Taxation And Puiblic Services

[Hibby Bairn]

How far away are we from an open and honest reassessment of the public services we all want and the level of taxation we need to pay to ensure delivery?

I feel that so many people are directly affected by their families experiencing poverty, healthcare issues, old age, crumbling local service provision etc. that it needs to be soon.

I'm not sure we have the political leadership to do it though. We need stronger leaders to enable the change to happen. As big a moment as the introduction of the welfare state policies post war.

[lord bunberry]

How far away are we from an open and honest reassessment of the public services we all want and the level of taxation we need to pay to ensure delivery?

I feel that so many people are directly affected by their families experiencing poverty, healthcare issues, old age, crumbling local service provision etc. that it needs to be soon.

I'm not sure we have the political leadership to do it though. We need stronger leaders to enable the change to happen. As big a moment as the introduction of the welfare state policies post war.

I don't see it happening any time soon. Politicians won't do anything that's going to stop them being re elected. The people living in poverty are the leased likely to vote, leaving their needs at a lower priority level.
The fact that more and more people who are considered to be living in poverty are working might make change more likely, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Betty Boop]

The Council is on its knees Libraries next to close two days a week following museums and galleries. A disgrace for the Capital city .

[speedy_gonzales]

After working another nightshift, outside, in -4 temperatures, I'm not exactly enamoured at the thought of paying more tax just now. I'm well aware that money is tight at the sharp end of critical services and with the providers of social amenity.
I've said here before that it is the most vulnerable and poorest in society that are suffering disproportionately from the service cuts.
BUT, I think there's still fat to be cut before tax goes up for those that pay it.

[RyeSloan]

How far away are we from an open and honest reassessment of the public services we all want and the level of taxation we need to pay to ensure delivery?

I feel that so many people are directly affected by their families experiencing poverty, healthcare issues, old age, crumbling local service provision etc. that it needs to be soon.

I'm not sure we have the political leadership to do it though. We need stronger leaders to enable the change to happen. As big a moment as the introduction of the welfare state policies post war.

A vast and almost impossible subject but a good one none the less!

Firstly I would ask for some true perspective. I have spent decades listening to complaints about cuts and crumbling services. There seems to be an unspecified point in the past where all these things were fully funded and there was universal provision of the required services at the expected level of expertise. I seriously doubt that was ever the case so instead of soundbites I would like some true comparison of breadth and effectiveness of services compared to various points in the past.

Next I would like a thorough review of what services are required and why. Just because they have been provided previously doesn't mean they need to be provided now and just because they haven't been provided previously doesn't mean they shouldn't be introduced now.

Then I would move onto how the services are delivered and if there are more effective ways of doing so. This is a particularly difficult one as any changes will be fiercely fought by the vested interests.

Once you have worked all that out I would think about ways this can be paid for by the people that use them...some sort of personal responsibility for the cost of using a service often results in people being more considerate as to its use. Clearly a difficult subject as some services should never be subject to someone's ability to pay but those that can probably should in a lot of cases.

On top of all that there needs to be a debate on what government is for and what it can actually deliver. There seems to be a mindset (not helped by the politicians themselves) that governments can make everyone's life better, that they can drive economies and are best placed to decide industrial policy and centralise decisions. This has created a very false impression and educating people on what really creates wealth and allows nations and people to improve their standard of living would be a bloomin' good start.

So basically I would rip it all up and start again and after all that we might have some idea about tax levels ;-)