News

Badger and the appliance of science

Published

9 years ago

February 26, 2015

ECONOMICS, readers, was described by Thomas Carlyle as “the dismal science”. Of course, the fact he coined the phrase in the context of a pamphlet supporting the reintroduction of slavery in the Caribbean demonstrates that one has to have an eye on the context in which they were originally offered up to posterity when considering the wisdom of aphorisms. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” is often handed down as though it was an immortal truth: one carved in stone; one to be heeded at all times and in all circumstances. Its appeal to authority is often followed by a nod to its origin in Shakespeare. Polonius, the character who offers the advice in Hamlet, is generally regarded as being as thick as mince and his counsel of as little use as a chocolate fireguard. So, readers, bear in mind t h a t wh e n e v e r you hear someone q u o t e t h a t line; their advice should be given as much weight as Hamlet ends up giving to Polonius’. By the way, and while Badger does not want to spoil the surprise, Hamlet stabs poor old Polonius by way of a farcical mistake resulting from Polonius own idiocy.

But it is of economics that Badger wants to write this week readers. In a way, it is inevitable that Carlyle, who subscribed to the dictum above. He believed in the “great man” theory of history which persisted for a surprisingly long time in scholarship. Economics, and more particularly economic history, is less about the individual poised at the moment of decision than about demography and long term trends. Badger is prepared to concede a great deal to those who think that the answer to the questions of the past can be divined from financial history and the study of markets and the masses. Much can be learned about the way in which some countries rise to positions of pre-eminence less because of the individual genius of its inhabitants than by their ability to exploit and more efficiently organize resources.

But when it comes down to it, readers, there are far fewer artworks devoted to the heroism of Keynes, Friedman and Galbraith t h a n there are to Napoleon, Frederick the Great or Churchill. Badger prefers to consider that there is a form of synthesis between the approaches of the different schools of thought. Otherwise how can one go about explaining the economic illiteracy, foolishness and pig-headed ignorance of Pembrokeshire’s county councillors – and more particularly the IPPG – when it came to Bryn Parry-Jones. Badger had hoped that the Brynmeister had made his last appearance in his column, but the eagerness of the national media to suddenly discover details of Bryn’s work car revealed in this paper over six months ago, thrust him and Pembrokeshire County Council’s profligate pay policy for senior officers into pin sharp focus.

That, combined with the news that the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales wants to cut his successor’s pay by a third to a measly £130K all in, behoves Badger to once more return to the longest running punchline to the longest running joke in Welsh local government. £195K readers. Toy with that fi gure. Roll it around in your head. £195,000 of our council tax paying pounds is what was bunged to Bryn by way of an annual remuneration package. How did anyone, let alone people charged with custody of public money, come to believe that one man was worth so much? Badger has a theory. It is only a notion borne out of Badger’s observations of the way you lot behave up there on the surface, but he offers it for your consideration. Hard as it might be to believe, readers, Bryn was regarded as a bit of whizz kid in his past.

He had been the youngest chief executive of a council in Wales (Llanelli) before the great local government shake-up that returned unitary authority status to our county eliminated Llanelli Borough Council and merged it with Carmarthenshire. So it was to Pembrokeshire – pretty much the last resort – to which Bryn turned. One fl ashy presentation later and Bryn jumped on the gravy train and rode it right up until it ran into the buffers. Thereafter, all Bryn had to do was to consolidate his grip on power and then play up to councillors’ vanity and insecurity to ensure that his pay escalated from the merely very comfortable to the stratospherically lunatic. Councillors, it has been written elsewhere by this newspaper’s deputy editor, were encouraged to believe that they were clever because they had appointed Bryn, who appeared clever.

Councillors, particularly those from the so-called Independent Group, liked feeling clever – or at least possessed of the secret knowledge of their own cleverness. But their misplaced self-confi dence was accompanied by insecurity. If Bryn left, their cleverness would evaporate; worse, their brilliance would be revealed to be as illusory as the emperor’s new clothes. So it was, readers, that slowly but surely Bryn was put into a position where he could apply the screws and chisel more money out of his employers. The vanity and insecurity of a few councillors, over time allowed Bryn to grab more and more. But it is worse than that, readers. The corollary of paying the Grand Panjandrum a large sum of money, means that all his subordinate mandarins’ pay becomes inflated simply to stay in step.

They are all worth more, because the Grand Panjandrum is worth more. The senior offi cers – heads of service – become less likely to proactively act on problems. There are two pressures at play here. There is the risk of killing the goose that has laid golden eggs. And, of course, if the Chief is clever they must also be clever. That is the species of thought that allows heads of service to re-write care home fees without reference to rational external criteria and allow the use of punishment cells in our county’s schools. They cannot be wrong, because they are clever. They can show how clever they are by reference to their pay cheques. Readers, what we have there is a perfect storm of wilful ignorance and self-interest fuelling grotesque pay infl ation. Every chief officer and senior officer in Wales wanted Pembrokeshire’s gravy train to keep on running to maintain the South Sea Bubble of senior staff’s pay.

But no more: the Remuneration Panel has decreed that Pembrokeshire’s size and staff complement cannot support a wage more outrageous than the £130,000 a year it proposes. Such is the infl ated pay that the Council pays to its individual heads of service, a new chief executive could end up being paid less than those notionally their underlings. So, Jamie Adams has a problem, readers. Whether he settles for what the Panel proposes or insists that £145,000 is the minimum to attract someone who will make his friends on the “Independent” benches feel clever again, he will be acknowledging that it was under the “Independent” group’s stewardship that this council (our council, readers!!) not only threw away hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money on overpaying its chief offi cer and his lackeys, but continues to do so. The economic science the “Independent” group understands, readers, is the economics of the madhouse. It’s dismal, indeed.

News

Police and air ambulances at ‘serious incident’ at West Wales school

Published

13 mins ago

April 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

DYFED POWYS POLICE has said it is dealing with an incident at a west Wales school.

There has been a serious incident at Amman Valley School, Carmarthenshire, where police have confirmed that three people have been injured and are receiving treatment from medical professionals.

The school is in lockdown and multiple air ambulances have been sent.

Police at the scene said in the last few moments that one person has been arrested and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.

Emergency services remain at scene and the school has been closed while investigations continue.

Police released a statement saying: “We are working closely with the school and Carmarthenshire County Council.

“We are aware that there is footage of the incident currently circulating on social media. We would ask that this is removed to avoid contempt of court and distress to those affected.

“We would ask the people do not speculate while there is a police investigation ongoing.”

Of the two air ambulances have arrived at the school, one is reportedly being sent to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, while another remains on school grounds.

Responding to reports of a stabbing at Ysgol Dyffryn Amman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Andrew RT Davies MS, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: “The reports emerging from Ysgol Dyffryn Amman are extremely concerning.

“Schools should be a place of safety, learning and discovery. It is deeply sad and distressing that today teachers and pupils have had that safety shattered by a violent incident.

“My thoughts are with all staff and pupils at the school, and we thank the emergency services for their work.”

News

Access permit process for Tenby Pedestrianisation scheme to go live

Published

19 mins ago

April 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE County Council is once again preparing for the annual Tenby Pedestrianisation scheme.

The scheme is due to start on Monday 1st July and finish on Friday 13th September and run between 11am – 5.30pm each day.

The scheme will again see the Walled Town divided into three ‘zones,’ each of which will have varying degrees of vehicle access.

Full details of the scheme and the online application form will be available from Wednesday 1st May and can be found on the Council’s website.

Residents and business within the Walled Town are encouraged to complete the application process as soon as possible after the documents go live.

This will ensure that there is sufficient time for the application to be processed and additional checks made should further information be required.

Permits will be issued approximately 7-10 days before the scheme start date.

Please note that paper application forms and guidance notes will no longer be delivered to residents and businesses within the Walled Town and requests for permits will be required to be submitted online.

In order to ensure the ongoing success of the scheme permit holders are encouraged to continue to plan journeys outside of the scheme hours of 11am – 5.30pm as far as is practical.

Email [email protected] for further information.

Business

Two firms, one in Wales, fined £340k for aggressive marketing calls

Published

22 mins ago

April 24, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Cardiff-based Outsource Strategies Ltd (OSL) £240,000 and London-based Dr Telemarketing Ltd (DRT) £100,000 after the companies made a total of almost 1.43 million calls to people on the UK’s “do not call” register, the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

The calls, all made between 11 February 2021 and 22 March 2022, resulted in 76 complaints to the ICO and the TPS. People who complained said the callers were aggressive and used high-pressure sales tactics to persuade them to sign up for products. The ICO investigation also found evidence that both companies were specifically targeting elderly and vulnerable people.

Andy Curry, ICO Head of Investigations, said: “All the people targeted by these nuisance calls should not have been called in the first place. They had all taken action to protect themselves by registering with the UK’s “do not call” register.

“It is unacceptable they were repeatedly interrupted and subjected to aggressive and unpleasant marketing, particularly as some of the victims told us they were people with vulnerabilities. I would like to thank those who took the time to report to us, as this helped our investigation to bring these two companies to account.

“All companies engaging in direct marketing should take note. If you flout the law, you can expect the ICO to use the full force of its regulatory powers against you.

“And, as in this case, it doesn’t matter how complicated the network of companies and individuals are, we will work through the evidence to find and take action against the perpetrators of these unlawful calls to protect the public.”

Details of the unwanted calls: “My husband took the call. He has communication difficulties – he is vulnerable and doesn’t understand not to answer the telephone. I suspect he has been sold stuff by these companies in the past. For health reasons, I need to stop them ringing …”

“We’ve requested numerous times to be taken off the list but to no avail. The telephone number today is one of several different numbers that they use. This has now become harassment of two senior citizens.”

“Tried to get me to join the Irish lottery and probably wanted my bank details. It made me annoyed and … anxious. I’m getting sick up to the back teeth of these types of calls. I even get them on my UNLISTED [sic] number.”

“… He had all my personal details which he said he had got from [redacted] … He was trying to persuade me to buy cut-price lottery tickets for the Irish Lottery … I said I would not give any card details over the phone as I had no way of checking where he was calling from. I asked him to send me an email so I could carry out due diligence on this offer and the company. He said he could not do that unless I bought the tickets first. I was not prepared to do this and so ended the call. When I checked the number, Google seemed to suggest this number is associated with a scam company. I was concerned because [redacted] … target older people who could get confused and be talked into something like this more easily.”

Details of each fine

Outsource Strategies Ltd, based in Cardiff, made 1,346,503 unwanted marketing calls between 11 February 2021 and 22 March 2022 to numbers registered with the TPS. The ICO received 74 complaints from people variously saying they received repeated calls despite requests to stop and that the callers were aggressive.

During the investigation, OSL blamed TPS screening responsibility on its contracted partners and stated it also had internal systems in place to ensure this did not happen. The ICO found this to be incorrect, as 141,914 calls were still made to people marked as “do not call” on its own systems.

The investigation also uncovered that OSL Directors were involved with a separate company previously fined by the ICO. OSL has also been issued with an enforcement notice. OSL has appealed the monetary penalty notice and the enforcement notice.

Dr Telemarketing Ltd, based in London, made 80,240 unwanted marketing calls between 11 February 2021 and 22 March 2022 to numbers registered with the TPS. A total of two complaints were received. The highly exploitative unwanted calls were all made regarding Lotto Express and were targeted at vulnerable people to maximise profit.

During the investigation, the ICO uncovered what appeared to be a network of five people and eight companies all involved in deliberately making the unwanted calls. DRT argued opt-in details were supplied by its business partner and screening was provided by another company. The ICO found there was no mechanism in place to identify and mitigate against making unwanted calls and that screening was not contracted to cover all the data providers involved.

Despite repeated attempts to communicate with the company, DRT stopped engaging with the ICO during the investigation and failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the Lotto Express calls. DRT has also been issued with an enforcement notice. DRT has not paid the fine or appealed the notice therefore the ICO is commencing financial recovery action.

ICO’s work to tackle nuisance communications 

The ICO enforces the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), which cover the rules for organisations wishing to make direct marketing calls, texts or emails. 

The ICO’s direct marketing guidance makes it clear that organisations acquiring marketing lists from a third party must undertake rigorous checks to satisfy themselves that the personal information was obtained fairly and lawfully. Organisations must:

explain to people why they want to use their information;
tell people if they will share information with other organisations; and
make people aware of their data protection rights.
The ICO has issued more than £2.59 million in fines against companies responsible for nuisance calls, texts and emails since April 2023. Some of these investigations began with a single complaint from a member of the public. 

For more information about the ICO’s work to tackle nuisance calls, emails and texts visit ico.org.uk/nuisancecalls. 

Advice for the public 

To help you, your friends and relatives stop receiving unlawful marketing calls, texts or emails you can: 

Register landlines and mobile numbers with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) free of charge. The TPS and CTPS is a register used by legitimate marketing companies to identify people and businesses that have said they don’t want to receive marketing calls. Alternatively, you can tell the company directly that you do not wish to be contacted. 
Report the receipt of unsolicited marketing text messages received on your mobile to the Mobile UK’s Spam Reporting Service by forwarding the message to 7726. 
Refer concerns that you or someone you know has been the victim of fraud to Action Fraud (in England, Northern Ireland and Wales) and Police Scotland (in Scotland). You can refer wider concerns about a business’ practices to Trading Standards. Report any abandoned calls that you receive to Ofcom. 
Ask your telephone network about call blocking solutions they may be able to offer. Many of these services are provided free of charge.
Report nuisance calls, texts or emails to the ICO via our website. 