Potholes: Treating the illness not just the symptom
With the publication of the ALARM survey, chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, David Giles, talks to LocalGov about investing in local roads.
Leicester takes issue with watchdog's criticism
31/01/2025 Leicester City Council has said a newly-published Ofsted report ‘does not accurately reflect' its children's services. |
‘Serious failings’ in two councils’ social housing standards
16/01/2025 The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has identified serious failings following inspections at Newcastle and Nottingham city councils. |
Regulator to check councils’ asbestos control
06/12/2024 The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is set to inspect hundreds of council buildings to check the risk of asbestos is being properly managed. |
Government parachutes in envoys to oversee Tower Hamlets LBC
12/11/2024 Government envoys will oversee the management of Tower Hamlets LBC after inspectors found a ‘toxic' environment was stopping the council ‘moving forward'. |
Windsor and Maidenhead’s social care must improve, watchdog says
08/11/2024 England’s adult social care regulator has found that services provided by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council require improvement. |
Tower Hamlets begins inspection fightback
26/09/2024 Best Value inspectors sent into Tower Hamlets LBC have been personally threatened with legal action by the council, The MJ understands. |
Call to scrap single-word ratings in adult social care
10/09/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for the scrapping of single-word ratings in assessments of adult social care services. |
Council told to tackle safeguarding backlog
14/06/2024 A Local Government Association peer challenge urged Cumberland Council to take immediate action on a ‘significant’ safeguarding backlog. |
EXCLUSIVE: Tower Hamlets Best Value Inspection extended
28/05/2024 The Best Value Inspection (BVI) team at Tower Hamlets LBC has extended its work to include the council’s oversight of the General Election. |
Ofsted rates Havering's children's services inadequate
16/02/2024 Havering LBC’s children’s services have been rated inadequate by Government regulator Ofsted after a two-week on-site inspection. |
New inspections require ‘significant’ work, pilot councils say
01/12/2023 Councils have reported spending 'a huge amount of time and energy' preparing for and undergoing the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) new adult social care assessments. |
Concern over hotel use for care leavers
02/11/2023 Too many care leavers live in hotels or other unsuitable accommodation in Devon but oversight at the county council has improved, Ofsted has found. |
One in 10 takeaways fail food standards inspections
30/05/2023 Councils should be enabled to spend more time ensuring food standards are maintained, study says as one in 10 takeaways are found to have failed inspections. |
Head teacher’s death prompts call for Ofsted inspection pause
21/03/2023 Education unions have called for Ofsted inspections to be paused following the death of a head teacher who was waiting for a report on her school. |
Commissioner warns children's services could be removed from Sefton
07/02/2023 A Government-appointed commissioner has warned Sefton Council’s children’s services are still in ‘severe difficulties’ and could be removed from local control. |
Sector given role in NHS plan
31/01/2023 Local government will join an ‘expert group’ with the community sector and care providers to ‘build adult social care capacity’ as part of a new NHS plan. |
CQC delays new care inspections
21/12/2022 The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has announced it is to delay the introduction of its new adult care assessments. |
New £20m fund to stop rogue landlords from exploiting supported housing system
14/11/2022 Councils are being given access to a £20m government fund to tackle landlords who exploit the supported housing system at the expense of vulnerable residents. |
Consultation for new SEND inspection framework launched
14/06/2022 Ofsted and the CQC have today launched a consultation on a new draft framework for inspecting local provision for children and young people with SEND. |
Councils urged to improve record-keeping of private housing complaints
10/02/2022 Councils have been urged to properly record complaints about the private rented sector after campaigners found over half are failing to accurately do so. |
Ofsted to inspect all schools by summer 2025
17/11/2021 All schools and colleges will be inspected by Ofsted by summer 2025 to determine how education is recovering from the pandemic. |
Council breaches Home Standard after missing safety inspections
28/10/2021 Norwich City Council failed to carry out inspections relating to fire, electrical, asbestos and water safety, causing the potential for 'serious detriment to tenants'. |
Police criticised for handling of child abuse cases
01/09/2021 Police criticised for delaying alerting children’s social care when they have found children living in houses where they might be vulnerable to abuse. |
SEND children being left behind by council
31/08/2021 Children with special educational needs are being left behind by council services across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, inspectors have found. |
Expansion of scheme assessing firm's COVID-19 safety measures
13/04/2021 An accreditation scheme assessing COVID-19 safety measures in London’s pubs, restaurants, gyms, hairdressers and shops has been extended following a successful pilot. |
Making self-certification a dirty word
19/01/2021 Deborah Heather urges local authorities to ensure the tourism industry uses enforceable and accountable accreditation schemes. |
Liverpool to undergo best value inspection
17/12/2020 Liverpool City Council will undergo an inspection of whether it is complying with its best value duty after the arrest of its mayor. |
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Union calls for Government to bring back spot safety inspections
26/05/2020 Local authorities should be allowed to carry out unannounced inspections of workplaces most at risk of spreading coronavirus, according to a trade union. |
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Social care inspections halted to focus on the ‘global health emergency’
17/03/2020 The social care regulator in England has announced it will be stopping all inspections in order to focus on supporting providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Plans for ‘universal’ school inspections launched
10/01/2020 Ofsted will visit all schools judged to be outstanding within the next five academic years, the Government has announced. |
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Labour pledges to scrap ‘unfit for purpose’ Ofsted
23/09/2019 Labour has vowed to scrap Ofsted and replace it with regular ‘health checks’ led by local government. |
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Council chiefs welcome move to ‘modernise’ housing inspection system
12/07/2019 Local government leaders have welcomed a move to review the system for inspecting private sector housing. |
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'Slow progress' two years after inadequate judgement
24/05/2019 Gloucestershire CC is making ‘slow progress’ in improving its services for its children and young people two years after it was judged inadequate, Ofsted has found. |
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Suffolk CC’s children’s services awarded ‘outstanding’
22/05/2019 Ofsted inspectors have awarded children’s services at Suffolk County Council the top grade of ‘outstanding'. |
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New school inspections framework to discourage ‘teaching to the test’
14/05/2019 Teachers have welcomed Ofsted's new inspection framework which pledges to focus on curriculum, behaviour and development rather than on test results. |
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Ofsted to retain grading system in new inspection framework
30/04/2019 Ofsted has decided to retain its current 4-point grading system when it launches its new inspection framework in September. |
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Fire safety failures revealed in care homes
05/02/2019 Serious fire safety failures have been found in nearly 100 care homes across London, the capital’s fire brigade have said. |
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Education watchdog calls time on ‘teaching to the test'
16/01/2019 Ofsted says it is moving away from its focus on performance data as the watchdog launches a consultation on proposals for changes to its inspection framework. |
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Top 10 most productive councils revealed
22/11/2018 ‘Fetishising failure’ distracts increasingly scarce management time away from improving outcomes, according to a new report naming the top 10 most productive councils in England. |
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Health and care inspection regime leaves ‘room for improvement’
27/09/2018 The new health and care inspection regime is a ‘significant improvement’ on the previous system, but there is room for improvement, concludes landmark report. |
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Birmingham ‘lacks’ leadership on SEND issues
11/09/2018 Birmingham City Council has said it is ‘very disappointed’ by the results of a special educational needs and disabilities inspection and said it would take urgent action to make ‘significant improvements’. |
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Ofsted ‘fig leaf’ for Whitehall failures on school standards
07/09/2018 Ofsted is not providing the level of independent assurance about the quality of education that schools and parents need, MPs warn. |
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Government pledges action on unsafe fire doors
01/08/2018 Fire doors from five suppliers have failed to meet minimum safety standards, according to government inspectors. |
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Watchdog names worse areas for food hygiene
25/06/2018 Many councils are struggling to meet their food hygiene responsibilities, according to new research by consumer watchdog Which?. |
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Wakefield prepare for full Ofsted inspection
05/06/2018 Ofsted will carry out a full inspection of Wakefield’s children’s services after they were rated ‘requiring improvement’ two years ago. |
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Javid plans intervention into crisis-hit Northants
27/03/2018 Local government secretary Sajid Javid has bowed to the inevitable and outlined plans for commissioners to run Northamptonshire CC amid concerns over the county’s sustainability. |
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Councils to share £1m to identify unsafe cladding on private bildings
01/03/2018 Local authorities are to share £1m to help then identify private high-rise buildings that may be clad in unsafe building materials. |
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Nearly 1,000 children's centres not inspected for five years
22/01/2018 The Government has been accused of dragging its feet over inspections of children's centres, which have been frozen since 2015. |
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Care home providers struggling with ‘harsh reality’ of care crisis
18/01/2018 Half of England’s large care home providers have at least one in four failing homes in their network, according to a consumer watchdog. |
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Inspectors find improvements in Birmingham's children's services
20/10/2017 Birmingham City Council is continuing to make progress with improving the quality of social work, inspectors have announced. |
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Future of adult social care is 'precarious’ warns report
10/10/2017 The majority of adult social care services have been rated as good, but regulators have warned the future quality of services are ‘precarious’. |
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Public believes housing inspections should be in hands of council, survey reveals
25/09/2017 The majority of the public believes housing safety inspections should be in the hands of local councils, survey reveals. |
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Inspections to assess local protection of ‘at risk’ children announced
19/04/2017 A new set of inspections to examine how local partner agencies - including local authorities - are working together to protect children at risk of neglect will begin next month. |
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Ofsted announces new social care common inspection framework
22/02/2017 Ofsted today announced a new social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) will take effect this April in order to create a more consistent inspections regime. |
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Councils 'appalled' over proposed food safety reforms
31/10/2016 Welsh councils have warned that handing over the regulation of food safety to producers would put the public at risk. |
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Inspections launched into councils’ approach to domestic abuse
10/08/2016 New inspections will investigate how well local partners, including councils, work together to protect children living with domestic abuse. |
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Decline in regulation is 'social murder', report claims
03/05/2016 An average business can now expect a local authority health and safety inspection only once in every 20 years, according to a report into the decline of regulation. |
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Display of hygiene ratings should be compulsory for food outlets, LGA says
03/05/2016 All food premises should be forced to display a hygiene rating so the public can better assess the quality and safety of the establishment before entering, councils say. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.
