Better off here than in UK - Cannan.

[Donald Trumps]

It is, with it's sole reliance on the free market to provide

The government extablishment has to become more entrepreneurial to make an at least an attempt to pay for itself

( & I don't mean by stitchng up the taxpayer & businesses to contribute more)

[Derek Flint]

Water bills to drop between 50 and 100 quid in the UK.

[forestboy]

11 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

Water bills to drop between 50 and 100 quid in the UK.

Will probably go UP that much here. 

[GD4ELI]

11 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

Water bills to drop between 50 and 100 quid in the UK.

If mine drops by £100 they'll be paying me!

OK, I'm on a septic tank like many round here, I pay ~ £90 / year for water (metered).

[woolley]

Average English council tax £1671 and water bill £405 in 2018-19. Make of that what you will.  

[P.K.]

21 hours ago, hissingsid said:

With the Government pension black hole crisis surely it is of the utmost importance to cut the numbers of civil servants and MHKs could start with a cull of the Legco. the present incumbents getting fifty grand a year for doing not a lot if anything is ludicrous.   Three people with a knowledge of law and procedure is all that is needed.  Get this sorted, get means testing for social housing stop wasting money on vanity projects which are not needed and we cannot afford and this government will have made a difference, not a chance but it is nice to dream.   I know a lot of people who can only dream of having £50 a week disposable income there are so many people trying to keep balls in the air we could become a national of jugglers, a new national sport even.   The haves and the have not divide is alive and kicking and there are far too many have nots.   To believe that people over here are better off than across financially takes a special kind of delusion.

Well said.

Unfortunately imho most pension schemes seem to have an uncanny resemblance to schemes that Charles Ponzi would instantly recognise! The problem is that the IOM PS/CS are so stupidly over-manned and over-graded (for the levels of £responsibility held) that as more and more pop out of the top into a very comfortable retirement those at the bottom can no longer cover the cost.

As it takes a very great deal to actually stir the denizens of Tynwald into action this problem has been allowed to grow and fester. I suspect that Mr Quayle has four trays on his desk labelled  IN  OUT  PENDING and TOO DIFFICULT...

I recall they calculated that they would need some 20K more "economically active" citizens in order to balance the books.

So how is that going then...?

[Non-Believer]

22 minutes ago, P.K. said:

Well said.

Unfortunately imho most pension schemes seem to have an uncanny resemblance to schemes that Charles Ponzi would instantly recognise! The problem is that the IOM PS/CS are so stupidly over-manned and over-graded (for the levels of £responsibility held) that as more and more pop out of the top into a very comfortable retirement those at the bottom can no longer cover the cost.

As it takes a very great deal to actually stir the denizens of Tynwald into action this problem has been allowed to grow and fester. I suspect that Mr Quayle has four trays on his desk labelled  IN  OUT  PENDING and TOO DIFFICULT...

I recall they calculated that they would need some 20K more "economically active" citizens in order to balance the books.

So how is that going then...?

Well, they're building the houses to accommodate them all. They'll be spoiled for choice when they get here.

[woolley]

5 hours ago, P.K. said:

Well said.

Unfortunately imho most pension schemes seem to have an uncanny resemblance to schemes that Charles Ponzi would instantly recognise! The problem is that the IOM PS/CS are so stupidly over-manned and over-graded (for the levels of £responsibility held) that as more and more pop out of the top into a very comfortable retirement those at the bottom can no longer cover the cost.

As it takes a very great deal to actually stir the denizens of Tynwald into action this problem has been allowed to grow and fester. I suspect that Mr Quayle has four trays on his desk labelled  IN  OUT  PENDING and TOO DIFFICULT...

I recall they calculated that they would need some 20K more "economically active" citizens in order to balance the books.

So how is that going then...?

Spot on,  except to add that the overgrading isn't uniform. I have a friend who had an extremely pressurised job for which he was the only one in his department properly qualified. He tried to get regraded for years and had no joy. In the end it all got too much and he left. They replaced him with two people at his old grade and a part time consultant who is now the only person suitably qualified. So it has cost them (us). Meanwhile my friend has been re-employed in a different department on his old grade but in a position that is like a holiday by comparison to the hassle and sleepless nights he had before.  

[doc.fixit]

Exactly the same with my son, be interesting if, when he leaves.

[Uhtred]

On 12/16/2019 at 12:53 PM, Non-Believer said:

Government scope was dealt with in its dedicated report in 2006.

Which hasn't seen the light of day since.

I read that report with great interest when it came out because it was written by a group of people who knew their onions and was a good piece of work. Donald Gelling stalled it and Brown then buried it. More recently Bell commissioned an update from the original authors and then studiously ignored it. Three Chief Ministers to whom we owe nothing.

[Non-Believer]

It's my considered opinion (FWIW) that the general population of this Island have been consistently and deliberately lied to and misled over the past twelve years. I sincerely hope that sooner rather than later somebody will have had enough and start some sort of questioning of what has gone on, why, and who the real beneficiaries have been.

Because it's long overdue.

[Donald Trumps]

12 hours ago, Uhtred said:

I read that report with great interest when it came out because it was written by a group of people who knew their onions and was a good piece of work. Donald Gelling stalled it and Brown then buried it. More recently Bell commissioned an update from the original authors and then studiously ignored it. Three Chief Ministers to whom we owe nothing.

Minister Thomas suggested maybe six months ago that the departmental system within IOMG will be departed with at some point

Since then not a squeak has been heard

[quilp]

3 in 1 Thomas. 

[No Bull]

Mr Cannan deliberately mentions an individual earning £20,000.00 but doesn't mention a couple with a young family. A couple earning £20,000.00 with a young family are significantly better off in the UK as they will receive more Universal Credit than the equivalent Employed Persons Allowance on the Isle of Man. Also, with Universal Credit a couple are required to work a minimum of 24 hours a week whereas with the recent changes to Employed Persons Allowance here, a couple are required to work a minimum of 48 hours per week to claim. Whether you agree with the work requirements or not, low earning couples with young families are massively better off in the UK.

The recent changes here to Employed Person Allowance are such a big cut as the additional hours will take many couples out of EPA as they will have earned beyond the threshold to claim. This means they pay more tax, national insurance, lose free school meals and prescriptions. Again whether to agree with these changes or not, its a massive cut compared to the UK.

[P.K.]

On 12/17/2019 at 5:17 PM, woolley said:

Spot on,  except to add that the overgrading isn't uniform. I have a friend who had an extremely pressurised job for which he was the only one in his department properly qualified. He tried to get regraded for years and had no joy. In the end it all got too much and he left. They replaced him with two people at his old grade and a part time consultant who is now the only person suitably qualified. So it has cost them (us). Meanwhile my friend has been re-employed in a different department on his old grade but in a position that is like a holiday by comparison to the hassle and sleepless nights he had before.  

In other words totally clueless so-called management not valuing their staff which is absolutely endemic in public service.

A life-long friend of mine, who has a senior position in the HoC, puts this down to senior management imagining their staff are like they were in that position ie useless. Hence the very rare good ones are simply not valued for how good they are...