How can local government support thriving and prosperous communities?
The National Audit Office’s value for money report on the introduction of the single Work Programme - DWP have introduced the Work Programme quickly, in just over a year, and this has had benefits, but the speed with which it was launched has also increased risks, according to the NAO, who believe that the Government’s…
This briefing covers: * the emerging legislation on the Green Deal: the government’s flagship program to boost energy efficiency within the UK’s ageing building stock. The consultation ended on 18th January and the first Green Deal Plans will emerge in Autumn 2012. * the Green Deal is a market-based instrument to boost the uptake of…
In its report Reorganising central government bodies, the National Audit Office assesses the effectiveness of the Public Bodies Reform Programme. The Programme, which covers 904 public bodies, proposes the largest restructuring of public bodies in decades. Out of 496 bodies earmarked for merging, substantial reform or outright abolition, the Programme plans to abolish 262. However,…
The Review of Rural Social Enterprise in England aims to provide a comprehensive overview of rural social enterprise in England, clarifying the sub-sectors within rural social enterprise, investigating their economic, social and environmental impact, and exploring what barriers to growth exist. From this investigation it draws a number of conclusions and put forwards recommendations for…
On Your Radar looks back over the last period, ahead at what could be hitting the headlines and comments on issues relevant to local government that will be influencing the political landscape over the coming months. Given this is the first On Your Radar of 2012 it seems appropriate to focus more this month on…
The government-commissioned Portas Review sets out 28 recommendations on how to reverse the decline of high streets and town centres as drivers of economic growth and social capital. This is a wide-ranging but not comprehensive set of recommendations, expressed at varying levels of detail, across aspects of town centre policy and practice including regulation, planning,…
On 29 November the Chancellor’s autumn statement revealed that the UK faces year-on-year spending cuts into the next parliament lasting a total of seven years. This is the longest sustained reduction in public spending for 60 years.
This briefing summarises and makes initial comments on the technical papers published by CLG on the proposals for business rate retention.
This briefing summarises how the NHS Commissioning Board, and PCT and SHA clusters will operate, particularly their relationship with local authorities.
We are waiting for the local government resource review report which is expected this week, possibly today.
