Over the festive season the media is full of reviews of the previous year, which morph into predictions for the coming year as the holiday progresses. Some revisit previous predictions and admit that their visions for the year were somewhat less than 20:20 (From our own correspondant is good for this).
Being a general election year means that there is plenty of talk about politics too, with a lot of talk about the potential for a hung parliament and the need for cuddling up to Nick Clegg. The other topic is obviously the economy, although that's not what gets discussed really. It all seems to be about the deficit and how to deal with it, as though that was the only thing that mattered.
The only safe prediction for 2010 would seem to be that there will be cuts in public spending. This need for cuts might be the thing that brings about some genuine devolution from Whitehall to local government. The question might then be will the devolution of cuts be matched by a devolution of power too? And then if local politicians get more power will they make good use of it?
We think these are interesting questions and that our work on innovation and 3rd sector relationships will become more relevant. Some councils will thrive in this period, other may struggle ...
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