Universal Great Britain
- Thread starter AlexanderMBush
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I'll still probably throw a fit in here if it hits July and we have no news on the big decision
. I'm really not a patient person, I need to know stuff is happening, things are being discussed, decisions have been made.
Civil Servants are subject to election purdah rules, so there are very strict limits on what work they can do, they certainly can't proceed with anything that might be seen as politically advantageous to one party. You're right to say that they don't have a month off (it's actually closer to two months) but I speak from experience to say that a lot of tedious filing gets done, certainly was when I worked n the House of Commons during election times.
The point I'm making is that the government will not be able to approve Universal's planning application before the election or even before the summer recess. There is simply not enough time for the required steps in the process (assuming it will be via Special Development Order). No amount of money, no amount of wishful thinking can change that.
Those working in policy and other areas close to ministers do not get any time off when governments change hand, not in my experience anyway.
Purdah doesn’t necessarily stop civil servants from working and carrying out a previous administrations plans. Work carries on until those who are newly elected say stop if that’s what they wish. Major decision are postponed (not always) but the squirrels work away in the background.
I don’t think it’ll have have any material impact on the timeline personally.
Me neither, it certainly won't speed things up in any way. I suppose it does introduce a possible change in that the new government might decide that it doesn't wish to proceed with a Special Development Order, preferring that planning permission is processed, as usual, by the local authorities. But we won't know that until the new government is in place, and I don't think that will be clear until after the summer recess.
Alicia's point about a marathon not a sprint is absolutely right. Perhaps the main point we should focus on is that there has been essentially no opposition to Universal wanting to build a theme park in Bedford, and the timetable for the processes which need to take place before groundbreaking next year won't change that.
- Dec 27, 2023
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Agree with @rob@rar - purdah will absolutely get in the way. However, trivial effect on timeline assuming Universal’s decision is sometime in June so this is a good result timing wise. Get election out the way and crack on
Purdah doesn’t get in the way of nationally significant projects or any major government work that is currently on going, it doesn’t mean work stops. It means civil servants have to remain impartial, ministers still do their jobs.
If that was the case everything would stop because someone could say it was giving a specific party or candidate an advantage and my work definitely doesn’t stop.
Sorry this is getting way off-topic, but Ministers also have to observe purdah (or what is now called Pre-election period of sensitivity). I used to have a lot of contact with Ministerial private offices in the Department for Education and things do absolutely slow down during elections, not least because Ministers, other than a few Duty Ministers, are all off campaigning.
Without giving away where I specifically work we’ll have to agree to disagree, but that’s not my experience at all.
- Jun 5, 2023
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it is going to be a long 7 years for everyone here ,,,
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I actually think it does, Tomfoolery only posts facts! and there's three commas for extra emphasis, he normally only puts two as his sign off... or I'm reading too much into it and need to go get a hobby that doesn't involve stalking internet bombshell droppers.
They can continue, but they cannot announce new policy during/before an election.
We keep having this conversation. I'm amazed by how optimistic some folk are on the speed at which this will happen. I'm not expecting to hear anything official from Government for months.
I'm with Alton and Della here, I think tomfoolery's comment means it's going ahead, but then I'm an unabashed optimist... But it certainly is exciting, and I'm sure we'll have a fun 7 years together.
I think we can say 'for definite' when NBCUniversal take the decision to go ahead with the project, and when planning permission has been granted in some way or another. Until those decisions have been made there's always a chance that things might grind to a halt or be overtaken by events. But I do think we're up at 95% likely to go ahead given the willingness, welcome and investment already made in the project by all of the interested parties. I think we're in the territory of "unknown unknowns" (to quote Donald Rumsfeld) being the only things that could stop the project at this stage. Something completely left field that nobody expects or has foreseen. All of the obvious challenges and the "known unknowns" seem to have been considered and the project still moves forward.
