Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
Spending review
The prime minister and the defence secretary have suggested the Ministry of Defence’s budget will be protected from cuts in this year’s spending review. The Financial Times says this will delight the Conservative MPs who have been lobbying against defence cuts but will heap pressure on other departments to find steep savings.
The Financial Times also reports on criticism of the way the government spends overseas aid funding, another area of spending set to be protected in the spending review. A report from the international development committee claims ministers are making poor choices and questioned the efficiency of partner organisations and the quality of research.
Energy policy
Cumbria CC has derailed plans for an underground dump for spent nuclear fuel after councillors decided to withdraw from the process by seven votes to three, the Financial Times reports. In separate meetings on Wednesday night Allerdale BC and Copeland BC backed the plans but they were overruled by opposition within the county authority. The government must now look for other volunteers to host the £12bn site to hold dangerous material for 100,000 years, the paper says.
Economic growth
The UK’s destructive political system stands in the way of investment and growth, according to the Financial Times’ reporting on the conclusions of the London School of Economics’ growth commission. “The UK has failed to create an enabling environment in a number of important areas for growth,” the LSE’s report said. “The result is a costly cocktail of political procrastination, institutional churn and poor decision-making.”
Education
The speed and scale of the government’s planned GCSE overhaul could jeopardise the English exam system according to the Conservative-led Commons education committee, the Financial Times reports.
Health
The inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal is set to call for beefed-up inspections, the Guardian reports. The report due to be published next week will suggest a range of measures to overhaul regulatory bodies after serious failings in patient care were not detected over several years.
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Readers' comments (1)
patrick newman31 January, 2013 12:55 pm
Will the public spending cuts now mean less of institutions of mass education more instruments of mass destruction?
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