Monthly Archives: February 2025

The decision on whether to award or refuse planning permission will be taken by ministers, not by the local council Image – Town and Country Planning in Britain (1968) HMSO – a reminder to ministers to bring in policies on lifelong learning to help the public learn about the planning system (and politics & citizenshipContinue reading “Building safety minister ‘calls in’ Beehive Redevelopment application”

MPs on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee in Parliament took evidence this week from a range of experts. Image – House of Commons Library briefing on Business Rates (since updated) You can watch the debate back here. It is part of the Select Committee’s inquiry into the financial sustainability (or lack of) localContinue reading “Are council finances sustainable?”

They didn’t label me a Guildhall Groupie for nothing! Turning up on a cold, rainy Monday evening to watch councillors debate the future of our city The other thing that didn’t help my mood today was Cambridge University’s Vice Chancellor and Comms team putting their foot in it on all things town/gown. That or I’mContinue reading “Cambridge councillors invite Peter Freeman to appear before them for a Q&A session”

Ages ago I went to a talk in Cambridge hosted by one of Tony Blair’s top advisers, Geoff Mulgan. One of the biggest things the latter has done in recent times is to launch a successor/alternative to Oxford’s Politics, Philosophy, and Economics degree course (which many a creature in the Westminster Jungle can be foundContinue reading “Scrutinising think tanks – even the ones you might agree with”

One of my former local councillors and the former leader of Cambridge City Council puts the question to the man instructed by ministers to grow our city and economic sub-region You can listen to the interview on what I still call Cambridge 105, here “The council is doing a fabulous job” …concluded Peter Freeman atContinue reading “Lewis Herbert interviews Chair of Cambridge Growth Company, Peter Freeman on Cambridge Radio”

Dr Nik Johnson confirms he will be standing down following delivery of bus franchising for the CPCA area in a term of office that saw him undergo heart surgery You can read the full statement here on his FB page and here on CambsNews. Nearly four years ago in May 2021, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough experiencedContinue reading “Labour to select new candidate for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Mayoralty”

And not just Cambridge – but the rest of England because they are restricting their proposals to the county and district boundaries established in haste by Sir Edward Heath’s Government of the early 1970s And as we know, that government was dominated by things like problems with utilities, Europe, and an energy crisis. Sound familiar?Continue reading “Ministers risk tying Cambridge in knots with new restructuring guidance”

MPs on the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard about our weak democracy structures yesterday (see my blogpost here), and today the Women and Equalities Select Committee heard a similar warning, Image – the UCL/Sydney study on the future of social connection report Have a listen to Dame Sara Khan here “TheContinue reading “MPs hear warning about the UK’s weak democracy structures. Again.”

Cambridge City Council’s housing committee met earlier – there are a number of headline statistics that should be high in the consciousness of both the construction industry and in philanthropic/charity-giving circles Cambridge City Council’s housing key facts You can read them at https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/housing-research Top ones that stand out for me: It’s one of those thingsContinue reading “Cambridge’s council housing – and newbuild design codes”

“Party funding and foreign interference in UK elections be examined by Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee” You can see the details and watch the meeting back here. Above – opening the debate the former Lib Dem MP Duncan Hames, now of Transparency International UK, set out how compromised the UK’s democratic structures, systems, andContinue reading “Select Committee MPs hear warning about the UK’s weak democracy structures”