: Mike Denham
: Burning Our Money How Government wastes our cash and what we can do about it
: Biteback Publishing
: 9781849545594
: 1
: CHF 8.90
:
: Staatslehre und politische Verwaltung
: English
: 320
: Wasserzeichen
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
Britain is in the midst of a fierce battle over government spending. With debts mounting rapidly, the ?700 billion annual bill is no longer sustainable. But cuts face a wall of opposition, with dire warnings that they will ravage our society: hospital waiting lists will grow, schools will close and the poor will tumble into a new Dickensian abyss. Yet much of what the government currently spends is wasted, and public sector performance is often woeful. In Burning Our Money, Mike Denham casts a critical eye over the services we receive for our hard-earned cash, and finds them radically - often shockingly - wanting. For all the media insistence that the NHS is 'the envy of the world', it stacks up poorly against European healthcare systems. For all our apparently soaring exam grades, our children significantly underperform their future competitors in China, Korea and elsewhere. And for all our hand-wringing about abolishing poverty, our huge welfare system actually damages many of the poor it's supposed to help. Drawing on extensive research and up-to-the-minute reporting, Burning Our Money comprehensively debunks the myth that more public spending means better public services, and shows how we can - and must - get more for less.

Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck!

– Labour Treasury Chief Secretary Liam Byrne – private letter left for his successor, May 2010

It was a foolish letter to write … I broke the golden rule which is to not write down anything that you are not happy seeing in public and I am sorry that it’s made our job arguing against Tory plans harder.

– Liam Byrne, public apology for his letter, May 2010

A WEEK IN THE LIFE


It’s the second week of July 2012, and we’re in trouble. With the Games of the XXX Olympiad about to start in London, it suddenly emerges we haven’t laid on nearly enoughsecurity staff. Despite seven years of preparation and nearly£10 billion of taxpayers’ cash, the entire event is cast into doubt, and what should have been a glorious celebration of national pride threatens to become a national humiliation.

Fortunately we’ve still got the army, and, as so often before in our long island history, they’re summoned to rescue us from disaster. Already overstretched servicemen and women – some still with the dust of Afghanistan on their boots – find leave cancelled and immediate redeployment to crowd control.

The recriminations are storm force, and all eyes turn to G4S, the huge security company originally contracted to provide the staff. It has failed us catastrophically. Thecompany’s share price plummets, and, when its Chief Executive is hauled before MPs for a televised session in the stocks, we all crowd round to hurl stones. But soon the recriminations spread much wider.

For the left, this is a perfect example of how we can never trust the profit-grubbing private sector to deliver public services. Just like all commercial contractors, G4S hasobviously put private profit before public duty. In stark contrast, our loyal servicemen have once again put duty first and their own personal interests second. Enough said.

It’s a powerful line, but others point out it’s not quite as simple as that. For one thing, it’s the private sector that’s already supplied virtually everything the Games will depend on: stadia, athletes’ accommodation, ticketing systems, catering, equipment, drug testing, and a host of otheressentials have all being supplied by private contractors. Without the private sector, the Games wouldn’t be happening at all.

On top of that, overall responsibility for security rests with the Home Office. Why did it fail to monitor this vital subcontractor? How come it didn’t spot the problem before drama turned to crisis? Were its bumbling officials asleep at the wheel yet again?

Because the Home Office has got form – a lot of form. In fact, it’s presided over so many bungles that a recent Home Secretary publicly condemned it as ‘not fit for purpose’. And right across government, officials routinely mismanage expensive private contractors, with taxpayers suffering the consequences. From defence equipment to IT projects to hospital cleaning, government has a chronic ability to overpay for second-rate delivery.

Neither is it just a problem with managingsub-contractors. This very same week in July 2012 brings a stream of reports showing how poorly the public sector performs when it keeps the work in-house.1

In education, the