Commenting on a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research, which says that the Government has underestimated the economic benefits of migration to local communities, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Julia Goldsworthy said:“The Government still does not have a strong enough understanding of the impact migration can have on local communi...

Dear John Abolition of Regional Strategies Thank you for your letter of the 17 May 2010 and for your congratulations on my appointment as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government; it is a post I am pleased to hold so that I can implement the Coalition Government’s radical policies on devolving power from Whitehall to

Chris Game (University of Birmingham, Institute of Local Government Studies): Every cloud, as the saying goes. It seems that one of the collateral victims of the global economic crisis may be the current round of English local government reorganisation.   Speaking at a recent Belfast conference of local authority chief executives, Communities and Local Government Secretary, Hazel Blears,...

The government wants us to spend money to get the economy moving, but do the government's own actions encourage people to do this ? In my opinion no. Take for example, local government reorganisation in Norfolk and Suffolk and the effect this is having on thousands of families across those counties. A state of limbo exists where various ludicrous plans for the re-drawing of local boundaries a...

Dear Eric Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State. It is good to have someone who knows about local government in the role. In our Manifesto we were proud to include the abolition of regional planning quangos and the top down housing targets. This proposal was one of the most popular parts of the Conservative

Today sees the publication of Control Shift, the Conservative Party's long-awaited green paper on local government and local democracy. It will be launched in Coventry later by David Cameron and Caroline Spelman, the shadow secretary of state for communities, local...

The government is dramatically cutting funding for local councils. You may be aware of the headline figures but these don’t adequately reflect the depth of the devious ways in which this money is being clawed away from local services and kept by the Treasury in Whitehall.

The Local Government Chronicle has published its annual list of the 50 most influential people in local government. The Labour names in the list are as follows - interesting that 2 of the 8 Labour Councillors or Mayors in the list are from my own borough of Hackney: 1) John Healey MP, Local Govt Minister 4) Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, DCLG Secretary of State 6) Cllr Sir Richard Leese, Leader, Manchest...

Finance Secretary highlights the role of local government in delivering economic recovery.

Angela Smith writes to the Secretary of State to make her feelings known at the cancellation of local Play Schemes. In a letter to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education Angela Smith MP has today condemned plans to cancel the improvement of parks in the north of Sheffield. She was reacting to news that the new ConDem government has withdrawn money earmarked for improvements to Chapelto...