I’ve just discovered the Local Government Officer’s blog. It’s a really good blog that does (as a visitor remarks) what blogs do best – anonymous low-horizon perspective commenting from an insider. The latest post asks the question: Is it better for Councillors to live in the area that they represent? Or, more accurately, how much [...]
Posts under ‘Councillors’
Escape End
Time for one last look at the Conservative party’s local government green paper Shift Control. A quick canter through chapters four and five, and then some conclusions. Chapter Four is about spending. It says a Conservative Government will: give local people greater control over how central government funds are spent in their area; phase out [...]
Home PgDn
Time for a look at Chapter three of the Conservative local government green paper, Shift Control. This chapter is the section of the green paper that focuses on democracy, so there’s a lot to talk about. The chapter says that a Conservative Government would: provide citizens in all our large cities with the opportunity to [...]
SysRq F12
Part three of a series of articles looking at the Conservative local government green paper, Shift Control. This time, chapter two. This chapter is about localism, and promises that a Conservative Government would: give local residents the power to determine the balance between the level of council tax and the level of services delivered; drastically [...]
Command Backspace
Part two of a series of articles on the Conservative green paper on local government, which are also appearing on the Democratic Society blog. Section one of the green paper discusses local housing and economic growth. The Conservatives’ proposals are: enable local authorities to benefit financially when they deliver the housing that local people need; [...]
Conservative Home promoting twittering councillors
In a welcome bit of political prodding (it always usually comes form civil servants or NGOs) Conservative Home is urging Tory councillors to use Twitter. You can see a detailed list of twittering councillors on Cllr Tweeps.
Shift Delete
Local decision-making should be less constrained by central government, and also more accountable to local people. We will encourage democratic innovations in local government, including pilots of the idea of elected mayors with executive powers in cities. David Cameron’s green paper Shift Control, published yesterday? No, the 1997 Labour manifesto, and if you want a [...]
Better than sitting in a draughty library, providing a surgery that no-one attends…
Here’s Wandsworth’s Councillor James Cousins on the value of interactivity for councillors: “What is surprising is not just how many local people were tweeting, but how many were eager to engage and use Twitter to communicate with their councillor. While I often sit in a draughty library with no-one attending my surgery it is quite [...]
Local government and social media
Ingrid Koehler wants to know what the Key questions about local government and social media are. Her list is: What are the greatest areas of potential benefit in councils using social media? How can councils support local communities and individuals in becoming digitally enabled and empowered? How can local and hyper-local social networks increase community [...]
Mayor culpa
Elected mayors. They’re a controversial topic in local government, with many councils and councillors staunchly opposed to them. Until recently, the creation of an elected mayor needed a public referendum – most of which have been lost following opposition by councillors. Now, a simple council decree can introduce one, but if councillors are opposed, that’s [...]
