Consortia of councils could gain powers over rail services, a government consultation has said.
Infrastructure, and ways to fund it, have been subject to much debate of late ? particularly since the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement prioritised greater investment in this area.
The Government has made clear its commitment to driving 250 billion of infrastructure investment over the next few years. As we await George Osborne’s third Budget, the question on many people’s lips is how can we meet this ambitious goal whilst continuing to cut the budgetary deficit?
All but two councils have put plans to culture secretary Jeremy Hunt on how they will bring superfast broadband to their areas.
Councils sharing chief executives have saved more money than they expected, a Local Government Association analysis has revealed.
Mutual trust between political leaders and equal attention to individual councils are said to be vital in making a success of shared chief executives.
The Local Government Pension Scheme should be investing in infrastructure programmes across the county. It would be good for fund members and for the economy.
A new report calls for the establishment of a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) to spur economic growth in infrastructure projects.
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has urged councils to start preparing the ground for the next Spending Review.
As Nick Clegg has recently noted, there needs to be a ‘gear shift’ in infrastructure spending. Whilst George Osborne dots the i’s and crosses the t’s on his third budget, it is worth considering how such a ‘gear shift’ may be enacted.