The chairman of the Environment Agency has called on local authorities to hold their nerve in spite of falling prices for recyclable materials and to go on investing in recycling. Lord Chris Smith said councils should take a long-term view and not abandon recycling services.

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Community leaders are being urged to look to the future and to build on the success of the New Deal for Communities programme over the past ten years. The programme is due to end in 2010 and the Government has published new guidance in an effort to ensure deprived communities continue to be improved after that date.

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By Kris Hibbert

An investigation into the barriers that limit the flow of people who serve as councillors found that politicians are generally not well respected, political parties are viewed with suspicion and councillors seen as out of touch. The Councillors Commission has come up with proposals to put this right. The author outlines the main proposals of the Commission and describes the different approaches that are being used to put them into action.

Read more on WANTED: UNUSUAL SUSPECTS…