Letters: Carillion’s collapse offers a lesson in what a company shouldn’t be

SIR – Outsourcing is not a bad thing – but outsourcing everything is not necessarily good either.

Following the collapse of Carillion, the Government should ensure that (small) sub-contractors are paid within 30 days as a requirement of the granting of any contract.

Declan Salter
Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire

SIR – Amid the cacophony of calls to pursue the Carillion directors, similar steps should be taken against those civil servants involved in awarding contracts. Should they be found culpable, they should be subject to penalties – giving up their gold-plated pensions, for example, or any honours they might have been awarded.

Ian Wallace
Whitley Bay, Northumberland

SIR – Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) were a Tory idea, but they were exploited extensively by Labour when it was in power. Let us remember 
this before blaming the present Government with the consequences 
of Labour’s abuse of the principle.

Indeed, Labour’s last health secretary, Andy Burnham, who was in charge of 221 PFI projects, admitted last year: “We made mistakes. I’m not defending every pen-stroke of the PFI contracts we signed.”

Is this another reason why the NHS bill is so high?

Alan Oxer
Exeter, Devon

Pride in our NHS

SIR – I have worked in the NHS for more than 30 years and am very proud of the service that it provides.

The problems that you allude to in your leader, and the recent strains on the NHS, are nothing new. In fact, this time last year, the British Red Cross said the NHS was facing a “humanitarian crisis”.

However, there is one worrying trend: the politicising of the NHS. This is increasing year on year, with opposition parties using it to score cheap political points.

It is lazy for politicians to claim that the solution is increased funding. Apart from the fact that billions are added to the budget each year, what is to be done if even more money is provided? Any increase in staff numbers or wards would leave a surplus in the summer months.

The answer is that the NHS has to fundamentally change the way it is run. And work is already being done to improve efficiency – by increasing the application of technology, for example, and through the use of different healthcare models, such as more care in the home. This is the future of a modern health service.

Dr David Lomax
Hayes, Middlesex

SIR – M P Wadsworth (Letters, 
January 14) needed inner soles 
from the local podiatry clinic. He 
was apparently told he could have as many as he wanted, free of charge.

I also recently needed inner soles from my local podiatry clinic. I was given one free pair, which has to last me a year. I was advised that any further pairs would cost me £102.

There are many things wrong with the NHS, but we should not judge it according to our individual experiences. The service may be national, but it actually consists 
of more than 700 separate organisations. The current mood i
n Britain seems to be that anything less than perfection is a crisis.

David Pearson
Harpenden, Hertfordshire

Army spending

SIR – You report that 
Army recruitment has been delayed because a new computer system, costing £1.3 billion, has failed to work. This comes on top of a fresh £3 million recruitment drive designed to attract 
a broader range of applicants.

I wonder who does the cost/value analysis on these projects. I cannot help feeling that money allocated to our Armed Forces could have been invested more wisely, and that those defending us today will feel hard done by as they cope with poor family accommodation and equipment shortages.

Sandra Miles-Taylor
Downderry, Cornwall

SIR – The first mnemonic I was taught on joining the Army was KISS – or “Keep it simple, stupid”.

With the obvious problems caused by outsourcing recruitment to 
Capita, is it not time the Army went back to basics and adopted this approach?

Perhaps if they stopped employing consultants and instead used their own tried-and-tested resources for recruitment, then retention might improve – and, along with it, the morale of the service.

Charles Blackmore
London SW1

Eco-conservatism

SIR – I agree with Daniel Hannan that there 
is no conflict between conservatism and conservation; indeed, the two should go hand-in-hand.

However, the perception that the two are in conflict is not entirely down to the Left. There is no shortage of people on the Right who seem to view conservation and environmentalism with utter disdain.

In America, in particular, many who describe themselves as “conservatives” clearly believe that the environment is there to be exploited.

William Cook
Blandford, Dorset

SIR – Bob Ward (Letters, January 14) takes Christopher Booker to task 
for writing that diesel is the most CO2-emitting fuel of all.

He points out that the US Energy Information Administration says 
coal generates significantly more 
CO2 for each unit of energy output than diesel.

Mr Ward is correct, and all you people who drive around in cars powered by coal should hang your heads in shame.

Alan Haile
London SW6

Still commuting

SIR – Bryan Burdett (Letters, January 14) asks why commuting persists despite being inefficient.

The answer is that working at home requires fewer but better managers, capable of directing a process rather than counting heads.

Claims that personal interaction is superior to remote communication merely mask the claimant’s inability to write a literate email or conduct a properly structured teleconference.

A roomful of underlings provides 
a poor manager with a spurious but visible justification of his or her existence; and, just as turkeys don’t vote for Christmas, so inadequate managers will not promote a system that might highlight their failings.

John Sheridan Smith
Southampton

Dogs are the least of the pub-goer’s worries

SIR – Dogs in pubs (Letters, January 14) are sometimes overindulged – but 
give me dogs over disruptive, undisciplined children every time.

Pete Taylor
Virginia Water, Surrey

SIR – There is not a shadow of doubt that pubs where dogs are allowed suffer a loss of custom.

It’s not just that some people won’t go to pubs where dogs are allowed because they are tired of inconsiderate owners and their pets; it’s also that some people can’t go to such pubs 
due to allergies and phobias. For many of the 5.4 million asthma sufferers in Britain, dogs can trigger an attack. 
A similar situation exists for the 
1.2 million with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Meanwhile, cynophobia is a common fear.

The big chains like Wetherspoons do their homework on this, and act accordingly. If individual pubs want to increase footfall, they need to get rid of their “dog-friendly” signs.

John Hadley
Brixham, Devon

SIR – It is, of course, wrong for dogs to eat at table in pubs. However, when I left my seat for a few moments, I was grateful to Daisy for keeping an 
eye on my steak.

Fr Bernard Garratt
Southam, Warwickshire

SIR – Those who complain about dogs in dining areas should spend more time in France.

In a hotel near Saumur, my wife and I were greeted by the chef-proprietor, who came out of the kitchen and went to every dining-room table welcoming his guests, wishing us a good stay 
and assuring us all that we would enjoy the meal. He then returned to the kitchen.

A moment later the door swung open and the hotel dog emerged, strolled round the dining room and stopped only at the half-dozen or so tables under which, we were to discover, a canine guest was discreetly sitting. Having had with those visitors what was obviously a very similar conversation, the dog also returned 
to the kitchen. Dinner – an excellent one – was then served.

Perhaps the British delude themselves: it is the French, not us, who have learnt how to live comfortably with dogs.

Hamish Marett-Crosby
St Martin, Jersey

Silver-screen Bond always betrays the books

SIR – Having read Ian Fleming’s stories before the films were issued, my image of James Bond was – and still is – completely at variance with the silver-screen portrayals (Letters, January 14).

Not one of the actors gives the impression that Bond was an Old Etonian, or an Old Fettesian; and it is difficult to believe, on the basis of the films, that he was a Royal Navy Commander.

Chris Harding
Parkstone, Dorset

Missing bags

SIR – Where are all the usual post-Christmas charity bags this year?

I always “recycle” unwanted gifts to a worthy cause, but there have been no requests or bags so far.

Judy Williams
Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset

High street habits

SIR – Once upon a time we shopped 
on the high street and recovered with a cup of coffee on returning home.

Now we shop at home and then head to the high street to recover 
over a cup of coffee.

Ian Walter
Ley Hill, Buckinghamshire