I wondered earlier this week here whether Labour MPs would use the Select Committee elections to make life difficult for David Cameron. They didn't. Instead, they lined up behind the Conservative establishment candidates. Andrew Tyrie took the Treasury Select Committee; Richard Ottaway, Foreign Affairs (a big, big consolation prize, after his defeat in the 1922 […]
I wonder if anyone else has noticed that innovative, prestige, multi million pound spending projects undertaken by politicians tend to take twice as long as scheduled, cost twice as much and not work properly at the end? So a pretty typical example really from (Conservative-run) Bournemouth Borough Council where £3 million has been spent on […]
Wandsworth Council Leader Cllr Edward Lister on the success of the 2M and what this means for community activism Since the High Court kicked out the Government’s Heathrow policy a couple of weeks ago I have had time to reflect on what this momentous decision reveals about the power of an active local community. Quite simply it […]
Cllr Mark Anderson, a Conservative councillor on Bournemouth on how his local authority is beating the potholes. The recent spell of cold weather has had an adverse affect on the road conditions across the country as reported nationally, resulting in a huge number of potholes and the rapid deterioration in some road surfaces this has […]
Several councils have been saving money and cutting down on pollution by turning off some of their street lights. But this week Conservative-led Coventry City Council announced it is planning something more sophisticated – putting them all on a dimmer switch. It means that sometimes they will actually brighten the lights – after a football […]
Donnachadh McCarthy proposes that rather than demolishing estates, Conservatives should turn them into residents cooperatives. Imagine taking out a mortgage to buy your home in the seventies. Then immediately taking out another mortgage to demolish and rebuild it. Then even before the original two mortgages were paid off, you decide to demolish your home again […]
Writing from Australia, Matthew Parris notes how the Australian Liberals have so far defied the pundits and improved their electoral prospects since they dumped Malcolm Turnbull as their leader and also his enthusiasm for combating climate change: "Here in Australia, where I’m spending a few days, something very odd has just happened to its right-of-centre […]
News of Tory councils freezing (or cutting) the Council Tax continues to come in by the day. Congratulations to Reigate and Banstead Borough who are freezing Council Tax - the first time in the Council’s history that the bill won't go up. Cllr Victor Broad, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Finance, says: “To enable […]
Cllr Alan Lamb, a Conservative councillor in Leeds, on how the Government have made matters worse during the cold snap. Last year, Leeds City Council got through 20,000 tonnes of grit. Last winter was one of the coldest we’ve had for several years. This year, we had stockpiled 21,000 tonnes before the current cold snap […]
Essex County Council is hosting a Snow Summit – with experts from Norway and Finland flying in to offer advice on how to cope. They are hoping that sponsorship will cover the cost of the event. Lord Hanningfield, Leader of Essex County Council, says: “Essex and other Local Authorities have done a effective job in […]
Visiting Wales yesterday, David Cameron said there were 'lessons to learn' from the Government's handling of the extreme weather Britain has been experiencing. Quoted in The Daily Mail, he said: "I think there are questions to ask and there are obviously lessons to learn. To be fair this is a very long and a very […]
We have all experienced frustration at the inflexible attitude of the public sector when it comes to coping with problems. So I was pleased to see that Conservative run Enfield Council, with only three days of grit left, is importing 1,000 tons of the stuff from Sweden and Denmark. This seems a more practical approach than […]
Cllr Bob Brierley, an Independent councillor on Wigan Council has started gritting the roads himself as he was so fed up with the failure of the Labour Council to do an effective job. With his nephew he spent nine days on a trailer spreading Council owned grit around Hindley Green. He is planning to spend £1,000 […]
After the story about Leicestershire, more grass cutting news. Tunbridge Wells is saving £86,000 in this area. It has provoked some controversy with one resident warning that dog mess will become more of a hazard and another concerned about "scruffiness." But Cllr Catherine Mayhew, the Deputy Leader of the Council, says allowing some green spaces […]
Cllr Paul Scully, the Conservative opposition leader on Lib Dem controlled Sutton Council, on how the wrong spending priorities have made road conditions in his borough worse. Last February in a desperate bid to limit their above-inflation council tax rise, Sutton Council’s Lib Dem administration cut £20,000 from their winter road maintenance budget. This decision […]