What’s the worst bill you currently hate to pay?

Private sector pay is definitely higher, and has been for many years. However private sector demands are far higher and by comparison working for a local authority in a similar role is a doddle - a good work/life balance and less accountability. Not to mention the pensions which local government employees receive.

Mollygo

I think the problem with those salaries is two fold.
1. Where does a council who claims to be short of money finds the funds for those salaries.

2. The people receiving them don’t seem to be addressing things that need doing-e.g. roads, pavements, bins, school buildings etc. with the excuse that there isn’t enough money. only enough to pay the salaries.

I worked in Local Government for years until the 1970s. At that time there were huge reorganisation and suddenly many of the senior staff ended up with different job titles, enormous pay increases for doing the same jobs.

I think some people may have lost touch with current salary levels. I looked up headteacher salaries as a benchmark. The average salary for a headteacher in a UK high school ranges from £56,000 to £138,000 per year. More experienced headteachers can earn up to £138,000, while starter salaries are around £56,000. A director of education in a Local Authority is responsible for perhaps or more 50 schools - should he or she earn less than a headteacher in one of those schools - or do head teachers also earn too much?

Education Departments do less and less now. Years ago Head Teachers were responsible for the education and welfare of the pupils in their school and in charge of their staff.
Now they have had to become business managers too.
Some Head Teachers are in overall charge of more than one school.

What does a Director of Education actually do now?

Random job description. It’s a huge job.
www.educationweekjobs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Director-of-Education-Job-Description.pdf

I do think Head Teachers of very large schools deserve their salaries!

I do too Allira, that’s the point I was making - if they do, why would the person who manages loads of them deserve less?

Is that person managing them or administering Government protocols?

Managing them, responsible for budget allocation, educational policy and staff management - ultimately they carry the buck for the local authority.

I’ve been thinking about the original question, and although I don’t like paying more for anything, none of those bills are actually my biggest, or the greatest price hike, that is car related expenditure. I do high mileage, and the cumulative cost of car replacement, servicing, tyres and other repairs, fuel, insurance etc. adds up to a lot more than any of the utilities for me. Cars and everything to do with them have gone up so much in price over the last few years.

All of them 🙄but mainly Council Tax

I agree about car expenditure, but when I get my car serviced, or repaired I can see the benefit of what I’m paying for.
The cost of fuel seems to grow, but I can see it enables me to use my car.

The insurance-which requires a fresh argument about the proposed increase every year also increases, but, although I hope I don’t need to use it, when I have had to do so, I can see what I’m getting for my money.
When my school needs repairs that we don’t have budget for, or I’m struggling to avoid endless potholes, or there are no police available to attend a burglary or I can’t get an appointment at the doctors there are some payments, not just council tax where I wonder if all the money goes on the managers. I’d suggest an OFSTED style check up of managers, with condemnation and charges for not achieving targets, but that’d be another layer of admin to be paid for.

The only one is the TV Licence fee and I found out a few years ago that we didn’t need a TV licence as we don’t watch any of the ‘must pay’ TV programmes.

About once a year f get an email from the TV licencing people full of veiled threats to come to my house and search out the illegal TV set they’re sure I must have. I just mail them back telling them nothing has changed and they send me a message confirming my non payment status. All is fine.

The point I was making about car related expenditure was more about how much it has comparatively risen in cost compared with my other expenses, now taking a bigger chunk of my income. Obviously it is a benefit to me, I clock up such high mileage mainly because I travel cross country to see my parents on a very regular basis, which I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise - and we have no public transport where I live so I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without a car. I guess what is our worst bill is different for all of us, we lead different lives, with different incomes and different expenses.

I agree with you Casdon, but the point I was making is that you can choose to have a car or not.
Difficult in your circumstances and ours too, but when you can no longer drive, you won’t be paying for a car.
However you do actually know where the money goes, unlike council tax.

My council always sends a leaflet out with the tax demand explaining and illustrating how the money it obtains is spent.

So does ours M0nica, so why are things on the lust not happening, e.g. our potholes unfilled?
Or are they only happening in places where the county councillors live?

Definitely council tax.
Up 10%, it seems this was mainly to give top earners a 12% pay increase.
Ours is currently £2780 and I grudge every penny. Council won't even give us street lighting here. Tho new build council houses got lights no bother.
Still waiting 15 years later.
The major grouse most people have in our small country town is the huge non-payment figures of council tax. Only 25% of us pay it.
One irate resident wrote to newspaper saying he is stopping payment and the Council can whistle for it! Have to agree!!

Wish I was brave enough to refuse to pay council tax and now hear that some folk don’t pay water rates and water companies cannot cut you off as it’s illegal apparently not to have access to water ..maybe someone here will know more