Off Topic Major incident

[Blond Bombshell]

I think they are also one of the many councils which have massive holes in their pension fund. Unsustainable commitments having to be paid by rate payers. Some councils now set aside over 30% of rates collected to fund pensions. Clearly, this cannot go on forever, especially when the retirement age of council employees is lower than people in the private sector and the provisions more generous.

Dear me, could it get any worse... are the government negotiating with the councils and/or unions? I wonder how this has all blown up

 

[Wayne the Punk]

Birmingham. I've always thought it was a ****hole everytime I've visited the place. Admittedly it's always been for footy. Typical Britain.

They used to be one of my customers, I pointed out to my contact I could guarantee them cost savings of £600k a year, they didnt want to know?????????????

 

[Draig]

And Birmingham is one of the councils allowed to increase their council tax by more than 5% from today. 7.5% for them. Barmy situation. They are skint, but not the only council in that boat...

Bloody nothing that, Flintshire Council Tax rise is 9% and we get switched from fortnightly black bin collection to three-weekly!

 

[rowley]

Dear me, could it get any worse... are the government negotiating with the councils and/or unions? I wonder how this has all blown up

I
The pension issue has festered for years, and not just in Birmingham. It is a ticking financial bomb . So much so that at one point they refused to say how much they were spending on them as a percentage of the rates.

 

[FellTop]

I
The pension issue has festered for years, and not just in Birmingham. It is a ticking financial bomb . So much so that at one point they refused to say how much they were spending on them as a percentage of the rates.

There are pension timebombs all over the place, not just councils. It is another problem our kids will pay for and resent us for.

 

[rowley]

There are pension timebombs all over the place, not just councils. It is another problem our kids will pay for and resent us for.

There are. But private ones fall without rescue. State pensions are another matter, and the cash out into them has been disgracefully plundered over the decades.

But the massive disparity between public sector pensions and the rest is an unexploded bomb, financial and otherwise.