Turning round the Ocean Going Liner

When I worked in local government we often talked about the challenges of turning an ocean going liner by which we meant the council. We imagined that it was too far big a task, indeed one that was so big that we could not contemplated really making significant changes to the way the Council operated.


I recall the moment well when it dawned on me that although I had managed to persuade TESCO to change their recruitment policies so that unemployed people were in an advantaged position in respect of jobs at their store in Seacroft, it was proving impossible to persuade the Council to adopt a similar approach.


Well we were wrong, because the ocean liner is currently being stopped and the Council’s are shedding services and jobs at an alarming rate. Furthermore those organisations that are dependent on government money, distributed through Council funding, are if anything being more affected.


It is therefore no surprise that today the leader of Liverpool City Council had this to say to the Prime Minister;


"How can the city council support the big society and its aim to help communities do more for themselves when we will have to cut the lifeline to hundreds of these vital and worthwhile groups?,I have therefore come to the conclusion that Liverpool City Council can no longer support the big society initiative, as a direct consequence of your funding decisions."


The problem is that there is a captain on the bridge with his trusty lieutenants but there is a huge disconnection between them and the engine room and as a result the boat is paralysed to the point of inaction. It is therefore sad for us to see the pressure on many of the people we have worked with in the public sector, who are now struggling to work out what to do with the services they offer both now and in the future.