Reform of the way the House of Commons is elected should be delayed until after the House of Lords has been modernised, the government said today. Following the long-awaited publication of the government's review of UK voting systems, the Ministry of Justice said it would be "premature" to reform Westminster elections while debate over the future of the House of Lords is ongoing.
Council tax bills in England are set to rise by about 4% on average this year, according to a Local Government Association study of 100 draft council budgets. This was published on the day of the local government finance settlement. The average council tax per dwelling in England and Wales has now increased by 96% since 1997/8, from £554 to over £1000 in 2007/08. Council tax increases this year are likely to push the increase to over 100%. A report published today by the New Local Government Network has proposed replacing council tax with a local property levy.
A massive NHS survey by Sue Doughty and the Liberal Democrats last autumn has revealed a number of concerns.
From 10pm on Saturday night local MP Tim Farron will be sleeping rough at Kendal castle, in order to raise awareness for Kendal-based charity Manna House, who help those who either sleep rough on the streets or live in insecure accommodation. In 1997 a 'Housing Need' survey in South Lakeland showed that there was a need for 1360 extra units of affordable homes, and yet by 2002 only 215 units had been supplied. Despite Government promises of more housing, housing in the Kendal and South Lakeland area is still struggling to catch up with this deficit, with many vulnerable people having to wait weeks to be housed.
The CO2 reduction and renewable energy targets put forward by the Commission on 23 January have evoked, according to EurActiv, a flood of reactions from member states, industry, NGOs and other stakeholders. Below follows an overview from EurActiv:
The European Union's executive adopted landmark proposals today that will make the 27-nation bloc a world leader in the fight against climate change. The European Commission approved detailed plans to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by one-fifth and set each EU state individual targets to produce one-fifth of all power from renewable sources like the wind and sun by 2020. Another goal is to ensure the bloc's energy security as remaining fossils fuels become concentrated among fewer nations.
