Green issues

Last week our 2 local MPs voted with the Tory government to allow water companies to discharge raw sewage into rivers, this despite Cleethorpes being a resort where many kids like to play in the sea.
Since being privatised water companies have taken out over £58 billion pounds in profits for share holders but claim they cannot afford the expense of treating the water or making allowances in times of water surges.
This is an absolute disgrace particularly on the part of Vickers, who should be putting the health of his constituents and his constituency first, politicians take about being green and environmentally friendly but talk is all it is , as soon as their big business mates can see a way to save a few quid care  the environment goes out the window

Mrs Ginny put this out across social media sites last week.

Disgusting that it's being allowed to happen. Profit before people is the Tory way.

The two grubby tramps elected by the people of NE Lincs need to be reminded their job is to represent the interests of their constituents in Westminster - all of them - and not just be another helping hand for the leaches at big business.

After all the effort that small businesses have put into reinvigorating Cleethorpes and the work being done around town, these two voting to allow raw sewage to be pumped into our watercourses is nothing short of criminal. Every single small business owner should be banging their door down at the next constituency drop in.

Absolute vermin.

What was the mad justification in voting for sewage to get dumped in rivers? Seems a bit bonkers especially in the same month gov.uk are acting like holier than thou green saviours of the world hosting this Environment conference.

They have put sewage and waste into the Humber since I was a kid.

It was disgraceful then and even more so in today's age when we have more modern ways of disposing of our waste.

There isn't any change - the vote was to keep the status quo where the water companies aren't legally liable when sewage escapes out of the sewers and into rivers.

Biggest problem is that we've been muddling on with our mainly Victorian sewers for far too many decades, despite the fact that we've got multiples of the population compared to when they were built. Probably hundreds of billions needs to be spent to bring them up to standard and the only way this would be possible is if government funded the work. A decades-long project. No chance of that occurring in the shorter term, so excrement in the rivers it is for the foreseeable. More often, too, thanks to the increased likelihood of extreme weather events in the current era.

£56 billion has gone out of the industry that could have contributed to the investment needed. Disgraceful privatising it in the first place.

Yep, I've never quite understood how right-wingers manager to think that economies of scale apparently don't matter in a sector which is a natural monopoly (energy, water, rail, healthcare, telecoms etc), whereas they think 'competition' is the answer for everything, even if it means you have to create a pretend market to make it even tangentially possible.

We see similar waste in education too. Schools producing brochures. Why? Schools closing for half a day to prepare for prospective pupils open day, plus current pupils spending time preparing and doing what are essentially marketing exercises. Schools employing accountants and business managers, duplicating effort across the board. Highly paid chief executives/heads who don’t go near a classroom. At the end of the day most places go to people who live near the school anyway.

Same can be said for the quasi market in health.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

We see similar waste in education too. Schools producing brochures. Why? Schools closing for half a day to prepare for prospective pupils open day, plus current pupils spending time preparing and doing what are essentially marketing exercises. Schools employing accountants and business managers, duplicating effort across the board. Highly paid chief executives/heads who don’t go near a classroom. At the end of the day most places go to people who live near the school anyway.

Same can be said for the quasi market in health.

The education system is an odd one…our CEO earns the same as a CEO of a Multi Academy Trust with 35 schools, we’ve got 15; that grinds my gears, especially when he’s never stepped foot in my school in two years. However, I do understand why CEOs of large trusts earn the cash they do, it’s no different to when LAs ran schools and Assistant Directors/Directors of education earned circa 90k and the likes. Like any profession too, there’s always greedy folk…

Headteachers don’t have the time to be in a classroom, I’m a non teaching deputy, if I taught I literally couldn’t do my job. One can argue that is a product of a system that’s changed beyond recognition where paperwork and spreadsheets have taken over…for me, the good schools, effective schools make use of those things. We squeeze every penny from our budget (we pay a high percentage to our trust, that’s a different debate and probably the better one to have) and I use our data to deliver relevant and contemporary CPD.

The bigger issue with education is the trusts swallowing up land, generating income and then claiming to reinvest that cash in to the ‘trust’ but in truth, it’s never seen again.

The issue of single academy trusts becomes another talking point; they’re essentially going to be squeezed out of the eh market to force them to join a trust. That then becomes a fight and a battle, more so for those schools seen as ‘failing’ or needing vast improvement. This hangs over the wife’s head constantly, thankfully, they’re a progressive and outstanding, large primary with a healthy budget and data to support what they do…they’ll survive, for now…

The removal of catchments per se, the clamour for pupils so you’re not left with the ‘undesirables’ and so forth means brochures and open events etc need to take place. It’s hard though, on the one hand, why shouldn’t schools produce these things to promote themselves and celebrate, equally, had a system of ‘being the best because we’ve got the best grades not been created, it wouldn’t matter so much.

Sadly, parents force this issue too, buying houses in so called ‘catchment areas’…just Becauee some men in suits with clipboards said a school is outstanding, doesn’t means it’s outstanding for every kid, nor is it effective…people have bought in to the league table/Ofsted narrative and that has forced the issue.

With education used as a political pawn nothing will change…from someone within the profession the salary of CEOs is a moot point compared to the wider issues that we face. It’s extremely sad but I really wouldn’t encourage anyone to take the plunge in to the profession…I lecture on several under and postgraduate education courses and hear enthusiastic students talk of lengthy careers and aspirations when in truth the data suggests they’ll least no more than 5 years…