Give the city value for money

IN the bad old days, a town hall announcement similar to today's that the council faces a financial black hole, would have been accompanied by warnings of job losses and service cuts. It is a sign of better times that the revelation that £11.2 million must be cut comes with a pledge not to affect jobs or services.

That approach offers confidence that the city's finances are being handled calmly.

However, the fact remains that we are facing such a financial predicament which suggests a high degree of wishful thinking in planning the current budget. While it may be possible to find savings by encouraging departments to seek better value contracts, the time has come to look at some of the projects and policies which may have looked good on the drawing board but are not delivering value for money - and that is towards which all council managers should be striving.

Find way to give staff decent wage

BY their nature, strikes hurt everyone, and not least those involving the health service: staff suffer, management suffers and, worst, patients suffer.

So it is encouraging to learn that a proposed strike by workers in the bulk stores department at the Northern General have suspended proposed action over plans to scrap attendance and performance payments to allow a review of their pay arrangements.

To axe the payments, worth around 3,000 to staff, is cruel, particularly considering they are among the lowest paid. They deserve a decent wage and it is hoped this can be achieved in the fresh look at payments now underway.

Rich, but still cold

WHEN it comes to rich lists you expect names like Gates or Abramovich. But who the hell is Alan Rufus? He was the English landowner who, in the 11th century, amassed a fortune worth the equivalent of 81bn, making him the richest Brit in history. The only problem? How did you spend that much money in an age when you couldn't even get central heating?