Sharpening the commercial edge
The case for well-managed council commercial activity is one that needs to be defended if we want a mature and sustainable local state, argues Jonathan Werran.
LGiU report calls for a local government-led Building Back Better commission
16/06/2021 A local government-led Building Back Better commission should be part of a new place settlement after the pandemic, a new report from the LGiU think-tank has urged. |
Levelling up is 'meaningless' without devo, say Lords
20/05/2021 The Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda is meaningless without more devolution to councils and investment in local public services says a report from the House of Lords. |
Queen's Speech: Levelling up takes centre stage
11/05/2021 The Government’s levelling up agenda was at the forefront of today’s Queen’s Speech, but the role councils will play remains uncertain. |
Queen's Speech: No social care solution in sight
11/05/2021 The Queen’s Speech has said proposals on social care reform will be brought forward – but it fell short of a commitment to legislation in this Parliament. |
Queen's speech: PM's 'live local and prosper' promise
09/05/2021 Levelling up, boosting the economy and backing the NHS are set to be the priorities for Tuesday’s Queen’s speech. |
Devolution must focus on economy, says think-tank
06/05/2021 Devolution needs to focus on rebuilding the economy rather than local government reorganisation, a think-tank has claimed. |
Discrimination twice as high among ethnic minorities in local services
12/04/2021 People from ethnic minority backgrounds are twice as likely to face discrimination when using local services, new research has suggested. |
Public back more city devolution
09/04/2021 More than eight in ten people support more devolution to England’s largest cities, a new poll has revealed. |
Tear down devolution 'barriers,' APPG urges
09/03/2021 Powers should be devolved to councils before reorganisation takes place, a new report has concluded. |
West Yorkshire’s devolution deal signed into law
01/02/2021 The £38m ‘historic’ devolution deal for West Yorkshire has been signed into law. |
Labour announces ‘constitutional commission’ on devolution
21/12/2020 Leader Sir Keir Starmer said it will look at transferring more powers from Westminster to local leaders. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2020
16/12/2020 Although the dispute over council pay caused the most stir in the local government sector this year, the impact of dealing with the pandemic obviously dominated the headlines as well. |
Community-led skills devo should be the way forward
03/12/2020 A more comprehensive and community-led approach to devolution would enable skills strategies and local services to be joined up more effectively, says Charlotte Morgan. |
Sunak to re-write Green Book to level up the North
23/11/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce plans to re-write the Green Book in the spending review this week, as part of the Government’s commitment to levelling up. |
Ministers urged to 'double down on devolution'
17/11/2020 A new study has called for the creation of 'pop up parishes' and 'people's budgets' to give communities greater control over local services and assets. |
Combined authority expansion halted by ‘party politics’
09/11/2020 The expansion of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has stalled after leaders failed to reach an agreement. |
Councils call for devolution of National Citizen Service funding
06/11/2020 Only one in six eligible young people are taking part in the National Citizen Service (NCS), leading to calls for the Government to devolve its funding to local youth services instead. |
Khan calls for further devolution of adult education funding
28/10/2020 The mayor of London has urged the Government to devolve adult education funding to the capital or risk undermining its long-term recovery from the pandemic. |
Making a holistic case for devolution
28/10/2020 Penny Rinta-Suksi argues the Government needs to make a holistic case for devolution, and back it with legislation. |
Report calls for fundamental reform to local government funding
15/10/2020 The handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ‘dysfunctional relationship’ between central and local government, a report has argued today. |
'Hand power down to level up' report argues
09/10/2020 Power must be decentralised and rebalanced around the needs of local places if the Government’s aim if levelling up is to be met, a report has argued today. |
MPs to examine how Whitehall can ensure effective devolution
08/10/2020 A new inquiry examining how to improve the effectiveness of devolution in England has been launched by MPs. |
Councils calls for COBRA-style action to tackle youth unemployment
06/10/2020 Council leaders have called for a COBRA-style response to tackle youth unemployment and save a ‘lost generation’ of young people. |
‘Lack of direction’ putting levelling up agenda at risk, warns report
28/09/2020 A lack of strategy from the Government is the greatest barrier to levelling up the country, a new report has warned today. |
Tackle health and economic inequalities at local level, economists say
21/09/2020 A group of leading economists says that the Government’s ‘leveling up’ agenda should focus more on devolution and health and economic inequalities, and not just on big infrastructure projects. |
All West Yorkshire councils back devolution deal
11/09/2020 All five West Yorkshire councils and the Combined Authority have given their consent to a devolution deal for the region. |
Government should provide £500m arts resilience fund, says study
08/09/2020 The Government should devolve power over arts funding to councils and make a resilience fund available to support art and culture in local areas, report says. |
LEPs need capacity boost to improve delivery, research finds
07/09/2020 Local enterprise partnerships (LEP) would be better at delivering large-scale capital projects if they had more capacity, independent research for the Government has found. |
Scottish councils release blueprint for change
07/09/2020 A local government blueprint laying out the changes required to unlock councils’ full potential has been published by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) today. |
DCN: Bigger local government is ‘not better or cheaper’
01/09/2020 Proposals for county unitary councils would be 122 times larger than the average council in Germany, a new report by the District Councils’ Network (DCN) warns today. |
Three districts table Gloucestershire devolution proposals
27/08/2020 Three of Gloucestershire’s district councils have proposed creating two unitary authorities in the county. |
Call to scrap two-tier local government system in rural areas
04/08/2020 The ‘confusing' two-tier model of local government should be abolished and replaced with single unitary councils, a report has argued today. |
Over half of workforce in county areas 'at risk' due to pandemic
04/08/2020 Over half the workforce in England's county areas work in sectors ‘at risk’ due to the coronavirus crisis, research has warned today. |
Councillors in south east reject metro mayors, says poll
28/07/2020 Seven out of ten councillors in the South East of England are against plans for metro mayors, a poll has revealed. |
Reorganisation will deter potential councillors, report warns
24/07/2020 Local government unitary reorganisation will slash the number of councillors and deter many from standing for election, a report for the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned. |
Calls to devolve £5.2bn flood defences funding
14/07/2020 Councils have called for funding for flood defences to be devolved to local areas, after the Government announced its new long-term plan to tackle flooding in England. |
Sheffield devolution deal set to be passed by Parliament
29/06/2020 A new devolution deal for South Yorkshire will be laid before Parliament today, handing new powers and millions of pounds of funding to the region. |
Hand health powers to elected mayors, says report
23/06/2020 Health powers should be handed to elected mayors as part of a ‘rejuvenated and fortified wave of devolution,’ a think-tank report has suggested. |
Javid urges reorganisation and devolution post-COVID
23/06/2020 Council tax reform and local government reorganisation should both play a part in the post COVID economic recovery, former communities secretary Sajid Javid has said. |
Council chiefs call for devolution of skills investment
17/06/2020 Local authority leaders have said they will work with the Government to develop post-Covid economic recovery plans as figures reveal a fall in employment. |
A tipping point for town centres?
16/04/2020 Nigel Wilcock warns that many town centre businesses are now probably terminally damaged – and genuine change will be essential. |
NIC launches future of rail consultation
26/03/2020 The National Infrastructure Commission has launched a consultation on the future rail landscape of the North and the Midlands as part of the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. |
West Yorkshire devolution deal moves to next stage
25/03/2020 The West Yorkshire devolution deal has taken a step forward after receiving backing from Bradford Council and Kirklees Council. |
Leaving nothing to chance
12/03/2020 The ‘levelling-up’ Budget is era-defining and ambitious in scope – but we will have to wait until the summer Spending Review to understand the blueprint, says Localis’s Jonathan Werran. |
Budget 2020: Sunak reveals spending spree for first budget
11/03/2020 New chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a Budget to end austerity, boost productivity and tackle the problems created by coronavirus. |
Budget 2020: New West Yorkshire mayor announced
11/03/2020 A new directly-elected West Yorkshire mayor has been announced with the Government signing a new devolution deal amid plans to ‘level up’ the UK economy. |
Reorganisation fears overshadow devolution talks
10/03/2020 Concerns over local government reorganisation are marring devolution talks in the north-west. |
Former 'red wall' support devolution to tackle climate change
10/03/2020 Three-quarters of former ‘red wall’ seats believe councils need extra funding and powers to deal with the climate emergency, a new survey has revealed. |
MPs to examine current approach to devolution
09/03/2020 An inquiry looking into progress on devolution in England has been launched by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. |
Jenrick voices support for East Midlands Combined Authority plans
02/03/2020 District and borough councils in Leicestershire have announced they will be taking forward discussions about creating an East Midlands Combined Authority. |
Government urged to 'think big' to tackle regional inequalities
02/03/2020 A comprehensive review of economic decline and social division has called for a ‘large-scale, comprehensive, long-term and devolved’ plan of action to deliver change. |
Next London mayor must ‘forge’ new template for devolution
24/02/2020 London boroughs have called on the next mayor to ‘reset’ the relationship between central Government and Britain’s cities and counties. |
Think tank calls for ‘Devolution Parliament’
21/02/2020 A think tank has called for a ‘Devolution Parliament’ as it releases research showing that England has the worst regional inequalities in the developed world. |
Mayor calls for English Barnett Formula
21/02/2020 The Government should create an English version of the Barnett Formula to deliver fair funding outside of London, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said. |
Urban councils call for fiscal devolution to end ‘Whitehall hand-outs’
10/02/2020 Urban authorities have joined forces to urge the Government to devolve power to cities in order to support them in ‘levelling up’ growth across the country. |
Borough seeking unitary status sparks spending row
03/02/2020 A row over council spending has broken out between a county council and a borough authority that is seeking unitary status. |
Commission puts health devolution back on political agenda
03/02/2020 A new Commission calling for the devolution of health and social care services has been launched today. |
The price to pay
29/01/2020 If the Johnson Government values the institutions of mayoral governance as agents of levelling up, they will have to creatively fund and resource them, writes Localis chief executive Jonathan Werran. |
Ministers in Leeds to thrash out devo deal
28/01/2020 The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is meeting with ministers today to start thrashing out a devolution deal for the Leeds City Region. |
Boroughs in GP estate devolution call
24/01/2020 London Councils has called for more devolution to boroughs of decisions on the GP estate. |
Boost for Yorkshire leaders committee talks
15/01/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has agreed to talks on the role and functions of a new committee of leaders from across Yorkshire. |
NI council chiefs call for investment to ‘unlock potential of local government'
13/01/2020 Local authority leaders in Northern Ireland have welcomed the draft deal which is set to restore the executive at Stormont and have called for more devolution to the local level. |
Charity calls for devolution to end ‘nightmare rail journeys’
02/01/2020 A charity has called for a radical overhaul of the UK’s rail services including giving city authorities more control over the management of regional networks. |
Rough sleeping in Greater Manchester down by nearly 40%
18/12/2019 Mayor of Greater Manchester urges the Government to do more to help the homeless as figures reveal rough sleeping has fallen by 37% in one year. |
In a nutshell: What the election result means for local government
13/12/2019 With the Conservative party securing its biggest majority since the 1980s, what does this mean for local government? |
Devolution revolution expected after Johnson wins
13/12/2019 Local government was this morning expecting a devolution revolution after Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a sweeping election win. |
It’s party time
05/12/2019 Paul Marinko tries to help the sector navigate the web of policy commitments for local government on offer after 12 December. |
Labour pledges to restore council spending to 2010 levels
21/11/2019 Council spending powers will be restored to 2010 levels over the next five years, if Labour wins the General Election. |
Think tank calls for ‘devolution parliament’
20/11/2019 Think tank calls for the delivery of a ‘devolution parliament’ in order to address the economic, environmental and democratic challenges facing the UK. |
Calls for 'genuine devolution' by incoming Government
18/11/2019 The chairman of the County Councils Network has called on any new government to implement 'genuine devolution'. |
Think tank calls for ‘devolution evolution’
29/10/2019 A greater devolution of powers and funding would help tackle Britain’s geographical inequalities, a report has said today. |
Council chiefs call for an end to ‘patchwork’ of careers advice
29/10/2019 Local government leaders have called on Whitehall to hand funding and control of national skills schemes to local areas as they warn thousands of young people risk missing out on careers advice. |
Queen's Speech 19: Brexit, health and devo at the heart of Government plans
14/10/2019 Brexit, the NHS and devolution are at the heart of the next round of Government legislation as outlined in the first Queen’s Speech today. |
Queen's Speech 19: Devolution White Paper to set out 'structural reform'
14/10/2019 An English devolution White Paper is planned by the Government, it has been confirmed in the Queen’s Speech. |
Changing Tynes
03/10/2019 Heather Jameson talks to Jamie Driscoll, North of Tyne Mayor, about the main challenges facing the combined authority, the region’s devolution deal, and putting party politics to one side. |
Metro Mayors make case for further devolution
02/10/2019 A group of directly-elected regional mayors have called on Whitehall to devolve more powers and responsibilities to local areas. |
New group to lobby for further devolution to Northern Ireland councils
01/10/2019 A new group to lobby for greater resources and devolution for councils in Northern Ireland has been set up. |
Queen's speech: Time to 'reignite the devolution process'?
01/10/2019 The Local Government Association wants more power devolved to local councils, but there's a big question mark at the heart of the policy, says Mark Whitehead |
Javid promises devolution White Paper
30/09/2019 A new White Paper to more powers to local areas was announced in the Chancellor’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today. |
Core Cities' £28bn Shared Prosperity Fund warning
26/09/2019 The proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) must be worth at least £28bn over seven years if the UK is to deliver its devolved policy objectives, a leading sector body has warned. |
Council chiefs call for devolution process to be ‘reignited’
20/09/2019 The Government must 'reignite the devolution process' to give all parts of England more powers and funding, council leaders have demanded. |
Council chiefs call for control over bus services
16/09/2019 Councils must be allowed to control bus services in their areas, according to local government leaders. |
Whitehall commits to new wave of devolution deals across the Midlands
13/09/2019 The publication of a new Midlands Engine Strategy has been brought forward, signalling a commitment from Government for new devolution deals across the Midlands. |
Leaders in the North tell PM to back ‘genuine devolution’
13/09/2019 Northern leaders called on the prime minister to ‘stand on the side of genuine devolution’ as Mr Johnson pledged to give more power to people and businesses in the North. |
Spending Round 2019: Chancellor pledges £1.5bn 'down payment' for social care
04/09/2019 Councils will have access to £1.5bn of new funding for social care next year, the chancellor has announced. |
Adult education budget devolved to six combined authorities
01/08/2019 Six mayoral combined authorities and the GLA will be responsible for the adult education budget in their areas from today, the Government has announced. |
Drop ‘metro mayor’ devolution requirement, PM told
29/07/2019 County council leaders have called on Boris Johnson to ensure there is no mayoral requirement for a ‘full’ devolution deal. |
Local leaders propose new ‘One Yorkshire’ devolution deal
29/07/2019 Local leaders in Yorkshire have presented the PM with proposals to ‘urgently unlock’ the benefits of devolution by opening way to a single deal for the county. |
Rural councils call for end to 'systemic bias' in public finance
22/07/2019 The Government has been urged to end 'systemic bias' when allocating public funding by a new coalition of council chiefs and MPs. |
Council chiefs call for devolution to rural communities after Brexit
04/07/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to devolve more powers to rural areas in the event that Britain leaves the European Union. |
Devolution necessary for ‘rebalancing’ economy, report says
30/05/2019 Power must be devolved to a ‘comprehensive framework’ of mayoral and combined authorities and rural counties in order to rebalance the economy, report says. |
Healing the divisions through local economic power
16/05/2019 The nation is becoming increasingly divided, but a think tank report on Britain post-Brexit provides a positive vision for the future, says Mark Whitehead. |
Whitehall approves South Yorkshire devolution deal
10/05/2019 The Government has approved the South Yorkshire devolution deal, which will see £900m invested in the region. |
Whitehall warned not to ‘roll-back’ on devolution agenda
24/04/2019 Cornwall council has urged the Government not to ‘roll-back’ from the promise of greater devolution after Brexit. |
Whitehall slammed for ‘failing’ to help councils prepare for Brexit
03/04/2019 Council chiefs call for powers to be devolved from Brussels to councils post-Brexit after MPs warn of a lack of preparation for a possible exit from the EU. |
South Yorkshire devolution deadlock broken
25/03/2019 The years-long devolution stalemate in south Yorkshire has finally been resolved. |
Think tank suggests introduction of local income tax
21/03/2019 Local income tax would be the best option for fiscal devolution if the Government wanted to hand more powers to local authorities, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) argued today. |
Council leader calls for rethink of Yorkshire devolution deal
07/03/2019 The leader of Wakefield Council has called on local authorities in Yorkshire to start considering alternative devolution proposals. |
Business rates ‘shakeup’ must be properly managed, warn experts
28/02/2019 Finance experts have called on the Government to explain how changes to the business rates retention system next year will work. |
Council chiefs call for ‘power and control’ over funding after Brexit
27/02/2019 Leaving the EU risks exacerbating regional inequalities, but it also provides an opportunity to rethink the Government’s approach to regional funding. |
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.
