An article in The Times this week (requires subscription) suggests that local authorities are spending more than £1 billion a year on taxis and other personalised forms of school transport. This revelation begs the question of whether this level of spending can continue following the proposed public sector cuts likely to be included in the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010.

(more…)

PLC Public Sector reports: 

Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions.

(more…)

It seems that every week there are a steady stream of  exhortations from the government to local authorities. This week, the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles urged councils to make more use of the charging and trading powers to generate cash by offering and charging for services.  (more…)

PLC Public Sector reports: 

Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions.

(more…)

Daniel Greenberg, PLC consultant:

The Government’s announcement on 13 September about the plans to extend the present Parliamentary Session until 2012, and the introduction of the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill, have a number of practical implications.

(more…)

PLC Public Sector reports: 

Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions.

(more…)

PLC Environment reports:

According to the Local Government Chronicle, only a third of the councils that are required to register for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme have done so already despite the deadline being 30 September this year.

For the uninitiated, the CRC is a new mandatory carbon trading scheme for the public and private sectors in the UK. The scheme came into operation on 1 April 2010 and organisations that fail to register by 30 September could face a fine of £5,000, plus an additional fine of £500 per working day of delay, up to a maximum of 80 working days. The maximum fine is £45,000. The scheme has generated an enormous amount of criticism and the new government has said it will review it, but in the meantime it’s full steam ahead.

(more…)

PLC Public Sector reports: 

Make sure that you have not missed a key development in your area of the law by reviewing our latest list of recommended actions.

(more…)

PLC Public Sector reports:

The Legal Services Commission has been facing considerable criticism about its public procurement activities for some time.   This past week has seen some of the highlighted issues  come to the boil. It seems as though the LSC will either need to take a few steps backward or risk becoming familiar with the inside of the Royal Courts of Justice.

This week, we look at the issues facing the LSC and consider what other contracting authorities can learn from the latest developments.

(more…)