Incidentally I wasn't writing at 3.45 am, I am in California, I've just been at the ALA and doing some work with libraries here. These will be among the first libraries to use the Bilbary ebook website connection. It was just evening!
Posted by: perkins at June 27, 2012 4:11 PM