back to article Lucky, lucky, Westminster residents: Who better to look after your housing benefits than Capita?

People of the City of Westminster will continue to have their council tax collected and housing benefit managed by Capita for up to another decade, the outsourcing badass confirmed today. The long standing agreement first signed 24 years ago will run for at least seven more, starting this month, with an option to extend it to …

  1. Vimes

    The same Capita as this?

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tories-hit-fresh-outsourcing-crisis-11947751

    Are they setting themselves up for another Carillon style fiasco?

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      "Are they setting themselves up for another Carillon style fiasco?"

      By the time the turd hits the juicer no one who signed the contracts will be in any position to face justice.

    2. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
      Coat

      ...according to our records, this property does not have a TV Licence either

  2. }{amis}{
    Joke

    Dont Worry Dilbert will fix all!!

    http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-10-30

    1. paulf
      Pirate

      Re: Dont Worry Dilbert will fix all!!

      I always think of this Dilbert when it comes to outsourcing.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Doing fewer things better...

    > Lewis has, during his relatively brief time at the company, sold off a bunch of businesses, and wants Capita to concentrate on doing fewer things better

    There must be, I suppose, in a company the size of Capita, some things that it does better than the competition. Good to see that he's on a mission to eliminate even these.

    1. 0laf

      Re: Doing fewer things better...

      CAPITA isn't really one company it's more like a bag of marbles. Shitty marbles. Shitty marbles stripped of all talent, skill and hope then sold to a market with few choices manged by people with big egos and small brains.

      This allows CAPITA to sell fuckin shitty products, with fuckin awful support for a fuckin lot of money.

      1. Headley_Grange Silver badge

        Re: Doing fewer things better...

        "This allows CAPITA to sell fuckin shitty products, with fuckin awful support for a fuckin lot of money."

        What allows Capita (and many others of their ilk) to do what they do is the fact that the majority of taxpayers and consumers judge products and services on cost and convenience with decent pay and working conditions for the poor bloody workers a long way down the list.

      2. Teiwaz

        Re: Doing fewer things better...

        ...with few choices manged by people with big egos and small brains.

        I am going to assume you meant...

        ....with few choice mangy people with big egos and small brains.

        1. Wiltshire

          Re: Doing fewer things better...

          ...with few choices manged by people with big egos and small brains.

          I am going to assume you meant...

          ....with few choice mangy people with big egos and small brains.

          or..

          ...with few choices mangled by people with big egos and small brains.

      3. tony2heads

        Re: Doing fewer things better...

        Is that you, Linus?

    2. katrinab Silver badge
      Black Helicopters

      Re: Doing fewer things better...

      “There must be, I suppose, in a company the size of Capita, some things that it does better than the competition.”

      Indeed. Their contract-winning department is one of the best around.

      I don’t know about their brown envelope stuffing department.

  4. Wellyboot Silver badge

    Not related

    >>>Council tax is a bit of a sticky wicket for Westminster Council as it controversially charges one of the lowest rates in the country, despite the average price of a house in the borough set at £1.22m.<<<

    The charge a council levies is related to the budget they set, not the price of housing. House valuation (based on the 1991 survey) is only used to differentiate charge bands within the area. If all the housing is at the same band they all pay the same regardless of any assumed multiplier

    Lowest band (A) = 0.67 – (many northern towns are 90% plus band A)

    Base band (D) = 1.0

    Highest band (H) = 2 – Most of Westminster?

    If all the houses in an area are the same band then this happens. (Assume the Council budget charges £1m over 1000 houses in the area)

    In band H base figure (£1,000 /2) = £500 – Charge per house = £1,000

    In band A base figure (£1,000 /0.67) = £1,492 - Charge per house= £1,000

    Everyone pays the same, but politicos get to pick a number to support their line of BS.

    (Having a band 'H' home in a predominantly 'A' area is going to sting the wallet a bit)

    1. martinusher Silver badge

      Re: Not related

      Lucky you. I live in the US where property tax is based on a percentage of the valuation of the property. Round here this means that Mr. Rees-Moog's place would be 1% of the assessed value plus anything extra for bonds or special assessments -- 56K in other words. There are rebates and exclusions and in California there's a restriction that prevents local authorities from arbitrarily revaluing property when they feel a bit short but on the other hand the Trump tax cuts have eliminated the ability to write off this tax against Federal income tax (this wasn't really a giveaway but rather the acknowledgment of a rather old fashioned idea that you should not levy taxes on taxes.)

      UK council tax is peanuts which is probably why councils are chronically strapped for cash.

      Incidentally, not living in a property doesn't excuse you from paying tax on it.

      1. katrinab Silver badge

        Re: Not related

        Your gas tax and sales tax are much lower than our petrol tax and VAT though

  5. h4rm0ny

    Links.

    If you're going to link to other people's articles as part of your own, can you at least make them publicly accessible ones rather than behind an FT paywall?

    And whether you like JRM or not, I'm fairly sure he doesn't decide where he lives based on a £500p/a cost saving.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Links.

      There are seriously people in IT who haven't worked out you can jump over the FT paywall if you use the Google News ladder and tunnel under The Times paywall with the Twitter spade?

  6. Crypto Monad Silver badge

    Automation and robotics?

    ED-209 turns up at your door.

    "Your council tax is overdue.

    You have 20 seconds to comply."

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: Automation and robotics?

      As it's Crapita it's probably more like this.

  7. Only me!
    Devil

    Fewer Things Better

    That makes me chuckle....I do not know of one thing they do well now.

    I do know lots of things they do really badly!

    Fewer things better......if I read that the correct way that means, they aim to get worse. i.e. We will do fewer things and less well than we are now!

    1. Commswonk
      Angel

      Re: Fewer Things Better

      Fewer things better......if I read that the correct way that means...

      Thank you for reminding me of Director of Better in W1A; one of the funniest things I have heard broadcast in the last few years.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Mushroom

      Re: Fewer Things Better

      You'll notice that "better" is a highly subjective term. Technically, if you were on The Hindenburg when it blew up your chances were "better" than if you were on the Titanic's maiden voyage. That doesn't mean that you still weren't in for a horrific, painful, traumatizing experience.

    3. Mark 85

      Re: Fewer Things Better

      We will do fewer things and less well than we are now!

      As long as the board and stockholders are happy, nothing else matters.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Even Capita dont know their own products. They already have a product called Capita One in the education sector. It is a big mess right now, people leaving all the time, being left with new employees that dont know much

  9. TheMeerkat

    And you needed to put an irrelevant political comment about an MP and “Brexiters”?

    It is quite disgusting showing this hatred actually as it has nothing to do with the topic.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      If it was a Labour MP...

      ...they would have said they wanted to spend more time with their children :-)

  10. browntomatoes

    Mayfair is in Westminster

    Mayfair is part of the City of Westminster local authority area so Jacob Rees-Mogg’s council and council tax wouldn’t have changed when he moved.

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