A key element of Gordon Brown’s strategy to win the next general election is probably illegal, according to expert analysis commissioned by the UK’s equality watchdog and seen by the Observer.
The British problem, so the aphorism has it, is that we want Swedish levels of public service with US levels of tax. So do the Swedes. That’s why, during a fiscal crisis with many parallels to our own – when the Swedish Social Democratic Party, then in opposition, promised spending cuts to eliminate a huge budget deficit – its electoral support fell five percentage points.
The crisis in the public finances will push back the boundaries of the state, allowing the private sector to bid for contracts in areas as delicate as chemotherapy, kidney dialysis and the supervision of probation and immigration cases, according to several of the government’s biggest suppliers
Police chiefs have been ridiculed for “inexcusable gobbledegook” for writing a 102-word sentence which “defies understanding. The comment, from the Association of Chief Police Officers, was so ridiculous it has now been put forward for the Golden Bull awards run by the Plain English Campaign.
Elderly people will no longer be forced to sell their homes to pay for care under government proposals to be unveiled next week in a long awaited green paper on tackling the spiralling cost of care for an ageing population.
The much maligned council housing finance system is to be scrapped, and councils will also be able to keep all the proceeds from rental income and sales, says the DCLG.
The Local Government Association is calling for a major programme of reform to give voters more local control over key public services. A manifesto has been published ahead of the LGA annual conference in Harrogate this week.
The whole system of social housing is failing. The system means that housing allocation is politicised rather than left to the market and resentment is easy to foster.
The whole system of social housing is failing. The system means that housing allocation is politicised rather than left to the market and resentment is easy to foster.
Fees for elderly people receiving help with tasks like washing, dressing and eating have risen by an average of 45 per cent since 2007, with councils using stealth tactics to disguise the steepest increases.