VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
City leaders call for more support for coastal areas
10/03/2025 City leaders have called for a ‘comprehensive strategy’ to tackle disadvantages in coastal communities. |
Hull bids for UNESCO status
03/02/2025 Hull has set its sights on earning recognition as a UNESCO Creative City of Music. |
Regeneration: Reviving our town centres
21/01/2025 Rowenna Davis, associate partner at Global Future Foundation, sets out 12 principles for reviving our town centres. |
Rayner: Prescott was an inspiration to me
25/11/2024 Former secretary of state John Prescott who has died aged 86 ‘revived British cities and led the refurbishment of thousands of council homes', says Rayner. |
Councils invited to bid for nature funding
02/10/2024 Local authorities across the UK have been invited to apply for grants to improve access to nature and green spaces in urban areas. |
Call to fix ‘incomplete patchwork’ of devolution deals
13/05/2024 The next government must extend devolution to 85% of England to address an ‘incomplete patchwork of mismatched deals’, a think-tank has argued. |
Chancellor urged to provide funding certainty for urban transport
27/02/2024 Transport authorities have called on the Government to prioritise long-term funding certainty for public transport and active travel in city regions in next week’s Spring Budget. |
Million more public transport commuters needed, think-tank says
29/11/2023 The largest cities in Britain should aim to boost the number of public transport commuters by nearly one million to reduce congestion and pollution, a think-tank has said. |
Campaigners warn of ‘silent war’ on bus services
28/11/2023 Bus services have seen a dramatic decline over the past 15 years, with provision decreasing by more than 60% in 80 local authority areas, research reveals. |
Call for local income tax collection for biggest city regions
08/11/2023 More taxation powers, including the ability to keep a proportion of income tax, should be devolved to England’s three biggest city regions, a think-tank has argued. |
Funding boost for dilapidated Hull building
10/10/2023 A project to convert a vacant city centre building into ‘Grade A’ managed office space has been granted £1.5m. |
15 minute cities 'don't exist'
09/10/2023 Civil servants are battling to explain to ministers that concepts like ’15-minute cities’, said to restrict people’s ability to shop, ‘don’t really exist'. |
Recycled soil used to create Liverpool’s largest park
08/08/2023 Liverpool City Council has used recycled soil from a former landfill site to create one of the largest transformed urban green spaces in England. |
Oxford and Swindon top ‘good growth’ index
26/05/2023 Oxford and Swindon have come out top in a ranking of cities according to their residents’ economic wellbeing, with Bristol and Exeter following closely behind. |
Councils call for more powers to address climate crisis
11/05/2023 Government must provide more powers to councils and provide clarity, capacity and funding to address the climate crisis, a national cities network has urged. |
Boosting urban biodiversity with new innovations in green infrastructure
24/04/2023 Cities play a critical role in addressing biodiversity loss. Alexander Ilsink, Mobilane, looks at how to maximise the potential of green infrastructure. |
Eco-friendly gardeners should be offered council tax cut
20/04/2023 Residents who look after their gardens in an eco-friendly manner should be offered reduced council tax rates, researchers say. |
Empowering cities could bring £420m economic boost
23/03/2023 Bringing together employment and skills services in urban areas could result in a £420m boost to the national economy, according to local government leaders. |
How can we plan cities to work better for women?
07/03/2023 Aoife Hand, planner at Carter Jonas (Cambridge), argues that with gender-sensitive planning, cities can be much more inclusive. |
Council climate plans failing vulnerable people
06/03/2023 Most councils across Europe are failing to consider the needs of vulnerable people sufficiently when planning for climate change, according to a study. |
City leaders call for £100m boost to ‘cultural engagement’
07/02/2023 Cities with low ‘cultural engagement’ are more likely to be deprived, according to a new report. |
‘Hidden’ unemployment rates reveal deepening divides
31/01/2023 Nine out of 10 of the UK’s cities and towns with the highest hidden unemployment rates are in the North, new study reveals. |
Think tank calls for £14.5bn ‘city innovation zones’
14/12/2022 A think tank has called on the Government to invest £14.5bn to build ‘city innovation zones’ in Birmingham, Glasgow, and Manchester. |
Colchester and Reading join Key Cities network
21/11/2022 Colchester and Reading today announced that they have joined Key Cities, a network representing the UK’s urban areas, to help drive their economic growth. |
Cities require urgent rethink, study says
18/10/2022 Britain’s cities require urgent transformation, including more green spaces and public transport, if the country is to meet its net zero targets, study says. |
Local government ‘over-centralised’, think tanks say
02/09/2022 Local government is over-centralised, inefficient, and under-resourced and is harming the UK economy, a new report says. |
Index reveals high levels of inequality between UK cities
22/08/2022 The impact of the predicted recession is likely to be felt more in some cities than others, a new study of the economic resilience of UK cities has revealed. |
Boost cities to level up UK, think tank says
27/06/2022 Levelling up needs billions of pounds worth of investment in cities – a level of investment not currently being considered by policy makers, think tanks say. |
Creating a Green Infrastructure Masterplan
07/06/2022 William Eichler finds out how a new toolkit is helping local decision makers transform Birmingham city centre into a greener, safer and healthier place to live. |
Activating our high streets by rethinking housing models and embracing co-living
06/06/2022 Simon Bird argues that by finding different ways to live and activate spaces, we can create new communities and boost the vitality of our urban economies. |
Council launches consultation on £250m town centre plan
25/05/2022 Kirklees Council has launched a public consultation on the ‘cultural heart’ of its £250m, 10-year blueprint to transform Huddersfield town centre. |
Eight places given city status to mark Platinum Jubilee
20/05/2022 Eight locations have been awarded city status as part of the 2022 Platinum Jubilee celebrations. |
City planning should be based on ‘health first principle’
05/04/2022 The UK’s planning system should be reformed to follow a ‘health first principle’, according to a new report. |
City centres lose nearly a years’ worth of sales due to COVID-19
24/01/2022 Businesses in city and large town centres have lost more than a third (35%) of their potential takings due to COVID-19, think tank finds. |
List of 39 places applying for city status published
24/12/2021 The Government has published a list of the 39 places in the competition for city status. |
Cities should be central to ‘levelling up’ agenda, think tank says
18/11/2021 The Government should focus on investing in cities outside of London rather than spreading investment too thinly across small towns, think tank recommends. |
Southend to become a city in honour of Sir David Amess
19/10/2021 The Prime Minister has announced the Queen has granted Southend with city status to honour of Sir David Amess. |
How the 15-minute concept is key to tackling the climate crisis
14/10/2021 The concept of a 15-minute city, where everything you need is just a quarter of an hour away, could now be evolving into the ‘15-minute neighbourhood’. Dr Jose Hernandez? explains why. |
City of Culture 2025 longlist announced
08/10/2021 The Government today announced the eight places that have been longlisted for the prestigious UK City of Culture 2025 title. |
Dudley bids for city status
15/07/2021 Dudley Council will be putting forward a bid for city status as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations next year. |
Remote working sees major cities lose billions in spending, research warns
21/06/2021 Five of the UK’s largest cities could lose £322m a month in city centre spending if people work from home in the long-term, according to new analysis. |
Battle of the Smart Cities
04/05/2021 Piers Mulroney explores how the race to innovate, digitise and decarbonise is driving the mayoral elections in Birmingham and Manchester. |
Johnson announces £23.6m Truro Deal
07/04/2021 Truro has secured £23.6m from the Towns Fund to boost the local economy, create jobs and new homes. |
Key Cities group welcomes four new members
03/02/2021 Four more cities - Bath, Exeter, Lincoln and Wrexham - have joined the Key Cities group. |
Burnham calls for more Covid-19 support for English regions
12/05/2020 The Government has been urged to provide extra support for cities outside London to deal with the cost of easing lockdown restrictions. |
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Southern cities provide more jobs for low-skilled workers than in the North
07/03/2019 Employment opportunities are greater for low-skilled workers in southern English cities than those in the North or Midlands, a think tank has discovered. |
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British cities bear the brunt of austerity, think tank reveals
28/01/2019 A think tank has called for an end to local government austerity as it reveals that Whitehall cuts have hit cities twice as hard as the rest of Britain. |
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UK cities have 'more than recovered', says latest index
01/11/2018 Improving skills levels and new business formation have been the key long-term drivers of city growth since the financial crisis, according to analysts. |
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Whitehall 'neglecting' smaller cities and towns, report warns
03/10/2018 The Government’s focus on major cities ‘neglects’ the contribution that smaller cities, towns and communities can make to economic growth, according to study. |
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May announces £840m public transport investment
28/09/2018 Prime minister Theresa May has announced £840m investment in public transport links as part of the £1.7bn Transforming Cities Fund. |
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City leaders call on PM to take action on air pollution
28/08/2018 Leaders of the UK’s major cities have joined forces to urge Theresa May to take ‘tough and urgent’ action to deal with air pollution. |
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Support cities for a £200bn boost to the economy, says Key Cities
27/06/2018 Key cities could add a further £214bn to the economy over the next decade if the Government supports them to raise productivity to the national average, the Key Cities Group has said. |
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Think tank warns struggling high streets are 'too reliant on retail'
26/06/2018 City centres must swap shops for offices, housing and public space if they are to prosper, according to a leading think tank. |
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Cities must embrace technological change to prosper in future
18/06/2018 As we stand on the cusp of another age of automation, Andrew Carter says cities need to prepare and adapt to the coming changes to prosper in the future. |
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Tax-raising powers for mayors could help reduce health inequalities, report says
15/06/2018 A leading research group has called for cities to be given more powers to help improve public health. |
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Tough decisions needed to protect commercial heart of cities
11/04/2018 As urban centres change transform, the priority should be on protecting and expanding the commercial space in city centres, rather than encouraging more residential development, argues Andrew Carter. |
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City regions get £1.7bn funding boost to transform transport
20/11/2017 Prime minister Theresa May was today announcing major new government backing for UK research and development in industry and transport between cities. |
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Prosperous cities to be hit ‘hardest’ by Brexit, think tank says
27/07/2017 Relatively prosperous cities will be hardest hit by the 'economic shock' of Brexit, according to researchers. |
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Jobs boom in cities accompanied by low urban wages, report reveals
25/01/2016 Nearly a million new jobs have been created in British cities since 2010, but the average salary has decreased, according to a new report from Centre for Cities. |
