I heard of a school that acquired a double classroom of the portacabin type (two rooms and entrance ). The council's Works dept charged £20,000 for installing central heating!
I expect that when the summer comes they will need to install Air Conditioning.
Amazing how they can come up with such costings.
It's the same people who are berating their employers that they are not paid enough.
In message , John wrote
A couple of grand for the heating and 18 grand for the health and safety risk assessment.
Did it include a new or uprated gas or electricity supply to the building?
Also, as the work possibly couldn't be done during the day when the classroom was in use, or if pupils had to be excluded from the area of excavations, it might have to be done at weekends, at which case overtime will apply. In simplistic internal accounting terms, if the Works Dept charges £100 per hour for a digger + driver, the overtime rate will be £200 per hour, even though only the wage rate will rise from c. £8 to £16; the digger itself doesn't cost more.
It's not real money, it's only council money. The only time there is any relationship to the real thing is when the council tax bill goes up every year.
After all, compared to the cost of a shower cubical for a senior police officer, central heating for two classrooms for only £20k is a bargain.
Owain
Good thinking - and don't forget the site office and administrator!
Just typical of how the education budget and our poll tax is wasted with the nepotism, self interest, jobs for the boys, and inefficiency in local authorities. My son's primary school just bought 10 laptops, according to the head teacher the local eduacation authority instructed them to purchase from an "approved supplier". They paid £2200 each. I had a quick look at my favourite IT websites and the very same laptops could be had for £439. I was left wondering at how many books and other resources could have been purchased for the difference in price. The sad thing is we're paying for it all...
School for one :)
that must be cheap.
Adam
Ah well, there's been a stunning cockup with procurement for schools, and probably other stuff too.
The rules say publically funded organisations with a budget over X have to put everything out to competitive tender, or use a "Framework aggreement". See
Unfortunately despite the good intent of putting it out to tender - competition meaning lower prices, better service, etc - the rules which accompany this make it work in the opposite way, such that the contracts end up being more restrictive and less competitive.
cheers, clive
All council costs seem to be the same, you often see that 800K of S106 money has bought all of 2 dropped curbs and a pedestrian island.
Steve
And that's the problem. Money is best spent when I spend my money on something I want, and worst spent when I spend someone elses money on something I don't personally care about.
And that's the fundamental reason the State spends our money so poorly.
In article , LaserMark scribeth thus
At my daughters school the HM has got,
The right teachers in,
The right pupils in,
and the council out!....
and its doing very well, very well indeed:))
Mmm...
This is how private schools do it as well. Zero to minimum government involvement.
Perhaps the public sector will take the hint that it is justifiably going to be recompensed below the rate of inflation. Of course the problem there is that anybody with genuine ability will leave and get a proper job, leaving ever worsening dregs.
Ummm... This is a state school;!...
What did they do with the wrong pupils? It's easy to do very well indeed if you cream off the middle class kids. It's the other lot that cost the money in the long term
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha[gasp]... ...hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
[Wipes tears from eyes]Thanks for that.
Nooo... This "was" a sink school, its just that the right management came along...
Even some no hopers have done very well given the right encouragement and help and environment!....
yes, I realise that. It's simply that the HM has figured out that government involvement isn't useful and has done much better managing the setup herself as is done in the private sector.
Glad to have brightened your day.
Let's be realistic. The miserable Gordon wasn't going to have done it, was he?
I fully take your point, however does the "purchase" include software , technical backup, replacement if broken etc etc ?
I think Gordon is fabulous.
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