As the Islington Liberal Democrats press release says:

This represents almost 20% of the planned overall capital budget. This funding is used to build new housing, improve the borough’s schools and roads and provide local jobs…

Islington Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesperson, councillor John Gilbert, said:

“We are in the middle of a recession and the work and jobs that the council’s capital programme provides are desperately needed in Islington right now … Labour councillors need to get a grip on the council’s finances and explain to residents why the new homes and school improvements they have been promised are not happening yet.”

No person shall spit on the floor, side or wall of any public carriage, or of any public hall, public waiting room, or place of public entertainment.

Aside from the loophole which excludes ceilings from this ban, the by-law does raise two more serious issues. First, like many of the others that are still in force, it is out of date – in this case by limiting the maximum fine to 40 shillings. Second, the wording of the by-laws (which, remember, we’re all meant to obey) are hidden away. You do get some public signs reminding people of the by-laws which apply in a particular place, but by no means all places of public entertainment remind people of the spitting one, for example. They are not available online – which is also the case in many, though not all, other councils. Moreover, as with some other councils, the printed version is in such a fragile state that making electronic copies is a tricky business.

One reason for this state of affairs is that councils used to have to get the approval of the Secretary of State to create or abolish a by-law, meaning that councils tended just to ignore the state of their by-laws. One good thing Eric Pickles is doing, however, is to change that so that councils need only consult their own residents in future rather than him before making changes.

There are more details of the process over on the Islington Council website, including contact details for Electoral Services in case you have any queries.

Only humans can register to vote.

Read the explanations from Islington Council as to what plastics can be recycled in the Green Box collection and you’ll find it includes various items of plastic packaging which actually have the ‘don’t recycle’ logo on them. Take this example:

Plastic packaging - logo says don't recycle, Islington Council says do recycle

So which is right? The Islington Council information saying this item can be recycled or the logo and warning saying no to recycling?

The explanation Islington Council has given me is:

Some of those labels are a little misleading as they cater for everybody across the country – not all Local Authorities recycle as much as we do in Islington. The leaflet provides a full list of what we can collect. So long as its on that list, we can recycle it.

That is good news for recycling locally – though it would be even better if packaging information caught up with the situation.

It’s easy to see how the idea of using modern technology has caught the eye and budget of decision makers. But with the emphasis on the high-tech, boringly old-fashioned items such as paperwork have got much less attention. And so, I present to you the humble poll card.

This document, sent to everyone who is entitled to vote in an election, is a crucial piece of communication. In most elections it is the only ‘official’ communication an elector receives. In many cases, given the varying ability of parties to campaign in different parts of the country, it may be nearly the only – or indeed the only – piece of paper electors receive about the election at all. It tells people how and where to vote. With millions of poll cards sent out each year, it’s a major potential way of communicating with the public about elections.

And poll cards look awful.

Poll cards look dull, uninviting and give you no reason to get interested in, or excited by, the prospect of voting. Take this example, which is my own poll card from Islington Council:

(Address obscured; click on the images for larger versions)

In fairness to Islington, two things should be said. First, the design of poll cards is heavily constrained by what legislation lays down. Second, Islington has been at the forefront of trying to do good things with poll cards, such as putting maps on them ahead of this becoming widespread practice. (My own, pictured above, doesn’t have a map because I am a postal voter.)

Front of poll card: key information buried at bottom

But even so, the front of the card has a myriad of different fonts / faces / sizes. That in itself should be a big warning sign that the design is not as good as it could be.

In addition, my electoral register number is given great prominence – but for a postal voter poll card (which won’t be taken to a polling station and shown to staff or tellers) this is information that has very little use. Yet the important information on the front about when I should start worrying about non-receipt of ballot papers is buried at the bottom, given far less prominence. Overall, compared to the 2009 version – which suffered many similar problems – the 2011 version has a front that is no better, and arguably is in fact worse.

Reverse of poll card: key information missing

The reverse is a little better. The text tries to cover the key issues in plain English. However, it would not take a great designer to do better, such as with some sub-headings. Moreover, the detailed wording is not done well. Point 2 adds very little to point 1, but point 4 – one of the key pieces of information – is left ambiguous. Does that mean I can post it in a postbox by 10pm? Or that it has to arrive in the post by then (in which case when do I have to post it)? Or does it mean I can return it in person by some non-postal means? Answers there are to all these questions, but the poll card doesn’t provide them.

The reverse is a slight improvement on the 2009 version, but it is still pretty poor going.

Better designs are long overdue

And overall? Well, it looks like a boring official document. It hardly leaps out for my attention and does not make even the most cautious of attempts to interest me in elections. I love reading forms in all their details, though I decided not to tell US Immigration about the typo in the footnote on one of theirs; you never quite know how an armed guard is going to respond to being challenged over punctuation. But for better or worse the world’s not made up of people like me.

Compare this poll card with the way in which your gas or electricity or water bill is laid out. Those are also documents that people don’t really rush to the doorstep with enthusiasm to read, but the companies issuing them know it is in their interest to try to present the information as attractively as possible – and they manage it, without undermining the basic objective presentation of information. It’s about time the humble poll card got the same treatment.

This is an update of my 2009 piece about poll cards. The 2011 vintage shows how the time for better poll cards has not yet arrived.

With this success, and also the repairs to the Gigantic Pothole of Partington Close, which long-running local problem should be next on my list?

I think it is time to turn to the piece of land next to the electricity substation just up the road from this pavement work. That spot is also a regular litter blackspot, and is cleaned neither by the council nor by the substation maintenance firm – so it not only attracts litter but accumulates it. I once managed to get the site cleaned, but that was a months long saga of the usual sort of unreplied emails, repeated phonecalls and the like.

Let’s see how round two goes…

We’ve now filled this hole with tarmac to make it safe and will have the contractor return soon and make a permanent repair. I’m sorry it took so long.

This rough patch regularly acts as a litter trap, and being off the pavement itself it also is often missed out by the street sweepers. There is a simple solution – smooth over the patch so that it doesn’t trap litter and is quicker and easier for the street sweepers to clear.

The good news it that having raised this issue with Islington Council, the local team tells me it is now trying to hunt down who is the legally responsible landowner as a precursor to getting the problem fixed.

Fingers crossed! (Though let’s hope it gets fixer quicker than the legendary potholes or the mega pothole, which is still there.)

Camden and Islington are to share a chief executive for the first time, the New Journal has learned. In a unique agreement, the authorities are set to be bonded by one top official. The strategy is part of attempts to cut down on costs.

You can read his full story here. As Richard points out on his blog, it is an idea first floated earlier this year by Islington Lib Dem councillor Terry Stacy, so this proposal may get cross-party support.

For me the big issues for the area are the progress that still needs to be made on keeping it clean, particularly graffiti on derelict buildings, and the way the road layout makes it hard to be a pedestrian moving around near the tube station.

On the up side, it’s great to see the various pieces of greenery and I’ve always felt safe in the area, even late at night. Public transport links are also very good and the area’s businesses seem to be doing better than in other high streets I’ve been along recently.