We are witnessing a time of increasing innovation in local government. Across a range of fields, from finance to the environment, housing to banking, from cost saving to income generation, many authorities are generating fresh new ideas. And some of these are really pushing the envelope. The pressures towards innovation are well versed - a challenging financial settlement in CSR 07, the requirement for further efficiency gains, not to mention the effect of the credit crunch and rising prices. These factors are starting to bite hard on local government, and nothing focuses the mind like a pressured environment. The focus then turns to doing things differently - if that is possible - or even to doing different things, which may not have been tried before. Whenever such proposals arise, it always comes down to the same fundamental question: Does the council have the powers to undertake the proposed activity legally - and as a sub set of that question, what is the risk that the vires will be challenged?
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