The government's report on Total Place is a clear commitment to greater localism and there is now an opportunity for revolutionary change. The challenge for local government and its leaders will be...
About half of the £4.5bn of new spending planned in the Budget for 2010-13 is justifiable. But the other half looks more like electioneering. That’s about as good as we could have expected in a...
There’s nothing inherently wrong with lobbyists hiring former ministers. What is wrong is MPs being paid to push causes. But we get the politicians we pay for
TOM ALDRED l Housing made the headlines in yesterday’s Budget, but the announcements on stamp duty will do little to tackle the sector’s underlying problems.
The long-awaited public sector recession is finally about to start. Anyone who does not yet have plans in place to cope with major spending cuts needs to make them now.
MARK BRAMAH | It might be convenient to view public spending as merely a huge drain on national resources. But all those who are so intent on slashing public spending to the barest bone should pause...
When Alistair Darling presents his Budget on Wednesday he has the opportunity to signal a revolution. By announcing that Total Place will move to its next stage he can transform the way that public...
IAN MULHEIRN l Spending on the criminal justice system is never very fashionable at the best of times. But over the next four years, we can expect real terms cuts to the
I was bemused and then angered by the article in which Bharat Shah from the Audit Commission warned local government of the impending deadline for preparing accounts to the new International...
The only surprise about Bob Neill’s comment article was the absence of a wink in his accompanying photograph. I have not met a single, informed commentator who believes that the Conservative planning...
Bob Neill’s recasting of Conservative planning/housing policy – indeed, his redefinition of party leader David Cameron’s recent statement on planning – is doubtless welcome to those who feared the...
JUDY HIRST | Politicians are in denial. The public finances – already facing meltdown – will need up to £80bn more to meet soaring care costs. No-one is facingup to what it means.
STEPHEN COURT l These are uncertain times for universities. Today’s announcement by the Higher Education Funding Council for England of its recurrent funding
As delegates gather in Dundee, the ‘City of Discovery’, for the CIPFA in Scotland annual conference, they can reflect on the difficult financial situation facing Scottish local authorities. For the...
In the event of a hung parliament and a minority government, it will be important for the main parties to act on their broad consensus about energy policy. Endlessly debating these issues will take...
INSTITUTE FOR FISCAL STUDIES | Last week Chancellor Alistair Darling warned us not to expect a giveaway in next week's Budget, while his Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liam Byrne, reassured us that...
BRENDAN BARBER | It is hard to open some newspapers without reading yet another attack on the unaffordable, unsustainable platinum-encrusted pensions that keep everyone who has worked for more than...
MIKE THATCHER | The late British general Sir Walter Walker’s robust views on the civil service came to mind this week as a two-day strike disrupted court hearings, jobcentres, driving tests and the...
