Insight: Public Consultation + Political Engagement

Does anybody reading this use Salford Central Station to get into the city? I do. What an embarrassment, right?

It’s clear the government is keen to show progress on the devolution agenda ahead of next year’s expected general election. While Rishi Sunak’s five pledges are proving elusive, Michael Gove is trying to show that the government is still capable of doing at least something.

With data for Q1 2023 showing a slowdown in BTR growth nationally compared to the long-term average, does more need to be done to change the image of a sector often misunderstood by politicians?

Labour will "back the builders not blockers" by building more homes on Green Belt land and bringing back housing target, according to party leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Oh, how I miss the halcyon days of yore when all election results were counted overnight. Here are my top three takeaways on the early results across the North of England.

The support for renewables cuts across political lines, with more than three-quarters of Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat voters supporting solar, onshore wind, and offshore wind farms in their local area.

Six councils in Greater Manchester will be having 'all out' elections due to boundary changes. These are Bolton, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

Mayor Andy Burnham and the 10 council leaders hailed their new Trailblazer Deal as the most significant devolution settlement to the city region.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published its updated Action Plan aimed at reforming the planning process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.

Yes, I know that a YouGov poll puts Labour on 50% of the vote, but a number of factors will mean that we shouldn’t expect this to lead to a red tsunami in the region when voters go to the polls this spring.

Don’t be fooled by some of the headlines from yesterday’s Convention of the North. The real point of agreement was the role that clean energy technologies can play in powering the Northern economy.

The government’s pledge to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s is perhaps the only piece of policy preventing the shortage from spiralling out of control.

The cost-of-living crisis is affecting people much further up the income scale than previous squeezes on incomes.

Whether it’s the dramatic rise in energy prices or the extreme heat of two weeks ago, recent conversations show how dramatically the climate crisis has moved up the agenda.

Research by BECG suggests political battle lines are already being drawn when it comes to net zero.

A new survey by BECG suggests both the public and MPs remain unconvinced about levelling up.

Now the dust has settled following some dramatic local election results here in Greater Manchester, we can take some time to pick over what Leadership changes mean for city-region governance.

The pre-election period can be problematic for those looking to bring forward development.

Gone are the assumptions that online-only campaigns will bypass ‘hard-to-reach’ groups.

After several years of deadlock, political leaders across Lancashire are on the cusp of agreeing a bid calling for devolution of £5.6bn to the county.