I wasn’t willie waving just saying what my experience was
HMG have been outsourcing for years, nothing new here chaps. I lost my job with them in 2007 and many more colleges a few years before and not with a Tory government in power. Just saying you can’t always blame it on the Tory’s.
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True and the result is the shitstorms that are Serco, G4 etc.
Used to work for Serco - all I can say is that i hope that they are first against the wall when the revolution comes 
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anything (and there has been much whilst the Tories have been in power starting with Thatcher) since 2019 can be wholly blamed on the Tories…
Not being too interested on what goes on in the UK, I’ve no idea what those companies do, I stayed here in France, ex UK colleges were I think taken into Inter serve or Inter Service, and some in Oracle and Cap Gemini ??? From what I remember the outsourcing started with the MoD, then the FCO. Come the Revolution I already know the song. 
Internationale-Chant Revolutionaire - YouTube
I worked for Cap Gemini managing a UK based unit delivering European out sourced sevices to Opel (then owned by GM)…CG are French based business and a big supplier to French Gov’ , difference is that they are not constantly in media spotlight like UK outsourcers…because they are more competent and add value working higher up “food” chain rather than just doing things at less cost by employing cheap labour like Serco and G4.
As I wrote I don’t know what goes on in the UK FM companies, I do know what goes on here in France, I just happen to work with a few and for low level staff it’s not all rosy especially for those without qualifications as many are.
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I’d be interested in your thoughts on government outsourcing and privatisation in France as opposed to the UK John.
It strikes me that France has generally not followed the UK model at all…
- Where it has introduced private investment, it has either kept a controlling stake or a smaller but strategically influential stake;
- Where it outsources services, it generally keeps ownership of the relevant assets, and/or uses forms of contract that make the service much more of a partnership.
(The UK, on the other hand - driven by a misguided ideology that the private sector is always best - has tended to go as far as possible down the complete sell-off and stand back route.)
I lack detailed knowledge of a wide variety of cases - but these are my impressions.
…And let’s add the DWP to the list as well.
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Hello @Lizzie1
I’m glad you got your passport issued on time. And I’m glad you are on the forum.
Life’s too short to drink bad coffee
Be happy
Henri
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Really ‘Lumber’?
Yep, still in first grade, still learning.
Then perhaps you haven’t yet learnt that argumentio ad hominem with apophasis on the side isn’t really considered dinner party conversation 
Thanks Lumber, to be honest I am quite sensitive, and I know that sometimes I come across harsher than I mean to because I don’t always judge tone myself of other people’s well
I am definitely playing it by ear on the forum at the moment I may stay I may not
Indeed - I myself have an ongoing problem with DWP that they have not been able to resolve for about a year - and counting…
Hi @vero from what I see on this forum there are lots of conversations that aren’t really considered dinner party conversation.
I didn’t come first at Cambridge I struggle with improving my French, so Latin is far too much of a stretch for me.
Cheers
Henri
Ad hominem is basically bodyline, to use a cricketing analogy
Apophasis is talking about not doing something while actually doing it eg “I wouldn’t dream of calling the Prime Minister a liar”
“I am choosing to believe you aren’t being disingenuous” could be another
Nor did I
Edited because I am schtoopid and forgot a vital ‘not doing’ in there
Hello @vero
Thank you for taking the time to explain, I appreciate it.
I can’t say that was my intention, my intention was to be as polite and jovial as I could be in trying to encourage @Lizzie1 not to give up posting, that’s all.
I have to work hard to get thoughts into text that don’t scream anger or abruptness - It’s not that I am actually angry, but I am or can be very abrupt in person and do not suffer stupidity or foolishness lightly. If someone is slow to learn I will help them in every way possible and stay with them as they are repeating a task over and over, encouraging them and helping them understand the task until they do it on their own and master it. But if a person takes the mick, just because they want to push and test the limits, well they find out fast I cannot hold my tongue.
So I try very hard to read what I write many times over before posting to see if I’ve kept myself in check and not been rude. I’m not a writer, I try, in fact I’m on the forum for me, to help me. A byproduct of me being on here is possibly someone gaining a trick they didn’t know before, from some feedback I’ve posted or examples of how I work in the forest and fields.
I use the forum as a way of forcing myself to research and check what I do, before posting, did I forget this safety issue or is that still correct today - so it helps me stay alert and current.
Also the forum helps me try and maintain conversation skills, I live in an area where I can go a week or more and not see another person. With fortnightly shopping to save car trips I can see tractors in the distance, but actually speak to people, no, it can be long periods.
So I am trying to use the forum to keep that side of my mind active.
It’s easy to say dinner party rules, but when you read threads and replies on here, it’s all over the place. What one poster is allowed to post can be very different to what another is allowed to get away with.
I enjoy your input, I thank you for taking the time to explain your words to me.
In this post I have tried to explain some of mine to you.
And now it’s warm enough outside to turn my flail mower upside down in the sun and replace the blades.
Enjoy your day - nothing is rarely what it seems is it…
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