Tag Archives: lga

Chris White writes: Powerful stuff from Clegg at the LGA conference

By Chris White | Published 30th June 2011 - 3:10 pm

One of the highlights of the political calendar is the annual Local Government Association (or more correctly ‘Group’) conference. It’s a bit like a party conference but people go to bed earlier. And there are other political parties here. And officers.

Its formal function is to be the sovereign body of the LGG. It also allows exhibitors to exhibit, group leaders to network and national politicians to showcase.

So we heard from David Cameron, the first serving prime minister to speak at an LGA/LGG conference. He told us sternly that pensions had to be reformed and that strikes would only hurt the …

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Labour councils cut more jobs than Tory or Lib Dem areas

By Helen Duffett | Published 15th February 2011 - 5:22 pm

Labour councils are cutting far more jobs than their Conservative and Liberal Democrat neighbours – on average 50% more than Tory councils, according to figures revealed by the Guardian:

Labour authorities have issued on average 745 job “at-risk” notifications, compared with 498 and 414 respectively from Tory and Lib Dem councils.

The figures are the first to confirm that Labour councils are making bigger cuts and appear to bolster claims by David Cameron and Nick Clegg that Labour councils are cutting and then blaming the coalition for “politically motivated” reasons.

However, the Guardian’s analysis also reveals that Labour authorities are suffering the

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 32 Comments

Chris White writes: LGA all in a Pickles

By Chris White | Published 31st January 2011 - 11:15 am

Lib Dem Voice, the Local Government Chronicle and the Daily Mirror all featured a story recently about council leaders reaching the end of their tether with Eric Pickles. The event was a routine meeting of the Local Government Group Executive (LGA to you and me). I was one of those quoted as hurling my toys out of the pram. The Tories were more muted at that meeting but have nevertheless been pretty vocal elsewhere in their hostility to the Secretary of State for Local Government.

Surely it was ever thus? New Government comes in. Local Government gets its hopes up. New …

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Posted in Local government, Op-eds | Also tagged | 14 Comments

Opinion: Planet Earth to Grayson

By Richard Kemp | Published 14th December 2010 - 10:11 am

Oh Dear, oh dear. I have just read Richard Grayson’s Observer article and to say it is lacking in reflection and analysis is an understatement.

I touched on this on my own blog site yesterday but perhaps I could expand a little.

Ed Milliband was a supporter then a member of a highly illiberal government. Let’s not forget how bad the Labour Government was when it:

  • Entered into an illegal war in Iraq
  • Allowed the banking crisis to fester in spite of warnings
  • Developed expensive bureaucracies to deal with problems
  • Allowed the social housing stock to decrease by 37,500 in their time in government
  • Attacked

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 62 Comments

LibLink: Cllr Richard Kemp on the Lib Dem Local Government conference

By NewsHound | Published 21st June 2010 - 1:07 pm

Lib Dem councillors had their annual conference this week within the confines of Local Government House in Smith Square, London. Co-hosted by ALDC and the Lib Dem LGA group, the conference pulls together colleagues from across the country with our parliamentary team. This year, of course, our parliamentary colleagues have joined many thousands of Lib Dem councillors in actually being in charge of running things. Normally our councillors are more experienced at holding the reins of power than our MPs.

Cllr Richard Kemp has written a review for Total Politics:

Nick pulled no punches in telling us how difficult the decisions

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Conferences: #lgaconf vs #ldconf

By Alex Foster | Published 10th July 2009 - 10:30 am

As I headed to Harrogate for the LGA conference last week, it was impossible to avoid comparing that with the many previous conferences I’ve attended with the Lib Dems in just the same venue.  We’re frequent flyers at Harrogate, home of our MP Phil Willis, in a conference centre he opened – if I remember the plaque correctly.

Barely months before, LDV had had its own crowded office and a successful fringe event – the recording of which is still available as a recording if you want to hear all over again – so returning for the summer events as …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , | 2 Comments

Opinion: Cameron’s vision for local government is bleak

By Alex Foster | Published 9th July 2009 - 10:25 am

Last week’s Local Government Association conference was addressed on its final day by three representatives from Westminster who’d made the journey northwards to Harrogate to face the serried ranks of senior local government councillors and officers.

The Lib Dems were represented by Vince Cable MP, given an early morning slot that not everyone got to. He was warmly received by all those who were there, in any case, which may represent that it was just the Lib Dem LGA group present. His speech covered his history as a councillor himself in the early 1970s when local government …

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Posted in Local government, Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments