Digital Transformation, AI and Local Government: The Case for Workforce Upskilling
The new LocalGov and Multiverse report explores how workforce upskilling is driving smarter, more efficient, and inclusive local government transformation.
Call to bolster powers of strategic authorities
30/01/2026 Strategic authorities require more freedoms and capacity to drive growth and reform, a think-tank has urged. |
Nearly half of parents are nervous about SEND system changes, poll reveals
29/01/2026 Almost 50% of parents are worried about approaching changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, research has found. |
Scottish councils face £1bn budget gap
29/01/2026 The cost of delivering services in Scotland is rising faster than available funding which ‘risks the financial sustainability’ of councils, auditors warn. |
Call for large-scale investment in neighbourhood recovery
28/01/2026 An organisation has called for a multi-billion-pound investment to support neighbourhood recovery. |
AI skills push aims to equip 10m workers by 2030
28/01/2026 The Government has launched an expansion of free AI training for workers, including local government employees, aiming to upskill 10 million people by 2030. |
£30m coastal resilience funding announced
28/01/2026 Councils are set to benefit from a £30m Government package aimed at helping communities adapt to accelerating coastal erosion and climate impacts. |
Children face ‘unprecedented’ mental health strain, research says
28/01/2026 Nearly 80% of parents are worried about their child’s mental health, a survey has revealed. |
Scottish social care undermined by ‘systemic underinvestment’
27/01/2026 Social care in Scotland is undermined by the ‘systemic underinvestment’ in prevention and early intervention delivered by social care services, report finds. |
Minister addresses council leaders on SEND reforms
26/01/2026 Minister leading reform of services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has been told councils need more powers and funding. |
Social housing provider secures £55m following funding freeze
26/01/2026 A social housing provider whose funding was frozen after being issued with a regulatory notice over the death of toddler Awaab Ishak has been granted £55m to deliver new homes. |
Welsh Government funding boost for councils
23/01/2026 The Welsh Government has confirmed it will make £112.8m in additional funding available to local government in its final budget for 2026-27. |
County councils warn of service cuts and redundancies
23/01/2026 Millions of people in England’s county areas could see cuts to services as Government funding is set to cover just 2p of every £1 in rising costs, CCN warns. |
Call for sustainable funding to back digital inclusion work
22/01/2026 Nearly 80% of councils say financial constraints are the greatest barrier to digital inclusion, research has found. |
Local cultural venues to benefit from £1.5bn boost
22/01/2026 An investment of £1.5bn is to be delivered by the Government to save over 1,000 local cultural venues. |
Stoke-on-Trent declares UK’s first heritage emergency
22/01/2026 Stoke-on-Trent has become the first city in the UK to declare a heritage emergency, warning that without urgent action historic sites could be lost forever. |
LGA: Councils best place to decarbonise housing
21/01/2026 Local authorities are best placed to lead the effort to decarbonise the country’s housing stock, the LGA says in response to the Warm Homes Plan announcement. |
Call for 'national fee model' for care support
19/01/2026 Care Forum Wales (CFW) has called for a ‘national fee model’ to end the ‘postcode lottery’ of care funding. |
Government unveils £200m SEND teacher training programme
16/01/2026 The Government has announced a £200m programme to expand training for teachers and education staff to better support pupils with SEND. |
LGA: Fair Pay Agreement ‘unworkable’ without council involvement
16/01/2026 The proposed adult social care Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) model is unworkable without adequate funding and meaningful local government involvement, LGA warns. |
Scottish islands challenge local growth funding cut
13/01/2026 Multiple local authorities in the Highlands and Islands area have challenged the Government’s decision not to allocate them any local growth funding. |
Districts remain in dark on funding
12/01/2026 Funding certainty lingers on for finance chiefs in district councils, despite the publication of the provisional local government finance settlement. |
Scottish regions awarded £140m to drive local growth
08/01/2026 Five Scottish regions are to receive £140m of Government funding to support local growth initiatives. |
South Cambs communities to benefit from £100k allotment funding
06/01/2026 Funding of over £100,000 has been approved by South Cambridgeshire District Council to support the improvement of local allotments. |
Crowborough Town Council backs £16k CCTV boost
06/01/2026 Crowborough Town Council plans to spend nearly £16,000 on CCTV improvements. |
Motor neurone disease patients dying before home adaptation grants approved
24/12/2025 Many people living with motor neurone disease (MND) are dying before essential grants to adapt their homes are approved, according to new research. |
LGA urges investment in 'vital' care leaver services
18/12/2025 The LGA has called for greater council funding to support care leavers following research which reveals that young people experience a ‘sharp decline’ in wellbeing after leaving care. |
Real-terms funding cuts for almost half of councils
18/12/2025 Almost half of councils will see funding fall in real terms under the local government finance settlement, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). |
Government announces funding boost for most deprived councils
18/12/2025 The Government has revealed details of its multi-year funding deal for local government that aims to shift funding to England’s most deprived areas. |
Public Health Grant 'must keep pace with inflation', LGA chair says
18/12/2025 Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor, chair of the LGA’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, has welcomed a multi-year funding settlement for the Public Health Grant but warned it must keep pace with inflation and rising demand to deliver on prevention and reduce pressure on health and social care. |
Tax referendum cap lifted for six councils
17/12/2025 The council tax referendum cap will be temporarily removed for six authorities, the Government has announced today as part of the provisional local government finance settlement. |
Councils to receive £19m to support 4,900 more households impacted by domestic abuse
16/12/2025 Councils are to receive a £19m funding boost from the Government to help deliver safe accommodation for those affected by domestic abuse. |
Revealed: Scottish communities awarded Pride in Place funding named
15/12/2025 The 14 Scottish communities in 12 local authorities receiving £20m each in Pride in Place funding have been named by the UK Government. |
Worcestershire CC plans to hike council tax by more than 5%
15/12/2025 Worcestershire County Council is set to apply to the Government for permission to raise its council tax above the 5% maximum limit. |
Councils to be handed free school money to deliver SEND places
12/12/2025 Councils will be given funding earmarked for the creation of free schools to deliver specialist places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Councils’ economic role worth over £100bn a year, research reveals
10/12/2025 Councils ‘drive forward prosperity’ across England by generating £117bn annually for local economies, research has found. |
Government announces £500m plan to improve youth services
10/12/2025 A £500m backed strategy to improve youth services over the next decade has been launched by the Government. |
Major EV chargepoint funding boost on the cards for Rotherham
08/12/2025 Rotherham Council is expected to greenlight an initiative designed to deliver up to 1,500 new electric vehicle (EV) charging points. |
Further evidence emerges around councils’ early years underspend
08/12/2025 Further evidence has emerged that councils are either holding back or diverting money that is earmarked for the early years sector. |
Three combined authorities receive £500,000 each to tackle educational inequality
08/12/2025 Three mayoral combined authorities are to receive £500,000 each to find ways locally to tackle inequality among children. |
Government announces £3bn funding for councils to improve bus services
05/12/2025 The Government has announced £3bn funding to support local authorities to improve bus services. |
Local voices must be heard, warns survey
04/12/2025 The public want councils to be better resourced but are concerned their views are not heard, according to the results of a new survey. |
London Councils invest £25m to combat homelessness and domestic abuse
04/12/2025 A £25m Pan-London Grants Programme has been rolled out by London Councils to help people experiencing homelessness and abuse. |
Government urged to fully fund recruitment of family hub SEND practitioners
04/12/2025 Government needs to ensure its call for councils to recruit dedicated special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) practitioners in family support hubs is fully funded, warns the Local Government Association (LGA). |
Doncaster gives green light to £57m airport loan
28/11/2025 City of Doncaster Council has approved a £57m borrowing measure to help reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport. |
Budget: Over 100 neighbourhood health centres to launch by 2030
26/11/2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that 120 of 250 new neighbourhood health centres will be operational by 2030. |
Budget: Mayors to get tourist tax power boost
26/11/2025 England’s regional mayors will soon have the power to introduce a levy on overnight stays in hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and holiday lets. |
WLGA: Provisional funding settlement ‘does not come close’
25/11/2025 Council leaders across Wales have warned that the provisional 2026-27 local government settlement ‘does not come close’ to matching financial pressures. |
Complex care needs drive up social care costs for young people
25/11/2025 The growing complexity of care and support needs have increased social care costs by almost a third in 2025, according to a new survey. |
Fair funding review labelled a 'sham'
21/11/2025 The fair funding review has been labelled a ‘sham’ by rural councils following its publication today. |
LGA: Councils face ‘huge pressures’ to deliver children’s services
20/11/2025 Over 80,000 children are being looked after by councils across England, figures have revealed. |
Call for interim funding for early support hubs
20/11/2025 A termination of funding could leave mental health support hubs vulnerable to closure, a youth organsiation has warned. |
Shifting local elections could save £200k, council argues
18/11/2025 Due to local government reorganisation plans, leaders of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Hyndburn Borough Council are pushing for the local elections next year to be postponed. |
Editor’s Comment: What local government wants from the Autumn Budget
17/11/2025 As councils face soaring pressures, the Autumn Budget Insights series outlines what local government leaders are calling on the Chancellor to deliver. |
Alexander urges Scottish Government to devolve to councils
14/11/2025 The Scottish Government must devolve funding and powers to councils to secure a ‘decent and prosperous' nation, Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander has said. |
SEND debt set to hit £18bn
14/11/2025 England’s councils have warned that the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is ‘on course for total collapse’ without urgent reform. |
EXCLUSIVE: Late funding changes may cost metropolitan councils £121m
12/11/2025 Late changes to the fair funding review around deprivation and population are expected to cost metropolitan local authorities £121m, finance experts say. |
Worcestershire warned over special educational needs spending
11/11/2025 Worcestershire CC has been handed a financial warning by auditors concerned its spending on children with special educational needs is ‘out of control'. |
Autumn Budget Insights: A chance to rebuild councils
11/11/2025 Mike Short, head of local government at UNISON, argues that the Autumn Statement is a chance to protect services and staff, and renew local government. |
Pride in Place programme to invest up to £5bn in local areas
11/11/2025 Up to £5bn will be given to 250 areas across the UK in the Government’s Pride in Place programme. |
Nearly 300,000 face severe homelessness, charity warns
10/11/2025 Landmark study shows nearly 300,000 households are now experiencing the worst forms of homelessness with many staying in temporary accommodation. |
Temporary accommodation funding freeze costs districts £268m a year
10/11/2025 A funding freeze on Government support for temporary accommodation is draining English district councils of £268m a year, fresh analysis has revealed. |
Fears Pride in Place sidelines rural areas
06/11/2025 Concerns have been raised that rural areas will miss out on the Pride in Place programme. |
LGA calls for public health budget boost
05/11/2025 Council leaders are urging the Government to make significant public health funding commitments in the Autumn Budget to help deliver ‘healthiest generation’. |
'We need urgent clarity on redundancies funding,' warn ICB leaders
04/11/2025 ICB leaders have warned the Government that clarity on £1bn funding for redundancies is urgently required to move NHS reforms forward. |
Councils lack confidence in Crisis and Resilience Fund
31/10/2025 A report has confirmed that 98% of councils do not think the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) will fulfil local needs. |
Fears over fair funding tax formula
30/10/2025 Proposals around council tax in the fair funding review could actually have a detrimental impact on more deprived areas of England, councils have warned. |
Autumn Budget Insights: Time to deliver for adult social care
30/10/2025 With demand rising, the Autumn Budget offers a critical chance to secure sustainable investment for adult social care, writes ADASS President Jess McGregor. |
London councils face ‘eye-watering’ £4bn funding gap
30/10/2025 London’s town halls are warning of 'inevitable' service cuts and growing financial crisis as new analysis reveals a £4bn funding gap. |
Late change to fair funding review expected
29/10/2025 Urban councils are expecting a ‘perverse' late change to proposed funding reform they fear would cost them hundreds of millions of pounds. |
Government lacks understanding of the value of hospices, NAO finds
29/10/2025 The DHSC and NHSE do not know how funding is used by hospices for palliative and end-of-life care due to a lack of central oversight, according to the NAO. |
MPs urge overhaul of developer levies
28/10/2025 The system for capturing developer contributions is failing communities, leaving vital public amenities like schools and GP surgeries underfunded, MPs say. |
Councils to fund half of increased labour costs under fair pay agreement
27/10/2025 Local authorities are projected to fund over half of increased labour costs passed on by providers as a result of the fair pay agreement for social care. |
Billions wasted on ‘chaotic’ asylum accommodation system
27/10/2025 The Home Affairs Committee has called for a major overhaul of the ‘failed, chaotic and expensive’ asylum accommodation system. |
Scottish councils demand £750m social care lifeline
24/10/2025 Scotland’s political leaders have been told they face a ‘defining moment’ for local services — with social care at the centre of a new call for action. |
EXCLUSIVE: Fair funding fightback
24/10/2025 An alliance of urban authorities is pressing the Government to change tack on the fair funding review. |
SEND Crisis: EHCP demand soars 250%, warns IPPR
22/10/2025 The UK’s system for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is ‘no longer fit for purpose’, according to a new IPPR report. |
National Wealth Fund to transform sector support
22/10/2025 A Treasury body created to boost economic growth through private investment and public funding has promised to work more closely with the sector. |
Autumn Budget Insights: SEND reform needed to break vicious cycle
20/10/2025 Darcey Snape of the IFS warns that without urgent SEND reform, councils face growing deficits and families risk being let down. |
LGA: Costs pushing many to financial brink
17/10/2025 Emergency government bailout agreements for councils are at risk of becoming ‘normalised’ as costs outstrip available resources and push many to the financial brink, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned ahead of the Budget. |
SOLACE: Funding fails to offset the years of lost cash, claims president
16/10/2025 Central government funding for regeneration is positive but ‘can only go so far in offsetting the long years of lost funding', Solace president Robin Tuddenham has claimed. |
England’s councils face poorest finances since 2010
16/10/2025 Local authorities in England are set to be poorer by the end of this parliament than they were in 2010, according the Institute for Government (IfG). |
Autumn Budget Insights: The local government balancing act
16/10/2025 Jonathan Werran, chief executive of Localis, explores how the Chancellor’s fiscal choices could shape local growth and investment for years to come. |
Reorganisation and fair funding will 'throw cards up in the air' on budgets
16/10/2025 The impact of reorganisation and the fair funding review will ‘throw all the cards up in the air' for councils trying to hit budget, sector expert has warned. |
Government pledges £80m to support children’s hospices
15/10/2025 Children’s and young people’s hospices in England will receive £80m over the next three years. |
Pride in Place: Breathing new life into neglected communities
14/10/2025 Emma Lloyd, Anthony Collins, explores the new Pride in Place Programme, which will invest £5bn to help local authorities revitalise overlooked areas. |
Autumn Budget Insights: Can reorganisation and finance move in step?
10/10/2025 The Autumn Budget is a test of whether the Government can align fiscal policy with local government reorganisation (LGR), says Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU. |
Council adopts AI platform to support local funding scheme
09/10/2025 An AI-powered tool is being used by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to help allocate the region’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds. |
Government unveils £84m homelessness package
09/10/2025 Thousands of people facing homelessness will receive urgent help this winter thanks to a new £84m Government funding package announced on World Homeless Day. |
EXCLUSIVE: Food waste new burdens assessment still not completed
09/10/2025 Whitehall has yet to complete a new burdens assessment for introducing separate food waste collections with six months until the policy has to be implemented. |
Hillingdon Council warns of £2m bill from Chagos arrivals
09/10/2025 Hillingdon Council has raised concerns over the financial impact of recent arrivals from the Chagos Islands. |
West Midlands mayor launches £40m social housing fund
09/10/2025 Mayor Richard Parker has announced a £40m Social Housing Accelerator Fund to fast-track the delivery of 1,000 new social homes across the West Midlands. |
UNISON: Councils on the brink as £4bn shortfall looms
09/10/2025 Councils are facing a £4bn funding black hole next year, leaving the most vulnerable paying the price for years of underfunding, warns UNISON. |
Minister announces £20m museum boost
08/10/2025 Local museums across England are set to benefit from a share of a £20m Government fund designed to revitalise civic museums and enhance community engagement. |
Councils face 10 house building hurdles, report says
06/10/2025 Rising costs, skills shortages, and complex regulation are among the key challenges faced by local authorities when it comes to delivering new houses. |
Fixing fragmented procurement to transform social housing
03/10/2025 Dan Germann, Durkan Regen, says by taking a longer-term approach to regenerating social housing, councils can maximise value from private sector partnerships. |
Cabinet backs ‘transformational’ new high school plans
30/09/2025 Northumberland County Council has approved the business case for a £50m high school development. |
£20m secured to restore historic Southport Pier
29/09/2025 Sefton Council has welcomed confirmation that the Government will provide full funding, estimated at around £20m, to restore the historic Southport Pier. |
Planning recruitment at risk as apprenticeship funding cuts bite
25/09/2025 Thirty-three organisations across planning, housing, nature, and energy are urging the Government to provide £7m to recruit and train apprentice planners. |
Bracknell Forest Council reveals ‘impossible’ funding gap
25/09/2025 Bracknell Forest Council could expect a budget gap of nearly £20m across the next three years. |
‘Pride in Place’: Councils empowered to drive high street regeneration
25/09/2025 The Government has unveiled a new initiative aimed at giving communities more control over the regeneration of struggling high streets and neighbourhoods. |
