Street Vandal

[gramps]

I came across this scene yesterday on my walkabout in the city ... two workmen and a large lorry + 'accessories' applying flower stencil cut-outs to the road.
Now I have no idea what these will accomplish or if they have any legitimate use but I sometimes despair at the random and seemingly pointless use of public money ... am I missing something? ... or is it me?


Street Vandal by Bristol Streets, on Flickr

 

[Sky]

I agree. They can't fill the potholes of fix the pavements, but they can afford to waste money on decorations.

 

[Pound Coin]

Potholes come from ever heavier cars with wider tyres. Should public money be used to repair the damage caused by the few?

Most photographers are artists, and art adds layers to life. I'd rather have art like this brightening up a dull, grey, utilitarian blancmange of a world.

 

[gramps]

Potholes come from ever heavier cars with wider tyres. Should public money be used to repair the damage caused by the few?

Most photographers are artists, and art adds layers to life. I'd rather have art like this brightening up a dull, grey, utilitarian blancmange of a world.

As a part-time cyclist I would rather have the potholes filled.

 

[Cobra]

random and seemingly pointless use of public money ... am I missing something? ... or is it me?

Its the same every year ( here at least) it's the end of the financial year and the local councils are wasting using up the rest of the budget, that they should have spent on "better things" during the past year .. So it doesn't get cut next year.

 

[gramps]

Its the same every year ( here at least) it's the end of the financial year and the local councils are wasting using up the rest of the budget, that they should have spent on "better things" during the past year .. So it doesn't get cut next year.

Ah ... of course!

 

[Norkie]

Its the same every year ( here at least) it's the end of the financial year and the local councils are wasting using up the rest of the budget, that they should have spent on "better things" during the past year .. So it doesn't get cut next year.

Correct.

 

[Pound Coin]

Its the same every year ( here at least) it's the end of the financial year and the local councils are wasting using up the rest of the budget, that they should have spent on "better things" during the past year .. So it doesn't get cut next year.

You mean the year after? Budgets for next year are already set

 

[Cobra]

So why is there always a rush at the end of the financial year to waste the rest of their budget?
Its very noticeable everywhere.

 

[Pound Coin]

So why is there always a rush at the end of the financial year to waste the rest of their budget?
Its very noticeable everywhere.

...maybe to help set the budget the following year

 

[Norkie]

I suspect because during the year you can carry monies over from one accounting period to the next, a reserve. At the year end you cannot reserve or carry over to the next accounting year.

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

I suspect because during the year you can carry monies over from one accounting period to the next, a reserve. At the year end you cannot reserve or carry over to the next accounting year.

Nearly right. All councils (effectively) have three pots of money: current accounts (more or less the same as a bank current account) reserves and unallocated accounts. The first two are probably obvious but the last one may not be.

Unallocated accounts are monies from various sources which are reserved for particular types of use. One example is S106 money, so called because it is levied under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This can only be used for certain types of community improvement and must not be used for general purposes, such as filling in pot holes. There's a time limit on spending most such monies and there's usually more demand for its use than can be met.

Finance Committees will have larger S106 projects and smaller projects. Where it will take time to accumulate enough money for a large project, they'll sometimes find they're going to run out of time waiting for a larger project to mature and so they'll look through the list of smaller projects and use the money, which they'll otherwise lose, on one or more of those. These moneys are not on an annual cycle but more commonly have to be used up over several years.

If you think this sounds odd, then you need to take it up with your MP because all of these things come from Parliament and nowhere else.