...anti-social can't apply to business can it? I wonder how many people in the upper ranks of society/the economy use cocaine or other 'accepted' costly recreational drugs?
I'd rather not have graffiti or sewage pollution, but if I had to spend money on stopping one or the other, I know where my money would go.
Edited to add: Watch this space. I bet the Gov allows the water companies to raise their prices over the next few years to pay to improve the water infrastructure - totally ignoring the money the companies have already paid in dividends to shareholders.
@JennyJ if they have said it's made up and ready that is very different. Clearly they haven't bothered to check and that is not acceptable. I also order prescriptions well in advance (a) to ensure I don't run out (b) because I never know just how long the surgery is going to take to approve the request.
@steveTu the water companies do get hit with what look like massive fines but they are clearly not high enough to make the change their ways. Maybe a ban on bonuses for the bosses and dividends for investors if there is a major pollution incident would concentrate their minds a bit.
Not a river as such but Bristol Harbour is apparently now safe to swim in - it will coat you £7 a go. The water companies are much like any of the other utilities - massive profits and not a lot of thought re improving infrastructure. The problem is that many of their "shareholders" are private pension funds as well as individuals Those lucky enough to belong to such schemes often don't know exactly where their money comes from.
Not a river as such but Bristol Harbour is apparently now safe to swim in - it will coat you £7 a go. The water companies are much like any of the other utilities - massive profits and not a lot of thought re improving infrastructure. The problem is that many of their "shareholders" are private pension funds as well as individuals Those lucky enough to belong to such schemes often don't know exactly where their money comes from.
and they have the bonus that no domestic customer has the choice who supplies them. We're just lumbered with them. No competition, just a private monopoly
and they have the bonus that no domestic customer has the choice who supplies them. We're just lumbered with them. No competition, just a private monopoly
I agree wholeheartedly - the basic needs which we take for granted of power, water, sewage should be state owned/run and controlled in such a way that we all pay similar rates wherever we live in the UK. It's hardly rocket science to shift expenditure where needed to one area or another to even things out ( or Levelling Up I believe is the current phrase ). Mrs. Thatcher's policy of privatisation was based on "State run" isn't working but rather than actually tackling the problems, she just went for the easiest option - private money solves everything. Unfortunately she forgot to say that all our utilities needed outlay to improve them before the bonuses were dished out. Without knowing the figures, I have no idea whether we should all have been paying more for the last 50 years or not. Whilst we are all encouraged to shop around for the best deals ( electric and phone/inter connection) I've not seen an option for Water supplies. I could have missed it ? Who in their right mind wants to spend hours/days/weeks trying to find a deal which at first looks like a money saver but on reading the small print, isn't ? Well, that's a Curmudgon and a half isn't it ? And I've not even mentioned the weather
and they have the bonus that no domestic customer has the choice who supplies them. We're just lumbered with them. No competition, just a private monopoly
I agree wholeheartedly - the basic needs which we take for granted of power, water, sewage should be state owned/run and controlled in such a way that we all pay similar rates wherever we live in the UK.
I agree totally. We have no option but to use the basic services so I don't think they should be run to provide dividend payouts to investors and fat bonuses to bosses. They need to make a surplus but all that should be ploughed back into improving the service and infrastructure.
The problem though is that the theory is great but finding people in the public sector who are competent is not easy. I give you Terese Coffey as an example of the problem.
They had Feargal Sharkey on R4 yesterday talking about this after a director from one of the water companies had said they hadn't paid shareholder dividends for 5 years. He said that was disingenuous as the shareholders had then lent the water companies money in some scheme where the interest charged on the loan isn't taxed - so there were payments being made tax free. Something rotten in the state of Denmark eh?
Posts
Edited to add: Watch this space. I bet the Gov allows the water companies to raise their prices over the next few years to pay to improve the water infrastructure - totally ignoring the money the companies have already paid in dividends to shareholders.
The water companies are much like any of the other utilities - massive profits and not a lot of thought re improving infrastructure. The problem is that many of their "shareholders" are private pension funds as well as individuals Those lucky enough to belong to such schemes often don't know exactly where their money comes from.
Mrs. Thatcher's policy of privatisation was based on "State run" isn't working but rather than actually tackling the problems, she just went for the easiest option - private money solves everything. Unfortunately she forgot to say that all our utilities needed outlay to improve them before the bonuses were dished out. Without knowing the figures, I have no idea whether we should all have been paying more for the last 50 years or not.
Whilst we are all encouraged to shop around for the best deals ( electric and phone/inter connection) I've not seen an option for Water supplies. I could have missed it ? Who in their right mind wants to spend hours/days/weeks trying to find a deal which at first looks like a money saver but on reading the small print, isn't ?
Well, that's a Curmudgon and a half isn't it ? And I've not even mentioned the weather