Archive for Local government
Excuse me, would you kindly mind not storming the stage?
I rather liked this photo taken by Nigel Bishop at the recent Councillor Camp: You can read about my presentation (on how to tell if your local council gets digital) here.
Councillor Camp: 10 questions to see if your council gets digital
My session this morning at Councillor Camp (well done to the team organising it – excellent job!) was about how councillors can prod their councils into getting digital. It was in the form of 10 questions to ask and as I’ve now had several requests for the slides, here they are for your delectation, followed [...]
Wrexham Council shows how not to do digital
As today’s excellent Councillor Camp demonstrated, there is lots of great digital work being done by local councillors and local councils. But as this story tweeted around today also illustrates, there is still a long way to go in some places: A Welsh council banned reporters from live tweeting at a meeting this morning. The [...]
Haringey Council tops the league – in a bad way
From the Evening Standard: Haringey has spent £1.72 million on suspended staff since April 2009, including £718,000 in 2009/10, giving it the highest total spend of all London town halls. And that’s not including the pay-offs that Haringey Council has a habit of making. You can read the full story here.
Haringey Council shows how not to provide educational vision
Having a vision for an important public service is a good thing, whether you are the sort of person who laps up visions for breakfast or the sort of person who hankers for a golden pre-jargon age when vision meant something to do with your eyes. Either way, knowing what you actually are trying to [...]
Appalling failings at Haringey Mortuary
The Ham & High reports: Auditors criticised the mortuary for its haywire record keeping, after a routine visit in May revealed oversights including not properly recording the locations of bodies. The blunders were so serious the auditor immediately ordered Haringey Council – which runs the supposedly state-of-the-art facility, opened amid much fanfare in February 2009 [...]
A flagship borough: 25 years of a Liberal Democrat Sutton Council
Look round the room at the next Liberal Democrat event you attend and ask yourself how many people in the room will have their names recorded in places that future political historians can find. A few, certainly, especially if they have been elected to public office. For most, however, their contribution to a political party [...]
Strange things going on with local government spending
From the Office for Budget Responsibility: Last year’s budget deficit has been revised down by almost £6 billion to just under £120 billion. Local authorities spent less than we and the ONS expected in 2011-12, adding £2.6 billion to their reserves rather than drawing them down. First sentence is obviously good news. Second sentence however [...]
Scrapped Greater Manchester Police Authority holds party at 5-star hotel
The Manchester Evening News reports: Members of Greater Manchester’s axed police authority are to toast their own demise – with a taxpayer-funded bash at the five-star Lowry Hotel. About 100 people are expected for a three-course meal at the swish city-centre venue to mark the scrapping of the authority. Set up to hold Greater Manchester [...]
No, he’s not in the toilet; he’s left the building – more on Cllr Padmore
An update on controversial Lewisham Labour councillor Stephen Padmore – a local newspaper is now calling on him to resign: Councillor Stephen Padmore turned up to sign his name at a planning meeting in June – the first he had attended in six months – before quitting the room without explanation. It’s alleged he only [...]
