Monday, August 18, 2008
Government comes out of suspended animation…
To deal with a real world problem. After months of stalemate and inaction in the Executive, it seems two DUP ministers have consulted and agreed an ex officio plan to deal with the flooding from the weekend. The problem, as Michael has suggested, may be that executive approval is needed for anything that covers the remit of two or more executive departments? Which would actually require an executive meeting. Interesting… That could make for an interesting call for the DFM…
Mick Fealty @ 09:12 PM
MS
“Ah, I see. The ends justify the means.”
Eyes roll. No you don’t see. Generally people don’t care about how the paper was shuffled nor will read a statement explaining how it got shuffled, it is what the paper shuffling achieved is what they usually want to know.
Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 04:04 PMSo….......the ends justify the means? That is actually want you;re saying.
Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 05:36 PM“Generally people don’t care about how the paper was shuffled nor will read a statement explaining how it got shuffled, it is what the paper shuffling achieved is what they usually want to know. “
Agreed but the Auditors will have to ensure that the expenditiure was “regular” and “proper” ie complied with all revelant controls inclduing the Executive’s own rules.
Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 05:48 PMGreat. Send in the NIAO. A wiser man than I told me that auditors only counted the dead and bayoneted the wounded.
NIAO cost NI around £27m over a two year period. When asked how much fraud they uncovered for £27m, they could only say “we don’t count it up - our job is to assist public bodies look after their money.”
Place not your faith in auditors. Auditors, in Northern Ireland, are 30% of the reason why nothing gets achieved here. Just an observation. Carry on, there.
Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 06:33 PMMS
“So….......the ends justify the means? That is actually want you;re saying.”
Err no. A general disnterest in means is not the same as advocating/supporting the use of any means. The public seem to work on the assumption the means are within the accepted bounds, an assumption based on the fact it almost always is and they reserve the right to be seriously displeased if they discover otherwise.
Cynic
“Agreed but the Auditors will have to ensure that the expenditiure was “regular” and “proper” ie complied with all revelant controls inclduing the Executive’s own rules.”
Yep. However my hunch is that if senior civil servants weren’t satisfied money wouldn’t be flowing, a minister’s powers are not limitless.
The civil service do fuck up but not usually on something like this. An urgent civil servant usually gets the job done. It is when you give them time, committees and consultants etc that they manage to waste big sums that takes a lot of work ;)
The Raven
Read about McDonaldisation theory got put onto this last week interesting when applied to civil service processes.
Ms says there is a statutory basis for such payments, it appears the necessary ministers have communicated and there is a mechanism to get around the 2.4 issues that Mick highlights.Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 06:57 PMFair Deal - there are no underpaid auditors. Though admittedly, their mission is certainly to devalue the work of others more skilled. ;-)
Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 07:26 PMThe Raven
A quote worth remembering
PS The “Ms says…” line was for cynic
Posted by on Aug 19, 2008 @ 07:38 PM
