1st edition of Thomas Erskine May’s book “A Treatise upon the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament”. (Copyright on the 1st edition has expired).
An electronic copy of the text of Erskine May, the book which contains the rules under which which Parliament functions, has today been released by pro-democracy and pro-transparancy hackers.
The book, edited [...]
Cambridge City Council Chamber
I observed Cambridge City Council’s full council meeting on Thursday the 20th of October 2011. The following oral questions were answered:
Q1 Costs of Police and Crime Commissioner Elections
From Leader of the Labour opposition Cllr Herbert to the Leader of the council, Liberal Democrat Cllr Reid :
What will the extra cost [...]
At their meeting on Tuesday the 18th of October 2011 Cambridgeshire County Council approved the recommendations of a report from an independent panel which proposed an increase in councillors basic allowances from £7,610 to £9,500, as well as increases in the additional allowances for the leader of the council and cabinet members. The leader will [...]
North Cambridge Neighbourhood Profile September 2011
I observed the setting of the North Cambridge police priorities on the 22nd of September 2011.
The bail hostel at 222 Victoria Road and the traveller site on Fen Road were identified as the root sources of criminality in the area and the police were asked to focus their [...]
Julian Huppert MP at the Maypole Pub
On Friday evening Cambridge’s MP Julian Huppert spent a couple of hours in the upstairs room of the Maypole pub fielding questions and talking to people. I think this was absolutely brilliant and it was great to see our MP openly engaging with people at a free, informal, event [...]
A Cambridgeshire Police Constable in Cambridge
On the 25th of August 2011 during the policing section of the West Central Area committee I took the opportunity to draw councillors’ attention to the expansion in the range of offences which Cambridgeshire Police consider can now be dealt with, outside of court, through “restorative justice”. I also pointed [...]
View of Jesus Green including Cantrill’s Mushrooms and the Jesus Lock Bridge.
At Cambridge City Council’s West Central Area Committee on the 25th of August 2011 I used the open forum section to ask if the proposed joint bid to the national lottery from the council and the Jesus Green association for works on Jesus Green [...]
Cambridge Guildhall (Library Image: These Doors Were Open for Thursday’s Meeting)
I observed, and took part in, a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s full council on Thursday the 21st of July 2011.
Preliminaries
The front doors of the Guildhall were open when I arrived and it was possible to walk straight in. This is a [...]
CPPF Localism and Planning Event
On the evening on the 14th of July 2011 I attended an event run by Cambridge Past Present and Future on localism and planning.
The focus was on the Localism Bill.
The key points I took away were:
The “Neighbourhood planning” provisions in the Localism Bill are democratic in relation to areas [...]
CBbid Logo.
In February 2010 I wrote about Cambridge’s City Centre management organisation, Love Cambridge, considering raising taxes. On Friday the 15th of July 2011 Love Cambridge took some more steps towards levying a tax by sending out a survey to business rate payers in the city, asking what they’d like to see money raised [...]