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SMEE

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Everything posted by SMEE

  1. HT.....BRILLIANT half by the lads! Really playing excellent........ Hayes MOM so far. Every ball he putting is is dangerous! :D In fact....as good a 45 mins i can remember!
  2. This is the best i Have seen ICT play for a good few years. And it has nothing to do with the score! Lets keep up the good work! :D
  3. YAY....2-0!
  4. Good play by hayes there...and a great ball in!
  5. Ah well....here we go...Good luck ICT! ;)
  6. YAY! ;)
  7. Well....ok..al accept that challenge. Try not one but TWO translator positions created by Highland Council about 1-2 yrs ago, with a starting salary of (IIRC) about ?38 000 each. Now....why were these positions required when i am sure 100% of councilors speak english?
  8. Well.....apart from the grossly over inflated wages you can pick, in jobs, conveiniently created by the self preservation society!
  9. Gaelic= a big :020: from me!
  10. Have a read of this and say what you think Pt I Easing social work boss's workload to cost ?25,000 By Lorna McCann Published: 27 October, 2009 UNION leaders have voiced concerns that Highland Council wants to spend ?25,000 of tax-payers' money on easing the workload of one of its most highly-paid council officers so she can continue to represent a national organisation. advertising The move has sparked anger and led to calls for senior officials to consider standing down from outside bodies at a time when the authority is facing budget cuts. Harriet Dempster earns ?105,450 a year as director of the authority's social work department, which is currently overspent by ?3.4 million. However, councillors are being asked to set aside a further ?25,000 to temporarily promote a member of staff to act as chief operating officer for the department. The move would allow Ms Dempster more time to attend meetings in her additional role as president of the National Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW) ? an organisation whose role is to advise on government policy and help councils improve their service. Whoever is promoted would be charged with, amongst other things, implementing the social work's budget recovery plan. However, Unison branch secretary Shane Manning said yesterday he was concerned at plans to invest money when budgets were already stretched and cuts amounting to ?80 million were on the cards. "Workloads should be prioritised without having to invest further money to allow chief officials to deal with national issues," he said. "Perhaps it is time to set these aside at this difficult time." "We are being told by management that some very difficult choices lie ahead and staff are having to work as efficiently as they can. "That does impact on members with them taking up more duties so these tough choices should be taken at the very highest level of the council as well." Councillor Donnie Kerr is shocked that councillors will be asked to approve this extra expenditure on Thursday. "We are sending out the wrong message," he said. "This will go down like a lead balloon with staff members whose wages have gone down as a result of pay equalisation." He thinks Ms Dempster should be concentrating her efforts on problems within the council's social work department and not outside matters. But Councillor Margaret Davidson, who chairs the council's social work committee, defended Ms Dempster's position, saying in recent months she had been spending as much time as possible addressing the department's financial issues. She also insisted the director's involvement with the ADSW was not to blame for the overspent social work budget. "There have been problems with the social work budget for some time but they have become more acute this year," she explained. Ms Dempster admitted that her involvement with the association could take up between two and 15 hours a week, although stressed some work was done at home and at weekends. She denied that she took on the role to further her career, insisting she was fully committed to the council. She added that the decision to appoint an operating officer was not about her ability to the job, although it would give her "enhanced management capacity". "If I was not doing my job properly we would not be looking at this report, other things would be happening," Ms Dempster said. "We now need to manage the situation and take charge of it and try and resolve it." Councillor David Alston, the authority's budget leader said it was the right action to take and the council was trying to deal with its financial matters in a "business-like" fashion. Pt II Split over move to ease social work director's workload Published: 30 October, 2009 INVERNESS councillor Peter Corbett broke away from the administration yesterday when he stood up and refused to spend ?25,000 of taxpayer's money on promoting a senior social work officer to ease the workload of one of the authority's most highly-paid directors. advertising The Independent member was the first in a long line of councillors to voice their opinions on whether extra money should be spent on temporarily promoting a member of staff to cover for social work director Harriet Dempster, who gets paid ?105,450 a year, while she attends meetings in her additional role as president of the National Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW). "I cannot support the recommendation," said the central ward member. "I agree it is right to restructure the service but I do not feel we have to increase our budget because of this. "We manage to restructure services at the bottom without spending more and in fact often save money." His comments came as Councillor David Bremner (Caithness) questioned how many other members of the Independent/Lib-Dem/Labour administration had been whipped into supporting the move. The social work department is currently facing a ?3.4 million overspend and, among other tasks, whoever is promoted will be charged with implementing the budget recovery plan. SNP councillor Bob Wynd (Culloden and Ardersier) said while he fully supported Ms Dempster's role at national level he could not support extra spending. Councillor Donnie Kerr (Central) added: "We employ a director of social work on quite a high salary and we would expect them to concentrate on their job. "We are facing such a high overspend, their commitment should be there." Ms Dempster spends between two and 15 hours a week on matters related to the ADSW and yesterday she was not present at the full council meeting because of a pre-arranged conference in Crieff. However, earlier this week she insisted she was committed to the council and the appointment would give her "enhanced management capacity". Chief executive Alistair Dodds advised councillors yesterday the additional support was needed to make improvements in the service. Councillor Liz MacDonald (Nairn) agreed, saying spending ?25,000 to bring the budget in line would be money well spent. Councillors voted 58 to five in favour of the ?25,000 promotion. Three abstained. Pt III Social work chief turns down pay increase Published: 20 November, 2009 Bill Alexander THE man charged with trying to rein in Highland Council's social work overspend is refusing to take a pay-rise. advertising Senior social worker Bill Alexander has been appointed chief operating officer after councillors controversially agreed to set aside up to ?25,000 to pay for an existing member of staff to be temporarily promoted to the job. The decision prompted an outcry from unions, the public and a handful of councillors and yesterday Mr Alexander, who already earns ?72,000 a year, announced he would not accept the increase which would have taken his salary to ?90,000. "I have been brought in to help manage the current situation and help us move forward and manage the current budget situation. It would be perverse if my very first action was to add to the council's financial difficulties," he said. "I am a fairly well paid local government official and better paid than most people out there. I believe my current salary is appropriate to do the job." Over the next six months Mr Alexander will step aside from his role as head of children's services to help ease the workload of social work director Harriet Dempster. Among other things the move will allow Ms Dempster, who gets paid ?105,450, more time to attend meetings in her additional role as president of the Association of Directors of Social Work (ADSW). In his new post Mr Alexander will have the job of trying to manage the department's budget which is currently overspent by ?3.9 million. "We have a very significant budget challenge just now and that is not something we can walk away from," he explained. "In the short term we have to be as efficient as possible with the money we have. "We are already spending money we do not have and we cannot continue to do that." Mr Alexander said it was not an option to cut services to people who needed them but warned: "The money is not there for new, additional or extra services." Personally, i think the whole thing stinks! Oh...and try this for cutting the deficit.....pay these people a hell of a lot less than they are getting, especially if they are away from there job and not looking after the needs of the Highland population!
  11. The Irish were neutral during WWII....and in fact many hundreds of thousands of Irish signed up, through choice, to fight for the allies. But there is still so much Biggoted Protestant propganda that still surrounds Irelands involvement.
  12. No...The Irish housed both German and Allied prisoners of war tho AND German U-Boat fleet was scuppered of the Irish coast at the end of WWII and from that...evolves the fishermans tale about the Irish refuelling the U Boats!. You will be coming out with the urban myth that Celtic helped the Germans bomb Clydebank in 1941, by leaving on the stadium lights next. heard all this crap before! And it only ever comes from the Sons of William biggots!
  13. I usedc it once...and the one thing that stood out was the price. to feed 5 of us it was about ?20. Mind you..i seldom have a chippy these days, so am maybe behind on the old chippy prices. Thats the price you pay of living in Cradlehall with no car!
  14. Got A Grifter Bike one year...that was good.....except there was about a foot of fresh snow on xmas day. Must have been about 1978. Also used to love getting action man stuff. When i was 14 i got a ZX Spectrum 48K. got a lot of entertainment from that.
  15. I can honestly say, there is not one Chippy in Inverness, probably in the last 15 yrs or so, where i have sampled some of their wares and thought...Mmmmmmmmm that was tasty....and left me wanting more. My Ex's dad had a great chippy in Ayr tho...so that compensated a little
  16. Do I detect a hint of Old Firm intolerance in Culduthels original post? Didnt see him coming on here gloating about N Ireland or Wales failure to qualify!
  17. I reckon you rid the ointment of the flies....and continue to do so till you have the forum you want! Do you just ban by email addy or can you ban an IP Addy?
  18. Oz, its a Scottish fitba forum called Pie & Bovril found here www.pieandbovril.com
  19. There are three types of posters on this site, The happy clappers, The Moaners, and the Realists. I consider my self a Realist. The problem is, the other two sections are as guilty as each other of attacking the other when someone airres a view contrary to theirs. This mentality is evident on EVERY forum on the internet i have been on. Its the nature of the beast! Another view is thus...Football is ultimatley a results game, when we do get a win these days, it seems to be at the expense of entertainment. So, question is, which is more important, to win....or to leave feeling entertained? Being honest....i would go for the latter. I have often mentioned on here, that in my opinion, the Best ICT game ever was the 4-3 loss to Livi. 10 yrs on and it's still the one game that sticks out in my mind. Im serious when i say....i would rather take 36 such results each season and feel like i have been entertained than ths current philosophy of win ugly. And while we are stuck in the current situation, there will always be bitching.
  20. I think Scotty and Co should name and shame those users responsible for his current feeling towards the site. My own personal view is, maybe i am thicker skinned than many on here, but seldom see stuff on here that i find borderline. I feel that people have the right to be negative at the moment, as our league standing belies the utter garbage that is being served up and labelled as football this last few seasons. Lets remember, people pay a lot of money to go to games, and it is human nature to feel aggreived if you feel you have been short changed. And i put this down to a view i have long held. We ICT supporters have had it so good, our entire history until that game against Falkirk, last game of last season. We are now experiencing the realities of football for the first time in our short history and many are struggling to deal with it. And it is manifesting itself on here, the only place fans can vent their frustrations.
  21. Exacta flippin mundo!
  22. I had BT vision for 18 months (until july this year) Cant say i have any issues with it....but.....i only ever viewed the free to air channels. I was subscribing to basic package (its either that or a one off ?30 payment for the box) but never watched anything off it. Couldnt you also consider Freeview +, which allows you record, or do you want the extra options of movies and packages etc?
  23. Was it maybe Darnados on Academy st or Stratton Dairy on Church St?
  24. First Ice Creamer i remember, was Les in the 1970's and his legendary refreshing Lemonade ice lollies coming into Birnie Terrace. Then in Dalneigh Mr Softee came on the go and then later Eric. We occasionally still get an ice creamer round here in Cradlehall. And who remembers, the much rarer.... chippy vans that did the rounds in Dalneigh in the 80s? I used to get things occasionallly, but cant honestly remember if they were any good
  25. Methinks maybe he only lingers on SPL teams forums
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