Social services directors report unprecedented demand for help
23/11/2020 Directors of adult social services have reported a sharp rise in demand in the wake of the pandemic, according to a new survey. |
First mass testing programme rolled out in Wales
23/11/2020 Wales’s first COVID-19 mass testing programme is being rolled out in Merthyr Tydfil Borough. |
Council chiefs call for ‘greater local oversight’ of test and trace
20/11/2020 Local authority leaders have called for ‘greater local oversight and involvement’ when it comes to COVID-19 testing and tracing. |
Derby council ‘delighted’ arena to be COVID-19 vaccination centre
20/11/2020 The leader of Derby City Council has welcomed the decision to consider making Derby Arena a temporary COVID-19 vaccination centre. |
Council submits request for mass testing to be introduced in York
20/11/2020 City of York Council will be submitting an expression of interest for mass testing to be introduced in York. |
Local services need funding to support elderly impacted by COVID-19, council chiefs say
19/11/2020 Council chiefs call on Government to use Spending Review to ensure council-run services are able to look after elderly residents impacted by COVID-19. |
Care home study to test immune response to COVID-19 ‘tripled in size’
19/11/2020 The Government has announced that it is expanding the Vivaldi study to test thousands more care home staff and residents for immune response to coronavirus. |
Ombudsman tells council to review its housing allocations policy
19/11/2020 East Lindsay District Council agreed to review its housing allocations policy to ensure it meets its equality duties following investigation by the Ombudsman. |
County to take early control over four care homes
17/11/2020 Northamptonshire County Council is taking over the management of four care homes nine years earlier than planned after it negotiated a change to a long-running PFI contract. |
COVID-19 testing pilot for care homes launched
16/11/2020 The Government has announced a new pilot that will see friends and family members of some care home residents in Hampshire, Cornwall and Devon offered regular COVID-19 tests. |
Councils bid for vaccine role
16/11/2020 Councils have made a bid to play a key role in distributing the new coronavirus vaccine. |
People with learning disabilities six times more likely to die from COVID-19
13/11/2020 People with a learning disability were up to six times more likely to die from COVID-19 in the first wave of the pandemic than the general population, a report has found. |
Capacity in foster care is stalling, data reveals
13/11/2020 The number of applications to become a foster carer has fallen by 10% since March last year, new data has revealed. |
Commission calls for action to reduce mental health inequalities
12/11/2020 The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted existing inequalities in mental health, a new report has warned. |
Think tank calls for new health and social care tax
11/11/2020 A new health and social care tax raising £17bn should be the centrepiece of sweeping tax increases to raise £40bn a year, according to a new report from think-tank the Resolution Foundation. |
Children in care system are being 'failed by the state'
11/11/2020 Thousands of children are being failed by the ‘broken’ residential care home market, the Children’s Commissioner for England has warned today. |
More than 50 councils to receive rapid COVID-19 tests
10/11/2020 More than half a million rapid COVID-19 tests will be sent to public health authorities this week as part of Government plans to roll-out mass testing for the virus. |
Food poverty linked to mental and physical distress
10/11/2020 New research has revealed that people who have experienced food poverty are more likely to live with obesity and suffer from increased levels of physical and mental distress. |
Ofsted warns of COVID impact on SEND support
09/11/2020 The pandemic has ‘seriously affected’ support for special educational needs an disabilities (SEND), according to Ofsted. |
Spike in child abuse since pandemic
06/11/2020 Ofsted’s chief inspector has warned of an increase in the number of child injuries and deaths uncovered by local authorities since the onset of the pandemic. |
Sector calls for ‘meaningful’ guidance on care home visits
05/11/2020 The care sector has called on the Government to provide detailed guidance on how care homes can offer COVID-secure visits during lockdown. |
HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men at ‘lowest point’ in 20 years
04/11/2020 The number of gay and bisexual men with newly diagnosed HIV has fallen to the lowest point in two decades, according to public health experts. |
Council apologises over failings at Morleigh Group care homes
03/11/2020 Cornwall Council has apologised after a report highlighted failures at the former Morleigh Group care home provider. |
Holyrood announces £15m for young people with mental health issues
03/11/2020 The Scottish government has announced that £15m will be made available to local authorities to help them support children and young people who are struggling with mental health issues. |
Liverpool to pilot mass coronavirus testing
03/11/2020 The first pilot of whole city testing for COVID-19 is to be carried out in Liverpool. |
Coalition calls for pay rise for social care staff
02/11/2020 A £3.9bn emergency support fund is needed to get the care sector through the second wave of the pandemic, a coalition has said today. |
Childhood obesity rises again in past year
30/10/2020 Children living in the most deprived areas are more than twice as likely to be obese as those in the least deprived, new figures have revealed. |
Launch of £4m data project to transform Covid-19 research
28/10/2020 A multi-million pound research project will give scientists better access to data to help develop potential therapies and treatment for COVID-19. |
Nearly 80 health groups join forces to press the Government to tackle health inequalities
26/10/2020 A coalition of nearly 80 organisations has been launched in order to pressure the Government into tackling health inequalities. |
Barking & Dagenham offers same-day testing to key workers
26/10/2020 Barking & Dagenham LBC is thought to have become the first in England to set up a same-day COVID testing service for key workers, to sidestep delays in the national system for tests and results. |
Survey reveals 'worrying picture' of children's mental health
23/10/2020 One in six children now have a probable mental disorder, up from one in nine in 2017, new figures have revealed. |
Council chiefs welcome proposed £7bn social care investment
22/10/2020 Local government leaders have welcomed a call from MPs for a £7bn annual increase in social care funding as a first step towards fixing the ongoing care crisis. |
Unpaid carers 'desperately worried' about further lockdowns, survey reveals
20/10/2020 Unpaid carers are being pushed to 'breaking point' due to reduced services, a charity has warned today. |
COVID 'magnifying' health and care inequalities
16/10/2020 The coronavirus pandemic has ‘exacerbated’ existing problems in social care and magnified health inequalities, a report has warned today. |
Welsh councils spend ‘several millions of pounds’ extra on shared electronic record
15/10/2020 The implementation and roll-out of a community care information system in Wales is taking much longer and proving costlier than expected, auditors say. |
Education secretary accuses councils of adoption ‘snobbery'
14/10/2020 Local government leaders have defended their record on adoption as the education secretary Gavin Williamson says that an ‘overly bureaucratic’ adoption system has prevented children finding homes. |
Connecting with 'hardest to reach' holds key to COVID recovery, says report
13/10/2020 Failing to connect with so called ‘hard to reach’ individuals will have wide ranging implications for public health and wellbeing, a report has warned today. |
Children ‘responded with resilience’ to lockdown, study says
12/10/2020 Young people have faced a number of mental health challenges during the lockdown but overall they have reported relatively stable levels of happiness, according to the Government’s second State of the Nation report. |
Air pollution round schools is impacting learning, research finds
08/10/2020 Reducing air pollution levels by 20% could improve a child’s ability to learn within one month, new research has found. |
Northern leaders propose five point plan to manage local lockdowns
07/10/2020 Four northern leaders have called for more local input to bring down COVID-19 infection rates. |
Government ‘effectively abandoned’ care home residents to COVID-19, Amnesty says
05/10/2020 Care home residents in England were ‘effectively abandoned’ by the Government in the early stages of the pandemic, human rights organisation says. |
Council leaders call for local track and trace systems
02/10/2020 Five council leaders have called on the Government to ditch the private track and trace system. |
Ten million people may need mental health support due to pandemic, study warns
01/10/2020 Local authority leaders have called for a ‘new national focus’ on mental health as a study estimates that up to 10 million people in England may need support for depression and anxiety as a result of COVID-19. |
Funding boost to train hundreds more mental health social workers
29/09/2020 A £27m funding boost will create 480 new mental health social workers over the next three years, the Government has confirmed. |
Two-thirds of adoptive families without a support plan, report finds
29/09/2020 Thousands of vulnerable adopted children are failing to get the support they need, a charity has warned today. |
Charity calls for more support for county lines victims
25/09/2020 A new strategy is needed to identify and support county lines victims, according to The Children's Society. |
NHS COVID-19 app launched
24/09/2020 People across England and Wales are being urged to download the NHS COVID-19 app to help control the spread of coronavirus. |
Cold and damp homes putting millions more at risk of COVID-19, report warns
22/09/2020 Millions of people living in cold and damp homes could be more at risk of contracting coronavirus this winter, a new report has warned. |
Starmer vows to tackle the 'decade of drift' on sorting social care
22/09/2020 Government failure to protect care homes during the pandemic is a ‘national scandal’, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told his party’s virtual conference today. |
Report highlights impact of 'broken' food system
21/09/2020 There has been little progress in mending the 'broken' food system over the past three years, a report has warned today. |
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.
Hampshire CC criticised for failing to meet elderly man’s needs
Spending Review: NHS receives £3bn funding boost
‘Stark variation’ in the well-being of care leavers
PPE supply for care workers was 'inadequate'
