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Originally published in Public Finance Magazine – 24/04/24 The best way to break the cycle of dependency issues and poor health outcomes isn’t more money for treatment programmes – though it’s badly needed. The starting point is creating an environment in which people thrive from the outset. Homes, schools, the local environment – or place, […]
Originally published in LocalGov – 10/04/24 The trite received wisdom that ‘all politics is local’ is a self-evident truth that in England is observed almost wholly in the breech position. For what passes for the ‘local’ in our local elections perennially fights against the Death Star like tractor-beam pull of our political media elite’s obsessive […]
Originally published in the MJ – 8/04/2024 As Localis publishes an essay collection looking at how homes and developments may be built in harmony with existing communities, Jonathan Werran considers the history of housing and planning. That our word ‘economy’ derives from the ancient Greek ‘o??os’, meaning household, is normally a decent ruse for reducing […]
Originally published in the Local Government Chronicle – 21/03/24 Towards the end of a political cycle, the spins run even faster. Last June I wrote an LGC Briefing on the start of the latest government’s latest ‘productivity drive’ – complete with obligatory reference to the Yes Minister episode ‘The Economy Drive’ for comic relief and […]
Originally published by The Municipal Journal – 12/03/24 Hiding in plain sight is, according to GK Chesterton, the Father Brown author, the best way to avoid detection. Indeed, this was a ruse Michael Collins successfully adopted (from Chesterton’s novel ‘The man who was Thursday’. to stealthy effect during the aftermath of the Easter Rising and […]
Originally published by the Local Government Chronicle – 11/01/2024 News of the recent sad and untimely death of New Labour vanguard and disgraced lobbyist turned psychotherapist Derek ‘Dolly’ Draper brought pangs of nostalgia. Cue a deluge of ‘1997 and all that’, ‘Things can only get better’ vibes tempered with the expectation and mild excitement of […]
Two pressing contextual factors have shaped both the Autumn statement and the manner in which it was delivered, which unhelpfully for the Chancellor are entirely at odds with each other. The first is the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecasts of a steep decline in living standards, low growth and inflation persisting for longer than […]
by Joe Fyans, Head of Research Another year, another government strategy for economic growth. It seems like a lot longer than two years ago that we were responding to the Plan For Growth in 2021, to say nothing of 2022’s abortive Growth Plan. Now, in 2023, we arrive at the Net Zero Growth Plan, released […]
Abdool Kara is an Executive Director at the National Audit Office (NAO). This essay reflects the author’s personal opinions and does not represent the position of the NAO in any way. A collection entitled “where will local government finance be in 2030?” gives contributing authors a choice – to write about what we ideally would […]
Place leadership – moving us out of first gear Speculating on the potential future of local government finance has tended to be a fruitless exercise in recent years. Unforeseen events create unexpected new pressures and demands. Existing strategies and plans are changed or delayed. The sector adapts and innovates, often introducing new financial strategies and […]