Campaigns get people to care about an elected mayor

I’ve been looking at the debate around proposals to devolve power to English cities, by installing elected mayors who (it is argued) will help areas outside London ‘punch above their weight’ and revitalise interest in local democracy. I wanted to find out more about the arguments around this idea in Bristol, where I work, which [...]

Links I like 12.04.04

Local elections 2012: predicting the 50 councils to watch – LGiU blog The Local Government Information Unit charts the more hotly contested local councils elections this year, which have yet to turn the heads of many people if my (very basic) tests of public opinion represent a wider view. It identifies a number of councils [...]

Cities need to make the case for a real deal

I’ve been having discussions and reading about the enhanced role our major cities can play, proposals to hand more power and responsibility to city halls, or Core Cities, and the ambition of towns to be seen as having more clout. Yesterday’s announcement that Perth, St Asaph and Chelmsford are to be crowned Jubilee cities brought [...]

Lots of love for local government

I was recently asked by the We Love Local Government team to supply them with a tweet about why I ‘love’ the sector for a post they were putting together to mark the anniversary of their blog. I was flattered to be asked and duly set about putting my thoughts into a tweet for them to use [...]

High Bickington lauded as localism flagship

I blogged last month about an inspiring community-led scheme in High Bickington, Devon, which has brought villagers together to deliver badly needed housing and workspace for local people. I was delighted this morning to read the two-page write-up Planning magazine had devoted to the project, following a visit and some interviews organised at the site a [...]

Looking at real life localism

I spent yesterday in the village of High Bickginton, which hosts the best  example of localism in action I have seen. Villagers are driving forward a fantastic development - by local people, for local people - which is set to deliver affordable housing, workspace, employment opportunities and community facilities. I was there with a colleague, supporters of the project and a journalist from [...]

Big Society debate continues…

It’s worth sharing a post on the Big Society – from Andy Sawford at LGiU. There is much more to say on this, as demonstrated by some Twitter exchanges I’ve had tonight over councils’ ability to send newsletters to residents. One man’s localism is another man’s fish and chip wrapper, perhaps. Sorry you can’t see the picture [...]

Big Society needs local clarity to counter confusion

Debates about the meaning of the Government’s Big Society plan highlight some fundamental communication challenges for its supporters. The most pressing obstacle can be seen in recent survey results, which suggest that most people do not understand the what the Big Society stands for. This has led some critics to suggest that it is being used to shield big cuts, rather than represent [...]

Time for a Big Society debate

The CIPR has had some valid things to say this week about the ‘Big Society’ and the role communications could play in enhancing the public’s understanding of this idea. The institute’s CEO Jane Wilson has blogged about the subject, arguing that local communicators and leaders are better placed to build support for the Big Society than Government. This debate continued on CIPRTV, which looked at (amongst other [...]

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.