Tag: Department for Communities and Local Government

Time for local leaders to join new homes debate

new homes built by Ocean Housing Cornwall

The Government’s consultation over its proposed New Homes Bonus should spark some debate over how local authorities can lead housing development in their communities.

It’s a step on the road to providing new incentives to local authorities to deliver new housing that people of all ages need.

Ocean Housing Cornwall
New homes in Cornwall, delivered by Ocean Housing

This is welcome, and not least because it highlights one of the most glaring issues facing the country today: that there is not enough housing of any type to meet the needs of local communities.

Often, however, debate about the need for affordable housing loses out to objections about over-development. Any initiative that encourages local people to debate the benefits new housing can bring has to be a good thing.

It’s now up to local leaders to join the debate. I will follow it with interest and hope that many of them in the South West do.

Why transparency drive is no easy task

hanging light bulb

I’ve only just got around to looking at this in detail, but Number 10’s Transparency website has done a sterling job of making the workings of Government accessible to the public.

People can find out about departmental business plans, senior civil servants’ pay, what Ministers are doing and a raft of performance statistics.

If they had wanted, interested parties could have found out most of this information before.

But it would have taken a lot more effort and understanding of how to get around Government to achieve it.

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