Tony Travers
The latest from Tony Travers
Tony Travers is director of the Greater London group at the London School of Economics
Loosen the constraints to help London grow
The chair of the London Finance Commission says his report could provide a blueprint for devolution to English cities
-
Only Pickles bucks the centralisation reform trend
-
It's time to recognise the impact of benefit changes
-
If only central spending had followed local government's lead
-
Council tax needs to be rehabilitated
-
Councils should embrace public health
-
A reform that produces only losers
-
Councils' are seen as an easy place to make financial cuts
-
Statistical warfare between parties is a problem for councils
-
Is a shake-up of government financial control needed?
-
Accountability for schools' performance is a muddle
-
A Titanic metaphor for local government?
-
The economic development of city regions
-
Department for Transport’s epic mess-up
-
Lib Dems winning 'mansion tax' debate
-
The politicisation of council tax
-
Reserves are a sign of good government
-
A long climb towards service restructuring
-
Investing resources to redevelop cities
-
Decentralisation: a distracting, distant dream?
-
Centralising instincts in devolved states
-
The end of an empire
-
Holding council performances up to comparative scrutiny
-
No escape from the grip of austerity
-
Being pressed to shift power downwards
-
Obsessing on taxation
-
Local vs national on taxation
-
Preparing for elections
-
Time will tell whether another local public body will work
-
Benefit system reforms and the risks to councils
-
Managing expectations for the Olympics
-
Pushing ahead with community budgets
-
Ensuring legitimacy for police and crime commissioners
-
Local government is a safe home for lenders
-
Trapped in a vortex of centralism
-
Police accountability
-
The consequences of cuts for councils
-
A dog's breakfast of planning reform
-
Waking up to business rates
-
Required reading over the holidays
-
Stifling competition
-
A tale of two statistics
-
Removing local government's role
-
Tackling the housing shortage
-
Using Whitehall machinery to stimulate local activism
-
Moving towards locally determined decision-making
-
Diversionary tactics on cuts
-
Time to overhaul the council tax system
-
Town halls delivering economic objectives
-
The challenge of filling the Audit Commission's shoes
-
The unions' painful dilemma
-
Planners are on the side of the people
-
She will never be forgotten, by friend or foe alike
-
Jones and Stewart were right and remain right
-
The unintended consequences of axing the Audit Commission
-
Council tax is dying
-
How could an NHS hospital get so much so badly wrong?
-
A reminder of local government's history of enterprise
-
Autumn Statement or Christmas Budget?
-
How long until a cut in councils is proposed?
-
Devolution rolls on
-
November elections herald significant change
-
Controlling benefit spending
-
Local government’s sole tax is withering away
-
Revenue spending will drop further
-
Part-nationalisation and "ditherama"
-
More directive leadership needed on spending
-
The preparations are over now comes the Olympic test
-
Housing outcomes intended by no one
-
Continuing constraints on councils
-
DCLG on the side of the angels
-
An urgent need for reduced complexity
-
Local democracy is changing
-
The prospect of very different policing
-
Immovable barriers to decentralisation
-
An opportunity for radical change
-
Time will tell on planning
-
The challenges of reforms
-
The politics of council tax
-
Winning privileges and then a referendum
-
Bad times are here to stay
-
Awkward decisions
-
Private cash for public projects
-
Naming-and-shaming councils
-
Cutting through Whitehall resistance
-
The slow death of council tax
-
The disadvantages of centralisation
-
Welsh intervention is a bad sign
-
Central and local government working together
-
Beware holiday-season sports mania
-
The challenge of plural service provision
-
Shifting powers downwards
-
Standing ready to step in
-
Follow the money
-
The junior partner could demand more
-
Dipping into the reserves
-
Reforming the NHS: a chance for localism
-
The local government resource review
-
Thank you to the Welsh
-
Moving to a horizontal world
