Francis Maude presses ahead with plan for co-operatives

Today's Guardian reports that Francis Maude has encouraged public sector workers to transform many services into "John Lewis-style" co-operatives.

Although this does not represent denationalisation in itself, it is likely to spark concerns over the extent to which public services would remain state-owned.

As I reported in an earlier post on this blog, The Preston Labour Party have already expressed concerns about the clandestine demutualisation of public co-operatives under the Coalition.

Lancashire County Council jobs under threat

The LEP reports that up to 6,000 jobs at Lancashire County Council could be lost as central government cuts local government funding. £180 million needs to be saved within three years.

Message from Ed Miliband, and more on LEPs

Ed Miliband has issued a message to the Preston Labour Party.

Among his concerns is the scrapping of the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA).  See my below post for more background on this.

A BBC blog post from Martyn Oates from 29/10/10 suggests that one major difference between the RDAs and the new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) is that the latter will receive no government funding.

Other BBC articles here and here shed further light on the convoluted process by which LEPs are being created. It seems they will be more numerous than the RDAs, but their exact constitution is still the subject of much debate.