Local authority in Britain to be under German administration

[FabeYond]

I know that this is not exactly news, but I just stumbled upon it and wanted to know whether this is a common practice in Britain or maybe other countries as well.

http://www.poptel.org.uk/against-eurofederalism/D87rgns.htm

Excerpt:


Europe's largest media company, the German firm Bertelsmann AG, is taking over official tasks normally performed by a public authority in Great Britain. From July 2005 a Bertelsmann subsidiary will undertake the majority of public administration of a local authority in Britain. The plan is regarded by the German firm as a "pilot project of strategic importance" for its expansion into a multi billion market.

Across Europe, Bertelsmann aims to expand within the framework of the so-called "Public-Private-Partnership" into areas which are presently under the control of nation states and to carry out activities which are normally reserved for publicly responsible local authorities. Great Britain is also a target of Bertelsmann's expansion in print media. By a joint venture enterprise with two other German media firms in the construction of new large-scale printing facilities abroad, Bertelsman is aiming to gain market leadership in European newspaper printing.

From July the German firm Arvato AG, a totally owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, will take over the majority of the administration of a local authority, the East Riding of Yorkshire, which has around 350,000 inhabitants. This is a similar size to a London borough.

About five hundred local authority employees will switch to Bertelsmann. So a German firm will be entrusted with carrying out public duties which were previously under the authority of the British state. These include public and statutory duties (such as are carried out by a state, local authority or public corporation) to fulfil requirements under public law. The exercise of these powers of government is normally the preserve of responsible local government officials who have a special duty to the local authority and allegiance to the state.

In a few months Arvato will become responsible for paying wages and social benefits as well as collecting council tax, fees and charges. It will provide a citizens' bureau and the Council's total information technology requirement.

[MaverickCowboy]

what the fvck?

[Britboy]

So first we sold off the Atomic Weapons Establishment (our only way of making nukes) to the Americans and now we are selling off local government to the Germans. I even think Russian state-owned Gazprom have massive (controlling?) shares in a SE power company?

Way to go, UK PLC. :roll:

I wonder how we are next going to whore ourselves out further?

[Macs.]

Bertelsmann/Arvato are also already doing similiar work for some German communities.

The funny thing is that Bertelsmann is heavily involved in politic "warfare" in Germany.

So you have Arvato which is 100% owned by Bertelsmann, which is 75% owned by the Bertelsmann Foundation, doing goverment-related work.

Wikipedia writes about the Bertelsmann Foundation:


Its main aims are to promote reforms and democracy, especially in government, social and economic contexts. It is not a funding organisation (i.e., it does not provide grants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_%28money%29), scholarships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholarship) or project funding to others) but focuses on researching, publishing and stimulating public debate on its topics. It does this in a purely "operative" manner, i.e. only projects initiated by the foundation itself are funded. It is active worldwide and has since inception spent around €605 million on nonprofit projects. The total budget for the 2005 fiscal year has amounted to €56.7 million, according to the foundation.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation#cite_note-Facts-1)The foundation funds itself by its 76.9% share in the Bertelsmann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann) company.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation#cite_note-2)

Especially in Germany, the Bertelsmann Foundation has been subject to criticism for their engangement in the political field. Their engagement in politics is an explicit part of their agenda, and they have been active especially in educational politics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education) and labour politics, where they became well known for promoting neoliberal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberal) ideas such as an increase of competition in education and research and for the introduction of tuition fees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuition_fees) to the German university system.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation#cite_note-junge_welt_2006-3)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation#cite_note-studis-online-4)

While conforming with right-wing ideals, the foundation has been accused of by civil rights movements of channeling their concepts into reforms of public universities in order to eliminate traditional values such as free access to education and academic autonomy.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation#cite_note-Social_Times-5)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertelsmann_Foundation

Mhh. :)

[Rudolph]

Oh, you Germans. Doing it quietly this time it seems. Third time lucky?

[rgjbloke]

Privatisation of public services is not a new phenomenom in Britain. It started in the early eighties and has expanded massively over the years. I looked at their website and it's a little obtuse but East Riding of Yorkshire appears to be a Conservative Authority. Although authorities of all political colours may be inclined to outsource for a number of reasons, tories as the conservaties are commonly known in Britain are into what we call outsourcing in a major way more so than most of the others.

[Silent Reader]

Privatisation of public services is not a new phenomenom in Britain. It started in the early eighties and has expanded massively over the years. I looked at their website and it's a little obtuse but East Riding of Yorkshire appears to be a Conservative Authority. Although authorities of all political colours may be inclined to outsource for a number of reasons, tories as the conservaties are commonly known in Britain are into what we call outsourcing in a major way more so than most of the others.


There is no more East Riding of Yorkshire - it will be renamed to Neu Berlin of Bertelsmann :P

[oldsoak]

No surpise there. Yet to meet a Tory councillor who didnt want to run the council as a plc.

[Invisigoth]

Oh, you Germans. Doing it quietly this time it seems. Third time lucky?

Do not worry, ja! Wi will make sings efficient ja!


http://www.agnesw.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/GermanParking1.jpg

[Kitsune]

This may not be such a big thing (the article does not really specify what exactly those public duties are that Bertelsmann will be fullfilling). It's just that especially the English are almost conditioned to reject anything that has to do with any kind of German rulership or the mere notion of it. Since WWI they are trained to believe that this would be an inherently evil thing that must be avoided at all costs and they react to it like bulls react to red cloth. It goes without saying that it is completely okay if English rule over Germans, of course.

[Magnus18]

Oh, you Germans. Doing it quietly this time it seems. Third time lucky?
is there anyone who isnt doing it? xD

[Britboy]

This may not be such a big thing (the article does not really specify what exactly those public duties are that Bertelsmann will be fullfilling). It's just that especially the English are almost conditioned to reject anything that has to do with any kind of German rulership or the mere notion of it. Since WWI they are trained to believe that this would be an inherently evil thing that must be avoided at all costs and they react to it like bulls react to red cloth. It goes without saying that it is completely okay if English rule over Germans, of course.

Its nothing to do with xenophobia, at least on my part it is not, and I'd like to think my countrymen weren't all racists as well. Actually, seeing as a lot of the British Army serve in Germany, like it, and some go on to settle there afterwards, I find it a bit odd that you consider us to be all anti-German.

For me, it is the principle that our Govt is selling off its functions to private firms. How can a Govt be run effectively if it is run as a business?
Additionally the fact that these functions are going to be run by foreign-owned businesses is a little concerning. Whilst collecting council taxes ain't too much of a drama (although I would be interested to learn if Germany has an equivalent of the Data Protection Act - there again our own Govt seems to try its hardest to lose our personal details so I'm sure you'll actually do a better, safer job of it), how many Govt functions would we be willing to hand over?

I do find it quite farcical that US companies now effectively control the AWE, this nations nuclear-weapons-producing facility. How is that not selling off our national security concerns, and with it, our sovereignty?

[bigvig]

Do not worry, ja! Wi will make sings efficient ja!


http://www.agnesw.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/GermanParking1.jpg
Dude what the hell is this crazy ass thing?

Anyway, this isn't such a shocker to me except that a foreign entity is taking over government functions. If it is privatized, there should be restrictions in place which disable foreigners from taking over.


How can a Govt be run effectively if it is run as a business?
The general rule of thumb is, privatization equals efficiency.

[Lazy Lob]

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8216/almurray0013361mainpictat9.jpg

[Connaught Ranger]

Finally the paperwork might get filed in a timely manner!

[oldsoak]

quote : The general rule of thumb is, privatization equals efficiency

Bit like Ford and GM then ?

I have seen outsourcing and privatisation at work, and all it did was transfer civil service monopolies into private monopolies. The benefits to the customer were transparent to the point of non-existance.

[muck]

Oh, you Germans. Doing it quietly this time it seems. Third time lucky?roflHahaha...

[Mike Keenan]

So Operation Sea Lion is going as planned, right? p-)

[Marmot1]

Ja vohl !!!

[Britboy]

Yeh privatisation might be more efficient in some cases

But local Govt shouldnt be about making a profit, it should be about providing a service

How is it more efficient if, as well as actually paying for the work done, you have to pay for a company to be run on top of that, with its own profits and dividends to its shareholders, benefits and pension plan for its staff etc etc etc?

Its like when they got rid of a lot of shore jobs for RN cooks, and contractered it out to civvy firms. Now all that happens is someone makes a profit out of us (by squeezing/shrinking the services they provide as far as possible to increase profit margin?) instead of focussing on the service they should be providing, meanwhile all the RN chefs are getting fed up of back-to-back ship drafts with no time ashore and obviously that does not help retention...

Like trains, privatised but too damn expensive to use anymore.

How is that progress?

[oldsoak]

You got it. Now do that with a councils IT section and wonder why the IT provider is not interested in investing in new ( and expensive ) kit. Profits , anyone ? :roll:

[T3ngu]

We have a similar thing here where certain public tasks (such as running wastewater treatment plants) are contracted to private companies. Problem is at the end of the contract, the assets come out with no maintenance, as of course, the way to make money is holding back on maintenance of the infrastructure.

Good on paper, costly in the long run.

You never know, it may work well as I spent nearly 10 years in the state government, and saw so many people being overpaid for doing nothing that a private company could do more with less. .

[rgjbloke]

Its nothing to do with xenophobia, at least on my part it is not, and I'd like to think my countrymen weren't all racists as well. Actually, seeing as a lot of the British Army serve in Germany, like it, and some go on to settle there afterwards, I find it a bit odd that you consider us to be all anti-German.

For me, it is the principle that our Govt is selling off its functions to private firms. How can a Govt be run effectively if it is run as a business?
Additionally the fact that these functions are going to be run by foreign-owned businesses is a little concerning. Whilst collecting council taxes ain't too much of a drama (although I would be interested to learn if Germany has an equivalent of the Data Protection Act - there again our own Govt seems to try its hardest to lose our personal details so I'm sure you'll actually do a better, safer job of it), how many Govt functions would we be willing to hand over?

I do find it quite farcical that US companies now effectively control the AWE, this nations nuclear-weapons-producing facility. How is that not selling off our national security concerns, and with it, our sovereignty?

I agree absolutely. I served in Germany and had a great time there and as part of a mechanised brigade, it was relatively easy soldiering. The Germans loved us because they were concerned in the cold war situation that existed then, they might be entertaining lots and lots of eastern europeans if we were not there.

Just as an aside, I don't want to start a separate discussion but, Heathrow Airport has been in the news last week about a 3rd runway. British Airports Authority is a private company who own the airport and will welcome this news and, at the appropriate time, they will start to use their statutory compulsory purchasing powers to begin buying up the land they need. It's a bit weird having a private company with statutory compulsory purchasing powers. Its even weirder when you consider that British Airports Authority are owned by a Spanish company. Ferrovial Group. Ultimately therefore, lots of property around the airport will be effectively seized against the wishes of many of those living there under statutory powers by a Spanish company. Privatisation certainly turns up some interesting scenarios sometime's. Next they will be saying that Germans run half of Yorkshire or something daft like that.

[Britboy]

Statutory compulsory purchasing power in a private company? I thought only the Crown had that, and even then, it was from a very old school, back in the day sort of law that never got repealed?

I also find it bizarre that BAA is owned by a private company, and not in the way BT became a private company of its own, but actually seems to have been bought by a foreign company.

[rgjbloke]

Statutory compulsory purchasing power in a private company? I thought only the Crown had that, and even then, it was from a very old school, back in the day sort of law that never got repealed?

I also find it bizarre that BAA is owned by a private company, and not in the way BT became a private company of its own, but actually seems to have been bought by a foreign company.


BAA as a statutory authority before it was privatised had statutory compulsory purchasing powers. When it was privatised, the government and BAA ensured that it retained those powers in it's new private entity.

As a private company, it could do whatever it wanted commercially. Ferrovial Group popped over from Spain with 10 billion reasons to convince it to join them. It was an offer BAA couldn't refuse.

[Vandervahn]

Excerpt:... Great Britain is also a target of Bertelsmann's expansion in print media. ...

At least I cannot see anything wrong with that part of the plan ;)

[Eoin666]

Yeah invite them in to help out, sort a few things out........they bring their families over, settle down.......more arrive and before you know it us Brit's have pushed out into Wales and Scotland.......it's the 6th century all over again

[INAT]

Private business will do what no V-2 could.p-)

[RS_Leo1A5]

Dude what the hell is this crazy ass thing?
One of the storage/display towers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostadt#Visitors_and_attractions) at the VW HQ in Wolfsburg.

[Mackie]

I have seen outsourcing and privatisation at work, and all it did was transfer civil service monopolies into private monopolies. The benefits to the customer were transparent to the point of non-existance.

x2
Efficiency = profits
Save costs by training and equip public service would be the better choice.

[tluassa]

Bertelsmann, from my hometown, the mighty City of Gütersloh !! :)

http://www.china-alberta.com/Graphics/germany.jpg

[Connaught Ranger]

Yeah invite them in to help out, sort a few things out........they bring their families over, settle down.......more arrive and before you know it us Brit's have pushed out into Wales and Scotland.......it's the 6th century all over again

I doubt it, they are not particularly fond of tea or the British weather:roll: