The enthusiasm for too much regulation in recent years has burdened us as taxpayers and as consumers as we pay for it. Some of it is wasteful and needless. Take the paperchase when someone buys a home. If they are paying with a deposit saved in a UK bank or building society why…
The enthusiasm for too much regulation in recent years has burdened us as taxpayers and as consumers as we pay for it. Some of it is wasteful and needless. Take the paperchase when someone buys a home. If they are paying with a deposit saved in a UK bank or building society why is there need of anti-money laundering paperwork, as the bank satisfied itself of their customer and can see the taxed income that provided the savings coming into their account. AML controls should be for the minority that pay in cash or draw on a foreign bank.
Having a driving licence and a utility bill does not prove someone with exotic sources of cash is not a money launderer, so in the minority of cases there needs to be a proper examination.
The Bank of England is the biggest loss making public sector institution by a mile. According to the OBR at budget autumn 2024 they will lose £240bn from end 2022 to the final run off of their bond portfolio. Why are they allowed to lose such huge sums? The Treasury and taxpayers have to send them the money for the losses and Chancellors approved the original bond buying. The European Central Bank made a similar error in buying too many bonds at high prices. It has loss containment policies which mean it will lose far less proportionately than the Bank of England.
The rail industry is largely nationalised. It is heavily loss making and needs big subsidies and borrowed capital. When train company franchises end their activities are nationalised. The high cost tracks, signals and stations have been long nationalised. The nationalised train companies do not perform better for customers and taxpayers than the private ones, and often perform worse.
Why can’t public sector management of a monopoly system do better? Throughout the public sector there is need for fewer but better managers. There is need for good bonuses only paid for good delivery. There is need to mentor and train Ministers to take an intelligent interest in management of their departments.
They should be criticised for allowing bad productivity. In the industrial businesses I have led I always found a limited number of well-paid good people was best. Quality and efficiency are two sides of the same coin. Getting things right first time matters. Honesty and quick remedies are essential when you get something wrong. Learn from your mistakes, design error out and always put customer and service users first.
