I missed this at the time, but here’s an example of what happens when you spend a fortune on a commission and ask them to ignore the trees while describing the wood.
In Public Service magazine, Professor Michael Clarke offers an account of his work as chairman of a committee that looked at the city’s governance.
For [...]
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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, [...]
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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 [...]
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Elected mayors. They’re a controversial topic in local government, with many councils and councillors staunchly opposed to them. Until recently, the creation of an elected mayor needed a public referendum - most of which have been lost following opposition by councillors. Now, a simple council decree can introduce one, but if councillors are opposed, that’s [...]
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I find it almost impossible to take a blog seriously when its central claim is that any British government in the recent past of forseeable future is really lurching towards totalitarianism. It is with this proviso that I offer a semi-approving link to this post.
The elected police chief - like the elected Mayor - cannot [...]
Filed under: Centralisation, Direct democracy, Distributed moral wisdom, Mayors | Tagged: Distributed moral wisdom, Elected mayors, Political parties, Regional government | 5 Comments »
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