Income generation

• New Oxford City Council trading companies commit to deliver £10.4m

  The commercial division of Oxford City Council has announced it plans to deliver over £10m in value back to the council by setting up two wholly-owned local authority trading companies.

  

• North Yorkshire launches council-owned law firm

  North Yorkshire County Council has become the first local authority in the North to trade its legal services.

  

• Some councils 'hiding' cost of waste collection on their websites

  Although three-quarters of councils now charge for garden waste collections, less than half of council websites provide a good or very good service for this task, a new survey has revealed.

  

• New retail park to generate £1m a year for council

  A new retail park in Portsmouth will generate £1m per year for the city council in rental income.

  

• Council launches new housing repairs company

  Around 450 staff have transferred to a new housing repairs and maintenance company owned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

  

• Council to sell brand new £53m headquarters

  A council has decided to sell off its £53m newly opened headquarters in order to cover social care costs.

  

• Your local government guide to starting a film office service

  Karen Everett outlines the seven steps councils should take to attract more filming to their local area.

  

• Technology and the public sector 2018

  Jos Creese outlines some key technology trends councils should focus on in 2018.

  

• Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2017

  From council pay to the Housing White Paper, here is a run-down of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2017.

  

• Why are we here?

  An increased drive for commercialism is forcing many council chiefs to re-assess the fundamental role of local authorities in an age of austerity. Rod Penman reports.