Here is the final installment of answers to the questions you recently posed to shadow communities and local government secretary, Eric Pickles. Here he covers localism, regional planning and the structure of local councils. We published Eric’s first and second tranches of replies on the site yesterday. Questions from pp, B J Thomson and Michael: […]
We have already published the first installment of answers to the questions you recently posed about local government reorganisation to shadow communities and local government secretary, Eric Pickles. Here is his second set of answers, covering how Conservative councils can be Conservative, local councils’ use of anti-terrorism powers to spy one people, the Conservative revival […]
Last month we asked ConservativeHome readers to submit questions for Eric Pickles, the shadow secretary of state for communities and local government. Here is the first installment of his answers, covering a number of issues raised about local government reorganisation. The remaining answers will be posted in installments this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Question from […]
Update: Some more examples of Mr Pickles’s written questions have been added, to give a fuller flavour. Eric Pickles, Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary and MP for Brentwood & Ongar, has come top of a league table. He was followed closely by Mark Hoban, MP for Fareham and a Shadow Treasury Minister. In 2007-08 […]
There are several noteworthy written answers in the latest edition of Hansard. The Opposition has supported the Government’s carbon reduction plans. The following question from Shadow Local Government spokesman Eric Pickles is interesting in light of this. Are the Conservatives contemplating a spending commitment? "Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food […]
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles has received a written answer on the cost of the 2011 Census. The census is taken every ten years. It is an attempt to provide essential information about the country, "from national to neighbourhood level for government, business, and the community", as the Office […]
Update: Brian Binley’s EDM had been tabled very shortly before this post was written, and has since attracted lots of signatures. Early Day Motions are effectively petitions signed by MPs to draw attention to an issue; although they are motions for debate, few actually end up being debated. They can be serious, they can be […]
The Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government Eric Pickles today argued that every one of more than a hundred local authorities which had cash in collapsed Icelandic banks should be made public. "It is simply unacceptable that neither the government or the Local Government Association are publishing the list of the 116 local authorities […]
CCHQ have released an official video featuring Eric Pickles. In the video Eric explains his role as the Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government. One of his key responsibilities is to help run the Local Government Election campaign, which was particularly successful this year – with Conservatives now controlling more than half of all […]
That is what Eric Pickles told this morning’s Today programme. ConHome broke this story yesterday. The greatest exposure so far identified is Kent with deposits totalling £50 Million. The next most exposed seems to be the Greater London Authority due to Transport for London having a £40m deposit with Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, which has […]
In the first big policy announcement of Conservative Party Conference, David Cameron has told the Daily Mail that a Conservative Government will find the money to allow councils to restore weekly bin collections for all households. Just over half of councils have scrapped weekly collections. The Mail notes: "The average cost of weekly collections is […]
Further to our report last week we can confirm that Margaret Eaton is the new Chair of the Local Government Association. She won an overwhelming majority of the votes cast in a five candidate contest. Eric Pickles has issued this statement welcoming Cllr Eaton to her new post: "I would like to congratulate Margaret on […]
A survey of uncollected tax by a local government workers’ trade union today revealed that in the last financial year, £745,666,831 of due council tax was unpaid. "In 2007/08, the GMB said the council with the most uncollected tax was Glasgow, which had £22m outstanding at the end of the financial year. Birmingham had £16.2m […]
Yesterday we reported the sad death of Lord Bruce-Lockhart. Eric Pickles MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government, adds his own personal tribute to Sandy below: "I last saw Sandy a couple of weeks ago at a Royal Garden Party, he was looking frail and he told me that his Doctors had stopped the […]
The 7.5 million people who receive a 25% discount from their council tax bill because they live alone are more likely to have to prove it in the months ahead. One council, Thurrock in Essex, asks people to sign a declaration that permits the council to enter their home to prove that they are single […]