NI ministers change seats by Paul Gosling Ian Paisley’s retirement as Northern Ireland first minister and leader of the Democratic Unionists has led to a ministerial reshuffle of DUP Executive ministers. The new DUP leader and first minister is Peter Robinson, who has removed one DUP minister and moved all his […]
An imposing environment Local authorities are operating in a legal environment that is imposing more responsibilities and demands on them. Councils must pay special attention to the Corporate Manslaughter Act and the Civil Contingencies Act. Corporate Manslaughter Act The Corporate Manslaughter and Criminal Homicide Act came into force in April across
Mutual option proves contentious for London boroughs by Paul Gosling Self-help, mutual insurance style, has been a long standing feature of local government. Municipal Mutual dominated the market for councils’ insurance market for most of the last century – until it collapsed in the 1990s. Now a group of London boroughs has
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Councils face a new future in Northern Ireland by Paul Gosling Local government has played a central role in the modern history of Northern Ireland – but not an honourable one. The failings of local authorities in the 1960s were a major factor in the onset of the Troubles, in which over
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Taking stock of funding options By Paul Gosling Local government administration of pension funds is strictly regulated. But does this drive councils’ pension fund committees to concentrate on what the regulations tell them to do, at the expense of the big picture? A recent survey by fund advisors Mercer found that almost half
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The Paul Gosling column Farewell Ken – are we to blame? Ken Livingstone was not a perfect mayor of London, but overall he was a very good one. On a personal level I am sad he is gone: I interviewed him once and had a very pleasant afternoon on the House of Commons
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Questions of cash: ‘What is this excess service charge?’ By Paul Gosling Saturday, 7 June 2008 Q. I am being harassed by my housing association, Bush Homes, for extortionate service charges that I don’t owe. I bought a flat through a government home ownership initiative three years ago. Since then Bush Homes has
From a distance by Paul Gosling Private sector healthcare providers have responded with their feet to delays and confusion over phase two of the Independent Sector Treatment Centres programme. Many are no longer seeking large volumes of NHS patients and have walked away from dependence on NHS contracts. Back in 2003, it looked
Saving Post Offices by Paul Gosling Eventually, the size of the Post Office network will be viable at about 7,500 branches, the Government recently told the House of Commons Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Select Committee. Given that the network stands now at almost twice that size, we have an awful lot more
The riddle of Northern Ireland’s education policy By Paul Gosling “A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, was Winston Churchill’s description of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It equally well describes Northern Ireland’s post-primary education policy. An alternative choice of words could be ‘chaos, wrapped in a conflict,
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Northern Ireland public sector faces swingeing job cuts by Paul Gosling Over 33,000 jobs in Northern Ireland’s public sector face the axe, some 15% of the total, according to the Nipsa union. The warning follows an announcement that 450 jobs will go at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, 15% of its total
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Social landlord role expands – find tenants jobs by Paul Gosling Just ten days into her job and Caroline Flint made national headlines as housing ministers seldom do these days. Some housing professionals acted angrily to Flint’s question of whether new social housing tenants should be required to enter into ‘commitment contracts’,