Am I right that there are no councils with Con or Lab as even the largest party - all have either gone LibDem or Reform?

So on International Women’s Day, with ‘DEI’ under attack across the world, I reflect on how grateful I am for the progress that has been made. Turning back the clock can only be damaging for both women and men.

These benefits aren’t just for women - I have been privileged to spend more time with my daughter in her early years than previous generations of dads could have imagined (ok, a global pandemic was no picnic, but still).

- Name-blind cv screens and gender balanced interview panels
- (Like most of the UK civil service) a genuine commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion

So what has Ofgem got right?
- Hybrid working with minimum one day a week in the office
- Flexible working - many of my colleagues (including me) are on compressed hours working 9 in 10 or 4 in 5 days
- Offices in London, Glasgow and Cardiff without (too much) London-centrism

I’d say that, erm ‘mid-career’ is the point where you see women falling behind their male peers, with the greater share of caring responsibilities for young children and aging parents combined with very challenging work responsibilities.

I’m not saying that we aimed to have more women than men, but (on gender at least) equality has improved to the point where the odds of this happening are not vanishingly small

All eight are among the smartest, most hard working, knowledgeable and wise people I have ever worked with. We come from different backgrounds - from industry, the civil service and up through Ofgem’s ranks, and each has a unique perspective that helps the whole make better decisions.

Instead we’re proposing to introduce a variant of the price cap with a low or zero standing charge so that people who chose to can take greater control of their energy costs. This option won’t be right for everyone but we think it’s the best way forward to respond to the demand for change.

We’ve found that moving those costs to the unit rate will disproportionately raise bills for people who are already struggling with unavoidably high demand, including many of the most vulnerable in our society. So a blanket change is not the right answer.

This was earlier in the year but then permission was granted.. so sorry, no www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/borough-coun...

Also translates into the politics of Bedford Borough

You probably didn’t notice the huge and very expensive car park at the station - that tells you something about where all those people with high paying London jobs go - to the very pleasant villages