interestrateripoff Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Ministers' 'shocking' lack of transparency as chauffeur-driven car bill soars to £6.3millionClearly cuts need to be made just not with the chauffeur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) Ministers' 'shocking' lack of transparency as chauffeur-driven car bill soars to £6.3million Clearly cuts need to be made just not with the chauffeur. any mention of their tax payer funded tax free equity in their London homes? Edited November 17, 2015 by TheCountOfNowhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCountOfNowhere Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 when does the austerity start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motor_Blade Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Just as well we're all in it together, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybong Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) What would Corbyn say. Edited November 17, 2015 by billybong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 How much do you think it should cost? I'd expect a government to have pool cars made available by need to senior officials / ministers. 80 cars - seems about right (£100k per car per year - not crazy money (you need to pay the drivers (plus to get value from the car you'd need more drivers than cars), driver training (presumably some are trained at 'tactical driving'), maintenance, fuel, pay for the car (these will all be on the large side, presumably some will be armoured, etc). I suppose you could bring the cost below £6m, but not by much. It is an opaque service, though - it would be better if there were documents with miles driven for each department and by user. Then you could see if there were outliers who were taking advantage of the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxe Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 How much do you think it should cost? Dunno, the chief exec of my company (with arguably just as much responsibility as most of these people) uses the tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Dunno, the chief exec of my company (with arguably just as much responsibility as most of these people) uses the tube. Ah, but UK ministers and senior officials know just how dangerous the tube is at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Dunno, the chief exec of my company (with arguably just as much responsibility as most of these people) uses the tube. Let 'em share Corbyn's bike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I'm sorry but this is a case of 'let's make the proles worry about inconsequential things then they won't be worrying about the important things'. £6m might seem quite a bit of money for real people, but given how much they waste on everything else it really is of no consequence. And, as I said before, there is going to be some spend, so the argument is over how much cheaper you think it could be, not the headline figure. [i should add that I'm not actually a government chauffeur, despite all my support in the face of opposition] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rxe Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I'm worried about more important things as well, but I think it would reduce the detachment of these people if they actually mixed with the proles. Everyone else has to endure shouty weird people on the tube, no reason why they should not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Dunno, the chief exec of my company (with arguably just as much responsibility as most of these people) uses the tube. Agreed. I think probably only the main cabinet plus the PM should have official cars. The more anonymous members don't need it and there's no reason for them to have one. As you say, Directors of billion dollar companies manage to use public transport etc perfectly adequately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgul Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) Agreed. I think probably only the main cabinet plus the PM should have official cars. The more anonymous members don't need it and there's no reason for them to have one. As you say, Directors of billion dollar companies manage to use public transport etc perfectly adequately. But they don't take the tube to official functions when dressed up, or take the tube from the airport when there is a cabinet meeting to get to. Also, if I have highly paid (or valued) staff I'd prefer for them to be taking a taxi (where they can work or relax before the next meeting) rather than taking the tube where they'll need more preparation time that evening or whatever. (This is the reason why business class exists - I've travelled to the US for a meeting for one day, preparation on the plane, etc - and been on a plane home so I can be at work the next morning. Doable in standard or business class, but you make less mistakes in the meeting if you're more prepared and relaxed). The question really should be how much smaller do you think it can be. I've worked for large companies where the 'chauffeur car' bill (actually posh taxis) is in the millions per year, and most people most of the time will be using public transport or their own car. But I think there is clearly some misuse going on*. They would do well to have a summary report with miles driven per person. Cost per mile would be instructive, also. * the example being the Mone woman, who is doing something for entrepreneurship even though she was dismissed from her previous post for lying on her CV (so perhaps isn't the most honest of individuals) and has only built up the one company so it might just as well have been luck - if you're going to have someone championing entrepreneurship I'd expect to have a few failures (failure can teach a lot) as well as multiple successes - it might be that following her example will work 5% of the time, and she just happens to be one of the 5%. Edited November 17, 2015 by dgul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blod Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I'm worried about more important things as well, but I think it would reduce the detachment of these people if they actually mixed with the proles. Everyone else has to endure shouty weird people on the tube, no reason why they should not. Yes, but having these "shouty weird people" on public transport will only further degrade the public service. Only the very top ministers should have "transport", otherwise it just encourages climate change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agentimmo Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 That Mone woman. Now enobled. Shows just how rotten the political class are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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