ICE (1 Viewer)

[Ralph-n-Bev]

If anyone is out on the roads , or paths for that matter be very careful.
Its dreadful here in Wakefield this morning.
Jacob fell over twice on the way to the bus stop this morning.
Ralphs pick up ended up going sideways twice , before he got on to the main road.
Ruby our eldest dog 15, slipped and fell over , on the flat . Then skidded on the steps up into the garden and fell down backwards on her back. AAaaaahhhh.
So if you have to go out be careful.
We dont want the A&E wards full of a load of pensioners with broken hips and wrists . Only go out if you have to , till it thaws:thumb:

 

[mdixon]

Why just pensioners!!!!

 

[ukbill]

because for some pensioners its cheaper sitting in a&e than having thier heating running full blast

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[Stephen & Jeannie]

It's Tuff out here !!!!

This pensioner has a dilemna >>>>>>>

Which shorts go with which T Shirt !

 

[ukbill]

it is really time for the council to salt for frost as well as snow even when they do its the roads only because i heard they don't do the pavements because if someone fell over because of the salt they could get sued is this not the uk gone crazy then i don't know what is

 

[GJH]

It was very slippery here on Tuesday because of rain falling on frozen ground but the last two days although we have had a harder frost it hasn't been slippery because we haven't had any rain.

I heard on local radio that both the A1 and M1 in Yorkshire had been closed because of crashes caused by drivers not taking account of the slippery conditions. When will they learn?

Incidentally it will be a year next Monday & Wednesday since our Autoquest was bent in similar conditions.

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[ukbill]

come one Stephen upset us all whats the weather like there and have you started to stack the beers up

 

[Stephen & Jeannie]

come one Stephen upset us all whats the weather like there and have you started to stack the beers up

Weather is great,:thumb: The Bonny Mackintosh have had a fresh supply of "Spitfire" in :thumb:and knuckledragger and I have been invited to a Christmas lunch there at 2pm !!
So, all in all ! just about managing to cope !!

 

[ukbill]

i hate ya

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[GJH]

it is really time for the council to salt for frost as well as snow even when they do its the roads only because i heard they don't do the pavements because if someone fell over because of the salt they could get sued is this not the uk gone crazy then i don't know what is

So exactly how much extra council tax would you like to pay then?

Councils and the Highways Agency have to take measures which are reasonably practicable. They do treat main roads for low temperatures as well as snow but if it then rains it can wash the salt/grit away. In any conditions, traffic is needed to make the salt/grit work properly. As far as more minor roads and pavements go the cost of employing people, purchasing plant which stands idle most of the year and purchasing extra salt/grit is far in excess of what council tax payers would willingly fund.

There is little chance councils could be successfully sued just because somebody slipped as a result of snow/ice because the weather is outside of anybody's control. It would have to be shown that they had been negligent or had failed to take reasonably practicable steps.

There is a more specific duty in Scotland than in England & Wales but even so there is a test of whether the authority took reasonable steps.

No doubt we will soon be seeing the urban myth that individuals may be liable if someone else slips or falls on an area they have treated. We all have a responsibility to be careful ourselves. There have been no cases in the UK of people being sued for clearing snow.

 

[ukbill]

omg graham you are on 1 again
i pay enough tax both council and ever other bloody tax come back and say all this when you go arse over tit because some arse at the council says don't grit

 

[GJH]

omg graham you are on 1 again
i pay enough tax both council and ever other bloody tax come back and say all this when you go arse over tit because some arse at the council says don't grit

No you don't pay enough tax to cover gritting absolutely everything and neither do the rest of us. Challenge me on opinions if you like but please don't challenge me on facts unless you have evidence that the facts I have stated are wrong.

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[Styx]

No you don't pay enough tax to cover gritting absolutely everything and neither do the rest of us. Challenge me on opinions if you like but please don't challenge me on facts unless you have evidence that the facts I have stated are wrong.

Graham, I can't really take the 'cost' issue very seriously since it was publicised just how much money these councils had stashed in Iceland...

 

[Jim]

Graham, I can't really take the 'cost' issue very seriously since it was publicised just how much money these councils had stashed in Iceland...

Good point,:thumb: Maybe they were salting it away for a [STRIKE]rainy[/STRIKE] frosty day

 

[GJH]

I hope none of the councils invested in Asda - unless it was to fund icy weather driving lessons for their delivery staff

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[haganap]

Well, fear Not Mrs Bev.....

I is just off for a 10 mile run, and my new highly pricey quality OMM jacket is going to come in good use. It's blowing a hoolie out there and raining sideways with rain drops the size of aaa batteries.

I am blowing it your way, it aint cold though that's for sure,,,,, I could even go in my shorts as well salopian but think I will stick to me tights :Blush:

 

[callumwa]

Graham, I can't really take the 'cost' issue very seriously since it was publicised just how much money these councils had stashed in Iceland...

So that explains why the roads [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] were always clear in Iceland, no matter the weather...

 

[ukbill]

graham are you a paid spy by the councils and the government maybe thats why we can't get gritted cause they have paid it all to you to fight their corner the robbing gits

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[GJH]

graham are you a paid spy by the councils and the government maybe thats why we can't get gritted cause they have paid it all to you to fight their corner the robbing gits

What on Earth are you talking about Bill? Slinging insults around does you no credit at all.

As I posted earlier on this thread, it will be a year next Monday & Wednesday since our Autoquest was bent in similar conditions. Do you think either of the companies insuring the drivers involved would have accepted liability if there was any chance of blaming the local council?

 

[ukbill]

on the tax issue i just realised you are up north so your rate of tax on ya income compared to us southerners is around 0 most northerners words not mine
maybe all the bad weather up there makes ya all grumpy old me

 

[Terry]

on the tax issue i just realised you are up north so your rate of tax on ya income compared to us southerners is around 0 most northerners words not mine
maybe all the bad weather up there makes ya all grumpy old me

What a load of tosh us northern folk pay tax that goes to the government in the south :thumb: It's you Southern ers that don't dish it out fair
Terry

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[sedge]

Hmm Mmme Shiftzz ..... the old investment in Iceland thing again ......

Off topic really, BUT ....

There is a list of where councils can invest, which allegedly have been checked for financial soundness. So that's where the council finance officer stashes the money. Now I have to say, I don't know whether this is done by individual councils or whether it's Central Government. No matter. But whatever, although I understand the list is updated fairly regularly, it ain't on a day by day hour by hour basis.

One day years ago, sitting at my insurance broking desk, I get a call from a personal friend of one of our directors - as director was on hols he'd asked for me cos we'd met once or twice on social occasions - who is in local Govt. Not his normal day to day job but today he has the Finance Officers job (as he apparently does from time to time when the Main Men are on hols or off sick or whatever) and has 'a lot' of money to stash right now. Name at the very top of the 'approved' list and therefore supposedly his first choice for the cash was insurance related, an American company which matey thinks he's seen some Bad Press about. He's perfectly correct. Awful Press and both S&P and other credit rating agencies by that time had got em on ZZZ instead of AAA+ where they had been slipping from at a rate of knots recently, so for quite some time we'd been having to issue a Gypsies Warning to clients if they came up with the best quotes, as we still had covers with them and had not been instructed previously to get out.

Furthermore the previous week via London HO - who got it from our US parent - we'd been told in a very serious edict - TELEX from US Parent!! - to move all covers with that company elsewhere IMMEDIATELY no matter what it cost, we'll sort that out later and make sure Mr Client doesn't land up too out of pocket. We'd only just finished doing that in fact. So that's what I told him. Obviously I couldn't tell him not to put the money there - not my decision.

So to cover himself he then goes and tells HIS boss (who again isn't directly in Finance but knows a lot about Risk!! - being a Chief Constable LOL) Who agrees it shouldn't be done, so he didn't invest the dosh with them. The company went t*ts up 2 days later.

(and a good many insurers and brokers were running round like headless chickens just after that, whilst we all went down the pub ....)

Some councils lost money. That one probably did as well with investments they'd previously made, who knows? But just not the bit that matey directed elsewhere.

Now the difficulty is, nobody you actually know and can ring up confidentially to get the dirt, happens to be involved with the innermost workings of the credit ratings of whole Countries. And the Governor of the Bank of England probably isn't likely to return your call, is he?

See Graham, your normal run of the mill person doesn't know any of this goes on - money on short-term high interest deposit cos they have it on the 1st when the Council Tax D/Ds appear in their Bank, but they don't need to spend it till they do the salary run on 16th or whatever - and immediately think it's all excuses when summat goes wrong and demand a witch-hunt. It was just fortuitous that the particular council bloke had someone he could trust to talk to on that particular day and equally happenstance that we did have an inside track really because we happened to be in the same core business plus have strong links with the US.

And likewise with anything else councils do, Joe Public has no conception. Graham is VERY good at explaining why things seem as they are, he's extremely helpful in these circumstances, PLUS will only defend councils when there's something to defend, not willy nilly!

So don't shoot the messenger; read, learn and ask as many questions as you like, but do it politely please! :thumb:

 

[ukbill]

What a load of tosh us northern folk pay tax that goes to the government in the south :thumb: It's you Southern ers that don't dish it out fair
Terry

thanks terry for your contributions to my much needed funds
and Graham sorry you saw it as a insult it was more of a fact i thought that you are a paid member of the i love the council brigade
don't take things to heart its called banter mate not insults

 

[ukbill]

i really aint got no idea about all this council need this or do this has anything to do with some salt

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[GJH]

Hmm Mmme Shiftzz ..... the old investment in Iceland thing again ......(snip for brevity)

Thanks Jenny. With my background in local government I do know a bit about short and long term investments made by local authorities. I was never directly involved but with the jobs I did I was bound to learn a bit more about it than "Joe Public". Traditionally, local authorities used ratings agencies Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poors to assist in identifying risk. From memory I think it was about a quarter of LAs that had investments with the Icelandic banks, as a result of relying on the agencies' ratings.

The problem with the Icelandic banks was that the agencies continued to give them high ratings until only a few days before they crashed. It's interesting to see that a number of legal jurisdictions are mounting lawsuits against the agencies as a result of their lleged misleading of investors.

As you say, though, totally off topic - though I think Kath's original mention of Iceland was very much tongue in cheek and a play on words

 

[GJH]

thanks terry for your contributions to my much needed funds
and Graham sorry you saw it as a insult it was more of a fact i thought that you are a paid member of the i love the council brigade
don't take things to heart its called banter mate not insults

Thank you Bill. The problem is that many (most?) posters who make comments along the lines of "some arse at the council" and "robbing gits" are actually serious even though their comments are baseless.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Ah look the good old Civil Service / Local Government whatever you want to call it, short term investing in Iceland AAA++++, especially when the Icelanding banking debt was bigger than the Icelandic GDP.

Yes its fine to have reserves and that prudent, but how can you justify shoving over £850 million into a fund that was not protected? The cost of deposit insurance was covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme who paid around £3 billion to transfer deposits from Heritable Bank and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander to ING Direct, while the UK Treasury paid an additional £600 million to guarantee retail deposits that were higher than the FSCS limit. The Treasury also paid out £800 million to guarantee Icesave deposits that were higher than the limit. A loan of £2.2 billion to the Icelandic government is expected to cover the claims against the Icelandic DIGF relating to Icesave, while the exposure of the UK FSCS is expected to be £1–2 billion.

So the Taxpayer may well be having to cover the loss that the Local Authorities ‘risked’ our funds in a high risk/high return venture.

Yes there are very good councils (all those Graham worked for) and there are others who are so politically motivated and in the land of ga ga and have taken and implemented some really stupid ideas, Look at Hatton and his crew in Liverpool. Leicester city council who want to erect a statue to Mahatma Gandhi, or North Wales Health authority who renamed themselves The Bettie Cadwalader Trust (after a nurse who went to the Crimea and was a hooker) or Caerphilly County Borough Council chief executive’s Anthony O’Sullivan was one of 20 senior bosses at the local authority who were awarded pay increases at a secret meeting of five councilors in September. His salary is now believed to be around £158,000, a £35,000 increase that’s £15k a year more than the Prime Minister. Or promote and fund a Nuclear Free Local Authorities Association.

I for one am disappointed in a lot of what my council do and does not do, failing to grit is one of them, was it not two years ago, they proclaimed “We have run out of grit” yet they are able to fund useless awards such as the “Beacon Awards”, the waste within certain councils is bordering on criminal.(none that Graham ever worked for or was affiliated to or telephoned or had reason to e-mail them)

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[GJH]

Point of order. Beacon council awards were one of the stupid ideas of the last government and funded centrally. Still a waste of money with no benefit at all

 

[ukbill]

Thank you Bill. The problem is that many (most?) posters who make comments along the lines of "some arse at the council" and "robbing gits" are actually serious even though their comments are baseless.

graham i neither know anyone in a local council or government all i know and believe is that the people in power are there for themselves and someone somewhere has to make the decision that its cheaper not to grit than to grit
it really don't matter nothing will change its been like this for to long but if it wasn't then what would i have to moan about

 

[Stephen & Jeannie]

Nowt wrong wi that lad !!

Ah look the good old Civil Service / Local Government whatever you want to call it, short term investing in Iceland AAA++++, especially when the Icelanding banking debt was bigger than the Icelandic GDP.

Yes its fine to have reserves and that prudent, but how can you justify shoving over £850 million into a fund that was not protected? The cost of deposit insurance was covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme who paid around £3 billion to transfer deposits from Heritable Bank and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander to ING Direct, while the UK Treasury paid an additional £600 million to guarantee retail deposits that were higher than the FSCS limit. The Treasury also paid out £800 million to guarantee Icesave deposits that were higher than the limit. A loan of £2.2 billion to the Icelandic government is expected to cover the claims against the Icelandic DIGF relating to Icesave, while the exposure of the UK FSCS is expected to be £1–2 billion.

So the Taxpayer may well be having to cover the loss that the Local Authorities ‘risked’ our funds in a high risk/high return venture.

Yes there are very good councils (all those Graham worked for) and there are others who are so politically motivated and in the land of ga ga and have taken and implemented some really stupid ideas, Look at Hatton and his crew in Liverpool. Leicester city council who want to erect a statue to Mahatma Gandhi, or North Wales Health authority who renamed themselves The Bettie Cadwalader Trust [HI](after a nurse who went to the Crimea and was a hooker) [/HI]or Caerphilly County Borough Council chief executive’s Anthony O’Sullivan was one of 20 senior bosses at the local authority who were awarded pay increases at a secret meeting of five councilors in September. His salary is now believed to be around £158,000, a £35,000 increase that’s £15k a year more than the Prime Minister. Or promote and fund a Nuclear Free Local Authorities Association.

I for one am disappointed in a lot of what my council do and does not do, failing to grit is one of them, was it not two years ago, they proclaimed “We have run out of grit” yet they are able to fund useless awards such as the “Beacon Awards”, the waste within certain councils is bordering on criminal.(none that Graham ever worked for or was affiliated to or telephoned or had reason to e-mail them)

Plenty of unoccupied roundabouts in the Sun here, sod the Crimea !

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