Items

As I had insomnia last night then meetings all day, I'm not feeling up to coherent analysis. Instead, I recommend some items of note:

The Secret Diary of a Senior Civil Servant

Although I think this slightly over-eggs the horror of shaking up the civil service, which need not be an entirely bad thing, it's still scary. The piece also echoes a feeling at the local level too, that public sector employees are confused by policy making at random, worried both for their jobs and more widely for the future of the public sector, and generally low on morale.

A National Housing Federation report into the effect of the recession on housing need

Predictably, it concludes that the recession has increased the need for affordable housing and exacerbated existing problems in the market. Alarmingly, it is out of date as it was compiled in September 2009. The coalition government is doing exactly the opposite of its recommendations. It is not putting housing 'at the heart of efforts to achieve economic recovery', has slashed investment in affordable housing, and is dismantling the planning system.

I was also dismayed but not surprised to learn that squatters in effect have a more secure tenure than private renters.

It takes a court order to evict squatters. After the initial 6 months of an assured shorthold tenancy, tenants can be given notice at any time with no pretext.

Sometimes looking on the bright side is really quite a challenge.