Coalition Government throws local control over building standards onto its Bonfire of regulations

As a result of the Coalition government’s bonfire of regulations, earlier this year Councils lost an important right to specify higher energy efficiency standards.

For a government committed to a localising agenda, this is odd.

The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee criticised this proposal last November, but the Coalition Government turned a deaf ear and went ahead with it.

This coincided with the Coalition government’s decision to wind down the Code for Sustainable Homes. Continue reading

Lies, damned lies & statistics – the #ConDem record on #NHS spending and staff numbers

Now the General Election is getting close, and the NHS is shaping up to be a big issue for voters, ConDems are tirelessly recycling claims that they have increased NHS funding and NHS staff.

These claims need unpicking, because they conceal the reality that after nearly 5 years of ConDem government, NHS finances are about to “hit the buffers” – according to the Chief Economist at the Health Foundation. Continue reading