Departmental Plans-Do you agree with the Speaker?

[The Phantom]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

Watterson is perfectly right on this and particularly when he says that all these 'plans' and the like are a substitute for action.  Normally when someone produces a plan for something it's because they want to achieve various objectives and are exploring the possibilities as to how to do so.  With the Isle of Man Government. it's the opposite, it's because they want to not do something.  As Watterson says in the sound clip, if you want to put something off for a year, you produce a Plan; if you want to put something off till after the next election, you produce a Strategy.

Then when the public asks politicians what they are going to to do about something, they can reply that they've produced a Plan (or whatever) and this is supposed to satisfy everyone.  It never does of course, but it keeps the politicians happy in their bubble and when the voters complain, the politicians just complain about not being appreciated.

We mock Watterson (rightly) about his dressing up fetish, but the amount of money spent on producing these endless reports and plans and strategies which are also designed to make politicians and senior civil servants feel good would buy enough gold brocade to go to the moon and back.  More importantly it means that important things that should be progressed never are, while all sorts of pet projects get prioritised without any examination.

Yep, just refer to the Castle Rushen High School thing. 

Started in 2016, £3m deep, nothing to show and they're starting from scratch again. 

[Holte End]

1 hour ago, Roger Mexico said:

We mock Watterson (rightly) about his dressing up fetish, but the amount of money spent on producing these endless reports and plans and strategies which are also designed to make politicians and senior civil servants feel good would buy enough gold brocade to go to the moon and back.  More importantly it means that important things that should be progressed never are, while all sorts of pet projects get prioritised without any examination.

Lets see if they cost more than his portrait. Money really well spent.  

[Jarndyce]

Cost is more than what IOMG pay the external report writers.   There's also the cost in time wasted when workers in departments are instructed by managers to collate and submit numbers, write internal reports for onward submission, be interviewed by the report consultants - often for the final report to be shelved by IOMG and the whole exercise repeated in three years' time.   Commenting that it's all a waste of time doesn't cut much ice when you're under the cosh to get it written!