Latest Policy News
My formula is outdated - Barnett
Lord Barnett says he is surprised his funding mechanism to calculate the financing of public services in Scotland and Wales has lasted so long
Government levy could trigger asset loss
A levy to pay for the Government’s proposed National Care Service could take 10% off people’s estates after they die, Health Secretary Andy Burnham has suggested.
Darling urged to cut spending earlier
The CBI wants the Government to use its last Budget before the election to set out more details of spending plans for government departments
Tories urge council cash transparency
Details of council staff’s pay and perks totalling more than £60,000 could be made public if the Tories win the next election
DCLG turnover concerns MPs
MPs warn Gordon Brown that the high turnover of ministers and staff at DCLG is “not a sensible way to run an organisation”
'CSR by October' if Labour wins election
Labour is planning a comprehensive spending review by October and an extension of the public sector pay freeze
Tories boycott talks on elderly care
The Conservatives boycott ‘cross-party’ talks on the future of elderly care - branding the meeting a “Labour Party political ploy”
Tories pledge to form public sector co-ops
The Tories renew a pledge to give public sector workers the chance to form co-operatives to run local services
Tories wrecked care consensus - Mandelson
Lord Mandelson accuses David Cameron of “driving a wrecking ball” through efforts to find consensus on long-term care for the elderly in England
Denham overruled permanent secretary to create unitaries
Top official demanded legal indemnity to proceed after raising concern about the value for money and feasibility of the proposal
Tony Travers says...
Thinking about numbers
Local government should be almost 15% more efficient than in 2004. How much further can this efficiency go?
Policy and Policymakers
Power of general competence: a panacea?
It is interesting to note that the Conservatives use the expression ‘general power of competence’ - not a ‘power of general competence’
A missed opportunity for an action plan
Many in local government were left frustrated by the lack of detail in the Marmot Review on health inequalities
Cost alone must not drive reform
The electoral process, the cornerstone of any democracy, seems unlikely to escape its share of the coming public expenditure cuts
IFS questions Tory council tax plans
The Tories’ plans to freeze council tax may or may not be fully costed. But, as the IFS points out, costing says nothing about whether it is good policy
The evolution of greater local involvement
UK local government has a lot of experience - good, bad and ugly - to share with our European counterparts
The minds behind the three manifestos
Dan Drillsma-Milgrom considers the political profiles of the main parties’ policymakers
Policy and Politics Events
Opinion in LGC
'Total Place power' an option
Whatever happens to Total Place, councils need a sound legal footing on which to build innovative partnerships and unlock substantial savings
Time for change
The pace of change in the retail world means a new approach to the high streets is needed, says Retail Week’s Tim Danaher
We are hopeful the law will be changed
The search to save money while protecting frontline services makes the need for a broad interpretation of the so-called wellbeing power even more critical
Forging a different quality of relationship with citizens
If local authorities are to improve or even maintain service outcomes in the coming period of austerity they will have to forge a different quality of relationship with citizens
More help now for low-income households
Older low-income households with long-term care needs often find themselves in a funding gap: too asset-rich to get council support but too income-poor to pay for care services
Carers must count, too
Frequent stories in the press of people ‘having to sell their house to pay for care’ rarely mention there are mandatory and discretionary disregards
