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** Everyone's talking about MP donations
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FINANCIAL INTERESTS
** WhoFundsThem couldn't be more timely
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The UK Houses of Parliament at night
You may have seen in the news: stories about MPs receiving goods, holidays, tickets and other gifts from generous donors. A recent YouGov poll showed that a majority of us are uneasy about the concept of such donations and how they might influence MPs' behaviour.
That's why we're so glad to have trained up our wonderful team of volunteers to go through the data on Members' interests. When they've finished, that data will be easier to understand, and available to everyone on TheyWorkForYou. Read all about the kick-off of this project here ([link removed]) .
** What do we know about MPs’ financial interests?
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Meanwhile, we've done a deep dive into how MPs’ financial interests operate, and how they are perceived by the general public.
Should public opinion help direct the rules? Alex shares his takeaways in this post ([link removed]) , where you can also find a link to our full report.
CLIMATE ACTION AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
A terrace of Cottswold cottages with a stream running between them and the road.
** Cotswolds Council monitor their progress to Net Zero with Scorecards
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We chatted with Cllr Mike McKeown and learned how he'd come across the Council Climate Action Scorecards via a very modern route.
Also of interest was how the Scorecards have been integrated through the council's climate processes, from benchmarking to action planning. Discover more here ([link removed]) .
** Bracknell Forest Council are way ahead
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Another first for us: Bracknell Forest Council are not only welcoming the scrutiny brought by the Climate Action Scorecards; they are proactively publishing the answers to all questions on their own website ([link removed]) .
This means they are easy to access, both for the Climate Emergency UK scoring team, and the general public too — a wonderful example of complete transparency all round.
LGA conference
** See you at the LGA conference?
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Our sister company SocietyWorks ([link removed]) never misses the Local Government Association conference ([link removed]) — they're looking forward to meeting delegates and chatting about all things FixMyStreet Pro ([link removed]) , WasteWorks ([link removed]) , etc.
This year, we'll also be happy to demonstrate our climate-related tools such as CAPE ([link removed]) and Local Intelligence Hub ([link removed]) , and how they are useful for council staff. Julia will be there, and rumour has it she'll be appealing to your competitive streak with a little game, too.
** Read or watch — your choice
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If you've clicked through to read any of our blog posts, you might have noticed there's generally now a video at the top, as well as longer, more in-depth text.
If you'd like to see all our videos in one go, you can do that on this YouTube playlist ([link removed]) , or dare we suggest, on our newish TikTok channel ([link removed]) ? If Instagram's your bag, we've also been adding Reels ([link removed]) .
We know video isn't for everyone, so don't worry: we'll always keep the written posts too.
The mySociety team standing in front of wording that says "In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision"
** Do you appreciate the work we do?
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At mySociety we're very busy all the time, making democracy more accessible to everyone, and providing the tools to help people play an active part in society.
If you can help us out, please do head to our secure donate page ([link removed]) . Every contribution helps us to work harder and faster towards a better, more inclusive society. Thank you.
** What we're consuming
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* AccessInfo announced the winner of their award ([link removed]) and we're delighted to see that Eleanor Shaikh was shortlisted ([link removed]) . We wrote last year about Eleanor's use of WhatDoTheyKnow to help uncover the Post Office scandal ([link removed]) .
* An interesting piece ([link removed]) about using the US FOI Act to request information on Donald Trump's Scottish properties.
* Artist Freddie Yauner couldn't have done this ([link removed]) through WriteToThem - because you can only use it to contact your own MP. But we're glad he did it.
* Super appealing to the Lego-lovers ([link removed]) amongst mySociety's staff.
** Help us send you the emails you want to read
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We do a lot of different things here at mySociety, and we appreciate that not everyone will be interested in every single part of it.
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Image credits: Cotswold terrace - ** Stergios K ([link removed])
; Parliament in the dark - ** Thomas Kelley ([link removed])
; Bracknell statue - ** Alan Hunt ([link removed])
(** CC BY-SA 2.0 ([link removed])
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