Simple steps to improve cybersecurity
Sameer Dixit argues security is a weak point in councils' armour and outlines ways local authorities can anticipate and plan for cyberattacks.
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 public sector organisations can unlock the hidden value in their land, and why a new approach to construction could help boost the outcomes of the Government’s One Public Estate programme.
The December issue also considers why learnings from ancient cities could provide the key to promoting wellbeing in the modern built environment. It also contains a case study on how the London Borough of Westminster has provided high quality care for the elderly alongside a block of luxury apartments.
