Localism Bill
Last orders? How councils can protect local pubs from closure
Iris Murdoch once wrote of pubs as ‘universal places, like churches, hallowed meeting places of mankind’. This leads you to two inevitable conclusions: 1) she had a lovely turn of phrase and fully deserved that DBE, and 2) she had …
Updated guide to Localism Act
The LGiU has updated its Guide to the Localism Act originally published in February 2012. The February guide brought together a series of LGiU briefings on the Act published in November and December 2011, alongside additional comment. The updated guide brings …
Avoiding Community Infrastructure Levy-induced legal headaches
Cash-strapped local government has been eyeing the Community Infrastructure Levy with considerable interest. Put simply, CIL will allow local authorities to impose a levy on developers to fund infrastructure projects around the local area. It is an additional revenue stream to Section …
National Planning Policy Framework
Andrew Ross wonders if the newly published NPPF will make planning as neat and tidy as the government has claimed.
Civil Society Innovation Network – session 4
In this final meeting of the Network wanted to look beyond the immediate term, to consider the long term challenges that local government will face. In particular, the Network discussed with Andrew Stunell MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, what …
Ten things you need to know about neighbourhood planning
The Localism Act introduces changes to the planning process, which all councillors will need to be aware of. Andrew Ross gives you a starter for 10…
Communities and Local Government questions and topical debate. Monday 12th March 2012
The Department for Communities and Local Government parliamentary questions session came on the same day as two announcements were made; a rise to £75k in the maximum amount of discount that a tenant can claim when exercising the Right to …
LGiU on front page of today’s MJ
Research conducted by the LGiU is the headline story of this week’s MJ. You can read a summary of the story for free here, and the full version here (£). We will be posting our own analysis tomorrow, complete with …
How much of a risk is localism?
Glyn Gaskarth, a policy manager here at LGiU, took part in a Guardian debate last week on the potential risks involved with localism? A summary of his points can be found below: UK local councils actually run quite a tight …
Directly elected mayors – when will we have them and what powers will they have?
The Secretary of State has considerable powers to trigger a mayoral referendum under the Localism Act. He will make immediate use of his ability to ‘require every authority or a particular description of authority to hold a referendum on whether …
