| Greene wins first gold for Wales Dai Greene wins Wales' first gold of the 2010 Commonwealth Games with victory in the men's 400m hurdles final, while England's Leon Baptiste takes 200m gold. news.bbc.co.uk |
Chile miners: rescue capsule could be worth $1million The capsule that brought the 33 trapped Chilean miners to the surface could be worth up to $1million, according to experts. telegraph.co.uk |
Tory plans for London 'super council' come under attack Fears that merger of Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea could lead to job and service cutsRadical proposals to create the UK's first "super council" came under fire last night amid concerns that the initiative would lead to significant job losses and make key services, from schools to refuse collection, less accountable to residents.The London boroughs of Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea have proposed to merge all their services under the direction of a single chief executive. The councils, which hope to save up to £100m a year, say the initiative is not ideologically driven but is a response to cuts in local council funding of 26% over four years announced in this week's comprehensive spending review.Under the proposals – backed by the communities secretary, Eric Pickles – a new authority the size of Glasgow or Leeds would be created, although each council would keep its leader and local ward councillors. All three boroughs are Conservative-led, although Hammersmith and Fulham was controlled by Labour until the Tories captured it in 2006.Pickles said: "These councils are leading the way in local government and voters will expect others to get on board and follow suit. We're supporting these sorts of moves by giving unprecedented freedom and flexibility to councils to make their own choices, funding a council tax freeze, and calling time on the bureaucratic red tape and pointless form-filling that has hampered councils for so long."The three councils' detailed feasibility report into the merger is not due until February. But Hammersmith and Fulham's leader, Stephen Greenhalgh, admitted it would lead to "significant reductions in staff". He told the BBC: "Clearly if you have less money to spend you are not going to be able to safeguard every job, and we are going to see significant reductions in staff, but this is about squeezing every penny, every pound, to protect frontline services."Karen Buck, Labour MP for Westminster North, said the move raised serious questions about democratic accountability. "This has happened very quickly, with no debate about or proper scrutiny of a decision with massive implications for local democracy. I'm not opposed in principle to the direction of travel but there are serious questions that the councils have to answer."Trade unions said the move was in danger of creating a local democratic deficit. Peter Allenson, Unite's national officer for local government, warned against a "rush into untested structures" that could damage public trust in local government.Although sharing "back office" administrative and procurement services is widespread among smaller district councils, this is thought to be the first time that large metropolitan boroughs, which run more services, have contemplated a merger on this scale. Earlier this year Islington and Camden councils in north London announced plans to share a chief executive, but it is understood there are no plans to move to a formal merger.LondonLocal governmentSpending review 2010Public sector cutsPatrick Butlerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Snow and freezing weather continues: latest travel news Parts of Britain are shivering amid the coldest November temperatures for 25 years with snow and ice causing widespread disruption to airports, roads and railways. telegraph.co.uk |
Listing plan for ‘son of Lloyds’ THE Lloyds Banking Group is working on plans for a stock-market flotation of the chain of 600 branches it is being forced to sell by the European Commission. timesonline.co.uk |