Do Bad Ideas Eventually Die ?

[Gups]

I read in the Economist about Transport for London who run the Overground here and it's really successful and they may be expanding their routes. They're publicly owned which makes me think it wouldn't necessarily be an awful idea elsewhere. But also they took on routes on as a concession not a franchise, which I don't understand]

Here you go Shelf. TfL is the franchising authority (instead of the DfT) rather than the franchisee.

TfL is a major client of mine and I have to say its a exceptionally well-run for a large public sectory body.

The model TfL opted to take for the operation of their newly acquired Franchise was different from that used by the DfT. In part this was in order to gain the greater control and synchronicity needed for the orbital. It was also, however, an attempt to try and tackle some of the perceived problems with the franchising system mentioned above – the "buck passing and quagmires" that many felt plagued the system.

The NLR would be operated as a "Concession" not a Franchise. Network Rail would obviously manage the infrastructure and someone else would operate the services. TfL, however, would set the fares, decide service levels, procure and manage the Rolling Stock and basically take a more "hands-on" approach to daily decision making. The concession would arguably be closer to the way in which the DLR was operated rather than a traditional franchise – not so much a case of setting boundaries and then taking a hands-off approach, as setting ongoing goals and managing their achievement.

This would limit the freedom within which the chosen operator could work, but that operator would get a rather large payoff in return – unlike with existing National Rail franchisees, Tfl would absorb the overwhelming majority of the revenue risk – up to 90% of it. This made the Operator's books much easier to manage and their profit margins clearer, a worthwhile payoff for the tighter working restrictions.

[Josquius]

A big problem I faced when I left uni was that I couldn't afford to get a job. Even with benefits.

Elaborate please

Its nigh on impossible to get into most careers without having done an internship. Which means being able to survive without an income for several months in London.
And then there's that hotels (the crappiest ones) and trains are expensive, so going to a interview becomes a bit of a financial gamble.

[crazy canuck]

And the people that perpetuate the intolerance are the worst of all.

Keep telling yourself that you smug imbecile. 



G.

All the work Oex did to pursuade us that separatism had an intelligent progressive underpinning has been completed undone for me by you and the Quebec Charter.

[Malthus]

And the people that perpetuate the intolerance are the worst of all.

Keep telling yourself that you smug imbecile. 



G.

All the work Oex did to pursuade us that separatism had an intelligent progressive underpinning has been completed undone for me by you and the Quebec Charter.

The one satisfaction that comes to me from the current mess is a certan amount of 'I told you guys so'. 

[Ideologue]

I told people so about a lot things years ago.  Satisfaction level: low.

[Barrister]

I told people so about a lot things years ago.  Satisfaction level: low.

I dunno man - when I did my epic "I TOLD YOU SO!" thread I was pretty satisfied. 

http://languish.org/forums/index.php/topic,5257.0.html

[jimmy olsen]

And the people that perpetuate the intolerance are the worst of all.

Keep telling yourself that you smug imbecile. 



G.

All the work Oex did to pursuade us that separatism had an intelligent progressive underpinning has been completed undone for me by you and the Quebec Charter.

Do we have a thread on this.

[Sheilbh]

As the Coalition goes on I think the Lib Dems look more and more like a responsible party of government and the Tories like a protest party, beholden to their extremes and yearning for the comforts of opposition. It's baffling.

For fuck's sake. I'm generous about the Lib Dems and within a day they appoint a lunatic conspiracy theorist to the Home Office

In the list of bad ideas that don't die: 1 - contracting out government, 2 - to Capita

Army struggling to find recruits since system was overhauled to cut costs
The Army is facing a recruitment crisis after a cost-cutting outsourcing deal resulted in the number of people joining up falling by more than a third.
Ben Farmer By Ben Farmer, Defence Correspondent6:00AM BST 07 Oct 2013

The Government's 10-year, £440 million deal to privatise recruitment was supposed to save £300 million, but has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of recruits going through the system.

Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show that the number of people attending Army interviews and selection tests to be regular soldiers has fallen by 35 per cent since Capita, the services company, took charge of hiring.

The situation is more severe for would-be officers, with the numbers down by almost half.

Defence cuts have added to the problem by giving the impression that the Army is no longer looking to sign people up, senior officers complain.

The Ministry of Defence's latest manning figures show the Army is already 3,660 soldiers short.

Undermanned regiments complain computer glitches mean would-be recruits are struggling with an online application system and forms are being lost or delayed.

One senior infantry regiment source said: "What this has done is completely erode an effective system. Although it delivers savings, it doesn't deliver a result."

Another officer involved in selecting recruits said: "Between March and now we have had hardly anyone coming through. It's less than half what it was last year.

"There's a big lack of knowledge about how many people are in the system and where they are in the process."

In the first four months of the Capita contract 3,259 hopefuls attended Army selection and interview days, compared with 5,042 the previous year, according to figures obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request.

For officers, the decline was steeper, with only 195 being sent for selection interviews, compared with 379 the year before.

The Government has announced it is cutting back the overall size of the Army from 100,000 to 82,000 by 2020, but must still recruit thousands each year to make up for annual turnover.

Both Capita and Ministry of Defence admit that there are computer teething problems, but said the contract had only just started and these would be solved.

Regiments blame an over-reliance on the internet and an online application system. They say potential young recruits, who used to be helped through the lengthy paperwork by experienced soldiers, are now struggling to fill in the forms themselves with the help of only a call centre.

A senior officer at one Guards regiment said: "Like all these things, it was supposed to save money. But using the internet is just not the same as having a man wearing the uniform of the regiment you want to join."

Would-be soldiers have also complained that their applications are not being answered. The father of one hopeful told The Daily Telegraph his son had been waiting months without reply after his first application.

On the upside apparently it is delivering the savings

[Malthus]

And the people that perpetuate the intolerance are the worst of all.

Keep telling yourself that you smug imbecile. 



G.

All the work Oex did to pursuade us that separatism had an intelligent progressive underpinning has been completed undone for me by you and the Quebec Charter.

Do we have a thread on this.

Mostly in the Canadian Election megathread.

[crazy canuck]

Do we have a thread on this.
[/quote]

Indeed but this thread is also about bad ideas related to intolerance and one cannot denounce intolerance too many times.

[dps]

Do we have a thread on this.

Indeed but this thread is also about bad ideas related to intolerance and one cannot denounce intolerance too many times.
[/quote]

Kind of telling that you get called an imbecile for that POV without you actually mentioning Quebec in the post, isn't it?