Local Councils

Local councils and local services

Barnet community fight

Barnet council in north London receives a relatively low grant settlement from central government because it is a relatively prosperous borough. However, it has large pockets of deprivation. The current Tory council makes a lot of central government “unfairness” when it wants to justify its plans to cut services and to go in for extensive outsourcing (the “Future Shape” programme). But, at the same time, the council consistently neglects poorer areas. Overdue regeneration of the worst housing estates (formerly council, now run by an ALMO, Barnet Homes) are grinding to a halt in the credit...

Popular Front, London-style

Ken Livingstone has launched an organisation called “Progressive London” ( http://www.progressivelondon.org.uk ), backed by a “broad alliance of individuals, campaigns, communities, artists, trade unions, environmentalists, political parties and groups”. It is for “all those who believe in social justice, environmental protection, good community relations, cultural innovation and the many other areas in which London has made a contribution recognised throughout the world.” The CWU, GMB, Unison and Unite — or at least senior figures from these unions — seem to be backing this “campaign”, and it...

Illusions of Power: The Local Government Left Confronted by Thatcher's Offensive

Click here to download text of whole pamphlet (plus appendices) as pdf . Or click here for a pdf of the 1985 printed pamphlet . Or read sections below. Illusions of Power 1. Illusions of Power 2. Illusions of Power 3. Illusions of Power 4. Illusions of Power 5. Illusions of Power 6. Illusions of Power 7. Illusions of Power 8. Illusions of Power 9. Click here for the 1986 pamphlet, "Liverpool: what went wrong?", which carries the story further.

PFI-linked scheme collapses in Northamptonshire

Barratt Homes has pulled out of its agreement with Northants County Council to purchase 18 school sites and playing fields. More collapses of such deals, and of PFI contracts, must be likely in the coming months, as contractors find it harder to raise the credit required. Northamptonshire "Save Our Services" states: "Northants County Council... PFI deal... method of financing new schools... guarantees the PFI speculators high profits over thirty-two years while at the same time charges us, the public, £865 million for capital projects costing only £235 million. The anticipated payment by...

Lambeth Save Our Services

Well over a hundred people attended the "Save Our Services in Lambeth" meeting hosted by Lambeth local government Unison on 11 June, and agreed to launch a Public Services Not Private Profit campaign to unite the various workers' struggles and anti-cuts initiatives currently taking place in the borough. Heenal Rajani, Unison convenor for Lambeth housing, outlined the council's latest proposals. Having narrowly "won" a ballot in favour of an ALMO (in fact a substantial majority of tenants either opposed the ALMO or voted "don't know"), the council now wants to give private companies ten year...

Lambeth Council bans Trade Union from Staff Conference

Lambeth Council bans trade union from Staff Conference Lambeth’s Labour-led Council has sunk to new depths by refusing the trade union UNISON, which represents more than 2,000 council staff, a stall at its conference for staff in the Regeneration and Housing Department on 6th and 8th May 2008. The surprise decision was made by Chris Lee, the Executive Director of Regeneration and Housing, contrary to previous practice within the Council. The decision appears to contravene the Council’s own stated aim that “employees are advised that the Council recognises Trade Unions and encourages employees...

Birmingham council workers to strike 23-24 April

Birmingham council workers to strike 23-24 April It's clear that Birmingham City Council and their corporate backers want to use the "Single Status" settlement to make fundamental attacks upon the council workforce and the users of City Council services: the entire Birmingham working class. Nationally a Single Status 'framework' has been agreed with unions, with local authorities being 'left' to change their pay and grading structures to fit in, and about half of all UK local authorities have implemented some form of "Single Status" over which there have been disputes including strike action...

Vote socialist where you can on 1 May

Forty socialist candidates will be standing in the local government elections on 1 May, under the umbrella of the Socialist Green Unity Coalition. The Alliance for Green Socialism is standing 13 candidates in Leeds, and a scattering elsewhere. The Socialist Party, this year, will focus its effort on winning re-election for its best-known elected local councillor, Dave Nellist in Coventry, and is standing 12 candidates elsewhere. The Democratic Labour Party is running a number of candidates in Walsall. The Alliance for Workers' Liberty (AWL) and Solidarity have joined with the AGS, the...

Vote Lindsey German no. 1

“Red” Ken Livingstone’s campaign for re-election is being supported with a high profile statement signed by... trade union militants? left activists? anti-cuts campaigners? No, instead we have a statement of the great and good, launched by that oh so radical organisation Compass. Its signatories include Sir Jeremy Beecham of the Local Government Association, former Unison gen sec/sell-out Rodney Bickerstaffe, NUS president/sell-out Gemma Tumelty, NUS president/sell-out-in-waiting Wes Streeting, various Blairite MPs and the head of the Cooperative Party. To be fair, it does include a few trade...

Rent rises in Lambeth!

Lambeth council wants to increase council tenants’ rents by 6.5%. This is far higher than the increases in other boroughs and equates to around £250 a year extra for the average property. How does this council expect tenants to afford this, when food and energy prices are also rising? The increase is far more than the increases in pay, benefits and pensions that most Lambeth tenants will receive. The people making these decisions are consultants each “earning” £800 per day! They will never have to worry about not being able to pay their rent! The council’s housing department squanders £4.6...

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