Friday, August 24, 2007

The Scots do it in a joined up way .....

... why can't we do it here in England? This from EDIE reports on the setting up of an advisory panel that actually looks capable of doing a genuine job on boosting energy efficiency in Scottish homes!

"An expert panel has been set up to recommend measures to make houses and buildings in Scotland more energy efficient, it was announced this week." OK, I'm already thinking yet another pointless quango, but, so far, so good.

But, reading on, by experts, they don't mean quango members, political pseudo types or politicians and civil servants with nothing (better?) to do - they actually mean 'experts'. They are going to "include designers, developers, contractors, assessors and researchers." and will "feature experts from Norway, Denmark and Austria experienced in the strict energy standards of their home countries".

Our English equivalent would have senior civil servants, junior ministers without portfolio, loads of highly paid executive directors, trades union representatives, half a dozen empty suited jobs-worths, a token Polish plumber and number 10's cleaning lady's dog on the panel! All backed up with a huge administrative bureaucracy on massive salaries and gilt edged, inflation protected pensions!

I can almost hear Sir Humphrey - "'What! Have an actual energy efficiency expert on the advisory panel! You've got a lot to learn - that's just not the way we do things around here, old boy!"

When will our lot ever learn?


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