Directory now live

Just a quick note to say the directory section of the new Localgov.co.uk is now live. Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Chief among the changes is the new detail page, which uses functionality successfully employed elsewhere in the new design.

If you search on a council or individual now you will be taken to a page like this:



Each search now has a 'search overview' panel on the right of the screen which gives an 'at-a-glance' run down of the search results.






Click on one of these headings, and the element of the organisation detail is revealed, in this example principal officers.




Click here for more information on a full subscription to LocalGov.co.uk

The ‘nays’ have it, but at what cost?

Today, I find myself in the minority - the one-in-five minority, in fact. I voted ‘yes’ to congestion charging for Greater Manchester.

Having experienced the benefits in London first hand, I moved to the northwest last year and found myself once more in a major city dealing with this most thorny issue. It has been a divisive one, too, with my partner joining the many and voting a resounding ‘no’.

I was optimistic about the benefits of this more ambitious scheme for Manchester. Congestion charging has made inner London’s streets more civilized, boosted transport provision and made it a city for cyclists. I can attest to the latter, too, as I was a daily commuter from Liverpool Street to my employer’s offices in Pimlico for five years once the charge was introduced.

There was no reason why Greater Manchester, with congestion and its assocation problems extending well into its boroughs, could not benefit too.

Like London, here the campaigning has been intense. In recent weeks, you haven’t had to walk too far in the city before being presented with a pro or anti leaflet. Papers have been full of stories analysing the pros and cons of the scheme, and the pages have been plastered with advertisements placed by both the pro and anti camps.

Even pubs across the conurbation have drawn sides, too, with ‘no’ beer mats on tables in the Whitefield hostelry where I meet friends.

But during my conversations over drinks, it became increasingly clear that those hoping for the yes vote were, like me, optimistic.

My friends have been philosophical about the charge and, at least, have understood the proposals. Others hijacking our conversations have been resolute, though. The mere notion of paying more for motoring 'was fundamentally wrong' and their mistrust of ‘the government’ meant that there would be no real improvements in public transport.

Add to this the looming recession, and the plans did not stand a chance.

So what now? Manchester City Council has vowed to ensure investment in transport remains a priority for the city, but city officials will struggle to secure funding of the magnitude provided via the charge and Transport Innovation Fund bid.

And once the economy turns a corner, some (including the ‘nay sayers’) might just rue the opportunity that has been missed.

Counting on communities

Recently, I was asked to speak at the Policy Network annual conference in Leeds, just a hop over the Pennines for me.

This network serves local government officers with an interest in policy and performance review and I think it’s a useful forum to share ideas, practice and experiences in the interpretation of the central government 'vision' for local communities.

I was asked to read the runes, if you like, and try to predict what challenges would be facing local government over the next twelve months. This was no mean feat, particularly given the shifts in opinion polls and the current volatile economic climate.

After a fair amount of research, though, I tried to piece together a presentation that focused on a number of ‘key topics’. These were:

Regeneration
Efficiency
Local political revitalisation
Citizen engagement
Innovation

However, one thing that I couldn’t shed any light on was what good regeneration and successful communities look like or, perhaps more significantly, feel like. Is it the more predictable café culture pedestrainised streets that seemingly have prefaced every town centre regeneration plan, or something subtler?

This tricky topic has been brought to the fore again today with a study commissioned by the BBC on the feelings of loneliness and social fragmentation among communities in this country.

The measure, or anomie index as it is known, has essentially become worse for all areas of the UK over the last 30 years. There have been shifts in the league table, with the Holyrood area of Edinburgh now scoring the worst. Stoke-on-Trent has consistently performed well in this measure, though.

Such measures should be interpreted with care, of course, but the index might suggest something more fundamental should underpin local authorities’ regeneration efforts. But it also poses the question as to how much influence a council can, or should, exert. Communities need to invest time and effort to generate the social capital or ‘glue’ which binds them together and counteracts the resultant decline in trust between neighbours.

A counter argument might say that this measure is not relevant anymore, though, and that mobility is a good thing in that it allows communities to renew and refresh. The Internet, too, has facilitated this mobility both in terms of work, communication and access to services.

It would be interesting to hear your views.