Government

Central government has officially confirmed the end of intervention for children and young people’s services in Stoke-on-Trent. In a letter to the leader of the city council, Councillor Mohammed Pervez, under secretary of state for children and families, Tim Loughton MP, says: [quote]“There is clear commitment to and motivation for continual improvement in Stoke at officer level and I was also pleased to hear of the political support for the children’s services improvement agenda.”

By Public Servant Magazine Communities Secretary Eric Pickles explains how the coalition government is setting out to rebalance power and make localism a reality A friend of mine, a former Congressman from Wisconsin, once said: "If you don't like the folks, don't be in our business." When politics becomes the preserve of people who are only interested in power, the political system starts to break down. That's what we've seen in the past 13 years.

Residents are to be asked what they would like Stoke-on-Trent City Council to prioritise its spending on for the next financial year, on the back of stiff government cuts. The authority, which has a budget of £209 million, needs to save approximately £30 million next year – a 14 per cent reduction. A six-week ‘Let’s Talk’ public consultation will begin on Monday, and residents’ responses will help with tough decisions on where government cuts need to be made. The consultation, which will run bet

Eric Pickles MP, Local Government Secretary is proposing that all local government vacancies are published on-line in a standard open data format.

How deeply disappointing the announcement by the Boundary Committee is for an opportunity to strengthen democracy in Stoke-on-Trent. The whole review seems very focused on how the council works and is run. Surely the first priority when reassessing any part of the electoral processes or structure should be improving the relevance of the representation and reconnecting with the electorate. Has the Boundary Commission and the Government missed the point?

Source: Potteye Blog How deeply disappointing the announcement by the Boundary Committee is for an opportunity to strengthen democracy in Stoke-on-Trent. The whole review seems very focused on how the council works and is run.

[caption id="attachment_5246" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Mick Williams - D4S Convenor"][/caption] Contributed Article By: Democracy4Stoke. Following John Healey's statement to the House of Commons on 8th May D4S considered its responses to the issues which it raised and programmed its meetings so as to be able to make submissions to the Department on these. The ministerial changes in June - some of which preceded and others which were as a result of the dire local and Euro e

Source: The Independent Any teacher found to be a member of the British National Party (BNP) faces being banned from the classroom after the Government announced it is to launch a fresh attempt to stamp out racism from Britain's schools. Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, has asked the former chief inspector of schools, Maurice Smith, to conduct a review of measures designed to protect pupils from racism.

Source: Politics.co.uk Gordon Brown has made a firm confirmation of his leadership ahead of Labour's annual conference in Brighton. As delegates gathered by the sea to attend four days of meetings and speeches, Mr Brown appeared on the Andrew Marr show to assure viewers he would lead the party into the next general election. Asked if the party had lost the will to live, Mr Brown said: "Not at all. "A setback can either be a challenge that means it's an opportunity to do something bet