Author Archives: Cambridge Town Owl

The University of Cambridge published the results of its early independent research on how it engaged with ‘the wider Cambridge community’ (see here). What improvements do the colleges and university institutions need to make to ensure their words result demonstrable positive changes? Image – from the quickly-forgotten Civil Society Strategy from Theresa May’s Government inContinue reading “How far has Cambridge University progressed in solving the “Papua to Pampisford” challenge?”

Did Thatcher’s ideology create an inflexible and rigid system of contractual accountability at the expense of democratic accountability? And thus make it harder for local residents to hold councils to account for local services? The academic thinking behind all of this stemmed from the ideology of Margaret Thatcher’s Government in the 1980s – as isContinue reading “Outsourcing as a barrier to better governance and new ideas”

A couple of new Cambridge-based discussion groups have emerged on Meetup – does this reflect an untapped demand for debating and discussion space in and around our city? You can see the groups on Meetup that cover: People can search for other groups in and around Cambridge here. Note I’m not a member of theContinue reading “A Civics Discussion Series for Cambridge & Cambridgeshire”

The Cambridge and County Folk Museum quotation applies again: From Papua to Pampisford. Can Cambridge University’s researchers apply the lessons from their research for the improvement of city, district, county, and sub-region? That was the challenge from former Councillor Sam Davies MBE – whose vacancy is now up for grabs in Queen Edith’s. You canContinue reading “Bristol Ideas 1993-2023 – assessed by the University of Cambridge: Anything our city can learn as well?”

An additional constituency, boundary changes, new communities with new households in, and the reallocation of an additional city council ward (Cherry Hinton) from the Cambridge City constituency to the re-oriented South Cambridgeshire constituency means dozens of city centre debates won’t serve the public interest – or the interest of the public! Image: Cambridge Electoral ServicesContinue reading “General Election hustings on Cambridge – can we do things differently to 2015?”

Ministers may as well blame an unexpected furniture-based crime wave given the litany of excuses they’ve given about the pounding in the polls the voters of Tamworth and Mid-Beds gave them. The Chairman of the Conservatives did the media rounds following the election drubbing last night. He told Sky News – no longer in Rupert’sContinue reading “Tories lose two more safe Parliamentary seats”

The issue of public education campaigns on how our city and county function also came up. Click here to watch the debate. Be under no illusions: overhauling local government is not for the faint-hearted. So I was glad that a number of the very complex issues that tripped up previous generations were raised by councillorsContinue reading “Cambridge councillors highlight the challenges of designing a single tier council”

Announced earlier today, Civil Service World summarised the announcement by the National Infrastructure Commission as requiring a cash boost and ‘ambition’ (see their article here) Doesn’t it sound ‘same old, same old’? And won’t we get more of the ‘same old’ if we’re stuck with the same governance systems? Question: To what extent are thoseContinue reading “National Infrastructure Commission recommends the opposite of what ministers have been doing”

Mixed – even polarised reactions to the Innovate Cambridge event. (Image – from Theresa May’s Civil Society Strategy 2018 which I wrote about here) Some of you may recall the launch of Innovate Cambridge in September 2022 – see the Cambridge Independent here. “…an ambitious Greater Cambridge organisation that aims to collectively agree on andContinue reading ““The Cambridge Pledge” – what should affluent and wealth-creating sectors provide in return beyond the minimum?”

Developers don’t build communities, they build buildings – for a profit. The Labour Leader will need to make some very big changes to not only to the planning system but also the financial system underpinning it, the regulation and enforcement of building, and the public service governance structures that will be needed once the buildersContinue reading “Sir Keir Starmer’s next generation of New Towns – where will the doctors and teachers come from?”