Austerity / Economy

[Long slender neck]

Tories must be gutted

[Dunners]

Massive news. The economy grew by a whopping 0.1% in the final quarter of 2024. Bring out the bunting.

Bunting duly brought out by Sky News.

That construction metric is bullsh*t.

[Adz]

That's numberwang

[Hoover Attack]

Tories must be gutted

Of course they are. They'd rather see this country burn under labour than accept the economy is improving. They'll be along to bemoan the good news as not good enough news and criticise the data next. Sad.

[Max B Gold]

Massive news. The economy grew by a whopping 0.1% in the final quarter of 2024. Bring out the bunting.

Bunting duly brought out by Sky News.

That construction metric is bullsh*t.

Anecdotal evidence from the transport sector: January was brutal for the taxi and Feb is patchy but looking at my spreadsheet from previous years earnings are well down.

But I don't care anymore as I'm retiring this month on either the 17 or 22. It was originally scheduled for 28th when the insurance runs out but I talked myself into going earlier.

However, 0.1% of a very large number is still a large number. Go Reevs""""yyyy.

[Long slender neck]

Have you tried not charging extortionate prices in the cab?

[Max B Gold]

Have you tried not charging extortionate prices in the cab?

Inconceivable.

[Dunners]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

[The Mindsweep]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

It's not only SEND kids. Local Council's have to provide transport if a child cannot walk safely to school or the school is over 3 miles away. When will moved to just outside of Colchester my youngest shared taxi with 2 others to junior school. For high school, over 60% needed transport. However they only have to provide it till year 11, but with all kids having to attend for another year at least, parents have to fork out for transport, around £650 a year.

[LittleMate]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

It's not only SEND kids. Local Council's have to provide transport if a child cannot walk safely to school or the school is over 3 miles away. When will moved to just outside of Colchester my youngest shared taxi with 2 others to junior school. For high school, over 60% needed transport. However they only have to provide it till year 11, but with all kids having to attend for another year at least, parents have to fork out for transport, around £650 a year.

The councils do provide transport in such situations, but it is a paid for service. My two used to get the council provided service 19 miles to school at a cost - and rightly so as we decided to send them that far.

[Hoover Attack]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

Which certain towns and cities are these?

[The Mindsweep]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

It's not only SEND kids. Local Council's have to provide transport if a child cannot walk safely to school or the school is over 3 miles away. When will moved to just outside of Colchester my youngest shared taxi with 2 others to junior school. For high school, over 60% needed transport. However they only have to provide it till year 11, but with all kids having to attend for another year at least, parents have to fork out for transport, around £650 a year.

The councils do provide transport in such situations, but it is a paid for service. My two used to get the council provided service 19 miles to school at a cost - and rightly so as we decided to send them that far.

It was not a paid for service, they went to the local school in their catchment area. The transport was free for all who couldn't walk safely to school.

[Hoover Attack]

No way are 60% of high school kids receiving council funded transport.

[Max B Gold]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

We've got loads of those on our system. Cumnock to Paisley 5 days a week at £600. Gourock to Paisley at £500 a week. Loads of other local stuff, usually kids in foster care

There is a very attractively priced BOW to Paisley that is normally £15 but you get £25 on account of the passenger goes to a special school and has to have two carers with cushions in the back to contain the violent outbursts.

New drivers are drawn in by the reward level but the job goes through a minimum of 4 drivers a year. Of course one of the things that sets the passenger off is a different driver every two weeks.

[Dunners]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

Which certain towns and cities are these?

Halstead.

[Hoover Attack]

You should venture south of the border, as you could be raking in the cash.

The new statutory duty for local authorities to provide school transport for certain people (SEND kids) has seen demand exceed state capacity (number of minibuses). Therefore the reliance on private mini-cabs/Uber rides etc has sky rocketed as councils pay for them to do various school runs.

There's a suggestion that certain parents in certain towns and cities, who are alert to the increase in demand for mini-cab hire, have been moving heaven and earth to get their own kids classified with a qualifying "ailment". Possibly with some of those parents being the very same drivers of said private hire vehicles.

Hee hee.

We've got loads of those on our system. Cumnock to Paisley 5 days a week at £600. Gourock to Paisley at £500 a week. Loads of other local stuff, usually kids in foster care

There is a very attractively priced BOW to Paisley that is normally £15 but you get £25 on account of the passenger goes to a special school and has to have two carers with cushions in the back to contain the violent outbursts.

New drivers are drawn in by the reward level but the job goes through a minimum of 4 drivers a year. Of course one of the things that sets the passenger off is a different driver every two weeks.

I don't think the passengers dunnem is talking about would kick off like this as their 'ailments' are not as severe.

[Max B Gold]

You obviously never went to McEntee

[The Mindsweep]

No way are 60% of high school kids receiving council funded transport.

Yes they do where I live. The High School is in Brightlingsea, which is a very small town and takes in kids from villages from a wide area.

It's the same in Tendring Technical College. Year 9-11 go to the school in the village of Thorpe Le Sokin and an even higher % go by bus.

From Essex Countu Council

Who qualifies for home to school transport
Mainstream secondary
Children aged 11 to 16 (school years 7 to 11) can get free home to school transport if:

they attend their nearest school and
they live more than 3 miles away
Children from low income families can get also free home to school transport if:

they attend one of their 3 nearest qualifying schools and
the school is between 2 and 6 miles from their home address

[LittleMate]

No way are 60% of high school kids receiving council funded transport.

Yes they do where I live. The High School is in Brightlingsea, which is a very small town and takes in kids from villages from a wide area.

It's the same in Tendring Technical College. Year 9-11 go to the school in the village of Thorpe Le Sokin and an even higher % go by bus.

From Essex Countu Council

Who qualifies for home to school transport
Mainstream secondary
Children aged 11 to 16 (school years 7 to 11) can get free home to school transport if:

they attend their nearest school and
they live more than 3 miles away
Children from low income families can get also free home to school transport if:

they attend one of their 3 nearest qualifying schools and
the school is between 2 and 6 miles from their home address

As an area Brightingsea will be an exception. There are still dinosaurs roaming the land out there.

[Dohnut]

Tories must be gutted

Of course they are. They'd rather see this country burn under labour than accept the economy is improving. They'll be along to bemoan the good news as not good enough news and criticise the data next. Sad.

The you need to find the clip of Ed Balls waving a flat hand and laughing openly when the economy was flatlining under the Tories. The joy of no growth on his face. Used to like Balls until then. Who can smile when ordinary people were suffering due to the Tories getting it wrong. Labour!

The 0.1% growth is down to Government spending and not improvement in the economy by the way.

[Dunners]

[Currywurst and Chips]

Stagflation here we come baby

[Max B Gold]

I note Rachel "Reevs"""yyyy" Reeves tried to intervene in the car finance scam case currently at the High Court on the side of the Finance cheats, but the judge told her to do one.

There must be a financial meltdown on the way.

[Yanzi Gravy]

Tax the Corporations and mega-rich bastards and it will be a whole lot better.

Yes, last thing mega rich wanna do is buy a football club without any assets, when they are being taxed to hilt.

[The Mindsweep]