Tag Archives: sheffield council

Shaffaq Mohammed

Opinion: Tough Choices – Yes, but local politicians must grasp opportunities as well as challenges

By Shaffaq Mohammed | Tue 6th November 2012 - 11:49 am

Sheffield Town HallI doubt that there are many councillors who are unaware of the scale of the country’s financial difficulties. Yet whatever your prescription for resuscitating the British economy, politicians of all parties agree that reducing the deficit is a crucial piece in the puzzle.

Regardless of your views on the Government’s strategy, it is clear that reductions in council budgets are a reality. The challenge for councillors is to best adjust to the new climate and mitigate the impact on the services that people care about most.

I do not believe that the way forward is to abandon all council services, leaving local government as a sole provider of social care. Rather, local government should be taking the lead in innovative ways of thinking – taking bold steps to cut waste, not just services.

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Posted in Local government and Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 4 Comments
Stephen Tall

In other news… Thurso on banking, Ward on immigration, Swales on G4S & other stories

By Stephen Tall | Sun 15th July 2012 - 5:25 pm

Here’s a round-up of stories we haven’t had time to cover on the site this past few days…

John Thurso MP to lead banking inquiry (John O’Groat Journal)

CAITHNESS, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP John Thurso has been elected to lead an inquiry into how the banking system is run. The Lib Dem politician has been chosen as one of five representatives who will

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Mark Pack

Simon Hughes challenges Harriet Harman over Labour’s record in Sheffield

By Mark Pack | Sun 29th April 2012 - 9:55 am

From a party news release:

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Simon Hughes, joined Liberal Democrat councillors in Sheffield to highlight more than £4m of wasteful spending by Labour locally.

The figures were revealed while Labour Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, visited the city, attempting to defend Labour’s waste on Sheffield City Council.

Local Liberal Democrat councillors are campaigning to save Sheffield’s weekly bin collections, vital recycling services and local dementia homes, placed under threat of closure by Labour councillors.

Senior Sheffield Labour councillors have argued that no money is available, but there has been a staggering £4.2m of wasteful spending.

In the last 12 months Labour councillors have:

  • Approved

…

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Posted in Local government and News | Also tagged and | 2 Comments
Mark Pack

Sheffield Labour drops Lib Dem policy of extra pay for the lowest paid

By Mark Pack | Mon 27th June 2011 - 10:01 pm

The Sheffield Star reports:

SHEFFIELD’S ruling Labour councillors have been attacked by Nick Clegg for ‘dropping’ a policy to give the authority’s lowest-paid staff an extra £250 each year.

The payment was made for staff paid below £21,000-a-year, under the old Lib Dem administration’s budget for 2011/12 – and Mr Clegg said it was supposed to happen on an annual basis.

But papers setting out the council’s financial plans for 2011/12 – including cuts of at least £48 million – do not include a pay rise next year.

Mr Clegg said: “I’ve had meetings with some of the country’s leading trade union representatives,

…

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Posted in News | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Mark Pack

OMG! It’s health and safety gone, er…, sensible

By Mark Pack | Wed 1st December 2010 - 3:25 pm

During last winter’s snow I blogged a few times about the legal scare stories about how people shouldn’t sweep away snow from outside their home (you can be sued! the world will end!), how clearing snow is traditional in Britain (sort of) and how some companies that tell us at great length about how much they care about local communities miss taking the obvious steps to show such care during a snow fall – clearing the snow from outside their premises.

Not to mention the way some journalists who spend their time loving to mock real or imagined nanny state actions suddenly think the state should do everything when it comes to snow clearing.

But this year? Well, it’s all looking rather different.

First up for credit is the government with its wise advice:

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Posted in News | Also tagged , , , , and | 17 Comments
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