Tag Archives: Eric Pickles

We need a Government with integrity

Posted on October 30, 2016 by ianchisnall

Its time this Government took some of its own advice, particularly as doing so would save money which is in much shorter supply than it was, even when the advice was first given. In December 2012 the then Minister for … Continue reading →

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A great idea, woefully executed

Posted on April 11, 2015 by ianchisnall

The value to both employers & employees of a well thought through, carefully planned scheme to release staff to volunteer in their communities is a good thing. There is plenty of evidence that this approach can as Eric Pickles is claiming improve productivity … Continue reading →

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From one degree of chaos to another

Posted on January 19, 2015 by ianchisnall

The news from Brighton & Hove City Council that the Green Party have not been able to set a budget is disappointing, but hardly a shock. This sort of outcome has been threatened for the last 3 years if my … Continue reading →

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Council funding

Posted on December 19, 2014 by ianchisnall

The announcement from the coalition yesterday regarding the annual financial settlement for Local Government is the last that they will make. It also has the potential to be changed in the middle of the year, once the new Government has been elected … Continue reading →

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The men who stripped the roof

Posted on November 19, 2014 by ianchisnall

One of the regular phrases applied to the Brown/Blair Governments by the coalition when first arriving in office was that they failed to mend the roof whilst the sun was shining. The incomers made these accusations filled with confidence (or … Continue reading →

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Weakly bin collections

Posted on September 22, 2014 by ianchisnall

Any suggestion that David Cameron really believes in local decisions by local people as implied by his disingenuous English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) discourse can be dispelled in the actions of one of his friends. Eric Pickles, the so … Continue reading →

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Now its time for the crackers and cheese

Posted on September 19, 2014 by ianchisnall

The sounds of Tory MPs attempting to overturn or diminish David Camerons promises, no doubt matched by many on the Left and Right are already ringing out this morning in a manner that was all too predictable. However the welcome result … Continue reading →

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Do we have Hi-Steria?

Posted on July 1, 2014 by ianchisnall

There was a disturbing headline in yesterdays Guardian on the write off of £56M by the Ministry of Justice, on a system to coordinate some of the records of its 90,000 employees that was apparently already late and over budget. The total … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Who stripped the Roof?

Posted on February 12, 2014 by ianchisnall

At the outset of the coalition Government one of the comments that was regularly rolled by some of the new Ministers, was that the Labour Government had failed to mend the roof whilst the sun was shining. This was used in conjunction … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Parliament and Democracy, Policing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lets be £air to Local Government

Posted on February 1, 2014 by ianchisnall

The eccentric mechanism for funding local Government known as the Barnet Formula creates many opportunities for Government Ministers to ‘reward’ councils whose politics or behaviour they approve of. This seems bizarre in the 21st Century when Ministers claim that their actions … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Parliament and Democracy | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments