News
Councils told to use smarter charging
20th August 2008
According to The Telegraph, John Healey has told the LGA that motorists should face higher charges to park in
town centres to force them to walk more and reduce traffic congestion. Sir Simon Milton, Chairman of the LGA is
quoted: "Local councils have to make tough choices between spending cuts, council tax rises and charging fees.
That different councils have different charging policies should come as no surprise. Every area has its own unique
issues and councils will rightly adopt charging policies to suit local circumstances.
Waste food generate electricity
20th August 2008
A double page spread in the Times looks at a pioneering scheme run by South Shropshire District Council to turn leftover food into electricity and fertiliser. The 'anaerobic digesters' could be rolled out across the country in response to the nation's need to cut down on waste. The piece explains how the council worked with residents to get them to throw away less. Within in a few months of starting house-to-house food waste collections, the amount of food wasted by each house dropped from an average of 4.2kg to 3.6kg.
Abandon homes to the rising sea
19th August 2008
Stretches of Britain's coastline are doomed and plans will soon have to be drawn up to evacuate people from the
most threatened areas, according to Lord Smith of Finsbury, the new head of the Environment Agency.
Bin sizes halved
19th August 2008
Rushmoor Borough Council in Hampshire has shocked residents by deciding to halve the size of residents’ bins instead of introducing a fortnightly service.
Council boss keeps job in move down under
18th August 2008
A council is allowing one of its £100,000-a-year executives to keep his job - even though he is emigrating to Australia.
Fenland District Council said it did not want to lose Mat Taylor's expertise so will pay him £20,000 a year for 52 days work.
Tributes to Lord Bruce-Lockhart
18th August 2008
There are a number of obituaries to Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, former Chairman of the LGA. The Times says: 'As LGA Chairman, Bruce-Lockhart pushed unstintingly for more powers to be devolved to the local level, while battling also for further reductions in bureaucracy, in the form of less targeting and simplified planning regulations. Despite his closeness to the Tory top brass, he was careful to remain non-partisan in representing the interests of the councils of Britain to the Government.'
The Telegraph says: 'At the LGA he articulated forcibly, but fairly, the strains local government faced as demand for services outstripped government funding, with council tax payers expected to take the strain.'
