Breaking down England's fiscal devolution plans
David Phillips of the IFS tells LocalGov why England's regional finance reforms are modest by global comparison and what ministers still need to get right.
Highways: Shouldering network burden
A £96M contract to install the technology that will allow hard shoulder running on parts of the motorway network around Birmingham has been awarded to Carillion.
With work expected to begin in the autumn, the hard shoulder will be open to traffic from late 2009.
The scheme involves two components – variable speed limits to help smooth the flow of traffic, and the controlled use of the hard shoulder to provide an extra lane of motorists at the busiest periods.
Last week, transport minister, Ruth Kelly, announced a £6bn investment programme to improve and make better use of motorways.
