Are you bold enough to conduct a scrutiny review into your council’s preparations for Brexit? I ask because the shape and complexion of our relationship with the EU beyond the end of March 2019 still looks unclear. There is, it seems, the real prospect of the Government not being able to negotiate a “transition deal” – an agreement about the extent to which our existing relationship will remain once we leave. If it is impossible to negotiate such a deal there is a real risk of the UK “crashing out” – the “no deal” scenario which has been prominent in ...
That was a surprise. As our minds turn with weary inevitability towards another General Election in the autumn, it’s a good time to see if we can read the runes and understand what – if anything – this result means for local government. Our Chair, Bob Kerslake, has told the LGC that he thinks that local government will not be a priority in this Parliament. That’s undeniable. A Government shoring up its position on Brexit, needing all the Parliamentary time it has for pitched battles as it forces through even the legislation it needs to run the country, will not ...
Following the referendum result there’s a lot of chatter about the likely impact of the decision on local government and the devolution agenda.If this seems parochial – my God, we should be talking about macroeconomics, the invocation of Article 50 of the TEU and the Labour leadership crisis! – it’s important to recognise that the Government’s current policies on devolution in England will have a profound impact on local people’s lives (a subject on which we have blogged and written before). Devolution presents a rare opportunity for a recalibration between local and central government. The (let’s put it delicately) ...