Local government seeks SEND deficit clarity ahead of Budget
'Cosmetic cowboys' face unlimited fines
Local government pandemic planning criticised by Covid Inquiry
Call for national inquiry into air pollution inequalities
Social Care Crisis: What local government needs to know
Councils are £715m over budget and PM Andy Burnham says social care reform is essential to stop the NHS collapsing — here's what it means for local government.
Every region needs a deputy mayor for children, says commissioner
19/10/2026 Every strategic authority in England should appoint a deputy mayor for children to ensure devolution delivers for young people, Children's Commissioner says. |
Government launches first national fostering recruitment campaign
14/10/2026 The Government has launched England's first national fostering recruitment campaign, urging adults to consider opening their homes to children in care. |
Social care vacancies fall to lowest level in a decade
14/10/2026 The adult social care workforce in England has grown for the fourth successive year, with vacancies falling to their lowest level in a decade, report reveals. |
Council launches health and safety investigation after fatal tiger incident
13/10/2026 City of Doncaster Council has launched a health and safety investigation after a man was killed by a Siberian tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. |
Council changes approach to providers after contract collapse
13/10/2026 Croydon has pledged to be ‘clearer' with children's services providers ‘about what we want services to achieve' following the collapse of an £8.6m contract. |
Call to eliminate social care postcode lottery
12/10/2026 The King’s Fund has called for an ‘equal access’ national assessment to eliminate the social care postcode lottery. |
Nursery abuser cleared by council-overseen inquiry three years before arrest
12/10/2026 A nursery worker later jailed for abusing young girls was cleared by an investigation overseen by Camden council three years before his arrest. |
Council leader's heart attack inspires local cardiac rehab
09/10/2026 A year after suffering a major heart attack, Wychavon DC leader Cllr Richard Morris has helped bring cardiac rehabilitation closer to home for residents. |
ICB mergers delayed due to reorganisation review
08/10/2026 The deadline for decisions on future Integrated Care Board (ICB) footprints has been extended due to the local government reorganisation pause. |
Call for stronger enforcement to prevent vape and nicotine ‘loopholes’
05/10/2026 The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that ‘loopholes’ exist in restrictions around vaping and nicotine products. |
Essex CC accepts recommendations after SEND transport failures
02/10/2026 ‘Serious and repeated failings’ have been identified in an Ombudsman investigation into Essex County Council and its handling of transport arrangements for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Hackney investigates food safety at Shoreditch House
30/09/2026 Hackney Council has opened a food safety investigation at Shoreditch House after a former chef alleged staff were pressured to serve out-of-date products. |
Social care swallows record share of council budgets
30/09/2026 Sixteen English councils spent more than 80% of their core funding on adult and children's social care last year, new analysis has revealed. |
Cooper pledges up to 1,000 Sure Start centres over next two years
30/09/2026 Health and social care secretary Yvette Cooper has announced the extension of Sure Start services over the next two years. |
Burnham promises to build a National Care Service
29/09/2026 Prime Minister has pledged to build a free at the point of need, National Care Service. |
Government lifts improvement notice on Liverpool children's services
29/09/2026 The Government has formally lifted an improvement notice on Liverpool CC's children's services, three years after the department was rated inadequate. |
Downgrading councils who use illegal children's homes holds sector to 'unattainable standard'
29/09/2026 Ofsted proposals to downgrade councils that use unregistered placements would hold local authorities (LAs) to an ‘unattainable standard', care chiefs say. |
Cancer causing chemical found in town near factory
28/09/2026 A cancer causing chemical has been found in residents of Thornton Cleveleys in Lancashire. |
Burnham to develop clear plan for National Care Service
28/09/2026 Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to set out a clear plan for a National Care Service that will be put to the public at the next General Election. |
Call for better support for unpaid carers
28/09/2026 Three in four (73%) people think that the health and social care system would fail to function without unpaid carers. |
Adult social care complaints up 22%
23/09/2026 Complaints about adult social care in England rose 22% last year, according to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). |
Council launches campaign challenging femicide myths
21/09/2026 Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council has launched a campaign to challenge misconceptions about who commits femicide. |
Quarter of a million 'teen hermits' in England, think tank warns
21/09/2026 A quarter of a million 15-year-olds in England hardly ever leave their bedrooms except for school, according to a new report. |
Stoke-on-Trent SEND team praised as support plans issued faster
21/09/2026 More children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Stoke-on-Trent are receiving support sooner, according to the city council. |
York Council awarded national role in children’s services improvement
15/09/2026 The Department for Education has selected City of York Council as a Children’s Social Care Improvement Team (CIT). |
Charity calls for new strategy to support care leaver workforce
07/09/2026 Two-thirds of councils don't require Personal Advisers for care leavers to have any accredited training or qualifications, research has found. |
Watchdogs to inspect how agencies protect children from neglect
04/09/2026 Inspectors are to carry out a new round of checks on how councils, police and health services respond to neglect among England's youngest children. |
Government rows back on plans to exclude councils from ICBs
02/09/2026 Plans to exclude councils from ICBs have been scrapped by the Government. |
Scrap freeze on social care support threshold, says think-tank
02/09/2026 The Government has been urged to bring the threshold for social care support in line with inflation as part of reforms. |
Human Rights committee calls for reform of social care system
26/08/2026 Over 84,000 children across England are currently being looked after by councils, research has found. |
Dudley heavily criticised by Ofsted
25/08/2026 Children's services provided by Dudley MBC have been heavily criticised by Ofsted. |
Three in four school menus breach food standards
24/08/2026 More than three-quarters of secondary school menus in England fail to meet current food standards, according to new research from campaign group Bite Back. |
London faces £36bn-a-year climate bill by 2050s, report warns
20/08/2026 Extreme heat and climate change could cost London up to £36bn a year by the 2050s without further action, according to a new report. |
London ULEZ proves effective in supporting children’s lung growth
19/08/2026 Raised air quality standards due to London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) have been linked to better lung growth in children, research has found. |
EXCLUSIVE: Lib Dems set out three tests for cross-party social care talks
18/08/2026 Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Helen Morgan has set out three tests for cross-party social care reform talks with the Government. |
North Devon Council to stage ‘special meeting’ amid maternity unit closure concerns
13/08/2026 North Devon Council is to stage a ‘special meeting’ next week amid concerns around the temporary closure ‘with little notice’ of the area’s maternity unit. |
Urgent call for stronger protections for migrant nursing staff
07/08/2026 Research has found that migrant nursing staff in the social care sector are being exploited by employers, with unethical practices around visa sponsorship having been exposed. |
159 new NHS mental health centres to open
07/08/2026 159 mental health facilities will open from autumn, backed by £343m in what officials call the biggest overhaul of mental health services in a generation. |
Four arrested as 4-tonne illegal meat haul seized in Dudley
07/08/2026 Four men have been arrested and more than four tonnes of illegal meat removed from an unapproved cutting plant in Dudley. |
Doubts over health and care integration agreements
06/08/2026 Doubts have been cast over the future of a key model for joint working between health and council services. |
Ombudsman warns over safeguarding failures after Portsmouth scandal
05/08/2026 The LGSCO has warned councils cannot outsource safeguarding responsibilities after finding serious failings in the care of an elderly woman in Portsmouth. |
Call for ‘community-centric approaches’ to reduce dementia hospitalisations
05/08/2026 People with dementia stay seven times longer than others in acute care, research has found. |
Ofsted secures first-ever prosecution of illegal children's home operator
05/08/2026 Ofsted has won its first criminal prosecution of an unregistered children's home provider, in a case highlighting the dangers of illegal care placements. |
Pupils from deprived areas in Gloucestershire face obesity issue
04/08/2026 Gloucestershire County Council has published new figures showing stark health inequalities linked to deprivation across the county. |
Compassion is key when delivering end of life care, Ombudsman says
30/07/2026 Councils have been urged by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) to enhance the quality of end life care. |
Councils call for greater powers to boost vaccination rates
28/07/2026 Councils have called for greater powers to boost vaccination rates and tackle rising measles cases. |
Social care is main driver of councils' emergency funding requests
27/07/2026 Social care is ‘taking centre stage' as the main factor driving councils' requests for exceptional financial support from Government, a new paper has found. |
NHS faces collapse without social care reform, says Burnham
27/07/2026 The NHS will collapse without social care system reform, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said. |
Wakefield greenlights £10m redevelopment scheme for new SEND school
24/07/2026 Wakefield Council has backed proposals for a £10m project that will see an unused building transformed into a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school. |
Warwickshire CC approves £8.2m early years funding
23/07/2026 An investment of more than £8.2m has been approved by Warwickshire County Council to safeguard over 500 early years nursery places. |
