Entries with tag budget cuts .

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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Aug 2020 - 13:36

null Managing a budget is too often like dieting 

Following on from his successful book “The Food Myth” Tim Spector has written , “ Spoon-Feed: Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food Is Wrong”. On reading it I was struck by the similarities between dieting and budgeting. Between loosing lbs and losing £s. Between cutting down and cutting. Between crash diets and dramatic budget cuts. Between the the special diets promoted by... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
25 Jun 2019 - 20:51

null Austerity the new normal

It must have been 10 no 12 years ago.  My boss, the Director of social services returned from a budget meeting with the chief executive. We were expecting bad news, more budget cuts to plan for, uncomfortable meetings with service users and the challenge of motivating inevitably demoralised staff. We were use to demands to make 2% efficiency savings and delivering 3%/5% budget... See more
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Blair McPherson
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21 Jul 2018 - 13:33

null Facts,Logic and Scientific Management 

“ Every hour spent cycling adds an hour to your life” department of human geography, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands ( advert in weekend papers selling bikes) So as long as you never get off your bike you will live forever- or will it just seem like that.  As my old English language teacher use to say “just because all sheep are animals and all sheep have four legs doesn’t mean... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 Mar 2018 - 14:22

null Are local public museums a thing of the past?

  As director of Community Services, museums and Libraries came under my portfolio of responsibilities. When it comes to managing a service within a shrinking budget there are many similarities. Notably reduced opening hours leading eventually to unpopular closures. The difference was that those running museums always had optimistic proposals for increasing income as away of avoiding... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Mar 2018 - 20:13

null What is an essential service? When is a service no longer a safe service? 

  Another council leader discussing the dire budget position of their authority  states they only have enough money for “essential “ services but what is essential? I  don’t think there is a definition of “essential “. Where there is a statutory responsibility then it would be illegal not to provide a service. There is a statutory... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
10 Aug 2017 - 06:41

null Fostering v Boarding school

  I worked in a residential boarding school run by the local authority for boys with poor school attendance and behaviour problems where it was thought they would benefit from being removed from their environment ( family). Typically they were young boys who came to the attention of the education welfare service before social services. Interestingly if they had come to social services... See more
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Blair McPherson
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18 Apr 2016 - 10:03

null Winter is coming

  There is a constant threat of decline and sense of wrongness in the world. There are kings and king makers, trial by combat, scheming and betrayal and a delicious habit of bumping of the biggest stars. This is not some medieval fantasy or an episode of Game of Thrones this is the modern day public sector in a time of prolonged austerity. Temporary alliances form and reform, local... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
11 Mar 2016 - 11:51

null Stress is out of fashion

Stress like the public sector is not fashionable but that doesn't mean it's no longer present. Whether you regard it as bad for business that over stressed managers make bad decisions or  you take your duty of welfare to your employees seriously, stress is an issue for organisations. You would anticipate that job insecurity, over ambitious efficiency targets and  the difficulty of... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
27 Oct 2015 - 15:49

null Confessions of a serial cutter

  The budget setting process starts earlier since austerity became the norm. As the summer comes to an end budget holders have already submitted their proposals based on best case scenario, most likely scenario or worst case scenario. And most are resigned to it being worst case again.   The austerity climate in the public sector has made serial cutters of us all. Where once we... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Oct 2015 - 05:57

null Unlikely things for senior managers to say

I don't think we will have too much difficulty delivering this round of budget cuts. I have the board in my pocket.  The inspection is a formality. Can I just say thank you in advance to all those of you who are about to fill in my 360 degree feedback questionnaire  I think you will be very pleased with the new terms and conditions we are imposing it will certainly help many of you... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Aug 2015 - 09:58

null Turning the Old Bill into social workers

Do you remember The Bill a soap drama with social commentary about the everyday lives of police officers based at Sun Hill nick a London police station. Sarge was fond of telling young new recruits not to get involved in the lives of people and their problems "We're coppers not social workers are job is to nick villains." Ironically social work students at the same time were coming back... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Mar 2015 - 12:37

null Time to go

Four former colleagues have decided to call it a day. They will leave at the end of the financial year. Officially they are taking early retirement but as they are all under 60 they don't consider themselves to be retiring. They still feel they have something to offer. Like so many other public sector managers their departure was advanced by continued budget cuts necessitating a further cull... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
16 Jan 2015 - 14:02

null Why not make a drama out of this crisis

The president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, David Pearson, spoke on various BBC news programmes last week, to discuss the crisis in the NHS. On the BBC’s Breakfast show last Thursday, the GP interviewed before Pearson had used the opportunity to get a simple message across that the government had failed to train and retain enough GPs. As a result, surgeries could... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
31 Dec 2014 - 11:52

null 2015 What's the worst that could happen

At the start of a new year it's fun to speculate about what the future holds. More elected mayors, more power to the cities, more budget cuts, more  services outsourced, more contracts to place, more scope for corruption, more bankruptcies and emergency takeover squads.    Elected Mayors with the power to make our cites work,  to cut through the bureaucracy, the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Dec 2014 - 16:11

null Christmas message from the Boss

  The Boss traditionally uses his Christmas message to thank staff for their hard work and support over the last 12 months. Not this year. He used the social media to thank staff but he was very critical of senior managers claiming many had lost their humanity, they had forgotten what public service was all about and they no longer seemed able to inspire optimism in their staff. He... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Dec 2014 - 15:02

null Pot holes

It is nearly  5 years since my boss came back from a budget meeting and said this level of cuts is no longer about reduced services it about a totally different county council. At the time most of us didn't believe it was possible to take nearly 50 percent out of the budget yet that is what happened. Libraries and day centres were closed, grants to voluntary groups were cut, services... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Jul 2014 - 11:50

null The dismantling and destruction of the public sector

. Recently I have been forced to change how I think about my time as a senior manager in local government. I was always positive at work, I believed that the teams I worked in could change things for the better, that we were improving services even at a time when we were required to make efficiency savings and budget cuts. I helped deliver a lot of reorganisations and each time I was able to... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:40

null Railways in the 60's, Libraries today,Hospitals tomorrow

  50 years ago Dr Beeching reshaped our railways which meant shrinking them. Making cuts to save money, in the belief that they had had their day, were no longer needed and that people would prefer to make their own arrangements rather than support a public provision. His plans were financially driven his aim to introduce a more businesslike approach. The lost of their railway line and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 13:10

null Cutting non essential services

Some times it is the small things that improve an individuals quality of life. Something that is all to easy to miss when looking at the bigger picture. http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/adult-care-blog/2012/09/how-cutting-non-essential-services-can-be-devastating-for-people.html See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:41

null Don't get old,don't be a woman and don't be black

The public sector used to lead the way when it came to promoting equal opportunities. We introduced polices, strategies and targets in relation to recruitment and service delivery. We aimed to be a model employer. It was a work in progress. The policies, strategies and targets are still there but have been over taken by financial austerity and privatisation. Revised application forms,... See more
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