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.
What’s happening inside the LGPS?
19/05/2025 Get the most informed take on the challenges and opportunities that substantial reform will bring at this year’s PLSA Local Authority Conference. |
UNISON calls on members to reject pay offer
13/05/2025 The UK’s largest union has urged its members to reject the latest local government pay offer. |
Former Thurrock CFO issued with five-year ban
09/05/2025 In a historic first, the Financial Reporting Council has banned the former chief financial officer of Thurrock Council from working as a local government CFO. |
AI tools could save councils £8bn
07/05/2025 The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) tools could save local authorities in England and Wales £8bn a year, think tank says. |
Union hits back after Farage’s ‘alternative careers’ comment
03/05/2025 A public sector union has criticised Reform UK leader Nigel Farage after he said council workers should seek ‘alternative careers’. |
Lambeth defends Dosunmu payoff
29/04/2025 Lambeth LBC has defended a payoff totalling almost £88,000 to its former chief who admitted failing to stop after a collision and driving without insurance. |
East Suffolk launches campaign against abuse
23/04/2025 A campaign against threatening and abusive behaviour towards front line workers has been launched in East Suffolk. |
Council employee pay offer announced
23/04/2025 Council employees have been offered a 3.2% pay increase from 1 April 2025. |
Brum pauses charges for rat infestations
22/04/2025 Birmingham City Council has temporarily waived charges for residents who require help with rat infestations during the bin strikes. |
Court ruling on definition of a ‘woman’ prompts guidance update
17/04/2025 Equalities watchdog is ‘working at pace’ to update its code of practice for public bodies following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a ‘woman’. |
Striking Brum bin workers reject pay offer
14/04/2025 Refuse collection workers in Birmingham have rejected the city council’s latest pay offer in long-running dispute. |
Concern over 'procrastination culture' at Southampton
11/04/2025 A ‘procrastination culture' is holding back progress at Southampton City Council, a new report has found. |
Matrix Workforce Management Solutions Appoints Andrew Curry as Client Engagement Director for Health and Social Care
09/04/2025 Matrix, a leader in Workforce Management Solutions, has announced the appointment of Andrew Curry as Client Engagement Director for Health and Social Care. |
Angry reaction to Starmer stance on Brum bin strike
07/04/2025 A war of words has broken out between the Government and union bosses over the bin strike in Birmingham. |
EXCLUSIVE: Auditors look into chief's £327k payoff
02/04/2025 Auditors are assessing an objection to Thanet DC's accounts after an ex-councillor said they should declare a £327k payment to its former boss ‘unlawful'. |
Pupil violence costs South East councils £65k
02/04/2025 Councils in the South East paid £64,555 in compensation to staff injured during school violence from 2019/20 to 2023/24, an investigation has revealed. |
Leadership and HR in local government transformation
01/04/2025 Pam Parkes, president of the PPMA, argues that the leadership mindset and HR are the missing links in local government transformation. |
Council chiefs defend six figure salaries
01/04/2025 Local authority leaders have defended local government salaries exceeding six figures, arguing it is important to attract the ‘right people’. |
Former Liverpool director denies bribery
31/03/2025 Liverpool City Council's former head of regeneration Nick Kavanagh has denied two counts of bribery in court. |
Aberdeen council accused of ‘fire and rehire’ threat
28/03/2025 Unite has accused Aberdeen City Council of threatening workers with ‘fire and rehire’ proposals as part of an industrial dispute, a claim the council denies. |
Brum council threatens redundancies to end bin strike
28/03/2025 Birmingham City Council will begin a consultation on compulsory redundancies in an effort to end the bin strike, a move Unite describes as ‘bully boy tactics’. |
Future Forum: Unitary workers 'grieving' loss of districts
20/03/2025 North Northamptonshire Council chief executive Adele Wylie has urged those involved in reorganisation to act with ‘kindness' and avoid rancour. |
Brum rejects independent inquiry call
18/03/2025 Birmingham City Council has rejected an opposition call for an independent inquiry into the botched implementation of an IT system. |
McMahon hints over councillor suspension power
12/03/2025 Local government minister Jim McMahon has hinted he will push ahead with handing councils the power to suspend councillors before they have been convicted. |
Former Liverpool mayor charged with bribery
10/03/2025 Ex-Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson is among a dozen people charged with bribery and misconduct. |
Leaders call for tough pay negotiating stance
05/03/2025 Council leaders have warned a tough stance is needed during pay negotiations as local government struggles to meet union demands. |
Union criticises council's 'fire and rehire' plan
05/03/2025 The GMB trade union has criticised Tory-led Devon CC for adopting a rare ‘fire and rehire' strategy for more than 800 jobs. |
First leader of North Northants to step down
20/02/2025 The first leader of North Northamptonshire Council has announced he is stepping down at the local elections in May to ‘transition into semi-retirement’. |
Council staff left ‘in tears’ after LTN meeting
13/02/2025 Lambeth Council workers were left ‘in tears’ and offered wellbeing leave after a hostile public meeting about a low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN), the High Court has heard. |
LGA to provide salary grants for planners
12/02/2025 The Local Government Association is offering councils financial support to help boost their planning capacity through the Pathways to Planning initiative. |
Former Woking officers expected to face probe
10/02/2025 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is reportedly planning to launch an investigation into two former senior officers at stricken Woking BC. |
Birmingham strikes escalate
04/02/2025 Strikes by more than 350 Birmingham bin workers will ‘intensify’ over the next two months, trade union Unite has announced. |
Trading standards cuts expose millions to danger
03/02/2025 Millions of people are exposed to scams and dangerous products because of understaffed trading standards teams, a freedom of information request has revealed. |
Unions call for £3,000 pay rise
31/01/2025 Council and school employees in England should receive a wage rise of £3,000, according to trade unions representing public sector workers. |
Unions lodge pay claims in Scotland
24/01/2025 Unions have put in their pay claims on behalf of local government employees in Scotland. |
Council’s senior management ‘unaware’ of £13.5m overspend
23/01/2025 Guildford BC's senior management were ‘unaware’ of a multi-million-pound overspend but should have noticed a series of ‘red flags’, investigation concludes. |
Tackling the ecological skills gap
21/01/2025 Catherine Spitzer, chief executive of Environment Bank, explains how private investment can help councils that are struggling to attract skilled ecologists. |
Union warns of risk of ‘two-tier workforce’
20/01/2025 Council trading companies have created a two-tier workforce as their employees are paid less and receive inferior pensions than town hall staff, UNISON says. |
South Cambs to consult on four-day week ‘at long last’
20/01/2025 South Cambridgeshire District Council will launch a consultation this month to ask residents about their experiences of its four-day week trial. |
Unions warn council over potential strikes
14/01/2025 Trade unions have warned Belfast City Council that leisure centre staff could strike if a pay dispute with an outsourced management company is not resolved. |
Birmingham overhauls leadership team
13/01/2025 Birmingham City Council has made a string of appointments to its senior leadership team. |
Call to monitor second jobs of four-day week staff
09/01/2025 Senior councillors in South Cambridgeshire will discuss whether the council should monitor staff working second jobs during its four-day week trial. |
£1m Aberdeen council fraud case ‘cautionary tale’
08/01/2025 Local authorities have been urged to learn from the weaknesses that enabled an Aberdeen City Council employee to defraud the council of £1.1m over two decades. |
Schools face ‘death by a thousand cuts’, union says
08/01/2025 Headteachers have warned that schools and colleges will be forced to make cuts if costs continue to outstrip the growth in school funding. |
Councils’ housebuilding rests on playing to staff strengths
07/01/2025 Eman Al-Hillawi, CEO at business change consultancy Entec Si, looks at how councils could improve housebuilding progress by re-aligning their workforce. |
Former minister Maclean among 38 new peers
23/12/2024 Former Conservative housing and planning minister Rachel Maclean is among 38 new peers who will enter the House of Lords. |
Council staff reject ‘insulting’ pay offer
13/12/2024 Outsourced Peterborough City Council employees are considering industrial action after rejecting a pay award. |
Council to axe 100 jobs in ‘most difficult budget’
11/12/2024 Derby City Council has proposed cutting more than 100 jobs in what it has called its ‘most difficult budget’. |
Police called after council staff threatened
11/12/2024 Derby City Council has restricted access to its headquarters after staff received ‘malicious communications’ over the phone. |
Council staff arrested as police investigate corruption
06/12/2024 Four members of staff at Leeds City Council have been arrested on suspicion of bribery offences. |
Union slams council’s ‘fire and rehire’ plans
05/12/2024 The GMB union has criticised Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council over its plans to ‘fire and rehire’ 500 workers. |
Council apologises after belongings of deceased tenant binned
26/11/2024 Brighton & Hove City Council has apologised after the belongings of a 29-year-old man found dead in temporary accommodation were binned by contractors. |
EXCLUSIVE: Former minister raises concerns over standards reform
20/11/2024 A former local government minister has expressed concerns over proposed reforms that could allow the suspension of councillors who violate codes of conduct. |
North Tyneside to cut 200 jobs
20/11/2024 North Tyneside Council has announced plans to cut 200 jobs as it grapples to balance its books. |
Social care and the alarming impact of the NIC rise
12/11/2024 The Budget leaves the social care sector alarmed about the rise in national insurance contributions, says Rachael Dodgson, chief executive of Dimensions. |
Four-day week council holds back from permanent adoption
08/11/2024 South Cambridgeshire DC is holding back from permanently adopting a four-day working week despite winning the backing of deputy prime minster Angela Rayner. |
COSLA: Council leaders offer to ‘supplement’ pay offer
08/11/2024 Local authority leaders in Scotland have offered to ‘supplement and enhance’ the latest pay offer to trade unions to prevent further strikes. |
Somerset could cut 450 jobs
28/10/2024 Somerset Council has announced that there will be compulsory redundancies across its workforce, with 450 posts at risk. |
West Northants asks staff to consider redundancy
21/10/2024 West Northamptonshire Council has asked staff to consider voluntary redundancy, flexible retirement and reduced working hours in a bid to cut costs. |
Labour intervenes at Tameside
15/10/2024 The leader of Tameside MBC has resigned after Labour took steps to directly intervene over ‘unacceptable working practices' at the authority. |
Islington Council leader steps down
11/10/2024 The leader of Islington Council, Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz, has announced that she will be stepping down. |
Ex-councillor jailed for ‘voyeurism on vast scale’
30/09/2024 A former councillor who filmed 28 women in bathrooms and bedrooms using hidden cameras over a 15-year period has been jailed for six years and two months. |
Union threatens strike action after pay award decision
27/09/2024 Local authority leaders in Scotland have decided to impose a wage rise prompting UNISON to threaten strike action. |
Council leader steps down after bullying accusation
23/09/2024 The leader of Newcastle City Council has resigned after an accusation of bullying was made against him. |
Peers find 'blurred' responsibilities between officers and members
17/09/2024 Ashfield DC must resolve issues with the ‘blurred' responsibilities of members and officers, a report from the Local Government Association has said. |
Union rejects latest COSLA pay offer
03/09/2024 Members of Scotland’s largest trade union have voted overwhelmingly to reject the latest pay offer from local government employers. |
Appointment to oversee shared planning service
02/09/2024 Guildford and Waverley BCs have appointed a single head to oversee shared planning services. |
Six-fold increase in reports of exploitative migrant care worker contracts
20/08/2024 The world’s largest nursing union has reported a six-fold increase in the number of migrant care workers in the UK complaining about exploitative contracts. |
Union submits first tranche of equal pay claims
14/08/2024 Trade union GMB has lodged the first tranche of 400 legal equal pay claims against Brighton and Hove City Council. |
Brum council spends £1m on bookkeepers
29/07/2024 Birmingham City Council has been forced to spend £1m on manual bookkeeping after the new Oracle software failed to automate the process. |
Councillors asked to sign off redundancy plans
24/07/2024 Proposals to save £12m a year by axing hundreds of job posts will be considered by councillors in Hertfordshire next week. |
COSLA offers 3.2% pay uplift
18/07/2024 Local government employers in Scotland have made a new pay offer in an effort to resolve the ongoing pay dispute. |
Public sector productivity hampered by payroll and HR software limitations
18/07/2024 Nearly half of all public sector organisations across the UK and Ireland are wrangling with payroll and HR systems that are not fit for purpose. |
Lambeth leader elected chair of London Councils
17/07/2024 Lambeth Council leader Claire Holland has been elected chair of the cross-party London Councils. |
Union slams council’s ‘outrageous’ fire and rehire plan
16/07/2024 Worcestershire County Council is planning to fire and rehire more than 140 employees, despite Labour pledging to ban the practice. |
Shropshire could cut 540 job posts
09/07/2024 Shropshire Council could cut 540 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts in a bid to cut costs by becoming a smaller organisation. |
South Cambs’ four-day week trial shows ‘positive’ results
08/07/2024 A report into South Cambridgeshire DC’s controversial four-day week trial found the majority of key performance indicators had improved or remained the same. |
Council requests fresh appeal over discrimination case
04/07/2024 A council has requested a second appeal over an employment tribunal that found it had racially discriminated against an employee. |
Council staff balloted for strike action
25/06/2024 Trade union Unison has announced that Kirklees Council staff at two customer service centres at risk of closure are being balloted for strike action. |
Warwickshire staff miss 15,000 days due to poor mental health
21/06/2024 Poor mental health was the biggest reason for sickness absence at Warwickshire County Council last year, a report has revealed. |
UNISON: To whoever forms the next government…
14/06/2024 Christina McAnea, general secretary of UNISON, tells LocalGov.co.uk what the sector’s biggest union hopes to see from the next government. |
Union calls out council over equal pay claims
10/06/2024 GMB union has written to Brighton and Hove Council around equal pay claims that could be worth tens of millions of pounds. |
South Yorkshire mayor could receive £30k pay boost
29/05/2024 The mayor of South Yorkshire could be in line for a pay rise of nearly £30,000. |
Council workers’ incomes ‘cut to the bone’, warns union
29/05/2024 Unite has recommended its members reject the latest local government pay offer for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. |
Council employees offered 5.8% pay rise
16/05/2024 Council employees have been offered a pay increase of at least £1,290, which equates to a 5.8% rise for the lowest paid. |
Somerset to save £8m with 201 redundancies
16/05/2024 Somerset Council has accepted 201 redundancy applications, which it said would save more than £8m a year. |
Oracle project costs soar from £3m to £40m
09/05/2024 The budget for replacing an IT system with Oracle has ballooned from £2.6m to almost £40m, councillors in West Sussex have heard. |
Gender-critical social worker awarded over £50k
29/04/2024 A social worker who faced disciplinary action following complaints about her gender critical beliefs will be awarded over £50,000. |
Wages below 2008 levels in two thirds of council areas
29/04/2024 Real wages are still below 2008 levels in nearly two-thirds of UK local authority areas, a new TUC analysis has revealed. |
10,000 council staff on long-term sick leave
25/04/2024 Nearly 10,000 staff members working in councils across England are currently on long-term sick leave, freedom of information requests have revealed. |
Unison warns of looming strike as it awaits pay offer
22/04/2024 Scotland’s largest local government union has warned that strike preparations could begin next week amid growing tensions over pay. |
Leveraging data to reverse the planning staff decline
22/04/2024 Scott Goodwin, divisional director Land, Property and Public Protection, Idox, explains how rapid access to easily consumed data can transform planning teams. |
Scots government 'unlikely' to create equal pay body
19/04/2024 Scottish Government ministers are unlikely to establish a national equal pay unit, despite calls from the trade union that led to strikes over the issue. |
LGA announces 2024/25 Sector Support programme
12/04/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has announced the 2024/25 Sector Support programme to help councils ‘deliver critical services to communities.’ |
Oxford’s workforce issues a ‘significant risk’
10/04/2024 High staff turnover and difficulty recruiting at Oxford City Council could affect staff morale, wellbeing and absence and ultimately impact service delivery, a report has found. |
Dorset Council sets up recruitment firm
10/04/2024 Dorset Council has launched a recruitment company to help fill temporary roles. |
Transparency calls over monitoring officer departure
10/04/2024 Salford CC's opposition leader has called for transparency over a settlement agreement The MJ understands was paid to its departing monitoring officer. |
LGA calls for powers to withhold members’ address
03/04/2024 Council leaders have repeated their call for legislation enabling councils to withhold councillors' home addresses amid fears of abuse and intimidation. |
Oflog chair steps down due to ‘unexpected health reasons’
27/03/2024 Interim chair of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), Lord Morse, has announced he will be stepping down at the end of March due to ‘health reasons’. |
Council to appeal £4.6m employment tribunal payout
18/03/2024 Hammersmith & Fulham LBC has said it will appeal the tribunal’s decision to award a record £4.6m to an employee who was dismissed while on sick leave. |
