This week's Cabinet Minister of the Week award goes to Eric Pickles. Why?
* HIPS abolished
* Government Office for London abolished
* Standards Board for England abolished
* Norwich unitary abolished
A very good week's work for Mr Secretary Pickles. More next week please.
22 comments:
First campain to remove an MP about to be started in Bracknell, lets test the Tory pledge.
Phillip Lee MP, Bracknell - Can not be bothered with the mother of a disable child. I think we need to test Dave and his recall MPs. http://biggerdaisy.blogspot.com/2010/04/every-disabled-child-doesnt-always.html
As of today, Still no response!
Well done, Eric! Award yourself a biscuit.
Don't forget: Exeter unitary also abolished.
Abolished ... Yeah.
and created?????
Any fuckwit can destroy things.
Look at Adolph!
Exeter as well as Norwich got out of the Unitary proposal that Labour sought to force through (and silly little BBC Bradshaw managed hold his seat as staunch Tory Topsham was kindly gifted to staunch Tory East Devon by the boundary commission - seemingly another Quango with partisan views if you judge them by their actions and results rather than their pretty words).
Shame though he couldn't have done a proper job and simply abolished Norwich.
Typical coalition politics. Compromise and fudge.
"This week's Cabinet Minister of the Week award goes to Eric Pickles."
Not to forget about his important remit over fire and resilience and local fire and rescue authorities. !?
More next week please.
Interestingly, there was a piece about HIPS on Daily Politics last week and they showed figures that HIPS had significantly reduced aborted deals and also speeded up sales considerably. Pickles flanneled that there were other causes. I used to be against HIPS but I'm not so sure now that the civil servants weren't right on this one. I expect a future administration will resurrect it, or else the current one will gradually add things back in.
Full marks to Pickles on the Norwich thing. If you don't know people who work for Norfolk County Council, you have no idea how fiddly the whole business would have been. Education alone would have been a nightmare.
A number of people have had the HiPs system people take money from their accounts early this week, mind... Could be interesting.
Lets have a competition to see which Cabinet minister abolishes the most quangos.
We still have to have an energy certificate which was the main driver behind the HIPS. This is a EU requirement.
Why didn't he abolish that?
Pickled Politics does work then?
Brilliant. If EVERY minister abolished 4 such entities per week the economy would be on the way up in no time at all.
Even without tackling the EU.
Is there an estimate of the cost savings achieved?
£20m p.a. for the London Office springs to mind. Does anyone know the real figures.
McDonalds moment - I'm lovin' it.
This government seems to be about action. Only a couple of weeks in and things are moving in the right direction. There are numerous areas of pointless government that can be axed, cut and slashed, and I should know I work for one such department.
As for a recall of Mr Lee, he's been MP officially for what 5, 6 days?
This must be the big change that you said was coming up on the blog. Every week, you're going to give a prize to a cabinet minister to encourage them to do well in their jobs.
Come to think of it Iain, you do have more than a hint of the Demon Headmaster in your eyes.
Excellent work at increasing the unemployment numbers there, Mr Pickles.
But on a more serious note, lets take this apart.
1) Hips Abolished - yep, except that the energy certificates remain. There will be a 'hip' of sorts, even if it's just one bit of paper
2) GOL - Only announced the intention, a reannouncement of an exisiting intention by the Tories. This is the sort of thing that would get Tory bloggers all het up when Labour did it.
3) Standards - another intention, re-announced, and almost certainly done by Osborne rather than Pickles.
4) Norwich - another intention, which will need Primary legislation.
Eric has achieved very little but good intentions. I'm not sure 'good intentions' was enough for praise for the old government on this blog, it's a shame it's enough now.
I am sure that the voters of Bracknell are revolting. There is though the very serious matter of Heatherwood Hospital, and all of the mainline services that the last government tried to ignore.
And the 'Yellow-bellied Coward of the week award' is shared by Messrs Hague, Fox and Mitchell.
@Future History... I do not know the story. But even then a single case cannot be the basis of recalling an MP. I have a son with a disability and years ago more often my MP a Labour and a socialist could not do anything for him. I did understand his problems and pressure
Even as a Tory voter.
I sort of nominated Pickles on my own blog, two weeks ago..
"Pickles is quoted as Tweeting that he will "wipe out municipal socialism forever". It's about time. Like a former smoker, he is a former Trot and there is nothing worse than a former anything for having a savage agenda. Perhaps he will curb the excesses of the Loony Bristol City Council, who notoriously consulted Stonewall about the proposed clearing of foliage on the Bristol Downs in case it went against the human rights of Gay Cruisers."
(The Council's "Rainbow Group" subsequently disassociated themselves from this)
If Pickles can divest the local Gauleiters of all the community co-ordinators and equality consultants and one legged black lesbian help-line and wheelie bin enforcment officers, all the better
And don't forget the comprehensive area assessment. At a stroke this enables councils to fire 50% of it's tick boxers.
If nothing else well done for getting rid of the tax on house sales aka HIPS...My son bought a house a while back as a first time buyer. Conveyancing costs and time involved were just the same as before...(per Solicitor)
At least now I can market my house without a £350 fee to numpties with a clipboard!!
Well done Eric
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