Budget breakdown, Letwin review and Oxfordshire deals A vision for homes? Just a few weeks ago Theresa May dedicated what remains of her premiership to fixing the housing problem. A bold claim and one which she almost immediately passed to besieged Phillip Hammond to deliver in his Budget today. And Spreadsheet Phil has come up with an interesting package of measures, but is there any real substance here? The answer is not really. The Chancellor has announced a few new measures, repackaged a few older measures and carefully sought to break down the dominance of the big house builders […]

Today’s Budget has been billed as make or break for the Chancellor, and no one can deny that he is in a difficult spot. He’s become the target of the more avid Brexiteers for sounding a note of caution and amongst the public for failing to put austerity aside. Here is our Budget analysis. The politics has been fierce with ministers, civic servants and others using national platforms to beg for more investment, while behind the scenes there has been bitter infighting with re-writes still being finalised last night. So, what did we get? Well a surprisingly amusing speech at […]

  Chelgate Local is hosting a Breakfast Briefing on December 5 about Garden Towns and Villages at Essex County Cricket Club in Chelmsford. Come and have breakfast with senior Essex and Hertfordshire politicians and discuss current projects in Essex and Hertfordshire and hear their views on solving the housing crisis. Held in conjunction with Bidwells please reply to this email or contact [email protected] to find out more and reserve a place.   About Chelgate Local Chelgate Local offers a comprehensive range of strategic communications advice, planning PR, advocacy, consultation and engagement to support our clients as they move through the […]

  DCLG Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, has given 15 local planning authorities a deadline of 31st January 2018 Sajid Javid has today announced he will be formally intervening in “unacceptably slow” local authorities who are yet to adopt a local plan. Blasting local authorities who are lagging behind in adopting a local plan for development, the Communities Secretary said that his “patience has run out” and that the formal intervention process for non-compliant local authorities will begin. Speaking in Bristol this morning, Javid set out the need for sustainable housing development across the country and praised the majority of […]

Priti Vacant, Chancellor Faces Budget Rebellion, Javid Jostles for Budget Funding and Tweeting Theresa     Priti Vacant They say a week is a long time in politics. For the Conservative Member of Parliament for Witham however, time has flown Priti fast. The now former International Development Secretary was ordered to fly back immediately from Kenya from what was supposed to be three-country visit with International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. Patel’s ministerial career ended abruptly after a BBC investigation revealed that the MP had met with senior politicians while on a family holiday in Israel and discussed official departmental business. […]