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Member policy briefings- Reform of 14-16 Performance Tables from 2014 (date: 13/02/2012)
- A good education for all: Ofsted consultation on amended inspection arrangements (date: 15/02/2012)
- Delivering the free entitlement to education for three- and four-year-olds: NAO report (date: 10/02/2012)
- Education and training – Raising the Participation Age – consultation on policies that will form regulations (date: 07/0...
- Building Engagement, Building Futures : 16-24 year olds in Education, Training and Work (date: 25/01/2012)
- High Speed 2 rail infrastructure project (date: 13/02/2012)
- Health Select Committee report on Social Care (date: 20/02/2012)
- Public car parking and local government: key trends and developments for 2012 (date: 16/01/2012)
Upcoming events
Tag Archives: localism
Localism trumps secularism on council prayers
This article was first published by Total Politics. The recent High Court ruling that councils have no statutory right to hold prayers before meetings has continues to reverberate in local government. The decision follows an action bought against Bideford Town Council in Devon by a former councillor. Media prominence for the case was ensured by the [...]
Mr Pickles will be pleased. Most councils are set to freeze council tax this year
A press release from DCLG yesterday announced that over 200 councils have signalled intentions to freeze council tax over 2012/13. Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said “Freezing council tax is a concrete way councils can support residents in tough times, by keeping bills down for local families. Anything less is [...]
Tags: business rates, council tax, DCLG, Eric Pickles, Local Finance Bill, localism |
How much of a risk is localism?
Glyn Gaskarth, a policy manager here at LGiU, took part in a Guardian debate last week on the potential risks involved with localism? A summary of his points can be found below: UK local councils actually run quite a tight fiscal ship: We need to ensure that central government cannot force local government to perform [...]
The year local government takes charge
This article was first published by Total Politics. This year, many of the coalition’s localist policies come into effect. What will this mean for how we see local politics? 2012 looks like being a big year for local politics. Strangely, this may turn out to be a mixed blessing for local government. Media attention in this country [...]
Making the reform agenda work: LGiU seminars Spring 2012
The LGiU is running a series of seminars this spring that will focus on some of the key areas of the government’s reform agenda for local authorities.
New approaches in an age of massive demographic change
Towards the end of last year, I spent some time travelling around the country meeting council leaders and chief executives to find out about new approaches in an age of massive demographic change. In the next few months, working jointly with Age UK, I will be publishing a review of these conversations. We will be [...]
Tags: Age UK, Big Society, culture, demograpics, health, localism, localism act, public services, social care |
Take a risk and reap a reward
A report by the LGiU and Zurich Municipal (pdf) published late last year found that councils are increasingly concerned about their management of risk. In a national survey undertaken with over 90 councils, 50 per cent of respondents described their organisations as ‘risk averse’. You might say that a certain level of risk aversion is [...]
Tags: communities, democracy, localism, public services, resilience, risk, service delivery |
How can councils give a voice to homeless people?
The Government has announced a £20m scheme to help single homeless people, after it was claimed that the homeless die on average 30 years earlier than the national average. The research from Sheffield University for the homeless charity Crisis claims the life expectancy of a homeless man is 47, while the national average is 77. [...]
Local Government Finance Bill
Later today, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Governemnt, Eric Pickles, will introduce legislation which will take forward proposals designed to encourage local economic growth, reduce the financial deficit, promote welfare reform and drive decentralisation of control over local government finance. DCLG have put out four documents recently that are of use to all. You [...]
Tags: finance, Local Government Finance, localism |
C’llr Awards 2012: The Bruce-Lockhart Member Scholarship
“This is a time for the pioneers and pathfinders of politics. Sandy Bruce-Lockhart was just such a pathfinder. We follow in his footsteps.” - Greg Clark MP, Minister for Decentralisation, speaking at the annual Bruce-Lockhart Lecture There is a new category at this year’s C’llr Awards that has been generating a lot of buzz: The [...]
Tags: Bruce-Lockhart, Bursary, C'llr Achievement Awards, CCLA, Councillors, localism, Scholarship |
Pickles: “Today marks the beginning of an historic shift of power from Whitehall to every community”
Yesterday the Localism Bill gained royal assent. DCLG have issued a press release outlining the key measures in the Act and this useful plain English guide. Secretary of State for Local Government and Communities Eric Pickles said: “Today marks the beginning of an historic shift of power from Whitehall to every community to take back [...]
Tags: localism, localism act, Pickles |
Localisation issues in welfare reform: CLG Committee report
The CLG select committee recently held a short inquiry into the implications of the government’s welfare reform proposals (pdf) from the point of view of local government and the localism agenda. It examined the proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill to abolish elements of the discretionary social fund and council tax benefit, replacing both with localised [...]
Tags: CLG committee, localism, welfare reform |
Localism and Austerity – One year on
In these challenging times I had not expected ‘optimism’ to emerge as the main theme of our Localism and Austerity Summit yesterday. A year ago we brought people together to discuss the emerging new environment for local government and local public services. The mood then was one of apprehension amid a fog of uncertainty – [...]
Hilary Benn’s speech to LGiU Localism and Austerity summit
Hilary Benn MP delivered his first public speech since taking up the role of Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government at LGiU’s Localism and Austerity summit yesterday. The full text can be found below. Local Government in an age of austerity Speech to LGIU Conference, 27 October 2011 Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Shadow [...]
Tags: Hilary Benn, localism, public services, Total Place |
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