A compassionate council
My experience over many years is that councillors and officers share a deep bond of public service and commitment to the people we serve. We are on the same side and want the best for our communities.
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The homes we need
A home should be the anchor that keeps you from being swept into homelessness, poverty and destitution when times are hard.
Helping older people downsize
The ‘national housing crisis’ is nothing new. It’s a big, complicated problem that needs a big, sophisticated solution.
Preventing poor health
Work is underway to produce a Green Paper on prevention which will identify how to reduce inequalities in health and outcomes, and improve the health and wellbeing of the population. This is a potentially huge opportunity for local authorities.
Funding for replacing dangerous cladding
This time last year, I was writing about the appointment of James Brokenshire as Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, and his plans to consult on banning combustible materials on high-rise buildings.
Hard work pays off with elections success
To all of our new and returning members, congratulations on your (re)election. The May elections proved the most successful on record for our group, with Independents and Greens fielding more candidates and gaining more seats than ever before.
Political agenda cost local seats
We have lost many good councillors in what was a disappointing election, where the major issue was Brexit and the impasse in Parliament.
Cutting through the Brexit paralysis
It was perhaps inevitable that the Brexit leviathan would drown out any attempts by major parties to make announcements on issues such as local transport or social care during the local elections.
A great set of local elections
The ballot boxes have well and truly been packed up, and the local elections are over for another year. It was a great set of elections for us, with an increase of more than 700 councillors – that’s 2,500 now, across the country.
Prepared to save a life
Having witnessed my own father go into cardiac arrest many years ago, and be saved by the prompt actions of a GP who, luckily, was present and performed immediate CPR, I know only too well just how vital it is for us all to learn emergency first aid.