Beware of a cornered Quango.

With this ongoing recession and the hard winter, the tough small businesses would appear to be able to withstand anything if they are still hanging on in there. 2010 is an exciting year, politically, but whatever happens one thing is certain - huge cuts will be made in government spending. For small businesses this would not be too much of a worry on the face of it; cuts in public expenditure will surely only affect civil servants in the main.For many years now government both local and national have been creating quango after quango. It is an effective method of self maintaining a huge workforce, (with a GDP similar to a smaller European state), paid from a percentage of every form of tax, yet improving statistical data for the ongoing economy. In order to give all these various quangos creedence, particularly following questions raised about why they even exist at all, the simple solution is give them regulatory powers and powerful PR departments. Combined with the fact that these bodies often contain huge amounts of personnel specifically and solely trained in the art of 'keeping their jobs and applying for more funding' they need to be watched carefully.Although often the output of actual accomplished work from 800 personnel of one these bodies is roughly equivalent to a three man landscaping outfit is irrelevant in terms of their potential power. And as government tries to make cuts, their muscles will flex and small businesses will inevitably be caught in the cross fire. I do not wish to be alarmist but it has happened before on a smaller scale - In areas which attracted EU funding as less favoured areas, once funding was capped or lessened the plethora of small quangos who had profited from being effectively the bankers of these funds, (ie given charge to allocate said funds, but quickly realising that if they were to do so their nice new jobs would disappear also), they turned fairly aggressive and far from being helpful to the small businesses they were meant to assist, the money often went into 'development companies' which were council administered and secured every desirable contract going.My fear is that as these quangos have the power and the knowledge to not only preserve themselves but to self fund if need be. They can and will extract money from many sources and if the small business is not following all the necessary regulations and rules, the imposed fines will keep them in their lifestyle until the economy picks up properly. Local government quangos can be much more damaging as the keyholders of many private, (through planning reg's) and public contracts. They are actually allowed to morph into limited companies, and thus have the power to filter the work inwardly.As such be extra vigilant, there may well be a new police out there soon, seemingly harmless in their logo emblazoned fleeces but keen to catch you out for the slightest misdemeanour in order to help keep them in salary. to quote a friend of mine who worked for the EA 'No one can hear you scream in the corridors of the HSE HQ'With thanks to John of Ace Gardening, for the following further reading and links -'Jobs for the boys and a reduction in the unemployed statistics spring to mind. So a here is a useful link to clarify the situation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quango . and a David Cameron pledge, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8135460.stmPlus the Telegraph's claim that every household is paying £3,640 in order to fund these quangos.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6432437/Quangos-cost-every-household-3640.htmlThe fines that they may be forced to come up with in order to prove their importance and sustain their existence will take money out of the economy and thus slowdown the economic recovery. So an unproductive and largely unnecessary group of quangos may bring the economy to its knees.The government often make stupid decisions but they can often make ruthless ones, let us hope that they see the light.Those quiet screams in those hidden corridors will obviously be followed by very visible rants and ravings on the LJN website.'

"I can't stand driveways. I just tell them that I'm an organic gardener and don't use chemicals. If they want to use weed killer they can do it themselves."

"Can I ask those with HRX mowers what height settings they use? They he reason I ask is that the 476 only goes down to 25mm whereas the 537 goes to 19mm. It's a bit disappointing. Thought I'd settled on the 476 HY but 25 mm doesn't sound particularly…"

Get ready for the most anticipated event in the groundscare industry. GroundsFest 2024, which takes place at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on September 10 and 11, is set to return, promising an even more impressive lineup of exhibitors, new…