10 ways councils can boost staff retention
Budget strain and heavy workloads are driving council staff away. Here are 10 simple changes that can make a big difference.
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. |
Councils hit by £266m temporary housing funding shortfall
25/09/2025 Councils face a soaring bill for temporary housing as the funding gap widens by 30% in a year, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Funding has ‘saved’ Birnbeck Pier restoration
19/09/2025 The restoration of Birnbeck pier is ‘full steam ahead’ after funding of over £5m is delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. |
Councils spend record £2.8bn on temporary housing
18/09/2025 The Government has released new figures showing that local councils in England spent £2.8bn on temporary accommodation for homeless households in 2024/25. |
Council leader calls for vital funding reforms
15/09/2025 The leader of Barnsley Council has highlighted the urgency of delivering funding reforms to Red Wall areas. |
‘Striking’ Ada Lovelace statue to be placed in Hinckley
12/09/2025 Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has confirmed plans to install an 8ft statue of famous mathematician and one of the world’s first computer programmers, Ada Lovelace. |
Billions spent on SEND – but is it paying off?
11/09/2025 Financial experts have warned there is almost no way to assess whether the billions spent on England’s SEND system represent value for money. |
Airport reopening ‘unanimously’ approved by leaders
10/09/2025 Funding of over £150m has been approved to support the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. |
Pier regeneration project ‘at jeopardy’ due to funding gap
09/09/2025 North Somerset Council has revealed that insufficient funding could see the Birnbeck Pier restoration project abandoned. |
Rural Somerset to benefit from EV infrastructure boost
04/09/2025 Somerset Council has been granted almost £4m to support the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charge points. |
Mayor voices support for airport reopening
02/09/2025 The mayor of South Yorkshire is advocating for the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. |
Overstretched schools need clearer roles, says union
02/09/2025 Education staff are carrying disproportionate responsibilities, according to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). |
Councils forgo over £50m second homes revenue
01/09/2025 The sale of second homes has seen up to £55m less council tax revenue generated for local authorities. |
Underfunding, Not Demand, Is Breaking SEND
29/08/2025 Jack Lowman, Sense, says properly funding the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is vital for disabled children to get the best start. |
One in 10 supported homes at risk
29/08/2025 50,000 specialist homes for people with support needs are at imminent risk of closure due to ongoing funding pressures, National Housing Federation warns. |
£600m boost secures holiday support for children
28/08/2025 Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s decision to invest £600m to extend the Holiday Activities and Food programme. |
Supported housing shortage costs NHS £71m, warns LGA
27/08/2025 Local government leaders have called on the Government to invest more in supported housing to help save the NHS £50m a year. |
Town halls forced to sell community assets as debts mount
26/08/2025 Local authorities across the UK are selling off public assets – such as schools and care homes – to try and reduce a collective debt of £122bn. |
Scottish Borders props up leisure services provider
22/08/2025 Scottish Borders Council has agreed to provide a £1m loan to its leisure services provider as it grapples with a budget shortfall. |
Dorset Council reveals lower homelessness rates
22/08/2025 Dorset Council’s temporary accommodation (TA) rates have dropped by over half following the launch of ‘successful prevention initiatives’. |
The Unfair Cost of ‘Fairer’ Funding for London
22/08/2025 Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea, warns that the Government’s fairer funding plans could force London councils into cutting services. |
Reform UK mayor accused of ‘breach of trust’
20/08/2025 One of Reform UK’s metro mayors has been accused of a ‘serious breach of trust’ after launching a new website promoting a ‘non-existent’ £1m community fund. |
Funding reforms ‘burden’ taxpayers, CCN warns
19/08/2025 Residents of county and rural regions will face ‘maximum council tax rises’ under the Government’s fair funding reforms, the County Councils Network (CCN) has warned. |
Over £300m Ukrainian refugee funding unspent
19/08/2025 More than £300m given to English councils to help house Ukrainian refugees still sits in council bank accounts, freedom of information (FOI) request reveals. |
Reform-controlled council cuts Pride funding
18/08/2025 The Reform UK leadership of Durham County Council has been accused of ‘promoting division’ after it cut funding for next year's Pride event. |
Councils bite back at food waste recycling rollout plan
14/08/2025 Councils will not be told how much money they will receive to roll out food waste recycling until months before the implementation date, Government admits. |
Nearly £10m digital inclusion fund announced
13/08/2025 Local authorities across the UK could benefit from £9.5m of digital inclusion funding, the Government has announced. |
Councils need more funding and powers to save bus services, MPs say
13/08/2025 More funding and powers should be given to local authorities to better protect and improve declining local bus services, MPs have said. |
EXCLUSIVE: MHCLG tells councils not to use public funds to win unitary argument
12/08/2025 Senior Whitehall mandarins have reminded councils not to use public funds to persuade residents to back their favoured reorganisation proposal. |
Social care services in Wales receive £30m boost
12/08/2025 Local authorities across Wales are set to receive a £30m funding boost from the Welsh Government to strengthen community-based social care services. |
Child protection reforms get £18m boost
08/08/2025 The Government has announced an £18m funding boost to support the roll out of early intervention child protection reforms to councils in England. |
IFS: Fair Funding reforms set to create big ‘winners’ and ‘losers’
07/08/2025 Inner London is set to be the biggest loser ‘by far’ from the Government’s proposed Fair Funding reforms, a the Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated. |
Local youth services to receive £88m boost
06/08/2025 The Government has launched a youth service support package backed by an £88m investment. |
'Serious issues' over Fair Funding formula
01/08/2025 A key part of the proposed Fair Funding formula must be removed due to ‘serious issues', London Councils has demanded. |
Suffolk CC to launch self-driving vehicle study
29/07/2025 Suffolk County Council has received over £70,000 to fund a study of driverless shuttle services. |
Sunderland invests over £700,000 to support people with learning disabilities
25/07/2025 Sunderland City Council is to allocate £724,000 to help people with learning difficulties or autism carry out adaptions to their homes when they are discharged from hospital. |
Councils facing ‘skyrocketing’ service costs, says report
23/07/2025 Councils are expected to spend an estimated £139bn on the delivery of public services this year, says a report. |
PM says 'lots of housing' exists across councils
22/07/2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed there is ‘lots of housing’ that can be used to provide temporary accommodation across local authorities. |
Councils benefit from £15m boost for nature schemes
18/07/2025 Councils are to receive £15m funding to enrich green areas in towns and cities. |
Councils urged to boost scarce holiday childcare spaces
17/07/2025 Only 9% of councils have sufficient holiday childcare places for at least 75% of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their area, a survey has revealed. |
LGOF: Will it work?
16/07/2025 Dr Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU, discusses the Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF), the latest instalment in the history of local government accountability. |
Government deploys ‘innovation squads’ in £100m pilot
16/07/2025 Ten communities across England are set to be visited by ‘innovation squads’ as part of a £100m pilot to improve local services. |
Councils face pressure to cut back on prevention spending
15/07/2025 Overstretched budgets mean that care leaders have been forced to reduce spending on prevention by more than 10% this year, a new ADASS survey has revealed. |
Councils secure funding for EV charging scheme
14/07/2025 Local authorities are to benefit from a £25m scheme to enable cheaper electric vehicle (EV) charging for those without off-street parking. |
Mayor of London announces £600k high street boost
14/07/2025 The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a £600,000 investment to revitalise local high streets in the capital. |
Rollout of £500m fund to support young people
14/07/2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to announce the launch of the Better Futures Fund, a £500m initiative to help reduce youth poverty. |
Councils must support care-experienced young people, says report
11/07/2025 More funding is required to improve early intervention services for children’s social care, says Education Committee. |
Notting Hill Carnival receives vital funding boost
10/07/2025 Councils have delivered almost £1m of extra funding to enable Notting Hill Carnival to take place as planned this year. |
Councils set to benefit from ‘bespoke’ housebuilding support
08/07/2025 A vanguard of 10 councils has been selected to co-design the new Council Housebuilding Support Service (CHoSS). |
Family Hubs to open in every council area
07/07/2025 The Government has announced a plan to open 1,000 Sure Start-inspired Family Hubs by 2028 to help deliver support to parents in every council area in England. |
LGA: Councils have £276bn of untapped potential
04/07/2025 Government support overcoming place-specific barriers to growth could help local authorities unleash £276bn of untapped economic potential, research suggests. |
Rayner: Over £1.5bn of funding pots to be merged
03/07/2025 Over £1.5bn worth of capital funding pots are to be merged to help free councils from ‘needless bureaucracy’, according to deputy PM Angela Rayner. |
NAO: Council capacity issues undermining bus services
27/06/2025 Financial pressures on councils have meant that local bus services have continued to decline despite Government intervention, new report by the NAO has found. |
Call for proactive social care to support pensioners
27/06/2025 Researchers have recommended proactive social care to support pensioners’ ‘right[s] to live and age well’. |
Councillor warns of ‘tidal wave’ of SEND demand
24/06/2025 West Sussex County Council has warned it is facing a ‘tidal wave of demand’ for services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
School buildings to get £3bn maintenance boost
20/06/2025 Investment in the maintenance of school buildings is set to rise to almost £3bn per year as part of the Government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy. |
Government announces ‘fairer funding’ reforms
20/06/2025 Local government funding will be overhauled to support left behind places, while competitive bidding for funding will be scrapped, Government announced. |
Notting Hill Carnival’s future in question
19/06/2025 The current levels of local government support are not enough to address safety concerns with the Notting Hill Carnival, leaked letter from organiser warns. |
Council confirms funding for school repairs and SEND services
16/06/2025 Kirklees Council has approved a £5.4m investment into local schools, funding repair projects and facilities for pupils with complex needs. |
Funding unlocked for 100,000 new local EV chargepoints
13/06/2025 Government has confirmed a funding boost to support the installation of 100,000 new local electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. |
Dudley town centres could receive major makeovers
12/06/2025 Dudley council chiefs will next week discuss multi-million-pound improvement proposals for town centre regeneration projects. |
Spending Review: Council leaders warn of tax rises and cuts
12/06/2025 Local authorities will be forced to increase council tax and make further cuts despite ‘positive’ funding commitments in Spending Review, council chiefs say. |
Spending Review: Deprived communities get local growth funding
11/06/2025 Deprived communities set to benefit from local growth funding, reveals Chancellor Reeves. |
Council chiefs demand funding to boost children’s play facilities
10/06/2025 The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for ‘long-term, consistent funding’ to help councils implement the national play strategy. |
The £37,000 SEND Problem
10/06/2025 Natalie Kenneison, COO at Imosphere, argues that the real SEND funding crisis isn’t just about budgets - it’s about the systems behind the decisions. |
Council chiefs call for boost to occupational therapist workforce
09/06/2025 Council leaders have called on the Government to invest in occupational therapists (OTs) to improve health, care, and prevention strategy outcomes. |
SEND system in urgent need of reform, says LGA
09/06/2025 A new report by the Local Government Association (LGA) has called for urgent reform of SEND services. |
Vital bus services plummet in rural areas
09/06/2025 Rural bus services have decreased by 18% since 2019 due to insufficient transport funding in county and rural areas, new research reveals. |
‘Urgent’ call for sustainable homecare funding
06/06/2025 New research reveals local authorities are ‘consistently failing to fund homecare’, with 27% of contracts falling below minimum wage. |
EXCLUSIVE: Ministry admits disabled grant delay
05/06/2025 Councils will not receive their 2025-26 Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding until late June, admits Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. |
London Councils: SEND funding ‘sums don’t add up’
05/06/2025 Sixteen of London’s 33 local authorities are at risk of bankruptcy due to SEND funding pressures, London Councils warns. |
Government announces allocation of £7.6m reorganisation fund
04/06/2025 The Government has revealed how much of the £7.6m grant to support the cost of local government reorganisation each region will receive. |
Fears for council funding as ‘unprotected’ departments face cuts
02/06/2025 Council leaders have told the Chancellor they ‘desperately need’ more funding in the Spending Review as financial experts warn ‘unprotected’ government departments could face cuts. |
Hillingdon considers asylum seeker funding legal action
30/05/2025 Hillingdon Council is considering legal action against the Government after the Home Office refused to provide extra funding to house asylum seekers. |
Councils faced with ‘astronomical’ children’s homes costs
29/05/2025 The number of children’s home placements costing over £500,000 annually has dramatically increased over the last five years, council chiefs warn. |
Highway Maintenance Budgets: The Long View
23/05/2025 Mark Stevens, ADEPT, talks about local authority highway maintenance budgets, looking at how they have been impacted over the years by funding cuts. |
Councils call for support to roll out AI in pothole war
23/05/2025 The use of AI and a preventative approach to road maintenance can help local authorities detect potholes earlier and reduce the repairs backlog, LGA says. |
Scottish councils face £647m budget shortfall
23/05/2025 Local authorities in Scotland must transform the way they deliver services to close a budget shortfall of £647m, spending watchdog says. |
Care coalition calls for significant social care funding in Spending Review
22/05/2025 A coalition of stakeholders has called for significant investment in social care in the Spending Review on 11 June. |
Short-term funding threatens household support scheme
21/05/2025 The effectiveness of the Household Support Fund has been undermined by ‘chaotic and declining’ funding, according to a think tank. |
Union launches Fair Funding campaign to save council jobs
19/05/2025 Unite has launched a campaign calling for an overhaul of how local authorities are funded to prevent further bankruptcies and job and public service cuts. |
London boroughs face £264m council housing cuts
15/05/2025 London boroughs will need to reduce spending on social housing by £264m over three years to avoid the collapse of their council housing finances, report warns. |
West Midlands councils benefit from £12m pothole boost
13/05/2025 Six local authorities in the West Midlands are due to receive £12m of funding to help resurface roads and repair up to 132,000 potholes. |
Nottingham still 'dependent upon EFS'
12/05/2025 Nottingham City Council remains dependent on exceptional financial support (EFS) but has laid the groundwork for becoming sustainable, commissioners say. |
Trading standards teams struggle due to inadequate funding
07/05/2025 Nineteen local authorities failed to carry out standard inspections of businesses last year due to a lack of funding and resources, according to new research. |
MPs warn of the cost of inaction on social care reform
06/05/2025 MPs have urged the Government to measure the cost of inaction on social care and warned that failing to do so would mean reforms are ‘doomed to failure’. |
Councils struggling to cover animal welfare costs
30/04/2025 Local authority efforts to enforce animal welfare legislation are undermined by cost restraints, according to a report by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). |
