“While Cornwall could be quite successful at this there is an ironic danger that other Councils will lose jobs that are externalised down here.”

“The "Serco-effect"?”

“ALL of the evidence to support shared services comes from within the shared services industry (IT consultancies, consultancies selling shared service advice and legal firms setting-up the contracts).

All of the evidence is based upon estimates for savings (with projections to make the profits sounds big). The estimated savings are never met and the costs always increase.

South West One shared services were predicted to save £176 million over 7 years. In reality Southwest One has recorded a pre-tax loss over its three financial years, with the last reported at £16.5m. It is claimed t have saved £3.3 million in cashable savings, but even these are questionable. The number of errors within the services are significant, with duplicate payments sitting at £772,000 and a struggle to manage £12.9m in outstanding debts.

This week Western Australia followed Queensland in ending its shared services. It was claimed that it would save $58 million a year and instead cost $444 million dollars (no savings). It is estimated that it will cost taxpayers between $1 - $2 billion dollars to rectify.

In Queesland the shared services were plagued with problems. Tens of thousands of employees were under or over-paid. In one case $100,000 dollars. It was ended last year.

The last shared services program in South Australia is under severe threat. It has a very high turnover of staff. Perhaps they can read the writing on the wall.

The theory behind shared services is very flawed. There can be small savings from the sale of buildings, but these are small and are offset by damage caused to service quality.

It often requires standardization of services, or further automation. This makes services dumb and inflexible, unable to respond to the human beings demands for help.

Costs will go up and the taxpayer will be left holding the can.

To read further please see

http://tinyurl.com/4xdufwj”

“@ GIRLHELSTON

If Robertson's own pub business was such a success why did he leave it in order to take a job as a Bar Steward in a private drinking club that you have described as 'a complete loss making white elephant'?

And if his tenure there was such a success why did he leave?

Robertson has a wafer thin majority within the Conservative minority clique and narrowly avoided being booted out by his fellow Conservatives.

Judging by his behaviour - particularly his deceit over the St Dennis incinerator - he represents no-one but himself, his unelected 'cabinet' of cronies and his friends and fellow Freemasons in business.

The man is an overpaid, anti-democratic, incompetent disgrace, and Cornwall would benefit from his removal from the tax payer funded gravy train.”

“I would not trust this council and the alleged 'representatives ' further than I could throw them. I thought Walley, Vincent and co. had plumbed new lows with the Unitary, incinerator contract ETC.!!! (you all know what I'm talking about!) But this council will work arm in arm with big business ignoring the views of those of us stupid enough to elect them. The Unitary council is nothing more than the facilitators, the councillors their apologists. The autocratic leader and behind closed doors decission making (I presume after a a hob *** and cosy chat with Kev) is a joke, but the joke is on us all.”

“@ Helston Girl

Your outline of the Lib Dems' intentions in creating Cornwall Council is on the mark, and I share your hope that this party of opportunists are obliterated at the next election.

Cornwall Council was conceived as a gravy train for life for the local political class and that's exactly what it is. Doubtless the Liberals were upset when they lost control and Alec Roberston got the top job - a thousand a week tax free of tax payers money - isn't bad by local standards.

However, Robertson has consistently shown that he is not up to the job. His outright *deceit* over the St Dennis incinerator was just the most recent gaffe. He has talked a lot about 'openness', 'transparency', 'accountability' (and all the other buzzwords) yet in the case of the incinerator he *lied* - there is no other word for it - about his intentions. He publicly supported local residents whilst lobbying secretly against their interests. His duplicitous actions are beneath contempt and when he was exposed as a hypocrite, if he had a shred of honour he would have resigned. He was once an officer (in the armed forces) but, by his own actions, he has shown that - officer or not - he is far less than a gentleman.”

“As a Councillor who ran a very successful and profitable pub business in the real world, and then transformed a club in Helston from a complete loss making white elephant into a thriving and profitable club that goes from strength to strength, then this is absolutely the right person to inject some real world business acumen into the monolith that the Lib dems created called Cornwall Council.

Not one single Lib Dem asked the people of Cornwall if they actually wanted a unitary authority, which by the way the majority of people did not. The Lib Dems saw it as a way to make sure they could run Cornwall for ever, and guess what, the people did not agree.

Good on you, press ahead, create jobs and save us ratepayers some money.

The Conservatives should be proud of a leader who leads.

Ignore the Lib Dem whiners, they will be extinct at the next election.”

“Given Councillor Robertson's history of failure in business (failed pub landlord) and his more recent history of deceit over the St Dennis incinerator where he publicly opposed the scheme whilst secretly lobbying for it to be forced through against the democratically expressed wishes of the electorate, it is impossible to know what is *really* proposed.

Cornwall Council has an appalling record of mismanagement in so many areas that it would be near impossible to list them all. Robertson's history of failure and deceit speaks for itself. How much longer can Cornish Conservatives bury their heads in the sand and pretend that this embarrassing old man is anything but a laughing stock and an electoral liability?”

“'By creating a new 'shared services' company in Cornwall, we would help protect both existing public sector employment and could create hundreds of new permanent, well-paid jobs.'
There will also be free Unicorn manure to spread on your garden. This will be gift wrapped and personally delivered by the Tooth Fairy.”

“This is just an excuse for Cornwall Council to justify what undoubtably will be plans to import more troubled families, drug addicts and convicted criminals into Cornwall as part of what will be a contract between CC and whatever local authority/NHS trust ...

We can't trust Robertson, Foulkes or any of those who stand in the council”