Poll reveals low levels of trust in councillors
23/04/2024 Just over 40% of people in England trust their local councillors to work in the best interests of people in local areas, a new survey has revealed. |
Devon County Council’s long-serving leader steps down
18/04/2024 The leader of Devon County Council has said it is the ‘right time’ to leave the post after 15 years. |
Watchdog tells Falkirk to confront 'difficult decisions'
17/04/2024 Falkirk Council faces ‘difficult decisions’ to bridge a budget gap of tens of millions, according to Audit Scotland. |
Council to announce chief after capacity criticism
15/04/2024 East Devon DC is hoping to announce its new chief executive early next month after peers said senior level capacity was currently ‘limited’. |
LGA calls for powers to withhold members’ address
03/04/2024 Council leaders have repeated their call for legislation enabling councils to withhold councillors' home addresses amid fears of abuse and intimidation. |
'Business as usual' for Lancashire councillors despite resignations
02/04/2024 Councillors in Lancashire have insisted it will be ‘business as usual’ despite 20 resignations in protest at the leadership of the national Labour party. |
Officer-councillor tensions affecting outcomes, review finds
20/03/2024 Tensions between Teignbridge DC’s executive and senior leadership team are ‘inhibiting progress and damaging the council’s reputation,’ review warns. |
Oldham Council celebrates 175th birthday
14/03/2024 Oldham Council has celebrated the borough's 175th birthday at an event in the central library. |
Leader of cash-strapped Notts council to step down
12/03/2024 The leader of financially stricken Nottingham City Council has announced he is stepping down in May. |
Reading BC leader steps down
07/03/2024 The leader of Reading Borough Council has announced his intention to stand down ahead of the local elections in May. |
Prospective councillors told to campaign for MP
04/03/2024 Tory councillors in North Northamptonshire have been told they must do 30 sessions of canvassing if they want to stand in the upcoming local elections. |
Scottish Budget 'not good' for communities
28/02/2024 Next year’s Scottish Budget is ‘not good’ for communities, council leaders have said. |
Orkney names Scotland's youngest council leader
21/02/2024 Orkney Islands Council has appointed Cllr Heather Woodbridge as Scotland's youngest local authority leader. |
Officer-member relations ‘fractured’ at Wrexham
01/02/2024 Issues in Wrexham County Borough Council’s planning service mean it is hindered in fulfilling its role, an audit has found. |
Councillor quits Labour over its Israel-Gaza stance
31/01/2024 A Merton councillor has resigned from Labour over the party’s stance on the war in Gaza. |
LGA calls for powers to withhold councillors' address
10/01/2024 Monitoring officers should be allowed to withhold councillors’ home addresses from public registers to help tackle rising levels of abuse and hate, Smith Square has said. |
Eight Hastings councillors quit Labour
19/12/2023 Eight members of Hastings Borough Council, including its leader, have resigned from the Labour Party. |
'Unacceptable culture' at East Devon
19/12/2023 An auditor heard bullying allegations among evidence that ‘cultural issues’ at East Devon DC saw officers leave and members decide not to stand for re-election. |
Norfolk devolution schedule delayed
04/12/2023 Norfolk’s level 3 devolution deal is set to be pushed back to 2025. |
28 Durham councillors lost in proposed boundary change
04/12/2023 Changes proposed by the Local Government Boundary Commission (LGBC) would see the loss of 28 councillors in County Durham. |
LGA responds to councillor’s ceasefire email
21/11/2023 The LGA has spoken out after a councillor threatened to name locally elected members who did not sign up to support a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. |
Burnley councillors quit over Starmer’s position on Gaza
06/11/2023 Burnley Borough Council's leader and nine other councillors at the authority have left the Labour Party over Keir Starmer's stance on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. |
Labour’s 13-year Oxford reign ends after ninth resignation
30/10/2023 Labour has lost its majority on Oxford City Council after a ninth councillor resigned from the party over its stance on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. |
Starmer writes to councillors over Gaza comment
19/10/2023 Sir Keir Starmer has written to Labour councillors after a number of resignations following his comments on the conflict in Gaza. |
Welsh government urged to improve diversity in local politics
17/10/2023 Women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities are under-represented in Welsh local government, according to a new Senedd committee report. |
Labour councillors resign over Starmer’s Gaza comment
16/10/2023 Two Oxford City Council members have resigned from Labour in protest over Sir Keir Starmer's response to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. |
Dorset eyes cross-boundary devolution bid
09/10/2023 Dorset Council is looking beyond its borders for potential partners in a devolution deal bid. |
Gove attacks four-day week 'nonsense' in conference speech
03/10/2023 Local government secretary Michael Gove delivered a speech to the Conservative Party Conference light on new policies and laden with election slogans. |
Council leaders create roadmap for a Starmer government
26/09/2023 A plan for a future Labour administration to ‘reform public services and rebuild trust’ has been drawn out by local authority leaders. |
Two in five say officer-member relations are poor
01/08/2023 More than 40% of town hall staff and councillors believe officer-member relations are poor and hinder performance, a new study has found. |
Hastings' financial controls 'not fully developed'
31/07/2023 Senior Hastings BC councillors will be urged next week to ‘bring in and embed more stringent financial controls and accountability to urgently reduce spending’. |
Warning Birmingham equal pay bill could rise further
26/07/2023 Birmingham City Council’s mammoth equal pay bill could rise further if it fails to meet a tight deadline to fix the issue. |
Newcastle to consult on bringing housing in-house
25/07/2023 Newcastle City Council will consult on bringing its housing services back in-house. |
First asylum barge arrives
18/07/2023 A controversial barge for 500 asylum seekers today arrived at its mooring off the Dorset coast. |
Overton rejects breakaway Green group idea
10/07/2023 The re-elected leader of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) independents has rejected the idea of a breakaway Green group. |
More councillors feel at risk of abuse
06/07/2023 The number of local councillors who have reported feeling at risk in their role due to abuse and intimidation has increased in the last year, LGA finds. |
Majority of councils support return of virtual meetings
29/06/2023 Most councils would like to be able to reintroduce virtual meetings to support the recruitment and retention of councillors, a new survey has revealed. |
Kent to vote on devolution deal
27/06/2023 Kent CC councillors will vote this week on plans for a devolution deal in a bid to secure more power and resources for the area. |
Gove to pursue council boycott ban
19/06/2023 Legislation aimed at preventing councils from launching their own boycotts has been introduced to Parliament. |
Council chiefs named in King's Birthday Honours
19/06/2023 Council officers and members were among those to be named on the King’s Birthday Honours list this year. |
Progress on devolution 'too slow' - LGA vice-president
16/06/2023 A Local Government Association vice-president has expressed ‘serious concerns about the Government’s increasing desire to centralise local service delivery across England out of Whitehall’. |
Court case looms after election blunder
16/05/2023 A councillor who gained the most votes at a recent election faces a court case for her seat after a blunder led officials to announce the wrong winner. |
Big losses for Conservative councils
09/05/2023 The Conservatives have lost seats in the North, South and Midlands, with Labour and the Lib Dems scooping up victories. |
Councils better placed to deliver welfare than DWP, leaders claim
26/04/2023 Sector representatives were brought before the Work and Pensions Committee to hear their experiences of delivering the Household Support Fund. |
London borough to scrap ‘golden goodbye’ payments
28/03/2023 The London borough of Southwark has agreed to scrap controversial ‘golden goodbye’ payments to councillors. |
Braintree DC criticises councillor’s ‘sex flags’ comment
17/03/2023 Braintree District Council has criticised one of its members after she made disparaging remarks about LGBTQ+ Pride flags. |
Council raises safety fears after Clarkson Farm row
15/03/2023 Oxfordshire council has imposed ‘safety precautions’ after death threats were made to councillors who oppose extension of a car park at Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. |
North Yorkshire Council chair appointed after predecessor’s death
23/02/2023 A new chair has been appointed to head the soon-to-be launched North Yorkshire Council after the death of the former chair Cllr Margaret Atkinson. |
Auditor sounded alarm over BCP budget
15/02/2023 Grave warnings were issued about 11th hour changes to BCP Council’s budget before frustrated leader Drew Mellor resigned, it has emerged. |
Brown to ask Government to bypass referendum limit
05/01/2023 The chief executive of troubled Slough Council is preparing to ask the Government for permission to increase council tax above the 5% legal limit. |
Solihull Council leader ‘stunned’ after death of three boys
12/12/2022 The leader of Solihull Council has offered his condolences to the family and friends of three boys who have died after falling into a local lake. |
Toolkit to combat abuse of councillors launched
01/12/2022 A new toolkit to help combat abuse of councillors was launched yesterday by the Local Government Association (LGA). |
Interim chief given role permanently
23/11/2022 Swansea City & CC has appointed its interim chief executive on a permanent basis. |
Glasgow strikes equal pay deal
10/11/2022 Glasgow City Council has struck a deal with groups representing around 19,000 current and former employees making equal pay claims, ending a long-running dispute. |
Council leader of the year announced
21/10/2022 Cllr Teresa O'Neill, leader of the London Borough of Bexley, was yesterday named leader of the year at a national awards ceremony in Bath. |
Long-buried report reveals 'organisational dysfunction'
03/10/2022 ‘Organisational dysfunction at the most senior level’ of Croydon LBC has been laid bare in a long-buried report leaked to The MJ. |
Councillor ‘permanently expelled’ for racist retweets
16/09/2022 A councillor from Stockport Council has been permanently expelled from the Conservative Party for sharing offensive tweets. |
Liverpool to lose five councillors in boundary shake-up
08/09/2022 Liverpool is set to lose five councillors as the boundary commission redraws the political map. |
Majority of lead members call for delay to social care reforms
05/08/2022 The majority of senior councillors are worried social care reforms will make council services worse rather than better, according to the results of a new survey. |
Peers highlight lack of progress improving 'flawed' Act
11/07/2022 Little progress has been made in addressing the lack of coordination between the licensing and planning systems, a House of Lords committee has reported. |
Seven in 10 councillors face abuse, survey reveals
30/06/2022 Council leaders are calling for a change in legislation to allow councillors to withhold their personal addresses as evidence of abuse and intimidation grows. |
Local government needs to measure for citizen and employee experience
27/06/2022 Christina Butterfield outlines how citizens and employees can be engaged and have positive and streamlined experiences. |
Virtual meetings ‘vital part of local democracy’, council chiefs say
20/06/2022 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to allow councils to hold virtual and hybrid council meetings. |
Warning over second s114 at troubled council
08/06/2022 Conservative-run Northumberland Council may be hit by a second section 114, a senior officer has admitted. |
Councils urged to draw on crisis management skills
24/05/2022 Scotland’s councils should draw on their COVID-19 experiences when handling the new challenges posed by service backlogs and rising inflation, watchdog says. |
Councillors back move to hybrid model of council meetings
19/05/2022 Over two-thirds of councillors believe a permanent move to a hybrid model of both online and in-person council meetings would improve the diversity of local councils, according to a new survey. |
Hundreds of councillors reject Rwanda asylum plans
21/04/2022 Local councillors across the country have come together to reject government plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘public intimidation’ ahead of polls
22/03/2022 Local authority leaders have urged residents to engage in ‘positive, constructive debates’ during the build up to the local elections in May. |
Ministers fail to act on calls to beef up standards
18/03/2022 The Government has been accused of ‘willfully looking the other way’ on standards after failing to act on recommendations to beef up sanctions. |
Councillors complain of lack of powers
07/03/2022 More than two out of three (68%) councillors in England feel they lack sufficient powers to represent the needs of their communities, a survey today by the Electoral Reform Society campaign group has found. |
Study finds councillors do more voluntary work than MPs and civil servants
04/03/2022 Local councillors do more voluntary work and are more engaged with charities than other policymakers, according to new research. |
The case for the defence
10/02/2022 Colin Copus says councillors have long been the target for negative and unfair views about the job they do. He hopes his book will help foster more insight and understanding about their important role. |
Call to pay councillors the Real Living Wage
10/01/2022 Cosla has called for councillors to be paid the Real Living Wage of £9.90 per hour as a minimum. |
Royal recognition for local government figures
04/01/2022 Senior figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) have received awards in the Queen’s New Year Honours. |
Government urged to allow remote council meetings
10/12/2021 Council leaders have urged the government to rethink the rules to allow remote council meetings. |
Councillors of the year are named
02/12/2021 Camden Council’s leader, Cllr Georgia Gould, has won Leader of the Year at this year’s 2021 Cllr Awards. |
Council leader resigns following abuse and threats
12/11/2021 The leader and deputy leader of Maldon District Council have both resigned after reporting staff were receiving threats of abuse following a chaotic council meeting. |
Powys' savings off target
01/11/2021 Powys CC’s savings plans are 22% off target more than halfway through the financial year, senior councillors have been warned. |
Slough approves asset fire sale
21/09/2021 Crisis-hit Slough Council has approved plans to flog around £600m worth of assets as it battles to get its finances under control. |
No gender equality in local councils until 2077 data reveals
08/09/2021 Only 35% of councillors across England are women - which is less than a 1% increase since the 2019 elections - new data has revealed. |
Call to make virtual councils meetings permanent
01/07/2021 Councils should be given the freedom to hold remote meetings permanently in the future, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has argued. |
Councillors back call for social care priority in Government
25/06/2021 More than nine in 10 councillors have called on the Government to give greater priority and funding to social care, according to a new poll. |
Councillors receive 'profound' apology for bullying allegations
05/05/2021 Attleborough Town Council has issued a 'profound and unreserved' apology to two councillors that were falsely accused of bullying and harassment. |
Only a third of local election candidates are women
04/05/2021 New research has shown that only a third of candidates in the English local elections are women, leading to concerns about a lack of gender equality in local government. |
Scotland has some of least local councils in Europe, says campaign group
04/05/2021 Scotland has some of the least local councils in Europe and is lagging behind England in terms of voter representation per councillor, new research has found. |
Local councils complain about poor banking services
30/04/2021 The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has warned it has received a groundswell of complaints about poor banking services across England. |
Council housing chief resigns after anonymous Twitter account was exposed
18/02/2021 The cabinet member for housing at Southwark Council has resigned after it emerged he was not 'transparent' about a Twitter account he managed. |
Councillors warn standardised collections will result in waste and recycling charges
09/02/2021 Residents may be forced to carry the cost of introducing standardised waste and recycling collections in England, a survey of local councillors has warned. |
Councillors urged to become 'cancer champions'
04/02/2021 A network of Councillor Cancer Champions teams have been launched to help local communities stay healthy. |
Former councillor jailed for electoral fraud
21/01/2021 A former councillor has been jailed and ordered to pay Redbridge Council more than £28,000 after committing electoral fraud. |
Coventry's leaders condemn violence in America
08/01/2021 Coventry City Council and its opposition party have distanced themselves from a tweet by an independent councillor, voicing support for Donald Trump. |
Leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council suspended for seven months
05/01/2021 The leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council has been suspended for seven months after he breached its code of conduct. |
A third of councillors ‘not confident’ about meeting net zero targets
14/12/2020 One in three councillors are not confident their council can meet net zero targets, a new poll has found. |
Thousands of councillors call for rethink on planning reforms
10/12/2020 Over 2,000 councillors have called on the Government to rethink its planning proposals, warning the changes will lead to an ‘unacceptable loss’ of local democracy and scrutiny. |
Councillors of the year revealed
27/11/2020 Cllr Tom Beattie of Corby Borough Council has been named council leader of the year in the 2020 Cllr Awards. |
Luton Council unable to take action against councillors breaching lockdown rules
13/10/2020 Luton council has expressed its ‘disappointment’ after it was unable to formally sanction three councillors who broke coronavirus lockdown rules in July. |
BCP Council leader announces ‘cabinet plus’
07/10/2020 The leader of BCP Council has announced a ‘cabinet plus’ approach to decision-making and policy development for the local authority. |
Northumberland County Council appoints new leadership
24/09/2020 Cllr Glen Sanderson has been voted in as the new leader of Northumberland County Council, after the former leader lost a vote of no confidence. |
Croydon would have issued s114 'in normal circumstances'
17/09/2020 Croydon LBC’s £49m total net forecast general fund overspend means it would have had to have issued a Section 114 notice in ‘normal circumstances,’ senior councillors have heard. |
Sector surprise at COVID marshal scheme
09/09/2020 Local government has been blindsided by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that an army of COVID marshals will enforce tough new rules. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.