Humiliating defeats have been confirmed for Labour in the partys last four county council strongholds, on a day of triumph for the Conservatives. The Tories won landslide victories in Lancashire and Staffordshire, a closer win in Derbyshire and took Nottinghamshire into no overall control.
Perhaps the clear winner of the recent political chaos and the elections is localism. In the past week or two, we have seen politicians from all three major parties advocating the need for greater devolution of power away from central government.
Councils across England had last year already budgeted to dip deep into their reserves long before the worst of the economic crisis had hit the sector, according to the latest statistics.
Michael Portillo backed the proposal in our recent publication ‘The Principles of Social Housing’ to end tenancy for life. He said “Where the need ceases to exist, the provision is no longer appropriate”
By pursuing innovative operational models, councils could invest resources in local social and environmental enterprises, helping the local economy recover faster.
By pursuing innovative operational models, councils could invest resources in local social and environmental enterprises, helping the local economy recover faster.
As long as Brown and Cameron refuse to trust communities to run their own affairs, people will rightly scorn their efforts to rebuild faith in national politics.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has become the first council in the UK to launch a scheme that rewards residents who recycle. Householders will be able to claim money off at shops and restaurants.
Only a radical overhaul of the current funding system will help to recover an overcentralised country, and the main political parties need the courage to take steps to make local government independent again
English councils spending rose by £10bn to £154bn in 2007-08, according to a National Statistics publication. The annual Local Government Financial Statistics showed three-fifths of gross income in 2007-08 came from central government, a fifth of it from redistributed non-domestic rates