Over 300,000 people forced to sell homes to pay for care
Smoking rates dropping at fastest rate in a decade
Ombudsman upholds two thirds of care complaints
Nurse shortages ‘endangering’ care home patients
Tackling youth gambling
Ian Butler explains why local government needs a range of interventions and resources to combat gambling for young people.
Councils accused of acting as 'recruiting sergeants' for drug gangs
17/09/2019 Lack of money and increasing demand have been blamed after an allegation that councils were unwittingly acting as 'recruiting sergeants' for drug gangs. |
Cuts force councils to slash public health funding by £72m
16/09/2019 Local authorities plan to cut public health spending by £72m this year in response to reductions in Whitehall funding, the Labour Party says. |
Ban junk food shops near schools, report argues
13/09/2019 Unhealthy fast food outlets within a five-minute walk from schools should be banned, a new report has argued today. |
Carers’ health ‘sacrificed’ to support cash-strapped care system
13/09/2019 A charity has warned that cuts to spending on carers’ breaks are forcing hundreds of thousands of people to sacrifice their own health to prioritise care for loved ones. |
Domestic abuse survivors face homelessness, charity warns
12/09/2019 A charity has warned that women escaping domestic abuse face the risk of homelessness due to a lack of refuge bed spaces. |
Social care advice ‘varies’ across Wales, watchdog says
12/09/2019 Standards of advice and help with social care vary from one council to another in Wales, according to the official watchdog. |
Funding to train nurses should be expanded to public health workers, council chiefs say
11/09/2019 Funding to train nurses should be expanded to cover public health workers including health visitors and school nurses, the Local Government Association says. |
Charity calls for re-investment in public health grant
10/09/2019 A new study of health and social care spending has found that the Government focuses too much on acute services rather than investing in long-term preventative measures. |
Autistic adults left without support by cash-strapped councils
09/09/2019 An inquiry into the impact of the Autism Act a decade after its introduction has revealed that two out of three autistic adults are not getting the support they need. |
Ombudsman criticises county for failing to complete agreed remedy
04/09/2019 Staffordshire County Council has come under fire from the local government ombudsman for failing to carry out remedies agreed following an investigation. |
New HIV diagnoses at lowest level since 2000
03/09/2019 Figures show that new diagnoses of HIV have fallen by a third in the UK since 2015, and are now at their lowest levels since 2000. |
Council’s housing-with-care scheme saves NHS over £300,000 per year
30/08/2019 Housing-with-care schemes in Southampton are responsible for saving the NHS £330,000 per year, the council says. |
Social care services to be decommissioned unless funding confirmed
30/08/2019 County leaders have warned councils will soon start to decommission services unless social care funding is confirmed by Whitehall. |
Council chiefs back campaign promoting physical activity
29/08/2019 Local authority leaders are backing a campaign to help the 15 million people who live with long-term health conditions in England do more physical activity. |
Council apologises for leaving family in ‘overcrowded conditions’ for 10 years
29/08/2019 Lancashire CC has apologised after a woman and her family were left living in what the LGO described as ‘significantly overcrowded conditions’ for 10 years. |
Over one billion fewer cigarettes smoked each year, charity says
29/08/2019 More than a billion fewer cigarettes smoked each year, although campaigners argue this number could be higher if stop smoking service cuts were reversed. |
Quarter of a million children ‘unhappy’, charity says
28/08/2019 Council chiefs have called for more funds for children’s services after a charity found quarter of a million teenagers in the UK are unhappy. |
Millions of children go hungry over summer holidays, Labour say
22/08/2019 Government funding on holiday hunger supported less than 4% of all children who are currently eligible for free school meals, the Labour Party have said. |
Housing crisis forcing 1.3 million children to live in ‘overcrowded’ conditions
22/08/2019 A new study has revealed that more than one in 10 children in England are living in overcrowded homes because of a lack of suitable housing. |
London boroughs warn of £540m care crisis
21/08/2019 A report has warned that unless Whitehall addresses the national social care crisis London’s adult social care system faces a funding gap of £540m by 2025. |
Government announces over £3m to support children with mental health issues
20/08/2019 Children and young people are to benefit from a £3.3m injection of cash into local community projects, the Government has announced. |
Over 10 million patients in hospitals with ‘dangerous pollution levels’
19/08/2019 Nearly a quarter of hospitals in England are located in areas with poor air quality, new research reveals. |
Drug poisoning deaths up 16% in face of public health cuts
16/08/2019 Council chiefs warn that cuts to public health grants are a ‘false economy’ which make it more difficult to provide support and treatment to drug users. |
NHS Health Checks to be ‘modernised’, health secretary says
16/08/2019 Health secretary Matt Hancock has launched a review of NHS Health Checks with the aim of moving away from standardised checks towards more tailored programmes. |
New partnership to boost HealthTech innovation across Leeds
15/08/2019 A new cross-sector partnership has been signed to boost health technology innovation across the Leeds City Region. |
Air pollution could be causing a third of child asthma cases, study warns
08/08/2019 Air pollution could be the cause of up to a third of new cases of childhood asthma in Europe, according to a new study. |
Dementia causes one in ten deaths, new figures show
07/08/2019 Dementia and Alzheimer's disease were the cause of more than a tenth of the registered deaths in England and Wales last year, according to new figures. |
Campaigners call for 'calorie tax' to tackle obesity
07/08/2019 Companies producing high-calorie foods should be taxed to help tackle the 'obesity crisis', campaigners have demanded. |
‘Chaotic’ children’s home shut down
05/08/2019 A council-run children’s home in Lancashire has closed down after an Ofsted inspection rated it as ‘inadequate’. |
Johnson unveils £1.8bn NHS cash boost
05/08/2019 Council leaders have warned the £1.8bn cash injection into the NHS will only be effective if the adult social care funding crisis is also addressed. |
New guidance to help councils support unpaid carers
02/08/2019 Health experts have issued guidance on how council staff and other professionals can help support unpaid carers. |
System struggling to cope with 'explosion' of older children in care, Commissioner warns
01/08/2019 The system is struggling to cope with the increasing number of older children going into care over the past five years, a new report has warned today. |
Nottinghamshire councils apologise for ‘decades’ of child abuse
01/08/2019 Nottinghamshire councils have apologised for letting survivors ‘down in worst possible way’ after an inquiry found hundreds of children were abused in care. |
Council leaders join call for fairer public health funding
01/08/2019 Local authorities have backed a call by Cancer Research for the new Government to increase public health funding. |
Newham Council installs nearly 100 air quality monitors in schools
30/07/2019 The London Borough of Newham has announced it will be installing 96 air quality monitoring tubes in schools across its area in an effort to tackle air pollution. |
Foster carers need ‘more support’ to look after LGBTQ young people
30/07/2019 More support is needed for foster carers looking after LGBTQ young people, new study says. |
Councils report 'worrying rise' in body image drugs
29/07/2019 Council leaders have reported a ‘worrying’ increase in the number of people using illegal and dangerous body enhancing drugs. |
Agencies ‘let down’ Down’s Syndrome woman with scabies
26/07/2019 A safeguarding report has concluded that local agencies in Hackney ‘could have worked better together’ after the death of a woman with Down's Syndrome. |
Over 40% of emergency hospital admissions ‘avoidable'
25/07/2019 Council chiefs have called for more resources to recruit care home staff after research shows four in 10 hospital admissions from care homes could be avoided. |
Government should ‘prioritise’ accessible house building, charity says
25/07/2019 Better advice and support is needed to help people move into a more suitable home in later life, according to housing experts. |
Charity calls for ‘strong leadership’ to integrate support for disabled children
24/07/2019 Strong leadership is needed to streamline and integrate support for disabled children, according to campaigners. |
Prevention green paper blasted as ‘shopping list of half-complete ideas’
23/07/2019 Local authority leaders have criticised the Government’s prevention green paper as a ‘missed opportunity’ which neglects the role councils play in delivering public health services. |
Blackpool Council to keep control of children’s services
23/07/2019 Blackpool Council will keep control of its children’s services following an independent three-month review. |
Around 770,000 denied support during social care green paper delay
22/07/2019 Nearly 800,000 people have been denied state help during the social care green paper delay, an elderly persons charity has said. |
Elderly people in rural communities have less social care provision, report warns
19/07/2019 The way adult social care is funded has led to deep inequalities in provision, the Salvation Army has warned. |
Impact of Integrated Care Fund 'remains unclear'
18/07/2019 The impact of the Integrated Care Fund in Wales remains ‘unclear’ despite a £385m investment, the Auditor General has warned today. |
Whitehall urged to adopt ‘social model’ for dealing with mental health issues
17/07/2019 MPs and social workers have called on the Government to recognise the role of social factors when treating people with mental illnesses. |
Homeless people denied access to healthcare, study finds
17/07/2019 Homeless people are being denied access to basic healthcare, a new study has revealed. |
Diabetes in children up 50% in five years
15/07/2019 Council chiefs have warned of an 'obesity crisis’ as figures reveal the number of young people being treated for Type 2 diabetes increased 50% in five years. |
Javid announces ‘public health duty’ to tackle violent crime
15/07/2019 Sajid Javid will this week announce a new legal duty which will require local authorities and other public bodies to prevent and tackle serious violence. |
This issue of Local Government News explores how councils can tackle modern slavery and trafficking in their supply chains, finds out more about Cambridge's first cohousing scheme and the launch of a new project to build a shared service pattern library for local government.
This issue also contains a special focus on children's services and how councils are protecting children following local safeguarding children boards being abolished.
