tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post8926573043964084349..comments2023-12-31T13:47:05.758+00:00Comments on Fat Man on a Keyboard: Smaller government?The Plumphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09244528534476387323noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-85726376064213422162007-11-10T16:57:00.000+00:002007-11-10T16:57:00.000+00:00In the subject of smaller government, you may be i...In the subject of smaller government, you may be interested to know that I have received a letter from a Mister Denham of Southampton. For the uniniated, he is a gentleman Minister in the Cabinet of our esteemed government. When challenged by myself on the subject of why it was costing £250m to administer the Hefce scheme, he said that he did not recognise the figure and that it was actually £17m in central administration. That means that it costs the universities £233 million to second guess this scheme and to audit the figures. So it costs all this to feed central government, when that £233 million could be going into lifelong learning. Rmember thats 2.33 times the reduction in the lifelong learning budget.<BR/><BR/>Thats not all the money that is wasted within higher education that could be put to better use. Someone had better save use from the tyranny of big central government before it bankrupts us completely.<BR/><BR/>http://Donald2000.blogspot.comDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16108024587900504666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-63630304687727553872007-11-05T16:08:00.000+00:002007-11-05T16:08:00.000+00:00I'm intrigued by the concept of let the profession...I'm intrigued by the concept of let the professionals get on and do it.' I think this worked well when the professions were smaller - for example, the number of teachers with degrees in the 50s was quite small [not surprising, given the number of universities].<BR/>Expansion has brought dilution with it, and hence the need for regulation - irritating to the few who [think] they know what to do without being told.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36841665.post-17284151821231920822007-11-05T14:48:00.000+00:002007-11-05T14:48:00.000+00:00There's a lot in here that I may come back to. Ho...There's a lot in here that I may come back to. However, and I made this point to Paulie some time back, there is a bit of a problem with Jonathan Freedland's assertion that the Fabians were infatutaed with the central state. When they were actually Fabians (and not, eg, Stalinists - cf the later Sid 'n' Bea Webb) they were not so infatuated. I did my Ph D (while not collecting rent on Johnson Fold) on the Webbs, and they favoured a socialism in which the bulk of the means of production was to be owned by voluntary consumer co-operative societies and the rest by compulsory consumer co-opertaive societies. These compulsory ones were in 2 sets. Set 1 - the State. Set 2 - local authorities. The local authorities and the voluntary co-ops were to own the overwhleming bulk of the means of production. Sid Webb being Sid Webb even gave a speech in which all this was quantified into percentages, and the central state was to own a surprisingly small percentage. If I can remember I'll fish the thesis out of the lock up and find the figures. Note; this did not stop them being elitist, manipulative and whatever else you hold against them. (And after 5 years I held plenty against them.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com