Friday, March 07, 2008

Council 'for sale' ?

Well, next Thursday's Full Council papers are out ... the individual reports can be found via Committee Papers On Line (CPOL - here) and the main meeting agenda is here.

As predicted, it's not good news for a lot of organisations, and there is the ever-increasing opaqueness about some of the recommendations - like the totally spurious claim that 'disinvestment' in organisations is only £785,000 ... doesn't alter the absolute fact that some £2.569million has been TAKEN OUT of grant budgets Council-wide.

... more to come on that, for sure.

Meantime, just after the reports were published on CPOL, every Councillor received a copy of this (anonymised) e-mail:


From: ---
Sent: 07 March 2008 11:19
To: Councillors
Subject: Civic Items

Dear Councillor

In case you don't already know, a small stock of civic items are held by the Finance Department and are available for sale to Elected Members. The items available are as detailed below:


Silver Gilt Mace Brooch - £105.75
Hamilton & Inches Silver Cuff Links - £119.85
Hamilton & Inches Gold Cuff Links - £340.75
Laings Silver Cuff Links - £44.65
Laings Gold Cuff Links - £305.50

If you are interested in any item, please contact ---


... things really must be desperate :-(

... I wouldn't mind so much if I could afford some of what's on offer, but even the cheaper silver cuff-links are outwith my budget :-((

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ithink you could buy all these items your worth a fortune. I lost your email address but "The Connected one" sent it to me a happy Rosyth resident who used to live in Hutchison Avenue

Andrew said...

Gwen!

"Worth a fortune" - if only??

Hope all is well in Fife - great to hear from you ... my work e-mail address is andrew.burns@edinburgh.gov.uk

Andrew

Anonymous said...

the picture is Elsa Peretti cufflinks which are available at Tiffany on 5th Ave or Bond Street in London. Definitely overpriced.

The H&I gold cufflinks, if 18k, look like a real deal. Can't beat H&I for quality.

Maybe the coonsil could set up an ebay shop!

Andrew said...

... hope no Libs read that e-bay comment, as they might just give it a try :-(

Anonymous said...

If they do, I have the list of the first 5 councillors they could present for sale in the shop.

Anonymous said...

Simply must agree with john wallace there, the Hamilton and Inches items are certainly well worth having. A man of wealth and taste I'm sure.

Intrigued by the link to eurotrash.com by the way, an exciting looking venture.

Barbara
Ontario

Anonymous said...

Followed a link to this blog from Ewan Aitken's blog, how illuminating it is! I am a long term worker in homelessness services, and have seen cuts being applied to services year on year. There are now people living in 'short stay' hostel accommodation for periods in excess of 6 month and many for 12+ months, due the fact there are no medium to long term housing support services available for vulnerable adults with complex needs in Edinburgh, as a direct result of these spurious 'renegotiations. There is an increasing minority of adults who cannot get access to hostels due to the complexity of their need, who in the past, have been able to sustain their own tenancies with specialized long term housing support workers. All the good work done as a result of the RSI funding that came to the city 10 years ago has been undone, and we are creating a new underclass of poorly accommodated, under supported and disenfranchised adults who will inevitably incur other costs through over use of emergency heath services and criminal justice involvement [consequential of the impact of a lifestyle at the margins of society].

Unknown said...

Followed a link to this blog from Ewan Aitken's blog, how illuminating it is! I am a long term worker in homelessness services, and have seen cuts being applied to services year on year. There are now people living in 'short stay' hostel accommodation for periods in excess of 6 month and many for 12+ months, due the fact there are no medium to long term housing support services available for vulnerable adults with complex needs in Edinburgh, as a direct result of these spurious 'renegotiations. There is an increasing minority of adults who cannot get access to hostels due to the complexity of their need, who in the past, have been able to sustain their own tenancies with specialized long term housing support workers. All the good work done as a result of the RSI funding that came to the city 10 years ago has been undone, and we are creating a new underclass of poorly accommodated, under supported and disenfranchised adults who will inevitably incur other costs through over use of emergency heath services and criminal justice involvement [consequential of the impact of a lifestyle at the margins of society].

Andrew said...

imsullivan/hee

Thanks for the comment/s ... do e-mail me directly at:

andrew.burns@edinburgh.gov.uk

- if you want to pass on any other details and/or for me to pursue the issues you raise further? I'd be happy to do so ...

Andrew