Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson’s welcome announcement of the first 300 new school-based nurseries responds to a manifesto commitment and a pressing need – ensuring children get the best start in life. This deeply resonates with local leaders.
The Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill will do little to get spades in the ground and increase England’s housing supply.
I was delighted to see that another Liberal Democrat-led council’s scheme helping more than 2,400 children receive a free school meal has been made permanent.
With the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in its committee stage, we have to counter the myth that there is the economy or the environment.
The Government continues to deliver on its flagship commitment to construct 1.5 million new homes within this Parliament, having set out to bolster resources, streamline decision-making and promote local growth with an expansive package of housing interventions that will empower local areas and accelerate delivery of high-quality homes.
I have been a councillor since 2002 and this has been one of the most challenging budget processes I have been through. Why, one might ask?
I had got my hopes up that we had moved away from government diktats and demonising of councils, but the language being used around the Government’s proposed planning reforms is just that.
Elected from within their local communities, and tasked with making decisions that affect the whole community, it is right that councillors are held accountable for their conduct and integrity while fulfilling their role.
For the first time in 15 years, Labour councillors from around the country came together at the Labour Local Government Conference under a Labour Government.
As we continue to discuss devolution and the reorganisation of local government following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper, the one question councillors need to have on their minds is: how does this benefit my community?