Visitors to the website of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister can get an instant rundown on current thinking towards open government. A message reads: "FORBIDDEN. You cannot enter this site." A passing wag comments: "See you at Harrogate – unless they get me first …"
The ties that blind
CIH policy guru John Perry will have a special memento of his Harrogate innings when he moves to Nicaragua at the end of the year. It's a hardly-worn purple corporate tie dating back to the regime of former supremo Christine Laird.
Her edict that all platform speakers must sport the uniform was craftily subverted by Perry, who wore his own but had the purple one in his pocket. On the way back to the green room, he did a quick switcheroo and gained brownie points with his happily oblivious leaderene. Don't worry John, your secret is safe with me.
The swinging Anil Singh
As I packs the old basket and collar for yet another pilgrimage to the milk bars of Harrogate, news comes in that not all of the great and good of housing will be joining me.
Manningham Housing Association chief Anil Singh, for example, explains that he is going to play golf instead. For those of us interested in a different kind of swinging, there will always be the conference disco.
Delightful times for Red Ken
In what was great news for the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone is to become a first-time daddy at 56 with girlfriend, office manager Emma Beal.
Ken has remained characteristically tight-lipped about impending fatherhood, but sources inside the GLA say he is "delighted". Although detractors have criticised Red Ken's assertions that his figures for housing provision in the capital are way off the mark, I think we can all agree that his recent comments on household formation in London really were spot on.
"London's population is growing rapidly …" he was recently heard to report. Now we know why his figures mirror those published by the Office of National Statistics last week.
Shockingly quiet revelations
Hold the front page – house hunters rate peace and quiet as the most important factor when looking for a new home!
This week's award for "most useful survey" must surely go to mortgage lender the Alliance and Leicester, which bravely brought us this important factoid. But only 2% of the 4000 questioned said having good neighbours was an issue – just as long as they're quiet, obviously.
Coming up next week: first time housebuyers regard having a roof as the best means of keeping their furniture dry in bad weather.
A lesson for all of us
In a move that will soften the hardest of hearts, Islington council is putting the "care" back into "caretaker" by sending its 170 caretakers on a course run by Hackney College on how to mop properly.
Islington have defended the £3400 taxpayers must fork out for this kindness on the grounds that not only will the caretakers be taught how to suck eggs … oops, sorry … perform that tricky "figure of eight" mopping technique, but they also get to swot up on washing walls to avoid leaving streaky marks and how to climb a ladder properly. It would appear that dastardly "one foot, one rung" technique just doesn't cut it any more.
Source
Housing Today
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