Category Archives: Uncategorized

…says the Carnegie Foundation’s report on Life in the UK 2024 for England You can read the report here. On the four different categories of wellbeing measured – Economic, social, environmental, and democratic, it’s the last of these that England scores the worst Above – Carnegie (2025) p5 “Everyone had the chance to vote inContinue reading ““Put repairing democracy at the centre of plans for English devolution””

This document from Cambridge City Council’s Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee needs publicising and discussing amongst much wider circles See item 7 of the meeting papers here. The main document is at Appendix A, which needs going through carefully by someone who is not me. “The purpose of the Greater Cambridge Planning Obligations SPD isContinue reading “What the developers, consultants, and lobbyists want from Cambridge”

“Glad you asked, kid! …Now listen to this, this is the important part!” I have no idea why they voice of Timon the meerkat came into my head in response to reading out the question about what elected local councillors do, but if you want to find out the actual important part, head along toContinue reading “What do councillors do?”

In Cambridgeshire we’re very lucky to have Form the Future doing great things for nearly a generation of teenagers in spite of the huge barriers that face them. Image – From the Association of Citizenship Teachers – we could do with more schools offering GCSE Citizenship Studies, and more teachers specialising in citizenship education tooContinue reading “Are adults failing our teenagers on work experience and part-time employment?”

A bold pair of policy announcements eight weeks before the county council and mayoral elections which cover much of central England Image: You and The State (1949) – Ralph Miliband (The Energy Secretary’s father) was involved in creating this document. The Guardian has led with both: See also Rachel Charlton-Daley in The Lead here “TheContinue reading “Government briefs media on cuts to NHS England, and on support for the most vulnerable”

County Councillors will meet at their final full council of this term of office before the county elections You can see the meeting papers here, with the item Local Government Reorganisation in Cambridgeshire starting on page 28 drafted by the council’s chief executive Dr Stephen Moir. They will be discussed the day after Cambridge CityContinue reading “Cambridgeshire County Council publishes its discussion paper on unitary councils”

On what two books from the late 1980s/early 1990s tell us about the central-government-imposed decline of local government – and how it was compounded by the central-government-imposed decline in adult education and the removal of civic education in schools. Image – Adult Education for Democracy (1944) Harold C. Shearman Sir Harold above, wrote at theContinue reading “From citizen to consumer and back again”

…because I have no shelf control as per this wonderful NewsThump t-shirt design – see their other t-shirts here Books, books, and more books on democracy I dropped off another bag of books – ones I hoped I’d get round to reading but never did – at the RSPCA Bookshop on Mill Road because they’veContinue reading “Cambs Unitaries meets, and more books arrive and depart”

Cambridgeshire Conservatives’ decision to move the county council to a bespoke building that isn’t large enough to accommodate all of the county councillors was as farcical as the time taken to do something with the existing site Image – the old Cambridgeshire County Council coat of arms from 1889-1965 when we covered a much smallerContinue reading “Should ministers intervene to end the farce of Cambridge’s old Shire Hall?”

Cambridge City Council publishes papers including a draft response on behalf of all but one of the council leaders in the Combined Authority area The meeting papers for 17th March 2025 are at item 5 here Interestingly, the earlier items on city council governance restructuring contain no mention of area committees – something that councillorsContinue reading “Cambridgeshire council leaders respond to Minister for Local Government on unitaries”