Given all the talk of localism in recent months, it is pretty disappointing to see Caroline Spelman, the Conservative shadow Local Government minister, making the following statement (via the BBC) on Council Tax rises:
At a time when millions of workers are facing pay freezes or unemployment this year, it adds insult to injury to drive [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Council services, Democratic renewal, Political parties | No Comments »
A few weeks ago, Roy Greenslade picked up on a growing opposition to Council-run free newspapers.
As he notes, the opposition comes both from smaller political parties locally, and from commercial rivals that are being edged out - as they see it.
Elsewhere, we are seeing growing demands for a journalistic ‘bail-out’ - and not just from [...]
Filed under: Centralisation, Council services, The media | Tagged: Advertising, Journalism, Local newspapers | No Comments »
Time for one last look at the Conservative party’s local government green paper Shift Control. A quick canter through chapters four and five, and then some conclusions.
Chapter Four is about spending. It says a Conservative Government will:
give local people greater control over how central government funds are spent in their area;
phase out ring fencing, [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Council services, Councillors, Mayors, Political parties | No Comments »
Time for a look at Chapter three of the Conservative local government green paper, Shift Control.
This chapter is the section of the green paper that focuses on democracy, so there’s a lot to talk about. The chapter says that a Conservative Government would:
provide citizens in all our large cities with the opportunity to choose [...]
Filed under: Conservatives, Council services, Councillors, Deliberative democracy, Direct democracy, Elections, Mayors, Political parties, Unelected agencies | No Comments »
Local decision-making should be less constrained by central government, and also more accountable to local people. We will encourage democratic innovations in local government, including pilots of the idea of elected mayors with executive powers in cities.
David Cameron’s green paper Shift Control, published yesterday? No, the 1997 Labour manifesto, and if you want a good [...]
Filed under: Council services, Councillors, Democratic renewal, Mayors, Political parties | No Comments »
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