E-Borders dead

[Seven Spades]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26534643

e-Borders is dead, the replacement iOS said t be a slimmed down version so perhaps we are in the clear.

 

[Tidewaiter2]

I suspect that like Dracula, HO control freaks will try to revive it again, somehow for recreational boating.The article reads to me as if it's a renaming/tactical withdrawal, waiting for the heat to go off.Not that I'm paranoid, but...

The problem is that Parliamentary Advisers and SCS career geeks like the idea of doing everything from a nice warm office, convenient for those oh so important meetings(to further their personal vis), with all personnel handy to drag away from the actual job into endless routine meetings to ensure their SCS teflon shoulder pads are working, and it's some poor grunts fault, if something happens as a result of that lost time resource.

Most of the ones I encountered were rather short on integrity, common sense, and experience of the real world, as we live it, because fewer and fewer had 'come up through the hawse pipe' or other than-school-Uni-Accelerated Promotion entry schemes. 'Wet behind the ears' doesn't begin to describe them-used to drive my Guv'nor and I mad and both our blood pressures through the roof!

Those of us who worked in any sort of Govt Compliance pre computers know damn well that proper security of actual borders (or anything else) means;

Enough Boots on the ground in all sorts of odd places/times/weathers, using hard won experience and TacIntel from interacting with(Gasp) their fellow UK citizens. Thats why the UK Armed Services all have some form of Infantry in the Order of Battle. There is no substitute, technology can assist/help but not replace-digital pictures embedded in passports, Mobile X ray machines are great, but a good sniffer dog is a friend and keeps the Spaniel breeds alive

More than the current number of patrol cutters(and certainly more small, off the peg, locally based cutters, with crews regularly rotated on a planned basis to avoid too much 'cozying up'), crewed by sensible, experienced Officers, not SBS wannabes, to patrol the longest coastline in Europe.

By last years experiences on our cruise to the Baltic, the Dutch, French and Germans, even the Swedes, seem to get it about right in terms of controls of yachts, ashore and afloat-approach, attitude, and attention to detail in the checks.

Getting the boating world onside,
instead of alienating/ generating lots of unused data using an impractical e-system- the old hardcopy C1331 worked very well, and collecting them with an experienced officer, generated a lot of valuable, informal, TacIntel. An online C1331 isn't anything like as useful-we have become far too tied to the instantaneous information electronic teat with a consequent loss of common sense, initative, and judgement.

Then doing proper risk assessments and targetting and actually putting resources into Regular 'Random' Stops of known HI Risk persons- 'keep 'em nervous' as we used to say.

But what do I know?

 

[Twister_Ken]

£536 million, it says. That's not their money, it's ours.

 

[Searush]

£536 million, it says. That's not their money, it's ours.

Not any more it isn't it is now in the pockets of mega contractors like G4S & Serco who have their fingers in a thousand pies they do not understand how to run.

 

[Grumpybear]

Not any more it isn't it is now in the pockets of mega contractors like G4S & Serco who have their fingers in a thousand pies they do not understand how to run.

Happily handed over by civil servants who just want to make sure they spend all the money (sorry, I mean gumment fundin') in their departmental budgets so the Treasury can't take it back. One day a government contract will split the risk properly, but don't hold your breath.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Not any more it isn't it is now in the pockets of mega contractors like G4S & Serco who have their fingers in a thousand pies they do not understand how to run.

The service companies who take squillions of taxpayers' money - and usually fail to deliver - seem to get very little business from the private sector. Odd, that, isn't it?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Happily handed over by civil servants who just want to make sure they spend all the money (sorry, I mean gumment fundin') in their departmental budgets so the Treasury can't take it back. One day a government contract will split the risk properly, but don't hold your breath.

I was extremely impressed by the contract Mr Brown's government negotiated whereby we had to pay contractors more not to make two useless aircraft carriers than to make them. That's almost boating-relevant, isn't it?

 

[Twister_Ken]

I was extremely impressed by the contract Mr Brown's government negotiated whereby we had to pay contractors more not to make two useless aircraft carriers than to make them. That's almost boating-relevant, isn't it?

Ah, but think of all the Scottish votes that bought, dear boy!

 

[Grumpybear]

Ah, but think of all the Scottish votes that bought, dear boy!

Worth every penny!

And the original budget looked not too bad, because they "forgot" to add in VAT and inflation over the 20 year duration of the project. All part of the usual conspiracy of optimism (a retired general's phrase) without which no significant defence project would ever get Treasury approval. Sadly, other epartments are even less likely to let the truth leak out than the MOD....

 

[Sailingsaves]

Happily handed over by civil servants who just want to make sure they spend all the money (sorry, I mean gumment fundin') in their departmental budgets so the Treasury can't take it back. One day a government contract will split the risk properly, but don't hold your breath.

You may not believe this.

I have a mate that works for a council. He manages the re modelling of 'council houses'. He obviously tries to do as good a job for as small amount of money as possible.

He spent months finding the best contractors and suppliers.

Was pulled in by boss because the council was going to finish all houses and flats but UNDER budget. He said they had been given £x million by govt to spend and they HAD to spend it.

Mate was spitting feathers.

Just nonsense isn't it.

 

[Sandy]

Just nonsense isn't it.

Nope it is how every organisation works private or public sector; I have worked in both.

Budgets are there to be spent as there is no benefit under spending; do you hand back any unspent salary at the end of the year and only have what you spent this year as your salary next?

 

[CPD]

Nope it is how every organisation works private or public sector; I have worked in both.

Budgets are there to be spent as there is no benefit under spending; do you hand back any unspent salary at the end of the year and only have what you spent this year as your salary next?

Tosh. Under budget = more profit to re-invest. Unspent salary = savings.

 

[mjcoon]

Tosh. Under budget = more profit to re-invest. Unspent salary = savings.

I think that, rather obviously, the original comment referred to lowly parts of an organisation that do not have financial autonomy and thus cannot carry over even petty cash from one financial period to the next. Equally obviously, there are good reasons for running organisations like that, limiting though it may be...

Now can we get back to more boating-relevant detail?

Mike.

 

[vyv_cox]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26534643

e-Borders is dead, the replacement iOS said t be a slimmed down version so perhaps we are in the clear.

I attended several meetings at Cruising Association last weekend. One of the presentations was on e-borders, which in at least some form will definitely occur. The presenter is a member of the RATs group in constant discussion with government sources on this issue. The most likely format for yachts is mobile phone based, rather than computer.

 

[jac]

I think that, rather obviously, the original comment referred to lowly parts of an organisation that do not have financial autonomy and thus cannot carry over even petty cash from one financial period to the next. Equally obviously, there are good reasons for running organisations like that, limiting though it may be...

Now can we get back to more boating-relevant detail?

Mike.

I think most private sector organisations though tend to reward managers for performing better than budget. Maybe public sector should do the same so that they have an incentive to not spend every penny of the budget but instead to achieve the same result with less.

 

[Seajet]

You may not believe this.

I have a mate that works for a council. He manages the re modelling of 'council houses'. He obviously tries to do as good a job for as small amount of money as possible.

He spent months finding the best contractors and suppliers.

Was pulled in by boss because the council was going to finish all houses and flats but UNDER budget. He said they had been given £x million by govt to spend and they HAD to spend it.

Mate was spitting feathers.

Just nonsense isn't it.

I believe it all right; I was only once hauled in by a BAe ' manager ' to complain about my expense claim; he told me to go away and boost it, as everyone else had claimed a lot more !

The Council budget spending is usually shown by a sudden rash of unnecessary road works just before the end of the financial year, to use up any remaining budget...

All right, on the boaty front I certainly agree on a lot more Inshore Patrol Boats, as long as they're crewed by sensible people not SAS wanabe's as mentioned.

Slightly related; in the Solent we used to have a very good police boat, the Ashburton - a Nelson I believe - whose experienced and common sense crew did a lot of good work at all sorts of things including actually patrolling harbours;

Sold off a while ago and now a few dayboats who I have only seen come out on Sunny Sunday afternoons, that well known peak time for villains...

 

[maby]

I believe it all right; I was only once hauled in by a BAe ' manager ' to complain about my expense claim; he told me to go away and boost it, as everyone else had claimed a lot more !

That happened to me at ITT many years ago ...