Labour-run Leeds City Council is has been having a tough time recently as it faces an “unprecedented” financial black hole. The council axed its Child Bereavement Services to save £136,000, despite providing 1,200 crucial support sessions a year to grieving families…
And yet, while parents mourning their children are left in the lurch, the council has found taxpayer cash for something else: special two-hour “Personal Performance Anxiety Training” sessions. Not for struggling residents, but for councillors who are feeling a bit wobbly about their performance at work. The training covers vital concerns such as:
No word yet on how much this group therapy session will set the taxpayer back. UK DOGE recommends costs are cut here…
UPDATE: The council have now cancelled these sessions for the “foreseeable future” after UK DOGE’s story. Victory…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”