Local Government Chronicle
2 June 2011
View all stories from this issue.
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‘Quick and messy' data mantra backfires
A picture of confusion surrounding the government’s requirement for councils to publish details of spending of more than £500 has emerged from correspondence between officials and councils obtained by LGC. -
A real incentive for local development
The government has announced an amendment to the Localism Bill currently working its way through Parliament. It will amend Section 70 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“determination of applications for planning permission: general considerations”), in order to make “local finance considerations” material when local planning authorities decide whether or not to grant planning permission. -
Breaking boundaries to improve lives
Just a few weeks into 2011-12, I find myself reflecting on the council’s most difficult decision last year, as I steel myself for the future -
Bylaw powers go ahead with caveat
Councils are to be given powers to revoke bylaws without Whitehall approval, but powers to allow them to make bylaws without such approval look set to be limited to those deemed “sensible and appropriate”. -
David Parsons: the key answers
David Parsons (Con), leader Leicestershire CC and chair LGA Improvement Programme board and LGID sets out his case for chairmanship of the LGA -
Debate over care ruling
Social care experts are divided on the significance of Birmingham City Council’s High Court defeat over its reorganisation plans. -
Dedicated posts under threat
Financial pressures and the streamlining of senior management teams make it unlikely that all councils will have a dedicated director of children’s services (DCS), a leading professional body has warned. -
Follow the money
Eric Pickles has encouraged “local taxpayers to go compare and ask how their money is being spent this year” -
Graduate programme loses 40% of funding
Funding for local government’s prestigious graduate development scheme is to be cut by 40%, the Local Government Group has announced. -
Innovation award: Staffordshire CC
Rule books sometimes need to be rewritten. And Staffordshire CC had to grasp this philosophy with both hands to realise its ambition of sending zero waste to landfill. -
Inside Out - Are we part of the problem?
The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives & Senior Managers has just polled chiefs to find the five things at the top of their minds. Pay, pensions, job security, being bashed in the media or dissed by politicians were not mentioned. -
Labour cooperative network looks to shape mutualisation agenda
A network to support councils looking at mutualising services is to be set up by leading Labour-run authorities, LGC has learned. -
Let's move on with the times, NGDP
Both Dominic (Campbell, director FutureGov) and I got our start in local government through the scheme and I also turned gamekeeper, becoming an assessor for the recruitment process and overseeing the new graduates in my local authority. -
LGA Conservative group leader candidate: Gary porter
The job of Conservative group leader, if done well, will require time commitment, hard work and political nous. I believe that over the last few years I have shown that I have all of these strengths and, if lucky enough to be elected, will be able to use them with whoever the new team are, to make sure that the voices of all Conservative councils are heard loud and clear both within the Local Government Association and beyond. -
LGA Conservative group leader candidate: Rob Light
These are historic times for both the public sector and the Local Government Association, times that call for a new style of leadership and a transformed approach to delivering services. -
LGA leadership: two in the frame
The two front-runners for the chairmanship of the Local Government Association were invited by LGC to set out their manifestos and explain what they hope to achieve -
Local authorities gearing up for bond issue
Up to 20 local authorities could make bond issues of more than £100m within a year, finance experts forecast this week. -
London families will be 'significantly worse off' under benefit reform
The pledge to ‘make work pay’ that lies at the heart of the government’s plan to introduce a universal benefit is unlikely to be realised in London with many households in the capital set to lose out through the reform, a report has found. -
Merrick Cockell: the key answers
Sir Merrick Cockell (Con), leader Kensington & Chelsea RBC and member, LGA workforce programme board, on why he is seeking the LGA chairmanship -
News Review - 2 June 2011
LGC’s comprehensive round-up of local government news.(Click headlines for more) -
NLGN's new commission for our times
NLGN’s new commission for our times. -
Peer review helped club meet its goals
On the field, AFC Telford United has been remarkably successful. In seven seasons since rising from the ashes of the former club as a supporters-owned club, they have achieved promotion three times and turned in an operating profit each year. Of equal importance is a widespread commitment to, and pride in, the extensive and valuable work the club does in the community. -
Questions remain after Shoesmith ruling
Accountability and the role of the secretary of state are key issues -
Ransford warns end of LGA impartiality may be needed
John Ransford, the departing chief executive of the Local Government Association, has warned it must consider abandoning its long-held position of impartiality or risk becoming irrelevant. -
Scheme cuts drive sector commitment
It seems that LGC’s recent revelation that there would be significant changes to the National Graduate Development Programme caused quite a stir. -
Second best simply won't do
Worcester City Council boasts two dual-use sports centres in the ‘excellent’ category and we believe we are the only authority in the UK to do so. We’ve done it by nurturing a workplace culture where second best simply won’t do. -
The future of the NGDP - comments
Five people with an active interest on the development of the NGDP told responded to a blog by Carrie Bishop… -
Thousands more low-paid staff likely to leave pension scheme
More than 50,000 of the lowest-paid local government workers will stop saving if they are asked to pay more towards their pensions, previously unreleased Treasury documents suggest. -
Unions insist on cost neutrality as starting point for pension reform
Reforms to public sector pensions must be cost neutral, union leaders have told ministers. -
Views of the week - 2 June 2011
LGC rounds up the best comment, analysis and opinion from the past week. -
What the NGDP means to me
There were many things that attracted me to the NGDP – new challenges, the promised fast-track into management, being able to work anywhere in the country, the vast array of services delivered by local authorities and the many possibilities which that brought.
