Shropshire Council - Answers Please? Part 8

If you have read previous posts about Shropshire Council, you will think I have a personal vendetta against them or I hold a grudge against some staff, but I don’t. I write these posts because of their total shambolic attempts to carry out the simplest of operations, and of course, you will know it is their road repair operations and the complete waste of public money in doing so, and it will probably continue.

Put me in the job, and I know I could do a better job. Remember, I am ex-industrial management, where planning and organisation were key to my roles. So, this is an official challenge to the Council: give me a go at running things for six months, paid at the going rate for managers in these positions, and I will make positive and undoubtedly money-making changes. But of course, I would have to have cooperation from others, something I can’t help thinking is lacking at the Council, based on stories heard!

I hate the way that public money gets thrown about and wasted, and let’s start at number 10 and the government (and previous ones) and how they seem to give money to anyone, and that includes those that don’t need it, like India and Rwanda.

Let’s start with India. And I quote Google – ‘The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office allocated approximately £24.5 million in bilateral aid for India for 2025/26, which is directed toward private sector business investments, climate change projects, and green growth partnerships rather than government.’

So, they didn’t give the money to the government, and you may wonder what I am getting at. Well, it’s simple; according to research, India spends over £1 billion a year on its space program. Yes folks, that’s correct: £1 BILLION. And so, it really is quite simple: if India can afford to spend that much money on a space programme that the UK cannot afford, why are we giving money to their private sector? Because that is something else that beggars belief. We give money to their private sector so that they can run a space programme - I despair!

Rwanda – The UK paid £290 million to Rwanda for the cancelled migration system that was supposed to be put in place; research also tells us they get £35 million each year from the UK, disguised, of course! That research also tells us that since 2018, Rwanda has sponsored Arsenal Football Club, to the tune of £10m per year, finishing at the end of the 25/26 season.

Can you imagine that all the hard-working, tax-paying Spurs, Brentford, Palace, Fulham, and fans of all those other London clubs, who probably hate Arsenal with a passion, have indirectly been helping to sponsor Arsenal after all its public money?

But over the years, that is what our governments have spent our public money on, and again, that is okay, as no one has to stand up and take accountability, no one has to answer to anyone, and it must be so good to be able to work in the public sector where you don’t have to worry about what you do with other people’s money, because the public purse is a big, big bag that keeps getting refilled without a care in the world. And that happens at No. 10, or at the Guildhall on Frankwell Quay in Shrewsbury, especially with their road repairs.

But let me finish this first part with figures. According to online research, the UK debt presently sits at £3 trillion; if you write that in numbers, it is £3,000,000,000,000. In the year 2,000, our debt was at £333 billion, and that is £333,000,000,000. That means if research is correct, in 26 years we have increased the country's debt by two trillion six hundred and sixty-seven billion pounds, or £2,667,000,000,000. Is that not just unbelievable? The equivalent of £100 billion per year, yet we insist on throwing it away at all levels of our government!

So, let’s go back to Frankwell Quay and see if we can save them a few hundred pounds, because I believe I could, and of course every little bit helps!

Back here in Shifnal, they have sent a team to repair potholes, this time on Wheatfield Drive. As you can see from photo 1, it shows a repair and an arrow pointing to the road and more repairs in no. 2 and a half-decent job too. No. 2 also shows an arrow, this time pointing to a junction some 100/150m up the road. Move to photo 3, and it shows you two more potholes yet to be repaired at the junction, and 4 shows just how bad one is, not one that should be ignored, is it? Certainly not one that should be ignored when you have a team working 100 or so metres away! So why not do them all at the same time, including the possible pavement repairs marked out?

But that is what someone at the council deems to be acceptable organised work, and I just don’t get it. These teams go to an area, repair a few potholes, head off elsewhere, and repair a few more, wasting time and money travelling rather than spending a day in the same area being more productive and not wasting money – because time is money! Yes, it’s repetitive, but so is the money wasting.

Do these pavements really need work done to them? Maybe but I wouldn’t say it was urgent, but remember teams have already been down this street carrying out repairs

These pavements do need work done to them, certainly more urgently than those in the previous photos. But remember, teams have already been here to repair parts of the pavement, and someone in authority decided that these potholes and more didn’t need repairing! Does it make sense to you? Because it doesn't, to me or others I speak with. We can’t be the only ones - can we? On the note of white lines, I’d love to meet the man with the can!

I know I am repeating myself, but that is because, as with sending public money unnecessarily all over the world, no one has to be answerable to how the money is spent. No one has to justify their working methods and systems or why the waste. Just like my post (no. 3) in this section, detailing wasted equipment, so much is left lying around after work has finished, but did you know:

If you want to work on public roads in the UK, you need an NRSWA (New Roads and Street Works Act) qualification. Passing the course registers you on the Street Works Qualifications Register (SWQR) and gives you a photo ID card. Every site must have at least one qualified operative present and a designated supervisor.

Key requirements are the following:

• Operative Card: This will be needed if you do physical work like digging, backfilling, or laying tarmac.

• Supervisor Card: This will be needed if you manage, plan, or monitor the work site.

(Courtesy Google.)

I know someone who used to teach this as part of their job; they told me that if the people used on road works have this qualification and procedures are followed properly, you should not be leaving any materials or equipment behind when the job is finished. I don’t know about you, but that tells me something about who is working on the roads for our council and if they have the qualifications to do the job. Obviously, they do, or at least I hope they do, but what systems do the working teams use to ensure nothing is left behind – and more importantly, who at Frankwell ensures this is happening? Well, I think I’ve answered my own question!

And to finish with, I will go back to other examples, again on Wheatfield Drive and Stafford Avenue, and again, it is based on the assumption that sprayed white lines mean this is work that will need doing at some stage in the future.

But here is my frustration. I know people from Frankwell have read my posts, and whilst these people and those in higher authority are happy for the council to be seen out there on social media, usually telling the public how well they have done here and there or may even just be a silent presence, they never reply to people complaining or showing taxpayers what they are doing wrong!

They are very much a faceless council, who will not admit to getting things wrong, and that cannot be right when it comes to public money. But why not? They could do this alongside a post for free bus travel or a fun family event, maybe even the sighting of a rare dragonfly! But public-facing means standing up and taking accountability – stop hiding behind your desks and give us answers, please; I think we deserve them!

Thanks for reading

DJ