What does local government hope to get from the Spending Review?
From a a multi-year funding settlement to fixing the social care crisis, William Eichler explores what local government is hoping to hear on Wednesday.
Commissioners to monitor Slough improvement plan
26/10/2021 Mismanagement and a dysfunctional culture contributed to Slough Council’s financial meltdown, two Government-ordered reviews have concluded. |
EXCLUSIVE: Employers dig in as they refuse to reopen pay talks
19/10/2021 Council employers have dug in to defend their ‘full and final’ pay offer despite warnings that months of disruption could lie ahead. |
Sunak urged to tackle backlogs in public services or face greater costs
19/10/2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak must swiftly invest in public services hit hardest by the pandemic or face much greater costs down the line, a report has warned. |
BREAKING: Slough becomes second council to issue Section 114 in a year
01/07/2021 Slough Council has become the second local authority in less than a year to issue a dreaded Section 114 notice. |
Councils urged to 'sharpen commercial edge'
15/06/2021 A new report has argued that allowing councils to sharpen their commercial edge will ‘unlock immense latent place potential’ and help ‘galvanise recovery’. |
Commissioners appointed at Liverpool City Council
10/06/2021 Surrey CC’s chief executive Joanna Killian will be part of the team of independent commissioners who will oversee improvements at Liverpool City Council, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today. |
Homelessness charity calls for Home Office rules to be scrapped
21/04/2021 Home Office rules ‘undermine’ efforts to end rough sleeping and should be ‘scrapped immediately,’ a charity has said. |
Grenfell director dismissed while on sick leave, tribunal hears
20/04/2021 A council director who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after working on the Grenfell Tower response was dismissed while on sick leave, an employment tribunal has heard. |
No simple north-south divide, says report
19/04/2021 There is no simple north-south divide, a new report by Legal and General (L&G) has argued. |
Councils to be given five years to spend Right to Buy receipts
22/03/2021 Councils will be given five years to spend receipts from Right to Buy sales as part of an overhaul of the key housing policy, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced. |
Landmark judgement brings rough sleeping clarity
11/03/2021 Councils have the legal powers to help people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) who are sleeping rough during the pandemic after a landmark judgement. |
Rough sleeping stats: 'We're still a long way from zero'
25/02/2021 The number of people sleeping rough in England was up by more than half on 2010 despite the Everyone In scheme, the latest annual snapshot has shown. |
Nottingham plans £100m asset sale
19/01/2021 The council has identified £100m of assets for sale as part of a plan to bring its finances under control. |
Councils asked to 'redouble efforts' on rough sleeping
08/01/2021 English councils have been asked to ‘redouble their efforts’ to help accommodate people sleeping rough, with the Government finding an additional £10m funding. |
Croydon issues Section 114 notice
10/11/2020 Crisis-hit Croydon LBC has issued a Section 114 notice after extra spending controls proved not to be enough. |
Crisis call for return of Everyone In
04/11/2020 The chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis has called for ring-fenced funding for councils to provide COVID-safe accommodation for anyone at risk of rough sleeping. |
Coronavirus leads to scrapping of three-year Spending Review
21/10/2020 Plans to create a three-year settlement for public spending have been abandoned as latest figures show the havoc coronavirus is wreaking on the public finances. |
Aberdeen named council of the year at MJ Awards
02/10/2020 Aberdeen City Council has been named Local Authority of the Year in The MJ’s first virtual local government awards. |
Hundreds of homeless lives saved by emergency accommodation, researchers find
25/09/2020 More funding and emergency legal changes are ‘critical’ so local authorities can continue to support people in safe and secure accommodation, the chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis has said. |
Leader of Northumberland Council is deposed
03/09/2020 The leader of a scandal-hit council compared to North Korea has been deposed after a vote of no confidence at a fiery meeting. |
Councils in talks over single workforce
03/09/2020 Havant BC and East Hampshire DC are in talks over creating a single flexible workforce. |
Hancock scraps Public Health England
17/08/2020 Ministers have been accused of making Public Health England (PHE) a scapegoat by scrapping the body for alleged failures in the testing and tracing of coronavirus. |
Councils urge extension for grants support scheme
03/08/2020 Fresh calls have been made for councils to be allowed to dole out to businesses the £1.6bn unspent from the Government’s small firms grant funds. |
MPs slate ministers over local government funding
23/07/2020 MPs have slated ministers for failing to give local government sufficient funding and urged them to ensure a 'clear and timely financial settlement’ in readiness for the next phase of the pandemic. |
Combined authority 'spending reserves like it's going out of fashion'
17/06/2020 Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s chief executive has expressed doubts about whether his region would be able to cope with a second wave of coronavirus infections. |
Luton forced into unavoidable cuts
17/06/2020 Luton BC’s boss has said the council has done all it can but has no other choice than to cut 365 jobs and frontline services. |
Councils call for clarity on local lockdowns
16/06/2020 Councils this week called for clarity on the legal powers they will have if they are forced to implement local coronavirus lockdowns. |
Councils back evictions ban in face of landlord criticism
15/06/2020 Councils have insisted police powers can still be used to evict perpetrators of domestic violence amid the evictions ban. |
Borough chief dies with Covid-19
29/05/2020 The chief executive of Swale BC, Mark Radford, has died after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, the council has announced. |
Community cohesion at 'all-time high' say council leaders
28/05/2020 Community cohesion is at an all-time high despite plummeting economic confidence during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey of local government chiefs and leaders. |
Councils given £300m and key tracking role
22/05/2020 Councils in England will be handed £300m by the Government as they are given a key role in driving forward testing and tracing. |
CIPFA: 17 years to work through council housing waiting list
04/05/2020 It could take up to 17 years to re-house individuals and families on the waiting list for council housing, data analysis by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has revealed. |
Town hall rich list branded 'inane and distasteful'
15/04/2020 Attempts to criticise local government salaries have been branded as ‘both inane and distasteful' by chief executives’ body Solace. |
Thousands of firms receive financial help from councils
14/04/2020 Almost 100,000 small businesses across the country have already been paid a share of more than £1bn to help support them through the coronavirus crisis, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said. |
Care providers in law change call
01/04/2020 Care providers have pleaded with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to change the law to boost staff numbers in the sector during the COVID-19 outbreak. |
Councils put at heart of coronavirus response
23/03/2020 Councils will be put at the heart of the response to coronavirus by delivering a national network of support to people at very high risk. |
Councils still being held back from building more homes finds report
07/01/2020 Local authorities are still being held back from providing more homes, a new report examining the future for council housing has argued. |
Recognition for chiefs in New Year Honours list
02/01/2020 Chief executives in Bradford, Harrogate, Leeds, and the chief executive officer of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy are among those to have been recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours. |
Review launched into handling of alleged misconduct of senior council officers
09/10/2019 A review into the way alleged misconduct by senior council officers is investigated has been launched. |
Caerphilly chief executive fired for ‘unlawful’ pay rises
04/10/2019 The chief executive of Caerphilly County Borough Council has been sacked after a six year suspension over ‘unlawful’ pay rises. |
Crime-fighting funds in scarce supply - survey
21/08/2019 Three out of four UK council chief executives and leaders do not have access to enough funding to tackle rising levels of violent youth crime, a survey has found. |
Universal Credit draining council resources
15/07/2019 Universal Credit (UC) is draining resources from councils, a new survey has found. |
Recognition for council pair in Queen's Birthday Honours
10/06/2019 The leader and former chief executive of a district council have both received awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. |
'We've broken the social contract with people'
05/06/2019 Former Society of Local Authority Chief Executives president Jo Miller is leaving her chief executive role at Doncaster MBC to take up a new local government post in New Zealand. She talks to Heather Jameson about her legacy. |
CEOs in local government the least trusted, research shows
05/06/2019 Top bosses in local and national government are the least trusted by their employees, according to new research. |
Government pays £15m to councils after business rate 'error'
03/06/2019 The Government may have to pay out up to £15m to councils after it made yet another error in its business rate pilot administration. |
Hopes for legislative backing behind new code
24/04/2019 An overhaul of financial management in councils could be enshrined in law, according to a consultation that stakeholders must respond to within days to influence. |
Concern over councils' ability to cope with polls
17/04/2019 Council chiefs have raised concerns with Government about the sector’s capacity to run EU elections so close on the heels of local polls. |
LGA urges chiefs to challenge children's services directors
03/04/2019 Chief executives should confront directors to ensure children’s services are well delivered, fresh guidance published by the Local Government Association (LGA) has suggested. |
Review finds lack of due diligence over council's commercial workspace project
21/03/2019 King’s Lynn & West Norfolk BC should ‘build on the lessons learned’ from the construction of a state-of-the-art commercial workspace, the council’s chief executive has said. |
Sector fumes over lack of pre-Brexit briefing
21/02/2019 Councils have threatened to walk away from Government attempts to engage with them on Brexit amid growing frustrations about the response to their concerns. |
Northamptonshire budget process a ‘rollercoaster’
07/02/2019 The chief executive of Northamptonshire CC said the council’s budget was prepared with the speed of a rollercoaster. |
Brokenshire gets Brexit breakdown from chiefs
31/01/2019 Chief executives have told communities secretary James Brokenshire Whitehall needs to be more joined up between departments and in its communications with councils over Brexit. |
Whitehall 'leadership' needed to help councils cope with financial pressures
15/01/2019 The Government must improve oversight and transparency over local authorities to ensure their financial sustainability, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. |
New Years Honours for Rotherham
29/12/2018 Rotherham MBC commissioner Mary Ney and director of children’s services Ian Thomas have both been recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s honours. |
Labour hits out at housing cash shift
12/11/2018 Labour has called for all areas to receive greater Government backing after Whitehall shifted the focus of its housing cash. |
Council's 'core offer' still leaves £33m deficit
05/11/2018 East Sussex CC’s chief executive Becky Shaw has laid out a ‘core offer’ that could risk the council’s ‘ability to meet statutory guidance and deadlines’. |
Ministry moves on Brexit
24/10/2018 Senior Marsham Street officials have stepped up their preparations for Brexit after complaints from frustrated councils that they were being shut out of the process. |
Crunch time for municipal bonds
23/08/2018 The struggling Municipal Bonds Agency has pleaded for councils to ‘pull behind us’ amid warnings it could run out of money before issuing a bond. |
Working homeless figures soar over five years
23/07/2018 The number of families described as ‘working homeless’ has soared over the past five years, housing charity Shelter has warned. |
Cheshire East chief executive quits after 15 month suspension
11/07/2018 A council chief executive who has been under investigation for more than a year has resigned. |
Hawthorne: Local industrial strategies could go same way as devolution
04/07/2018 Parts of the country could be left behind when Whitehall rolls out its local industrial strategies, a senior Local Government Association (LGA) figure has warned. |
Northern Irish councils call for further devolution
21/06/2018 The time is now right to extend the responsibilities of local government in Northern Ireland through greater devolution from Stormont, a new report said today. |
Local government figures celebrated in Queen's birthday honours
11/06/2018 The former interim chief executive of Birmingham City Council, Stella Manzie, has been made a Dame in the Queen’s birthday honours for services to local government. |
Northampton unitary plan falls
15/05/2018 The tight timeframe for reorganising local government across Northamptonshire claimed its first victim this week despite ministers’ decision to extend the consultation period. |
Fitzgerald resigns from Liverpool ahead of crunch meeting
14/05/2018 Liverpool City Council’s chief executive, Ged Fitzgerald, is understood to have resigned days before an independent panel was due to consider his future. |
Brokenshire announces Northamptonshire commissioners
09/05/2018 New local government secretary James Brokenshire has today announced the two commissioners appointed to help rescue troubled Northamptonshire CC. |
Cash-strapped Northants criticised for paying £900,000 to former CEO’s firm
23/03/2018 Northamptonshire CC has been criticised for paying over £900,000 to firm owned by Damon Lawrenson, who was then handed the role of interim chief executive. |
Javid orders review after second council payment error
20/03/2018 The Government has ordered a review after being forced to admit a second mistake in as many months in the way it calculates council payments. |
Hammond offers little respite for council finances
13/03/2018 Council finances were offered little respite in chancellor Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement today. |
Worcestershire chief executive passes away
05/03/2018 The chief executive of Worcestershire County Council passed away last week after 40 years in local government. |
Council called out on bullying and harassment
30/01/2018 Cheshire East Council has a bullying and harassment problem, the Local Government Association (LGA) has concluded. |
Inspectors sent in to probe Northamptonshire Council's finances
09/01/2018 Local government secretary Sajid Javid has ordered a best value inspection of Conservative-led Northamptonshire CC amid continuing concerns over its financial management and corporate governance. |
Chief executive suspended after elections review
27/11/2017 Newcastle-under-Lyme BC has suspended its chief executive and monitoring officer after an independent review into problems faced by voters at the General Election. |
Industrial Strategy snubs councils
27/11/2017 Business secretary Greg Clark has snubbed councils and empowered local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) in the Government’s long-awaited Industrial Strategy. |
Labour Party suspends Slough leader
03/11/2017 Slough BC’s leader has been suspended from the Labour Party, amid criticism over his choice of permanent chief executive. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
