Bloody hell Twonk, how long have you got?
Mebbe a bit now more l8r.....................
I work for local government. As an employer they are pretty hard to fault tbh,general conditions of service are good and employment is as secure as any at the present time.
Competitive tendering had a large impact on council services in 90's, particularly manual workers and certainly in Nottm made a mess of the organisation.
I wouldnt like to be a council tenant now. Repairs are notoriously slow in being completed if they get done at all and most of council estates in Nottm are horrible places to live, makes me feel ill going back to where I was bought up now and it was bad when I was a kid.
Value for money? I dont think so in Nottingham. The council is highly adept at spouting rhetoric, they shift pots of money to the latest vote winning scheme, leaving the area the money was taken from on its knees. They have closed many family centres, youth clubs, community centres and the like over the last decade here, but we have a nice new shiny tram system in their place
At the end of the day LG is run by politicians Twonko and in my experience they chase the money.