Local Authority Public Funding and Resource Management
Where spending public money is concerned, all local government and national government acts
that go against the majority will of the people are fraudulant and a form of theft.
Misappropriation Of Public Resources
Many people are currently disturbed by the negligent and abusive misappropriation of public funds. So much public money is currently spent on many things that the majority of people do not want and are not in favour of, whilst at the same time, we are being short changed in other essential areas. This is simply not good enough and it is about time that people had some say in where their money goes and what it is spent on. It is also about time that there was some form of comeback on those in charge that do not spend public funds in accordance with public wishes. After all, if you had the builder in to do a job in your house, you would expect him to do what you wanted him to do and if instead he did something completely different that you didn't want done and charged you for the privilege, you would be justifiably put out and would probably expect to get some form of compensation. Just one example of this kind of misappropriation of public spending, be it funding from local or central government, is the recent introduction over the past few years of certain types of so called 'traffic calming measures', some of which are completely nonsensical.
What have such achieved achieved? Apart from the fact that they cause a great deal of inconvenience to the people during their installation, they diminish public funds to the tune of many thousands of pounds, and create a further blight on the road, degrading the quality of the road surface and a further degradation of the quality of motoring for the end user. They achieve little or nothing useful to do with traffic management and are green unfriendly as they compound pollution and global warming as well as wear and tear on your vehicle. As far as many people are concerned, nothing positive can be said about the implementation of such schemes, and they have, as far as the tax-payer goes, achieved nothing to warrant their implementation or expense. They are completely retrogressive and an utter waste of tax-payer's money. Some of them can even be considered to be down-right dangerous, increasing the risk of accidents. Spending public money on things that are retrogressive and not an improvement to our quality of life whilst at the same time under providing in other essential areas, many people feel is not good enough, and I have to agree, it is not.
Issues That Should Be Considered Paramount
- All local authorities are primarily there to serve the people who pay their wages. They should not be administering schemes and policies that are contrary to the will of the people that pay their wages.
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- People in the community should not be paying out large amounts of their hard earned money just to have their lives made difficult for them and it is NOT the local authority's job to make life more difficult for the people that pay its wages.
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- Local authorities should be there to manage, not to mismanage. If it can be seen that something the local authority is doing is contrary to what the people want, they should abandon or reverse the scheme without delay.
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- Local authorities should not ignore the strength of public opinion or behave in opposition to what the public see as common sense.
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- In a democracy local authorities and governments alike should be there to administer the will of the people. They should not be laying down the law and using bully boy tactics to administer schemes and policies that the people do not agree with.
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- People pay considerable amounts of money in the form of council tax, well above what is affordable to many. Local authorities should not be seen to be wasting such hard earned resources on schemes and policies that are petty, wasteful, retrogressive, or that go against the will of the people.
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- Local authorities do not always know best, they just think they do! If people disagree with a local authority initiative it is likely to be because it is not a good idea and is poorly thought out, not because the public are stupid and less capable of knowing what is best for them than the local authority.
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It should be up to the people who provide the money to decide what it should be spent on.
Local authorities currently consume a considerable amount of the household budget in the form of council tax. It is an abuse if this money is not spent in the best interests of the public and in good taste. Charging people lots of money and not doing the job properly is a kind of fraud and a form of stealing. People in the public sector hold positions of great responsibility and should always be seen to do the right thing. This does not preclude the making of mistakes, but if something can be seen to be erroneous and not in the best interests of the public, the issue should be corrected without delay.
There are so many undernourished areas, the responsibility of which currently rests with the local councils. It is extremely sad to see people's hard earned resources wasted on issues that are retrogressive, petty, unnecessary and contrary to the will of the general public. When local authority bailiffs have be seen to dispossess poor families of their only television set, it really adds insult to injury when the spoils on things that the public do not agree with.
If it is seen and felt that the council are wasting time and money on undesirable things whilst neglecting what the public feel are more important areas, or if it is particularly evident that an area needs more funding, the public should be obliged to draw the local authorities attention to it and the local authority should be obliged to take notice.