Mental health and the productivity challenge: Improving quality and value for money
This Kings Fund report identifies how mental health services can generate efficiency savings for the NHS and wider public services without compromising quality.
Microgeneration strategy consultation
As part of a raft of announcements on climate change the Department of Energy and Climate Change is launching a consultation on microgeneration. Some of the issues of importance to councils are the role of planning, ESCOs, heat mapping and the Green Deal.
Cllr Richard Kemp, Dave Briggs, Fiona Millar and Leeds Kirkgate Market
Another quick collection of blogposts that we think are quite interesting. Pickles in a Pickle – ‘Never has the relationships between local government and our sponsoring ministry been so bad’, according to Cllr Richard Kemp Referring to the on-going conflict over bin collections (which we’ve blogged about before) Cllr Kemp says, ‘there is no real dialogue between…
More on local accountability, incentives to tackle empty home and starting points for aspiring online cllrs
The road to reform – Writing in the RSA Jornal, Andrew Adonis calls for less rhetoric and more communication about how local and central government will collaborate to make services more efficient. We agree that Big Society needs to be more than just a slogan and local authorities must play a central role in it.…
An accounting challenge, by John Tizard
This post was originally published in Public Finance. John Tizard is director of the Centre for Public Service Partnerships (CPSP@LGIU) The government may have dropped the national drive for ‘Total Place’ but increasingly local authorities and their public sector partners are either adopting or exploring the opportunities for what might be seen as Total Place…
Healthy Lives, Healthy People: consultation on the funding and commissioning routes for public health
This consultation is one of a series following the publication of the public health white paper. It sets out detailed proposals for which body will commission which service. This briefing summarises and comments on the paper.
Energy Bill
The Energy Bill was introduced on December 8th. Most of the legislation will enable implementation of the Green Deal a scheme which provides capital for energy efficiency that is paid back through utility bills
Getting Local Government recognised at Climate Week
As we’ve previously blogged, many of the most effective green initiatives start locally. Whether it’s using certification schemes and grants to support individuals in making more energy efficient choices, finding innovative ways of incentivising recycling or managing local flood risks, local authorities are at the forefront of these changes – proactively doing their bit to tackle climate…
The future accountability of councils?
The recent spat between the LGA and CLG on bin collections could be an indication of things to come. Eric Pickles’ dislike of fortnightly bin collections is well known and therefore it is not surprising that the first time waste collections were disrupted would be taken as an opportunity to remind councils of his position.…
More on bins and a positive take on council spending cuts
Here’s another short and sweet selection of stories that’ve been passed around the LGIU office today. LGA slams minister for rubbish rhetoric – The spat continues. “We know none of you need any lessons from government ministers about the vital importance of regular waste and recycling collections… we are urging ministers strongly to ensure that…
