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Lessons from Hackney 4 Mar 2011 | 12:36 am
Last night Hackney Council passed a budget with £44 million of cuts, amidst protests from anti-cuts campaigners. Having looked at their budget, I think councillors have done very well in extremely dif...
Is there a "new politics of identity"? 3 Mar 2011 | 12:00 am
The Searchlight Education Trust's "Fear and Hope" research is very interesting, and points out a number of challenges and areas where further investigation would be useful. I'm less convinced, however...
Three questions to ask your councillor 2 Mar 2011 | 01:10 am
One of the keys to effective local action is making sure that campaigners think ahead and get decision-makers to respond to them, rather than waiting for decisions to be announced and then complaining...
Cameron praises social enterprise saved by Future Jobs Fund 1 Mar 2011 | 06:00 am
I've been watching the documentary about the "People's Supermarket", a co-operative supermarket in north London which is owned by its members, all of whom pay a fee to join and agree to work in the sh...
How to stop David Cameron's Corporate Welfare plans 23 Feb 2011 | 10:44 pm
David Cameron has announced that the latest version of the Big Society is that just about all public services will be opened up to be run by the private sector. He says that these "are more significan...
Attack the Tories, get voting reform 22 Feb 2011 | 06:38 am
Some thoughts on the voting reform referendum. The No campaign’s claim about the £250 million cost might not be accurate, but is a pretty effective campaigning message. I really don’t understand the ...
Welfare reform: harder than it looks 18 Feb 2011 | 07:09 am
The FT has a good run down of today's welfare reform changes. Key points: 1. Spending on benefits will increase by £2.6 billion, which will give more money to 2.7 million people. 2. Incentives to wo...
Participatory budgeting and the fear of crime 18 Feb 2011 | 02:23 am
I pass this email from a friend on without further comment: "Last year, my charity was involved in a project with the local council and police around participatory budgeting. The Home Office allocate...
Government plans “Community Right to Privatise” 17 Feb 2011 | 04:57 am
The government’s Localism Bill includes a new policy called “Community Right to Challenge”. Under this proposal, charities, parish councils and local authority workers will get the power to submit an...
The couple who could save the Big Society 16 Feb 2011 | 02:37 am
As the latest relaunch of the Big Society flops, some people are calling for David Cameron to appoint someone senior who can champion the Big Society within government. And as it happens, I know just...
