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5 articles
Private Finance Initiative contracts signed decades ago are still taking money out of council budgets. The least councils can do is publish a full, readable PFI liability register before the next budget is set.
Every council in Britain holds a record of empty homes, council tax exemptions and long-term vacant property. Too often that record sits unpublished while the housing waiting list grows. This is a campaign argument and a practical template for turning the empty homes ledger into a demand for refurbishment, compulsory purchase or community use.
Lobbying registers are meant to make influence visible before decisions are taken. Too often they are late, thin or missing altogether, and the gaps line up with planning and procurement choices. This is a field guide to reading the silence, cross-referencing entries, and demanding a standard that puts influence on the record.
Procurement is not back-office housekeeping. It is where a council's climate pledges, outsourcing habits and fossil-fuel links become legally binding. The contract register is the document that lets residents test the gap between the two.
Ministers will arrive at COP31 in Türkiye with a well-rehearsed story about British climate leadership. The credibility test is not in the negotiating hall: it is in planning committee votes, retrofit budget lines, North Sea licences and shrinking council climate teams. Here are five questions to put to your MP and council this month.