General Election
Concerns over Cabinet Office door knock canvass
Concerns are mounting that electoral canvassers will be forced to knock on hundreds of thousands of doors despite the dangers of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lords postal votes criticism rejected
Civil servants have defended the postal votes system in the face of criticism from Lords.
Budget 2020: Sunak gambles on capital spending splurge
Despite volatility caused by coronavirus and a sluggish increase in the economy, the chancellor has decided to gamble that a big increase in capital spending will deliver higher growth and productivity by the next election.
Learn lessons from the snap election, says AEA
Council returning officers have demanded lessons ‘be learned’ after December’s snap General Election exposed the ‘fragility’ of the UK’s electoral system.
Winning back the public’s trust
Peter Stanyon says there are urgent lessons to learn from the 2019 elections – and challenges ahead in 2020 and beyond include the wider need for urgent reform to election law, funding and support.
Unions criticise 'unnecessary' pay offer delay
The three unions representing council workers today criticised ‘unnecessary delays’ after local government employers failed to make them a pay offer for 2020/21.
Who do public servants owe their loyalty to?
Public servants' role in stewardship of institutions, publicly defining fact and sharing advice, needs updating to take account of our very different world, argues Graeme McDonald.
Government social care plans to be published this year - Johnson
Prime Minister Boris Johnson today vowed to publish the Government’s long-awaited social care plans this year.
The metro mayor elections will indicate how much politics has realigned
The collapse of Labour's Red Wall should give the Conservative mayors of Tees Valley and the West Midlands cause for optimism, says Andrew Carter - but the most interesting mayoral election to watch could prove to be in Greater Manchester.
Councils still shine after a decade of austerity
CIPFA's new resilence data tool is a 'dataset, not a crystal ball', says Heather Jameson. It shows that despite a decade of cuts, councils have weathered the storm. Wouldn't it be great to see how well they could do when the sun shines, she adds.
EXCLUSIVE: 100% business rates retention could be back on agenda
Full retention of business rates could shoot back up the agenda as part of a long-awaited Government review, The MJ understands.
Jenrick hails 'biggest multi-billion pound spending increase in a decade'
Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed what he describes as the ‘biggest multi-billion pound spending increase for councils in a decade’.
Electoral system 'creaking more than ever'
The electoral system is ‘creaking more than ever,’ chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, Peter Stanyon, has said.
Can elections staff go on?
Electoral administrators delivered despite - not because of - the current system, writes Peter Stanyon – and he says reform and harmonisation are urgently needed to improve the way we run elections in the UK.
If wholesale restructuring is done it must happen in a manner fit for the 21st century
Jan Britton wonders what lies ahead for local government - and asks if the Government, ‘with its unlikely northern soul and mayoral roots’ will be the one to genuinely deliver on devolution.
Counties are key to unleashing the entire country's potential
David Williams says Boris Johnson’s Government has been elected on a domestic pledge to ‘level-up’ the ‘left-behind’ parts of the country, and, in taking his agenda forward, it has a ready and willing partner in counties.
‘We cannot keep relying on one-off emergency funding’
Those of us who rely on social care, care for family members who do, or will need care and support in the future, need three things from the new Government, says ADASS president Julie Ogley.
First and foremost we need clarity on finance
Getting ‘Brexit Done’ should open up an oven-ready settlement for local government to implement real change, says chief executive of APSE Paul O’Brien.
Fair redistribution must play a continuing part in council funding
SIGOMA chair Sir Stephen Houghton trusts ministers will ‘recognise the key role that councils must play in their ambition for a united and equal nation’ - and Government should commit to supporting the same level of service across the country.
Mayors press for action to fulfill election promises
Newly-won Conservative constituencies in the Midlands and northern England have begun lobbying the Government for commitments to further devolution and capital spending.
