In other words, when the going gets tough, and central government no longer has the money for programmes people have come to expect, they hand over the job of making the hard decisions about which get cut to local authorities. It's another example of the same sort of central government irresponsibility I posted about under 'Investing in Education', where central government shirks the task of telling students they really ought to be studying maths to A-Level,Alex Feakes wrote:More generally, the financing of local government is in the throes of change. Accompanying a reduction in central government grants to local authorities has been a relaxation of 'ring-fencing' of grants for specific purposes, with the intention of allowing more local determination of spending priorities.
and saddles a generation of students with debt who opt for ill-advised courses which offer poor values both to themselves and the rest of the country.Today Prgramme, 24 July wrote:0709
A new report by the Lords Science and Technology Committee suggests the UK must produce more high calibre science graduates to secure economic growth. The report recommends that maths should be compulsory for all students post 16 years-old, and want universities to toughen up their maths requirements for entry into Science, Technology and Engineering and Maths courses. The Liberal Democrat peer Lord Willis chairs the committee.
While I like the respectable liberal principle of people and organisations taking more responsibility for decisions, I think localism here is just smoke and mirrors to hide how local authorities are being set up to fail. And whatever time the crime takes place, George Osborne will not be there
