The first is in the Daily Mail. Apparently they are paying an IT consultant upwards of 500k a year.
You can read it here-
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1270165/Meet-mid-ranking-civil-servant-working-IT-projects-rakes-500-000-year--times-PM.html
"Mr Grinnell joined the UK Border Agency in September 2007 as an IT consultant and was given responsibility in leading projects including Labour's notorious plans for national identity cards.
His job at the agency involves all major IT projects - including overseeing plans to issue ID cards for everyone.
The scheme was supposed to be rolled out across the UK in 2008, but has been pushed back to 2014 at a Government-estimated cost of £5 billion.
A London School of Economics study in 2005 put the cost of the ID card scheme, which both the Tories and Lib Dems have pledged to scrap, at up to £19billion.
Lib Dem spokesman for home affairs Chris Huhne said: 'This is another example of extravagant waste in outrageous consultants' fees that should shame the UKBA and the Home Office.'
Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Parliamentary Counter Terrorism subcommittee, said: 'This is yet more money that is being poured into the best-forgotten ID card scheme.
'The amount of police officers or MI5 operatives we could have bought on his annual salary is astounding. The money would have been far better spent fighting terrorism rather than administering ourselves to death.'
Matthew Sinclair of TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's clear that the amount being paid to these consultants is getting way out of hand.
'Consultants are the key area the public sector can cut back to help ordinary families struggling in the recession.'
So, all the classic signs of government mismanagement and rampant overspending.
It has been revealed that all Dover's 24 immigration officer posts will be slashed – despite the team being responsible for almost 40 per cent of all removals in Kent last year.
In a bitter second blow, proposals are also being made to shut down the 60-bed detention centre based at the port. The facility is used to detain offenders before deportation and to hold immigrants awaiting interview.
Sue Kendal, branch secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, slammed the decision. "Dover is losing its entire immigration officer team and we are in danger of reverting to the bad old days of mass influxes. We risk leaving the door open for a free-for-all, including people who want to harm the UK.
A spokesman for UKBA said: "We are currently consulting with both unions and staff over the planned restructure of our Kent immigration team.
"As a result of the restructure, it is anticipated there will be fewer full-time equivalent positions in Kent, with some of these positions transferring to Sussex.
"It is not proposed the restructure will result in compulsory job losses."
All remaining staff will have to reapply for their jobs.
"The Government talks tough but in reality it is cutting front-line officers."
This is crazy. Lunacy.
The scheme was supposed to be rolled out across the UK in 2008, but has been pushed back to 2014 at a Government-estimated cost of £5 billion.
A London School of Economics study in 2005 put the cost of the ID card scheme, which both the Tories and Lib Dems have pledged to scrap, at up to £19billion.
Lib Dem spokesman for home affairs Chris Huhne said: 'This is another example of extravagant waste in outrageous consultants' fees that should shame the UKBA and the Home Office.'
Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Parliamentary Counter Terrorism subcommittee, said: 'This is yet more money that is being poured into the best-forgotten ID card scheme.
'The amount of police officers or MI5 operatives we could have bought on his annual salary is astounding. The money would have been far better spent fighting terrorism rather than administering ourselves to death.'
Matthew Sinclair of TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'It's clear that the amount being paid to these consultants is getting way out of hand.
'Consultants are the key area the public sector can cut back to help ordinary families struggling in the recession.'
So, all the classic signs of government mismanagement and rampant overspending.
ID cards that nobody wants. Consultants charging the earth and employing their own people at grossly overinflated prices. And the taxpayer pays. That's you and me.
But there is another more sinister spin off. Read it here-
http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/people/30-jobs-border-control/article-2082325-detail/article.html
It has been revealed that all Dover's 24 immigration officer posts will be slashed – despite the team being responsible for almost 40 per cent of all removals in Kent last year.
In a bitter second blow, proposals are also being made to shut down the 60-bed detention centre based at the port. The facility is used to detain offenders before deportation and to hold immigrants awaiting interview.
Sue Kendal, branch secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, slammed the decision. "Dover is losing its entire immigration officer team and we are in danger of reverting to the bad old days of mass influxes. We risk leaving the door open for a free-for-all, including people who want to harm the UK.
A spokesman for UKBA said: "We are currently consulting with both unions and staff over the planned restructure of our Kent immigration team.
"As a result of the restructure, it is anticipated there will be fewer full-time equivalent positions in Kent, with some of these positions transferring to Sussex.
"It is not proposed the restructure will result in compulsory job losses."
All remaining staff will have to reapply for their jobs.
"The Government talks tough but in reality it is cutting front-line officers."
This is crazy. Lunacy.
Haven't we learned enough painful lessons about relying on computers instead of people on the ground?
The Police watch CCTV cameras instead of patrolling the streets.
The IPCC rely on computer programmes forecasting arctic ice melt instead of direct observation.
The UK airspace was shut down on the basis of a computer prediction rather than direct observation, ie, flying planes in and around the cloud.
And now the government are pouring their money into ill conceived and unwanted ID cards, paying over vast sums of money to consultants along the way, and paying for it by getting rid of front line staff.
They replaced Police Officers with PCSOs (who have no powers of arrest) and hoped that we didn't notice.
The closed all the local HMRC offices and got rid of the skilled tax staff and replaced them with call centres staffed by minimum wage idiots.
And now they are getting rid of Immigration staff who have powers of arrest and replacing them with part timers.
Lunacy.
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