Communities secretary Eric Pickles' controversial decision to scrap local government's ‘two-tier code' has provided a timely boost to coalition ambitions to diversify service provision, The MJ understands, with Number 10 struggling to deliver a ‘presumption' that private firms and charities should be handed public contracts.
An influential group of MPs has urged ministers to draft a new, statutory duty for councils to apply sustainability principles to planning and other functions of local government.
