The Chancellor’s wish to see greater productivity in public services

The Chancellor gave an important lecture recently on the need to raise public sector productivity. He drew attention to the decline in public service productivity by 5.7% compared to pre pandemic, whilst private services had shown a productivity improvement of 1.7% over the same time period.

He raised the issue of the “10,000 public workers in equality, diversity and inclusion” wondering if this was too many. I would add why did the NHS recruit more than 3,500 additional managers over the last three years? How did their appointment coincide with a major decline in productivity and what are they doing about it? How many new forms and requirements have these additional managers imposed on the front line staff? Why do we have duplicate or triplicateĀ  management, with management at NHS England levels, management at regional NHS quango level and management at hospital or GP Trust level? Why is there a cadre of senior NHS managers in the Department of Health and another corps of senior managers inĀ  NHS England? How many requirements on NHS trusts do these bodies send out each year?

When staff morale is low as it has been in the NHS with strikes and disputes over working conditions as well as about pay it implies the senior management haveĀ  not listened and led in the way they should. It took senior management a very long time to come up with a manpower plan. Given the dominance of the NHS in the UK health area it is important the NHS does enough to stimulate sufficient education and training of our future health practitioners. That will take time and is not enough by way of response to current troubles. The senior management need to rework rotas, shifts, working practices and conditions with their medical teams to win back the loyalty and support of the staff. There is the danger of losing too many experienced and good people overĀ  conditions and job gradings.

 

95 Comments

  1. Lifelogic
    July 22, 2023

    So much of what the state sector produce is positively harmful. So much of what they do decreases the productivity of the state sector, So they tax them and then use the money to handicap them.

    “10,000 public workers in equality, diversity and inclusion” why do we need any? How many (even more I assume) work in pushing the net bonkers zero religion?

    How many in road blocking activities and the motorist mugging industries. How many in planning compliance as you have fitted they wrong types of window or similar in error or as you could not afford the conservation area ones.

    1. Everhopeful
      July 22, 2023

      +++
      Not sure whether it is universal but certainly I know of an area where the council tries to redefine ā€œconservationā€. Obviously intent on making said area as gruesomely ugly and Stalinist as achieved elsewhere they say in their blurb that ā€œchangeā€ must be expected even in a Conservation Area. That means demolishing a big old house with history and beautiful gardens and cramming three huge houses with very small gardens on the site. Naturally the house never came onto the market and much local ā€œskullchummeryā€ took place. And still others beg to replace their front door!
      I bet all that was very productive!

      1. Lifelogic
        July 22, 2023

        +1

    2. Lifelogic
      July 22, 2023

      ā€œdecreases the productivity of both the private sector and the state sectorā€ I meant. The NHS and state schools as examples. These are hugely less efficient (the NHS even kills many people using duff surgeons) because it is hard to fire incompetent staff (perhaps surgeons) and because recruiting has restricted diversity also due to other restrictions that prevent them from recruiting the best people for the job. Also by national pay rules that prevent then adjusting pay levels to balance demand.

      If you are short of decent maths or physics teachers but have a surplus of english teachers in certain areas then you obviously need to pay some subject teachers more and others less. But you are often unable in practice to do this.

    3. Dave Andrews
      July 22, 2023

      We need equality, diversity and inclusion managers because the organisations have to defend themselves from discrimination claims at employment tribunals. The statutory defence is a high bar set by the tribunals, so organisations have to spend an inordinate amount of resources in assuring there is comprehensive staff training, regularly refreshed.
      All employees must be assumed to be prejudiced or guilty of unconscious bias. No one can be trusted to behave reasonably and any slip has to be unforgiven and acted on heavily.
      Great time for the lawyers.

      1. Ashley
        July 22, 2023

        +1 a vast parasitic job creation scheme for lawyers and similar types of rather unproductive indeed anti-productive activity.

  2. Lifelogic
    July 22, 2023

    So the Tories won one seat, due mainly it seems, to the appalling rip off ULEZ tax. A tax which clearly Sunak & Hunt’s Tories clearly agree with – if he did not the Government could obviously kill it dead but they choose not to and pretend they are against it.

    1. Everhopeful
      July 22, 2023

      +++
      Never mind lad.
      Transport for London will be able to replenish its woefully depleted coffers!
      Funny how ā€œclimate changeā€ used to be called ā€œglobal warmingā€ and now itā€™s called ( as you say)ā€¦TAX!

    2. Sir Joe Soap
      July 22, 2023

      It’s a gem of a strategy. Introduce and encourage extra taxes and restrictions, encourage Labour suckers to implement them locally, then campaign against them. Just needs a name change to the Peter Party and all will be set.

      1. graham1946
        July 22, 2023

        More than ‘encourage’, made it law.

    3. graham1946
      July 22, 2023

      ‘They pretend they are against it’ – ULEZ
      They can’t. It was them that made it law that the mayor had to improve air quality in London. Obviously Kahn (who I don’t support) has done it the wrong way, penalising the poorest (that’s not unusual in any party), but it is the Tories who started it and wanted it in Central London and he has taken it to a ridiculous degree, with tales of 4,000 a year dying of poor air (not true), disregarding the ‘consultation’ – that’s not unusual either, even his own figures show it will make no difference. Just a money making scam because he can’t handle his budget.

      1. Donna
        July 22, 2023

        I think you’ll find that it is EU Regulations which require improved air quality. The Government and Mayor simply implemented the Diktat from Brussels. Of course we’re no longer “in” the EU …. but the Not-a-Conservative-Government ensured that we remain controlled by it. So Sunak won’t be changing the policy.
        https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/air-quality-concentrations/air-quality-standards#:~:text=The%20EU's%20air%20quality%20directives,a%20given%20period%20of%20time.

      2. Lifelogic
        July 22, 2023

        +1

  3. Bloke
    July 22, 2023

    The Chancellor should do something sensible and be more productive himself. That would be a consumer service. Unfortunately, heā€™s inept and does wastefully-damaging things.

    1. William Long
      July 22, 2023

      The best service the Chancellor could do for the public he serves (or is supposed to) is to ‘Step down’ and make way for someone more capable.

      1. paul cuthbertson
        July 22, 2023

        WL – THERE IS NO ONE. They are all career politicians You and the country are IRRELEVANT.

    2. acorn
      July 22, 2023

      It’s not just the Chancellor. The prime cause of public sector productivity reduction is the House of Commons (HoC). Far to much badly drafted government legislation, never gets anything close to proper “due diligence”, that is left to the House of Lords. Then, the latter gets negated by the governing party dictatorship in the HoC. Why the “opposition” parties bother to turn up to vote for motions they will never win, is a mystery to me. Perhaps they feel obliged to put on a Punch & Judy show to justify the salary and expenses.

      The economy ends up with both primary and secondary legislation, that is near impossible to implement and operate. Nowadays, it invariably conflicts badly with masses of other legislation, currently being operated by one or other of the 24 ministerial departments and its quangos.

  4. Lifelogic
    July 22, 2023

    Reported in the Telegraph today:- Senior Conservatives want the Prime Minister to better protect households from the cost of phasing out new gas boilers by 2035 and delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol cars by 2030.

    Indeed but the policies make no sense at all and should be abandonned. This not even in CO2 terms (should that, quite wrongly, concern you. EVs replacing existing petrol or diesel cars saves no CO2 indeed on average it increases it, heat-pumps do not either as we have no spare low carbon electricity to drive them with anyway and capital and disruption costs are prohibitive too. So heat is just wasted at the power stations to produce the electricity to drive the heat pumps.

    1. Wanderer
      July 22, 2023

      Absolutely right. The way to protect householders from this cost is to scrap the ridiculous ban.

      1. Sharon
        July 22, 2023

        I keep seeing the sloganā€¦Just Stop Net Zero!

        I think thereā€™s enough evidence to prove net zero is not necessary, it wonā€™t make any difference to the worlds CO2 levels which low compared to levels of yesteryear , not economic, not good for the environment, the ā€˜emergencyā€™ is not realā€¦.. but is being used as an agenda of control to usher in a totalitarian society.

        1. Christine
          July 22, 2023

          Unfortunately, too many people have been brainwashed by the media into believing this climate change nonsense. I speak to many people who truly believe it is real and want politicians to fix the problem. Little do they know the adverse impact this will have on their families in the next few years. You are right there is another agenda at play here but people are gullible and believe what they read and see.

          1. MFD
            July 22, 2023

            In my long life, I have never witnessed a period where so any have been gulled by so few. Do people not read anymore and put two and two together? I believe it is the evil of so- called social media. We need it disrupted and destroyed by some sane hacker!

        2. Lifelogic
          July 22, 2023

          Sure is.

        3. glen cullen
          July 22, 2023

          +1

    2. Sir Joe Soap
      July 22, 2023

      Snake Sunak must have been spitting tacks when Labour pulled back on the 25 billion a year green spend. Having encouraged it he could have campaigned against it.

    3. David+L
      July 22, 2023

      The Manhattan Institute have produced a report into EV’s just this month. Entitled “Electric Cars for Everyone – The Impossible Dream” it is required reading if you are considering buying one, and probably better to avoid if you already have one!

      1. Lifelogic
        July 22, 2023

        +1

    4. Lifelogic
      July 22, 2023

      So yet another stealth tax on pension pots is planned by Hunt. This to prevent you passing the fund on to children tax free (as you can currently if you die below the age of 75).

      Why invest in pensions or anything else much in the UK if you do so on one basis and they move the goal posts a year later? Doubtless Labour will reimpose the lifetime limit when they get in too (as they have pledged) in 15 months. Best draw it down now it seems if you have more than the Ā£1,073k. Or perhaps better still move to a tax haven and use a QROPS. Escape for even more mad, green crap socialism under Starmer/SNP/LibDims.

      Also Boris calls for Natwest to fire the boss over their appalling Farage bank outrage. Also fire her many others and Andrew Bailey and indeed all of the useless FCA for all of the banks personal overdraft rates which are nearly all at the one size for all circa 40% when base rates are 5% where are the fair completion and fair market regulators. What more evidence do they need to act on this racket?

      1. graham1946
        July 22, 2023

        Pensions – the government pension dies with you if you don’t survive and all your contributions are lost. Happened to a friend of mine who had a double whammy- being a WASPIE woman she was cheated out of her pension by unscrupulous ‘honorable’ politicians, and died before she reached the higher age limit.

        1. Lifelogic
          July 22, 2023

          Indeed some times they can be transferred teachers and NHS ones I think but not civil services ones. You can take life cover to (in effect) compensate for an early death loss of pension- if in good health at the time.

        2. MWB
          July 22, 2023

          How many men deid before their age 65 pension age, whilst women waltzed away with their pension at age 60 ?

          1. rose
            July 22, 2023

            Presumably the whole edifice of state pensions was erected on the understanding many men would die before their three score years and ten.

          2. Al
            July 22, 2023

            MWB, to be fair that’s swings and roundabouts: how many women got reduced or no pension due to being homemakers and child raising, and therefore were regarded by the government as not contributing because they weren’t paying NI?

          3. graham1946
            July 22, 2023

            The contract with women was 60. Like it or lump it, that was the rule and women mostly got less pension than men by way of les contributing years anyway. I am not for welching on contracts. It could have been done differently.

      2. graham1946
        July 22, 2023

        The banks are running a cartel – no other word for it, but that’s o.k. with government and they are making billions in very short order, with no ‘windfall tax’ rearing its head over increased bank rate for doing nothing at all. They take our money and abuse us – a bit like government really.

  5. Lifelogic
    July 22, 2023

    ā€œWhen staff morale is low as it has been in the NHS with strikes and disputes over working conditions as well as about pay it implies the senior management have not listened and led in the way they should.ā€

    Indeed – 50% of newly qualified doctors leave within 2 years. F1 doctors are paid less than they need to cover NI, tax, prof body fees, interest on their student loans, council tax, tv tax, energy standing charges and rent on a basic room in a shared flat, commuting costsā€¦ so zero left for food, heat, light, funā€¦ plus they are treated appallingly often lacking the specialist support needed or the time to do their jobs properly, so is it any wonder they give up?

    Why do diversity officers, managers or green crap pushers in the NHS often get paid three times as much? Why do they spend millions and waste thousands of peopleā€™s time on religious services to worship the dire NHS? Why is the CEO still in place. Why did they kill and injure so many (even young people) with net tech Covid ā€œVaccinesā€ they never even needed.

    1. Lifelogic
      July 22, 2023

      As Nob Dylan put it:- Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
      And pretend that he just doesn’t see?

      It seems most MPs, this government, Labour plus the BBC and MSM, have little problem in doing this. Even evicting Andrew Bridgen from the party so as to deter others from telling the truths on this topic.

      Another excellent video by Dr John Campbell on the surely conclusive pathology reports of the vaccine ā€œdamagedā€ a couple of them boys of just 16 and 17. Plus the excellent daily sceptic and weekly sceptic podcasts.

      1. Mickey Taking
        July 22, 2023

        Robert Allen Zimmerman wrote something very similar.

    2. Christine
      July 22, 2023

      The NHS should be spending money on health not wasting it like this. The impact on my family has been devastating after an NHS committee turned down funding for a test on babies which is routine in other Western countries, only costs 58p, and would save their lives in later years. How many of our children must be sacrificed on the altar of this woke nonsense? We deserve better.

    3. a-tracy
      July 22, 2023

      Lifelogic, what is your source that 50% of newly qualified doctors leave within 2 years?

      What do you mean by ā€˜newly qualified doctorsā€™ what year of their training are they in (taking year 1 as their 1st year undergrad medical training)?
      What nationality are they?

      1. Al
        July 22, 2023

        Lifelogic may be refering to the recent GMC report that over 50% of foundation Year 2 doctors are not progressing to senior posts, but instead quitting; not leaving medicine but leaving the NHS and going elsewhere to work. (In 2011 71.3% progressed, in 2017: 57.4%, and 2019 only 42.6%)

        The total number of doctors is growing, but they are being recruited from overseas.

        1. a-tracy
          July 22, 2023

          Thank you AI, did the GMC report say how many of them were British and how many were overseas students?

          Are there enough roles for them to progress into for that third clinical year, do we prioritise British doctors? Iā€™m intrigued. Google turned up one article in the Guardian saying ā€˜15 Mar 2022 ā€” Almost 800 medical graduates could be denied the chance to train as doctors in the NHS this year,ā€™.

          We used to train EU students in our universities and FY1 and FY2 funded by the NHS for the same tuition fee rather than the full overseas cost to them, if we paid for that without locking them in to a number of years NHS work then we were mad funding over Ā£250,000 worth of training.

          Maybe someone should investigate how doctors are selected to train in the UK especially if we canā€™t tie in the training to the NHS service afterwards. Our universities seem to be making big mistakes in selections I wonder if we can discover which ones have the biggest fall outs after FY2.

          Iā€™m curious how much the British medical universities are paid on top of the student tuition fees to train British medics as an overseas medical trainee pays Ā£170,000 for their undergrad part of the degree, the British junior doctor then gets FY1 and FY2 training paid by the NHS. Overseas students have to pay over Ā£80,000 for that part of the clinical training.

          1. Berkshire Alan
            July 23, 2023

            a-tracy
            Agreed, train UK residents who want to be doctors/nurses for free, under a legal contract that ties them to the NHS for 10 years full time service after Qualification, failure to do the NHS time means the full training fee is charged to them.
            We would then have no need to poach workers from overseas, who are often wanted in their own Countries.

          2. a-tracy
            July 23, 2023

            Alan, they do train the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish trainees free and the Irish free or at very low cost in those areas of the UK.

            Medical training is a very high cost. I want the government to tell us how much they pay each university in England extra to subsidise the Ā£9250 pa fee all English students pay whatever degree they do. If you want to give anything free then the NHS should pay the 9% graduate tax and interest charge for that year for every year they only work for the NHS full time, otherwise they can pay it back. Iā€™m worried they donā€™t even try to get the previous EU medical students tuition fees grad tax when they trained in England and all those British students that simply drift abroad, how do they get payroll taxes from Australia? If people move abroad their tuition fees must go to another agency for collection.

            Nurses at 21 years of age are starting on Ā£29,000 now + overtime, + 20% pension, plus full sick pay, why shouldnā€™t those graduates pay when all the other graduates pay, this is not a bad wage it quickly rises to Ā£35,000 when they become more experienced on that first grade. We need to train people who think that is a good graduate salary at 21, I know plenty of people that are on less than that when they graduate without all the expensive perks and overtime opportunities for the inconvenience of working nights and weekends, we must train more men who are willing to do more shifts, more inconvenient shifts and really look at how people are being selected.

            I know people who started nursing years ago without degrees, and worked their way up to high powered roles, theyā€™re all retired now at 60 after having baby breaks and doing 3 days per week to reduce childcare costs, a couple did the awkward shifts to completely maximise the rate for the days they were working. They donā€™t think newly qualified nurses are badly paid. The auxiliaries doing a lot of the hard work maybe have a case but their wages went up 10%.

    4. Dave Andrews
      July 22, 2023

      Whenever I hear about low staff morale, I look for staff immaturity.
      Grown men and women behaving like stroppy teenagers.

  6. Mark B
    July 22, 2023

    Good morning.

    He raised the issue of the ā€œ10,000 public workers in equality, diversity and inclusionā€ wondering if this was too many.

    Just two points.

    1) Why any at all ? Should we be judging people by their ability and character rather, for example, the colour of their skin ?

    2) Those excess 10,000 employees. They were all employed under Conservatives, and especially the NHS when, Hunt was Secretary of State.

    Too late now !

    1. a-tracy
      July 22, 2023

      Mark B. 2) Iā€™d put every single one of them on a two week ward training and awareness course. The NHS love wasting money on T-shirts and things so Iā€™d get them all an NHS T-Shirt with a badge NHS Manager Ward Training on the front so patients knew exactly what they are doing. Theyā€™d do every level 1 job on that ward, including their form filling demands. Delivering food and drink. These are highly educated people to get that job in the first place, they will have already been security checked, referenced and cleared, they need to see the front line for themselves. Including reception duties in A&E for those in charge of Acute care. My managers have all worked their way up all done level 1 duties on the front end, grunt admin as well as senior admin. When we make decisions we realise the impact from the ground up.

      Iā€™d research on the equality front the % of men who train as paramedics compared to nurses. Perhaps nurses should be renamed medics more men recruited that always helps women as they manage to push up pay. I think you could attract more males into teaching if you pay more and get them to run collective summer schools for maths, english and science advances taking just two weeks off in the summer. We need to stop dragging all children to the middle and get back to encouraging people to fly.

  7. Cliff..Wokingham.
    July 22, 2023

    Sir John,
    If I buy a Mars Bar for ten bob, I would expect to get two for a quid. Simple isn’t it or should I be ultra modern and say, innit?
    The above should be a rule across the whole of the public sector. I suppose another way of putting it would be, we want value for money and, to be honest, I can think of no public service where we get value for money.
    The number of times we have seen extra money thrown at the “Rainbow Sponge” and yet, it seems to be getting worse.
    The Rainbow Sponge (NHS), should take a leaf out of the supermarket’s book and pay a lot less for it’s supplies. I am sure a Tesco’s buyer would negotiate a better supply deal with ppe manufacturers than the deal we get now and that is probably true right across the whole of the public sector’s supply chain.

  8. Berkshire Alan
    July 22, 2023

    From your headline today John it would seem that the Chancellor and perhaps the Prime Minister have just started to wake up to what has been going on for the past decade or more.
    That fact alone should be sufficient to condemn them as unfit for their own jobs, for goodness sake we have all been aware of what has been going on out here for the last 20 years !
    Both Labour when in power and the Conservatives since then, have made life more difficult for the productive members of our Society, with introduction of higher and more widespread taxation, more complicated laws and regulations with regards to employment, and whole raft of WOKE and un-costed Net Zero fantasy policies.
    You reap what you sow.

  9. Philip P.
    July 22, 2023

    I wanted accurate information about whether the NHS has too many chiefs and not enough (others Ed), as I thought was the case. However, it may not be. The Statista web site shows managerial staff figures 2004 to 2022. The number of NHS England senior managers and managing staff peaked in 2009 at 39,200, and amounted to approximately 35,500 in 2022. The government’s Healthmedia web site says that since 2010 there are now over 37,800 more doctors and over 53,700 more nurses. So it looks as if money has been put into expanding NHS frontline staff, not managers. If we are still not getting the NHS we deserve, the management are clearly not deploying all the extra staff effectively.

    Reply 10 % increase in managers since 2019. Many more non medics to medics 2010 to now with 263,000 total staff increase NHS England

  10. Sir Joe Soap
    July 22, 2023

    Exactly. Another example of an MP challenging the extent of stupidity rather than the act of stupidity itself.

  11. Berkshire Alan
    July 22, 2023

    At last the message seems to be getting through that ULEZ areas are just another tax raising scam, and absolutely nothing to do with clean air.
    Why, because you can Pollute as much as you like if you can afford it, for those who cannot afford to purchase a newer car, you will be taxed at Ā£12.50 day to use the old one (on top of the Congestion charge) until you get rid of it !
    In addition we have different rules for different areas, a car suitable for use in Portsmouth and Bath, is not suitable in Bristol and London, who knows about the rest of the Country, so you now may have to do some time consuming research before you travel anywhere, to make sure you do not fall foul of some local rules. Thus what used to be a simple journey, may now need to be a huge operational undertaking with long diversions around such areas, which will actually add to overall pollution.

    1. Donna
      July 22, 2023

      They’ll start doing the same to flights soon. Poorer people to be priced out of them; richer people can pollute as much as they like/can pay for; and the “elite” can keep their private jets because their ability to fly around the world preaching at the rest of us is vital.

      But hey …. we’re all in this together….. say the Prize Pigs of Animal Farm.

  12. Donna
    July 22, 2023

    When the Chancellor was considering the proliferation of “managers” in the NHS and the multiple tiers of “management” did he stop to wonder why the man who was Health Secretary for 6 years did nothing about it when he had the opportunity ….. and perhaps ask him?

    Perhaps he could also ask that man why, after 6 years in charge, he left the NHS incapable of coping with a Low Consequence Infectious Disease with a mortality rate of 0.2%. A failure which led directly to the wreckage of our economy and has ruined thousands, if not millions, of lives.

    Has he got a mirror?

    1. Mark B
      July 22, 2023

      If he had a mirror I’d doubt he would see anything looking back.

  13. Michelle
    July 22, 2023

    There should be zero ‘equality,diversity’ staff in our public bodies.
    This is yet another left wing Labour policy that the Conservatives have doubled down on.
    Along with mass immigration, all this looks like is a deliberate policy to oust the heritage population.

    1. Judith Hoffman
      July 22, 2023

      Exactly, None of that aids patient care which supriseingly is the whole reason for the NHS.

    2. glen cullen
      July 22, 2023

      +1

  14. agricola
    July 22, 2023

    Don’t we all.

  15. JoolsB
    July 22, 2023

    Well I know three people who work for the public sector. A couple with small children who havenā€™t been in the office since before the lockdown and are now off to their caravan in Wales for the school holidays to ā€˜workā€™ from there. The other a policeman who hasnā€™t worked for the last five months because his wife had a baby and his boss told him to take 20 weeks off with full pay without him even asking for it. When the 20 weeks is up heā€™s off to Florida for a holiday. During covid, he was constantly off work and told to stay at home for two weeks every time he got into a police car which MAY have have had someone with covid in it. Nice work if you can get it.
    The public sector needs a huge cull, no-one would notice, and it also needs a strong Government to tell them to get back to the office or collect their P45s. Sadly neither Sunak or Starmer have got the guts because it might upset the poor things.

  16. Sakara Gold
    July 22, 2023

    So now we can see how the 2024 election will be fought. Those on the far right of the party, clutching at straws, have seized on the single local issue of ULEZ – resulting in the retention of Johnson’s seat by 495 votes (and after a recount) to demand that the governent makes green policies the dividing line against Labour at the next election.

    That the opposition parties have been able to overturn huge Conservative majorities elsewhere – as Tory voters stayed at home – shows that the electorate clearly support renewable energy and the green revolution. Should these by-election results – with their swing to Labour of 24% – be replicated at the next general election, the party will be reduced to a rump of less than 100 MP’s in the next parliament. We will be treated to many “Portillo moments” on election night

    1. agricola
      July 22, 2023

      SG,
      I don’t follow your logic. What has staying at home got to do with support for or against the green agenda. I conclude that it declines to support the conservative government, that from a personnal view has got it wrong on all fronts. For different reasons I did the same the last time Major went to the country. Staying at home is the last weapon for showing disdain that they have.

    2. IanT
      July 22, 2023

      “….as Tory voters stayed at home ā€“ shows that the electorate clearly support renewable energy and the green revolution”

      Wow, that’s quite a leap of logic even for you SG. The Tories are in trouble because they don’t look (or act) like conservatives (small c) and that includes mindless Net-Zero policies that don’t make any sense for our economy or in actually reducing carbon emmissions. EVs are a prime example of this muddled thinking. For some situations they may make good sense but that’s not so for everyone. Nor are they any greener than ICE vehicles over their working lifetime in terms of the total carbon emitted in manufacture and use.
      For a low mileage user like myself who keeps a car (from new) for typically 10 years, there are no savings to be made in cost or carbon footprint. My ICE car when it finally reaches it’s end of life (which could easily be 20+ years) will also be 95% recyclable which is far more than any EV battery is going to be. So we have very poorly thought out policies being forced on us. Joe Public isn’t quite as gullible as our Leaders seem to think, especially when it comes to their money – and that’s what Uxbridge really proves.

    3. Berkashire Alan
      July 22, 2023

      Sakara
      Do you think a ULEZ area is the right policy, if so why not simply charge all cars that do not comply with the arbitrary requested standards a set charge of an extra Ā£12.50 per day to go anywhere.

      I thought road tax, vehicle excise duty already represented a tax on emissions !

    4. Billl B.
      July 22, 2023

      Nothing of the sort. The results show that the people who can be bothered to go out and vote in a by-election mostly wanted to give the government a good kicking. As is traditional. A lot of people correctly blame the government for the cost of living crisis, we know it’s the economy stupid, that influences how people vote more than anything else.

  17. William Long
    July 22, 2023

    I was always told: ‘Those that can do, and those that can’t, teach’. Perhaps this explains why Mr Hunt is just giving lectures, when, if he was really concerned about the shortcomings he is talking about, he would long ago have done something to change them. After all, he must know a great deal about how the NHS works, or fails to, having been in charge of it for all those years.

  18. Nigl
    July 22, 2023

    Decades of mutual back scratching/stabbing politicians happy with/accepting of mediocrity spinning any scintilla of improvement as world class.

    Time for for the tumbrils. Unfortunately the next lot will not be any better.

  19. Mike Stallard
    July 22, 2023

    At last – someone who actually hits the NHS problem straight on! Well done, Sir John, and keep up the good work in parliament.

  20. Everhopeful
    July 22, 2023

    How about this for public ā€œserviceā€ productivity.
    A postman ( wearing comic shorts) slouches away from his post van to deliver mail. He gives credence to the term ā€œSnail Mailā€.
    The van, unattended, is producing ear splitting music. ( Highly productive!)
    And continues to do so..blasting through acoustic glass windows ( another anti social behaviour cost)
    Are all postmen also DJs?
    This country is totally out of control.
    Is that why they are importing a new police force? Just a thought.

  21. Ian B
    July 22, 2023

    ā€œequality, diversity and inclusionā€ is simply 100% discrimination at the taxpayers expense. You cant shake it out to be anything different, jobs not awarded by ability and suitability are just forced discrimination.

    The Public Sector as with every other walk of life worked well for everyone equally before active and positive discrimination primarily of the ā€˜prima donnaā€™ entitlement of the few crept into the equation and forced on society.

    ā€œequality, diversity and inclusionā€ is simply 100% discrimination at the taxpayers expense. You cant shake it out to be anything different, jobs not awarded by ability and suitability are just forced discrimination.

    The Public Sector as with every other walk of life worked well for everyone equally before active and positive discrimination primarily of the ā€˜prima donnaā€™ entitlement of the few crept into the equation and forced on society.

    1. Ian B
      July 22, 2023

      Oooops something went wrong there ………….

  22. Jeffrey Palin
    July 22, 2023

    One of the biggest reasons staff leave the NHS, or indeed the public sector in general, is they can afford to do so, long before their retirement age, because of the gold plated private pensions they receive, sometimes 80% of final salaries.
    Look at the recent PM goodbye pay payments and pensions.

  23. Ian B
    July 22, 2023

    ā€œequality, diversity and inclusionā€ is simply 100% discrimination at the taxpayers expense. You cant shake it out to be anything different, jobs not awarded by ability and suitability are just forced discrimination.

    The Public Sector as with every other walk of life worked well for everyone equally before active and positive discrimination primarily of the ā€˜prima donnaā€™ entitlement of the few crept into the equation and forced on society.

    This Conservative Government is forcing division and difference on society for some dreamed up virtue signal message.

    Our friend across the pond have decreed in their highest courts that what is practised by the UK establishment to be illegal and unconstitutional.

  24. Bert+Young
    July 22, 2023

    I have said many times that the NHS is too big and needs to be re-aligned into regional management and guided and led by professionally qualified medics .

  25. Bryan Harris
    July 22, 2023

    The Chancellor has done nothing to help any of us since he was jettisoned into power – Nobody asked him to apply so many dire crimes against the economy, and he surely doesn’t read this Diary, otherwise he’d have had some clue as to what he was doing wrong.

    His speech is just another example of political drama – another act of theatre if you will.
    This is called double-speak in that famous book that so much of politics is now based on. Pretending to speak for common sense while doing the exact opposite.

    The Chancellor is in a position to do something about poor productivity in public services, but nothing will change, despite his encouraging words, because inefficiency in public life is a big part of the plan.

  26. Ian B
    July 22, 2023

    This Conservative Government has bumped up what is taken in Taxes to a 70 year high and what do they have to show for it. All under their management State enforced Discrimination.

    While there is a question of ā€˜bloatā€™ in the state as a generalisation, you have to ask why this Conservative Government has decreed that rather than the most suitable for the job should be employed but who fits their personal discrimination quotas.

    On many levels this is not a Conservative Government working in harmony for all.

  27. Ian B
    July 22, 2023

    There is much media hype about a Cabinet reshuffle. That would be akin to the management blaming others for their own failure. Failure to listen, failure to see there imposed non sensible will against all – is the problem.

    The biggest failure is to not be interested in the UK, throw UK taxpayer money at any foreign entity to the exclusion of UK enterprise. The root cause of all UKā€™s ills is the ā€˜economy-stupidā€™. The turn around can only happen with a Conservative Government, yet there are no Conservatives in this Cabinet just die hard WEF Socialists that donā€™t give a damn about the UK, more concerned with personal self-gratification, ego and appeasement of those that whose sole agenda is UK destruction and the removal of what little wealth it has.

    The Conservative Party is running out of time they need an election to put in place a Conservative Leadership or else at best by expelled for at least a generation.

    1. a-tracy
      July 23, 2023

      Heā€™d be mad to reshuffle, not more pay-offs, he needs the kick the asses of the people he put in place. Set stringent targets, get them on tv justifying what they are doing and what improvements they are making in a blog each so the public can see what their purpose is.

  28. George Sheard
    July 22, 2023

    Hi sir john
    I know someone a manager in a midland hospital
    the NHS is a cash machine for him

  29. agricola
    July 22, 2023

    The Civil Service should be subject to an investigation as to how best to run government support services.
    1. Who are they answerable to, themselves, the minister, HoC committees, or the government.
    2. They should, at a senior level, be subject to a disclosure of information act.
    3. Hire and Fire should be part of their contract
    4. Government should emphasise that the CS is there to advise government and carry out the wishes of government, obstruction should be a sackable offence. They can vote as they wish but have no political agenda in the workplace.
    5. There should be a much increased flow of personnel between the public and private sector.
    6. They should fund their own pensions from the head of the CS to the lowliest employee in local government.
    7. Allocation and accounting for project funds should be rigourous with final judgements as to cost effectiveness. Just as in any private sector company.
    8. The honours system should not be part of the salary package. Nor should it be part of the political reward payola. I see it as reward for those who risk their lives or give their services to their fellow man for free.
    9. Finally with the possible exception of the Foreign Office it should be moved out of London.

    1. glen cullen
      July 22, 2023

      Agree

  30. XY
    July 22, 2023

    “Wish” being the operative word.

    Hunt is spectacularly unqualified to be Chancellor, anything he tries to do will be doomed to failure. But then… he’s not actually proposing anything, just bemoaning the fact that the civil service don’t do very much.

    If you want the NHS to be more efficient, you need private sector involvement. You can then hold them to account for their areas of concern. If the public sector could negotiate contracts properly, they would make the winners of tenders have an interest in outcomes by having their remuneration depend on it.

    Overall, I actually have very little hope for this country’s future. The two main parties keep giving us weak politicians to choose from and the public refuse to vote for the better option in Reform UK etc, which is why the main parties can get away with it. The dismal number of votes Laurence Fox attracted shows that the public aren’t waking up – ULEZ is not a reason to vote Conservative, it’s a reason to vote for none of the traditional rabble.

  31. Judith Hoffman
    July 22, 2023

    Dear Sir John,
    I do wish that the people in the current government would listen to you and follow through on your common sense suggestions!

    1. Dave Andrews
      July 22, 2023

      Most of them aren’t there based on their common sense. Sweet lies is the way to get elected.

  32. forthurst
    July 22, 2023

    The public services are riddled with Arts graduates who lacking useful skills are unemployable in the private sector. These people presume to lord it over those with useful skills such as doctors and nurses and other ancillary staff who as a result of the nationalised health system are obliged to seek employment in it. Rather than talk about the possibility of trainees with ‘A’ levels let loose on sick people, why not a discussion about a Health service which has no roles for Arts graduates so that such daft ideas would not be presented to compensate for their pathological ineptitude in organisation as with everything else.

  33. glen cullen
    July 22, 2023

    ”Turkey overtook Germany and Poland to become Europe’s top coal-fired electricity producer in June. Emissions from Turkey’s coal-fired electricity output also hit a new half-year high in the opening half of 2023” net-zero-watch
    They don’t have ULEZs and don’t abide net-zero policies

    1. Hat man
      July 23, 2023

      As with the boomerang anti-Russia sanctions, Turkey doesn’t do what Brussels and Washington want, and looks out for itself. That is why Erdogan got re-elected, even though the globalist consortium were yearning to see him replaced by US stooges. Act in the national interest, and people vote for you. Defend their standard of living, and they will turn up at the ballot box. I know Sunak isn’t interested, but is there a chance the penny will drop somewhere in the Tory party before 2024?

  34. John Hatfield
    July 22, 2023

    Sack all the senior NHS managers and let them reapply for their job.

    1. glen cullen
      July 23, 2023

      Bring nurses, junior doctors and consultant doctors all under the same employment contract

  35. DOM
    July 22, 2023

    More State employees equals more union members equals more income to the unions equals more income to Labour equals more power to the Socialist State now under the control of the Left. The Tories have out of sheer appeasement aided and abetted this huge transfer of both power and income away from the civil space to the political centre

    I have been saying that voting Tory is a gross act of ignorance and stupidity for this party has become part of the Socialist blob concerned only with its own survival against a greater powerful enemy

    I note that not one single Tory MP ever rejects the NZ and CC agenda whose sole purpose is the accumulation of ever greater levels of State power

    Too many Tory MPs have both feet in both camps hoping we won’t notice the sheer double standards

    1. glen cullen
      July 22, 2023

      +1

  36. glen cullen
    July 22, 2023

    Scrap the bureaucracy and the office of the Mayor of London, Regional & City Mayors and revert to council leaders

  37. glen cullen
    July 22, 2023

    home office data as at 21st July 2023
    Illegal Immigrants ā€“ 172
    Small Boats ā€“ 3

  38. Lester_Cynic
    July 23, 2023

    The public sector produces nothing except minefields for the private sector to negotiate
    And as the public sector represents 50% of the economy its not looking good for the private sector which produces the tax revenues necessary for the governmentā€¦ never mind though, the government just sets the printing presses rolling

  39. Peter Gardner
    July 24, 2023

    That is all true Sir John but the strongest motivating factor of all is that the organisation in which the staff labour achieves the successes they’re working for. They need to see excellent outcomes but they can’t. Eveybody loves to win. The NHS is a loser in the league tables of national health services. It is demoralising and no amount of pay can compensate for that. If targets are to be set they should be set to achieve incrementally over a period of time a place in the world’s best 10 heathcare systems. Achieving that would raise morale enormously. And the NHS would become more attractive to potential recruits. Who wants to work in the 2nd eleven?

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