Accountability of town and parish councils

I discovered something disturbing about our local governance arrangements. I should have known, but I didn't and it surprised me. We can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman about the behaviour of a whole range of public authorities including fire and rescue authorities, national park authorities and a host of other public bodies whose decisions affect our lives.

You would think that you could complain to the local government ombudsman about the behaviour of all local councils. But you would be wrong. The ombudsman does not consider complaints about town or parish councils. So, should we be concerned? I think we should.

Town and Parish councils will soon be able to take a range of decisions that affect our lives - arguably they can already take such decisions. But they are soon to get a larger role in planning. It is all part of the governments 'localism' agenda. But woe betide you if you think decisions of your town or parish council have been taken inappropriately. You have no clear body of accountability to refer it to.

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Palm Oil production killing the planet

Bad trade and bad products are killing our planet. We have said this before on The Thin End. There is no better example than that of palm oil. It is used ubiquitously in so many products, and its production is a major factor destroying rainforests and threatening precious species.

Demand for palm oil is 'skyrocketing worldwide'. It is used in packaging and in so much of our snack foods, cookies, crackers, chocolate products, instant noodles, cereals, and doughnuts, and the list goes on.
Bad for the planet So, why is this so bad for the planet?

The oil is extracted from the fruit of the oil palms native to Africa. It is now grown primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia, but is also expanding across Central and West Africa and Latin America.

Palm oil production is now one of the world's leading causes of rainforest destruction, and this is impacting adversely some of the world's most culturally and biologically diverse ecosystems. Irreplaceable wildlife species like t…

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With inc…

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Maternal depression has been repeatedly linked with negative childhood outcomes, including increased psychopathology. Now, a new study shows that depression in mothers may impact on their children's stress levels, as well as their physical and mental well-being throughout life.

In the study, published in the journal Depression & Anxiety, the researchers followed 125 children from birth to 10 years.

At 10 years old, the mothers’ and children’s cortisol (CT) and secretory immunoglobulin (s-IgA)—markers of stress and the immune system (see below)—were measured, and mother-child interaction were observed.
Psychiatric assessment The mothers and children also had psychiatric diagnoses, and the children's externalising and internalising symptoms were reported.

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