Checking out the “check off” system for union subs
The Government are tackling the "pilgrims." This is practice of "trade union facility time" where Council staff work for trade… Read more »
New council leader for Northampton
Congratulations to Cllr David Mackintosh who has been elected the new Leader of the ruling Conservative Group on Northampton Borough… Read more »
Videos from Taxpayers Alliance local government fringe from Party Conference
Belatedly I have seen that the Taxpayers Alliance have put up videos of speeches from their fringe meeting on local… Read more »
Change rules on Business Rates to get development going now
Edward Cooke, Executive Director at retail property organisation BCSC, says future projected Business Rates should be able to finance infrastructure… Read more »
Call for rethink on £3.6 billion Thames Water Super Sewer
Normally for private businesses the profit motive acts as a spur to efficiency and keeping down costs. But when it… Read more »
Sir Simon Milton’s Memorial Service
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, pays tribute to Sir Simon Milton whose memorial service took place… Read more »
What the adoption league tables show
Local councillors are "corporate parents" of their authority's "Looked After Children." So every councillor should take a look at the… Read more »
Councils failing on adoption to be named and shamed
Lots of coverage this morning on plans for greater transparency on how councils perform in placing children for adoption and… Read more »
Second home owners to lose Council Tax discounts
The Sunday Telegraph reports that the Government is planning to scrap the Council Tax discounts for second homes and empty… Read more »
Narey says guidance to increase adoption rate may not be enough
In an interview (£) for The Sunday Times the Government's adoption tsar Martin Narey accepts that legislation outlawing discrimination against… Read more »
Victory for Rod Liddle as Ryedale scraps non-job
Regular readers of this blog may remember how Rod Liddle lamented in The Spectator that Conservative councils seemed just as… Read more »
Mossbourne Academy v Passmores Academy
John Bald on the lessons from the Channel 4 series about Passmores Academy in Essex There is not much to… Read more »
Is Brent Council worried volunteers running a library would fail? Or that they would succeed?
Labour-run Brent Council has been causing dismay for closing libraries without allowing volunteers to keep them going. In a report… Read more »
Councils win Icelandic banks court case
A legal victory in Iceland's Supreme Court has confirmed that status of local councils in the UK's "preferred creditors" in… Read more »
Right to Buy should be protected against re-selling for quick profit
John Moss, Conservative candidate for the City & East Assembly seat in next year’s London elections, highlights some protections which… Read more »