MPs expenses under scrutiny, what about the RDAs???

On the drive back from the Audi SW Endurance, I was listening to File on Four on the radio about RDA expenses.

Stephen Broomhead, who is CEO of the NWDA, was reported to have run up a £51,000 taxi bill last year, which is more than all the MPs put together managed in the same period. I for one object strongly to Mr Broomhead using public funds to pay for a chauffeur driven limo to go to the Rugby Cup Final at Twickenham, in whatever capacity. The fact that he is also vice chairman of Warrington Wolves Rugby League Club and therefore probably wasn't there representing just the NWDA, well, to put it simply, stinks.

There were other examples given of ridiculous sums of money being spent by the RDAs, organisations which seem unfathomably unaccountable to anyone. £191,000 to take 13 RDA bods to Cannes for a property developers 'do' and hold shindigs on yachts was one such use of our money.

Having seen plenty of examples over the years of public money "wastage" by these public bodies, it seems that it is about time they were forced to account for the use of their budgets, not just year on year for the slightly waffy criteria the Govt deems appropriate for them but long term, just as a business needs to. After all, the RDAs are a major part of UK Plc and should be showing 'bang for the buck' in terms of their decisions and actions. Especially as this morning on the news, it is being reported that MPs must now submit receipts for anything over £25. That is as nothing compared to what some civil servants appear to be blowing on fripperies such as attending Rugby Cup Finals at our expense.

The big problem appears to be that the RDAs were 'forced' upon us by the EU. Now, bearing in mind the state of their accounts audits over the last 5 or more years, it is hardly surprising that that culture of unaccountability has spread down into the regions. However, as the money which goes into the coffers of the RDAs is the majority of the spend for the regions, it is time they had to operate in a more business-like manner and PROVE their worth, as well as showing ROI for the spend of this public money.

Claims that x jobs have been generated, or x benefits given to the regional/local economy etc by RDA actions can never shown to be accurate. After all, how can the RDA show how many jobs would have been created/saved/protected/safeguarded if they didn't exist? In some instances, some of their actions have failed abysmally to protect local jobs, in favour of some scheme or other that has then over time been shown to be entirely worthless and often unused.

It is depressing driving through certain towns and seeing large, expensive office blocks with some RDA sign outside proclaiming 'Luxury offices to let' etc which stand empty for months, and occasionally years on end, where perfectly good houses used to stand, or could have stood instead. We see business units empty, or filled with yet more craft shops in rural areas, because the RDA couldn't see fit to encourage high tech industries to locate by putting in high quality, future proofed comms eg a decent leased line or broadband connection. Scotland's incubator units (eg in Crieff) should show them the way....

How anyone can justify yet more small businesses in the craft and tourism industry in rural areas when the leisure economy is floundering, and we need to get into the knowledge economy, I have no idea. Rural areas do not need yet more low paid jobs in crafts, tourism (service jobs) etc at all. I have two kids, who are just beginning to look for work to supplement their meagre pocket money, and waiting on or standing behind a shop counter is not my idea of a valid career or job experience for them. However, it seems it is pretty much all that is on offer in rural Cumbria.

It is beyond me to understand why the RDAs, and Business Link, are given all of this funding for our regions, and yet have to prove to no-one what actual impact they are having over time, in rural economies in particular. If I ever meet someone working for Business Link as a consultant, advising businesses on how to succeed, who is not a failed business person rather than a successful one, I may well eat some item of clothing.

Many of these RDA folks are so lost/entrenched in the civil service culture (and yes, I am one of the many who believe they have entirely forgotten the meaning of the second word in their job description), and are so busy creating jobs for the boys, and spending budgets inefficiently just so they release the following year's funding, that it is no wonder this country is going tits up.

Talking to the RDAs, as we attempted to do on very many occasions over the years about broadband, you learn quite quickly about how this culture operates. And believe me, it is more of a mess than any File on Four programme can even begin to touch upon. The spend of public funds in such an arrogant, disjointed, short-sighted and casual manner, with often little or no reference to those in the regions who will be affected by spending decisions, could almost be called 'obscene'. It is definitely irresponsible.

There is no ombudsman to refer complaints to about RDAs. As one ex-contractor of the NWDA discovered, MPs are on the whole very unwilling to touch complaints about RDAs, and taking it as far as the EU is not just costly, but equally as pointless as they are all lying in the same bed.

The seemingly unshakeable belief of this Government that the RDAs are doing a good job with their budgets is a belief that needs picking up by the tail and rattling so hard that there is a public enquiry into the expenses of RDA officials, just as there has been with MPs. Every single civil servant should be made to account properly for every penny of public funds which passes through their departments, and those accounts should not be attached to some dreamed up criteria, outcomes or anything else intangible that the Govt come up with to justify the continued existence of these quangos.

The Regional Assemblies would have introduced some accountability into the system, but they have been scrapped. After god knows how many millions were spent on setting them up and their continued existence in the abyss they found themselves.

It is little wonder that the electorate of this country holds so little trust in Govt that they cannot be arsed to vote. Instead of seeing themselves implementing change through democracy, many now believe the rot is so inherent in our society, at so many levels, that a vote won't change the culture within, for instance, the civil service. And it is possibly why so many British citizens are planning to move abroad to live and work.

This wastage of, and irresponsiblity with, public money is not being addressed as the tumour that it is, which is causing an haemorraging of public money into pointless and often detrimental projects for our regions. The fact that however crap many of these civil servants' decisions are throughout their careers, they have a guaranteed pension may also be part of the problem.

One of the times when I stood up and spoke out very publicly about the RDAs (to a room of over 400 people, many of whom were civil servants), I managed to piss off someone so entirely within an RDA that he has ever since made sure that I will never ever get any work whatsoever through that RDA, or others he has been able to influence. Nor contribute to projects where they actually could have done with my experience and thinking, and that of my contacts. Sadly, what he missed was that I wasn't interested in earning money from them; I wanted to see implemented the change that would reflect well on the region, and hence his organisation. Had it been about money, maybe the bullying tactics would have forced me to keep my mouth shut in order to earn a crust, as it has with others, but my involvement with broadband was never about money.

And the changes that some of us foresaw for the regions have been well and truly missed because sometimes (not always by any means but often enough to really make an impact), the RDA folk don't have the humility, nous or even intelligence to seek the information they need to make rational decisions. Preferring to keep it all 'in-house' or within the cosy circle of their 'school tie' pals is a distinct part of the culture, and it backfires regularly on them, preventing them from achieving truly beneficial outcomes, outputs etc.

One RDA wasted £20million of public money on supposed broadband connectivity that even in your wildest dreams isn't, others have spent equivalent amounts of money connecting less than 100 people. When are these types of fiascos going to be investigated, and by whom??

Although it may not be politic to speak out, we live in a democracy and are entitled to free speech. The sooner others speak out about the misuse of public funding, and it is addressed, the better. On all issues which the RDAs have, unfortunately, become involved - housing, economic regeneration, communications, training etc etc etc.