The policy behind the headlines

A new acronym hit the media today, with the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (or NPPF), which doesn’t really trip off the tongue but has set them wagging all the same. The new system, announced today, sets out proposals to simplify the planning system, which is seen by the Government as vital in [...]

Shapps’ speech signals support for ‘self build’

Encouraging support for ‘self builders’ was signalled by the Government today, with Grant Shapps articulating his strong belief that helping more people to build their own homes could be the answer to the country’s housing crisis. His speech today at ‘Grand Designs Live 2011′ outlined Shapps’ vision for self build (which doesn’t necessarily mean ‘build your own’) to become a mainstream [...]

Is ‘self build’ the answer to our housing headache?

I remember the feeling as a reporter when I wrote about workers who were taking action over what they perceived to be bad wages, and would realise they were paid more than me. I’m reminded of this today when I hear of measures aimed at helping young families onto the housing ladder and the need [...]

Budget briefings leave little room for surprise

The media briefings orchestrated over the last few days left hardly any surprises to come out of George Osborne’s budget announcement this afternoon. Driving to work this morning, the country was treated to the news that first time buyers are going to be helped by a £250m fund which will help 10,000 people onto the housing ladder and give the [...]

Eric Pickles’ spring conference speech in full

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles used the Conservative spring conference yesterday to speak about some of his priorities for local government. In his speech, he drew an interesting parallel with a Private Members Bill brought forward by Margaret Thatcher more than 50 years ago, which opened up council meetings to the press, and his challenge to authorities to [...]

Sharing services – the way forward?

This blog post from We Love Local Government looks at the well-publicised idea of sharing services between councils to improve efficiency and reduce duplication. This is an issue that will (or should) be familiar to public sector communicators, with their teams often put forward as merger potential. I could blog for hours on this topic. But this blog is [...]

Don’t bet the house on an end to complex council finance

Councils who have long called for an end to the fiendishly complex system that takes money from their housing departments payments to fund them elsewhere are getting closer to their goal. The Government today ‘fired the starting gun’ on its proposals to end the controversial Housing Revenue Account (HRA) system by publishing details of how it intends to do it.

Plain English localism, in black and white

The Government has today published a revised guide to its Localism Bill, in a document it says is written in plain English (without jargon). It is only available as a pdf, and the black and white design may not be as engaging as more glossy documents produced by the public sector in the past. But communication is all matt, no gloss, [...]

Election publicty rules raise their head in Oldham

The Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election (which concluded yesterday) has thrown up a familiar issue for those who work in or with the public sector, albeit in a rather unusual way. The Guardian and Labour Party blogs were yesterday reporting that Local Government Minister Andrew Stunell had apologised for a series of events which led to complaints [...]

Busy Christmas break for communities department

Ministers at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) today revealed what their teams had been up to during the Christmas break. Secretary of State Eric Pickles‘ written statement to Parliament outlined his department’s recent undertakings, which included a new initiative to help local communities revitalise disused pubs and social clubs, taking action to make local government more transparent and launching plans to support people to build [...]