I see the Chairman of G4S is squealing in the media that this debacle
will mean they will miss out on future contracts and a review will be held
into what role senior management had in the possible "lack of focus" :ugh:

Much hand wringing about G4S's performance (or lack thereof) which, given their history, was predictable and predicted.

But not a lot said about who let and, supposedly, managed the contract.

Given what has been in the press this last 2 weeks was well known many months ago, and on the agenda of many meetings at which May's lot, ODA, Police, Home Office, Military and God knows who else were present, either May and Coe are lying, or they didn't listen to their briefings or read the minutes. Let's be kind and say they are illiterate ostriches.

Any contract will have payment milestones. One of the milestones MUST have been demonstrating they had recruited and then trained the contracted number of staff. When they notified the above authorities they had failed, each time the Military and Police committment was ramped up a bit. This wasn't a short notice contract - we won the Olympics bid some years ago. I'm tempted to say part of the problem is the Too Many Cooks syndrome, allowing all the above to either blame each other, or gang up on G4S and place all blame on them. They've chosen the latter, but significant blame lies with Government Departments.

Agree, especially the last sentence.

But as usual, no Gov't department will wear the blame.

Someone said earlier that the contracts did not have performance
or penalty based clauses.

We had a minister of the Olympics here in Australia leading
up to the 2000 Olympics, everything was rosy and he had a
teflon coat.

G4S and London 2012: MSN readers' stories - UK News - MSN News UK

From some on the link above the job centre adverts included travel and accommodation. They were then informed later they would have to pay it, that left a lot of folks facing debt to do the job, something those unemployed cannot afford, so no wonder no one has turned up.

Anyone aware of the employment legal implications here?

If, as I suspect, there is no legal means for the Government suing G4$ (sic), then how about individuals suing for misrepresentation
- saying travel and accom provided then dropping it.
- saying 14 quid an hour then dropping it to 8.50
- obliging individuals to pay for training then not employing them
- approving individuals then failing to allocate them.

Class action lawsuit??

Just been informed my records show I was selected as a G4S 'group leader', (though I was never told this). The 'computer system' however didn't get round to call me for the training required for this position!

I've just accepted the task equating to the basic training I was given. So for this gig it's going to be 'Cpl Thruster' instead of 'Sqn Ldr Thruster'. I just hope someone gets to go back on leave.

So by sheer incompetence they have cost you money..

yes. .

Been saying it for awhile now,something along those lines.

keith is a vas

Even in from Gibraltar
 

Just spoken to a mate in GIB, and he is being pulled in from GIB to Weymouth. Perhaps cos he knows what a boat is.

And on OVERTIME......

glf

The sorry saga continues; email this morning,...............
Wonder how many other suckers there are who fell down the cracks in the obviously poorly programmed and ill-generated computer limbo known as 'Securing London 2012' ?

The irony for me is if I do start the shifts finally allocated to me (as a 'non specialist') it will involve walking round a field!

(sorry about your GIB mate. At least the weather over here seems to be improving for him)

If you are trying to get back less than £5,000 from G4S, then just take them to the small claims court.

Although I've never done it myself I gather it's fairly painless. You don't need a solicitor (so no real cost to yourself) you just fill in the cliam paperwork and represent yourself in court.


Venues and forms


Needless to say, as soon as G4S are informed of your case against them I would expect them to settle out of court. If they do go to court you could always infrom your local paper who might send along a reporter......

It's ok Biggus, I'll do my coalface shifts. Hopefully it might help at least one of the 'stand ins' get home early.

That is unless my venue gets pulled; fb rumours that St James, Newcastle got pulled from G4S yesterday (with the outgoing x-ray guys having to 'teach' the new staff how to use the machines)

No problem Bertie, but the advice applies to anyone having financial issues with G4S, and was partly in response to Fox3's earlier comment ......

The G4S 'shambles' & me: one person's story - UK News - MSN News UK

Ouch..

Number 2 son and his troop pulled from an exercise in Wales on Friday, sent to London on Sunday, good job number 1 son was on det in Gib or he might be there as well, oh he came back on Sunday, still time then, how many more guys and girls are going to be used to dig this lot out of a BIG hole?

You have to ask wtf is going on..............

4000 more service personnel required to fill potential gaps in security, half of which are to be made up of light-blue! And we got 73 minutes to nominate our rep!

:mad:

Today I heard some of the most ridiculous ideas ever from those above...one day they'll realise - there's no-one left!

That young man's experiences are precisely what happened to my friend, although the lad seems to have had more contact from G4S. People aren't turning up because G4S have reneged on the agreed conditions (pay, travel, accommodation).


But the last bit, the reply from G4S about LOCOG increasing the numbers required at short notice reinforces what was said earlier. I believe LOCOG, as well as G4S, are in serious breach of contract. In fact, I know LOCOG are, at least over supply of Government owned accommodation. The G4S chairman took the hit last week in front of one of those pompous committees, but that one reply about contracted numbers tells you where this is going. If the games go off smoothly, there will be a big effort to quietly bury this among the claims of success.

I am in the States at the moment and the coverage of the Olympics is constant.
There is much talk about Romneys comments and a lot of embarrasment about what he said.
A local news commentator has just said ' who would you want to look after you ? Someone who has had a few weeks of basic security training or a 22 year old British serviceman who has spent his young adult life digging in the sand for IEDs,constantly alert to the threat of suicide bombers and fights terrorism.

Guys I know its a S$^t deal but rest assured you are appreciated.
It may not be by our government but every one else talks about you.

Enjoy your leave when it eventually comes.

Another 1,000 troops to be drafted in to fill the empty seats?

Re the empty seats.

Obviously seats are handed out to Sponsors / VIP's et al well in advance
and I'm not sure if certain people get a certain number. It has also been
mentioned that they can't be returned to the pool to be sold as it is too costly
and time consuming.

So why not work it the other way round. Considering the lead up to the Olympics is so long, couldn't it be done the other way with Sponsors / VIP's and send them a tick and flick sheet which they have to return for the tickets they want and only these are sent out ?

The rest are then sold ?

Re soldiers, good to see some are enjoying it.
.

You seem to be implying that Ordinary People would then be sitting among the VIPs.

Well that can't be allowed to happen, because of ..... um ..... quick, think of a reason ..... ah yes, can't be allowed for Security Reasons :)

Glad to see we are doing well in the sports that involve a lot of sitting down. Much more dignified that is.

Or standing still?

Chap even has the right idea about celebrating!

I hope he celebrates in style with some Dom Perignon or Krug, he's certainly earned the right to.

Probably hasn't touched a drop for a few months so it could be a short celebration.... :zzz:

Dunno..................think it likely will go on for a year or two

Well, it's all over and I have to say it was bloody good. And the closing ceremony, in the main, was spectacular. Loved that the Who (well, two of them) closed the show.

I was especially proud of it all when Lord Coe took just two seconds of his life to say thank you to the men and women of the Armed Forces that stepped in to save the security of his games. Well played, your lordship :ok:

Everything else he said about the volunteers and the athletes and the people that managed to get tickets and the people that organized it, BZ.

So I shall say it for him. Thank you all of you for your good humoured professionalism. And I'm sorry your summer leave was buggered up and I'm even more sorry that you weren't publicly recognized at the end of the whole show.

With you all the way,

Courtney

Thank god, two weeks of hell over, where the only news on the BBC, including BBC News 24, was the Olympics. Did we win anything ;)

Bertie, did you go in the end and how was it?

Winning or losing isn't important...

...as long as we beat the French.

First of all my own opinion, it was an amazing couple of weeks that lifted the spirits of most people in the country and got such things as 0% annual growth predictions from the Bank Of England, Eurozone crises and whinging politicians off the headlines for a short while and made the nation feel good about itself again.

For those who wish to debate whether or not it was "worth it" in monetary terms, there are presumably several questions to answer:

1) What were the actual costs, apparent and hidden?

2) Where did that money actually come from (i.e. direct government money vs lottery funding, sponsorship input, sports funding, etc). So how much did the taxpayer actually contribute?

3) What are the financial immediate and long term benefits, and costs, to the country?


For those who consider it a waste of money, fine you're entitled to your opinion. Kindly lobby your MP as vociferously about the vast amounts of money the government wastes each year on the EU gravy train, various aspects of the welfare budget, etc to name but two. I would suggest that if you are sincere about saving taxpayers money there are far worst examples that happen year upon year, as opposed to once every 50+ years.

From my point of view I consider most of the money (G4S aside) was well spent.

...and the Germans. ;) ...and the Australians. :E

Ahh, but MG, france will always be, and has ever been, our natural foe.

Yes, but at least the Aussies can't hide behind the language barrier when we gloat!

Not that we'd do that, after all we're British! :E

Yes, but at least the Aussies can't hide behind the language barrier when we gloat!

Not that we'd do that, after all we're British!



Yep, not that you would do that.

After commenting on how well the Olympics were run
and how well Team GB did, the next biggest sport
over the last 3 weeks was reminding Australia about it !!! LOL:O

I was talking to a Welsh mate about the closing ceremony, and he said:

"If I wanted to see five inappropriately dressed middle-aged women, climbing on top of taxis and screeching, I could have gone to Cardiff on any Saturday night!" ;)

Hear Hear. Its just a pity that in the BBC's highlights program covering the final athletes' victory parade, they showed the flypast by Brit Airways and the Reds but left out the aircraft that had been doing all the work by keeping London safe for many weeks. Typical BBC really.....

On the subject of beating the Aussies, I heard that they are changing their national sport colours to "Green and Silver"!:E