Analysis The MJ
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How to cut debt and fund our social care
November 23, 2020
A flat-rate health and social care levy to raise £17bn was a centrepiece of a new study last week. Michael Burton looks at the figures and reports from a webinar on the public finances with ex-chancellor Philip Hammond.
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Some local lessons from the Far East
November 20, 2020
Heather Jameson finds that while local government officers in Japan are grappling with similar challenges to those in the UK, there is one stark difference – Japanese authorities have the power to make their own laws and raise their own taxes.
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No easy way out
November 18, 2020
The pandemic is just the latest in a long list of pressures that have pushed Croydon LBC to the edge and led to the publication of a Section 114 report last week, writes Dan Peters.
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Spinning plates to improve lives
November 16, 2020
Ann McGauran talks to Charlotte Ramsden about the part she’s played in developing a new vision and plan for children and young people’s services across Greater Manchester – and how it feels to be awarded an OBE.
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EXCLUSIVE: How are districts surviving the pandemic?
November 12, 2020
A recent report has revealed the relative impact of the pandemic on districts’ economic vulnerability and their ability to recover. Dan Peters talks to councils named in the research about the findings.
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Building trust in test and trace
November 11, 2020
David Nabarro of the World Health Organisation says local capacity is the ‘mainstay’ for finding and interrupting transmission. Here, Martin Ford puts councils’ approaches to testing and tracing under the spotlight.
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How the virus pressed the fast forward button
November 10, 2020
The pandemic accelerated changes that were already happening. The challenge is how to manage the future, as chief executives from across England’s South West discussed in a round table organised by The MJ and BT. Chair Michael Burton reports.
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Tiers of trouble
October 28, 2020
More than half of England’s population is now living under high or very high-alert postcode COVID-19 restrictions. Ann McGauran asks if the new measures are sufficient, and looks at their impact on centre-local relations.
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Is the love affair with mayors over?
October 28, 2020
After last week’s rows between Number 10 and city region mayors over lockdown funding Michael Burton looks at governments’ love affairs with the concept of directly-elected mayors and questions whether the romance might be over.
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Fixing local government’s financial plumbing
October 20, 2020
The inevitable result of the funding framework for councils is a disempowered local government, underserved citizens and wasted public money, says Lizzie Insall. She says the sustainable solution lies in ‘fixing the plumbing of local government [..]
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Trust districts to do what’s needed
October 15, 2020
A lower PWLB borrowing rate would make a significant difference to the viability and deliverability of regeneration schemes, argues Simone Hines.
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Digitising the front door to care
October 14, 2020
A new 'white paper' report by consultancy Agilisys outlines how technology can help lead the rethink of the care sector. Author Steve Morgan talks to Michael Burton of The MJ about some of the solutions.
