How to Fix Local Roads: Sustainable Road Maintenance Solutions for Local Government
Explore expert insights on sustainable road maintenance and pothole repair, and learn how local government can fix the road network with proactive strategies.
Unite calls for investigation into Brum commissioners
09/07/2025 Unite has called for an investigation into whether Birmingham’s Government-appointed commissioners have a financial interest in keeping the bin strikes going. |
Call for Warrington officers' resignations
25/05/2025 Conservatives in Warrington have called for senior officers to resign following the announcement of Government intervention at the council. |
Liverpool CC praised for ‘substantial’ progress
08/04/2025 Liverpool City Council has further to go on its improvement journey but has ‘made significant and substantial’ progress, according to an improvement board. |
Spelthorne faces Government intervention
17/03/2025 Ministers are minded to appoint commissioners to oversee the running of Spelthorne BC. |
Envoys sent in to Tower Hamlets
23/01/2025 Local government minister Jim McMahon has sent three envoys in to improve Tower Hamlets LBC following last year's Best Value inspection. |
Councils’ Best Value notices lifted
20/12/2024 Best Value notices issued to Runnymede and Eastleigh borough councils will not be renewed despite ongoing concern about their ‘significant’ debts. |
Commissioners not ruled out despite envoy appointment
22/11/2024 Government could still appoint commissioners to councils despite proposal to send in non-statutory ministerial envoys to Tower Hamlets, The MJ understands. |
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'. |
Intervention at Slough set to be extended
23/10/2024 Slough Council is facing an extension to Government intervention due to ‘volatility' in its finances. |
Labour intervenes at Tameside
15/10/2024 The leader of Tameside MBC has resigned after Labour took steps to directly intervene over ‘unacceptable working practices' at the authority. |
Best Value Notices lifted for three authorities
10/09/2024 Three authorities are no longer operating under Best Value Notices, the Government has confirmed. |
Wirral set to spend extra £1m on struggling SEND
05/09/2024 Wirral Council will consider spending an extra £1.1m on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision after it was ordered by the Government to improve. |
Liverpool City Council set to achieve ‘true potential’, minister says
14/08/2024 The new minister for local government has praised Liverpool City Council’s improvement journey saying it is ‘on its way to achieving its true potential.’ |
King recognises council chiefs in honours
17/06/2024 Current and former local authority bosses have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours. |
Fresh Best Value Notice for South Cambs over four-day week
08/05/2024 The Government has issued a new Best Value Notice to South Cambridgeshire DC due to ‘ongoing concerns’ about the authority’s four-day working week. |
'Blunt tool' ranks council finances
01/05/2024 Rushcliffe BC is the highest-ranked council in England for finance with Leeds City Council coming bottom, according to metrics. |
Wirral assurance panel ‘no longer required’
19/04/2024 Wirral MBC’s Independent Assurance Panel (IAP) has officially stood down after declaring it was ‘no longer required’. |
Two-year Sandwell intervention to end
07/03/2024 Local government minister Simon Hoare has today confirmed that Whitehall’s two-year intervention at Sandwell Council will end. |
Bradford issued Best Value Notice
01/03/2024 The Government has issued a Best Value Notice to City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council over concerns about its financial resilience and children’s services. |
Tower Hamlets faces Best Value inspection
22/02/2024 A Best Value inspection is to take place at Tower Hamlets LBC, the Government has announced. |
Birmingham 'worse' than commissioners feared
22/02/2024 The situation in Birmingham City Council is worse than commissioners expected, a report to the secretary of state has claimed. |
LGA moves towards performance support role
14/02/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) is to take a more proactive role as it seeks to do more to prevent Whitehall intervention in councils, The MJ understands. |
Statutory recommendations lifted at Sandwell
08/02/2024 Auditors have lifted the three statutory recommendations in place at Sandwell MBC. |
Woking to sell development to county
25/01/2024 A major deal between Woking BC, Surrey CC and McLaren is set to help ease the financial pressure on the troubled borough and pave the way to selling its HQ. |
Notts council seeks ‘exceptional financial support’
16/01/2024 Nottingham City Council has joined the list of local authorities who have requested ‘exceptional financial support’ from the Government. |
Nottingham commissioners would 'undermine senior officers'
04/01/2024 Nottingham City Council has urged the Government not to send in commissioners to oversee the running of the authority. |
Councils told to revise local plan timetables
20/12/2023 The housing secretary has instructed seven local authorities to revise their timetables for delivering their local plans. |
Government set to appoint commissioners at Nottingham
13/12/2023 The levelling up secretary is ‘minded to’ escalate government intervention at Nottingham due to ‘serious concerns’ over the city council’s finances and governance. |
Fourth commissioner appointed at Woking
13/12/2023 The Government has appointed Richard Carr as a managing director commissioner at Woking BC. |
Liverpool to regain certain functions but intervention expected to continue
13/12/2023 Liverpool City Council is set to regain control over some of its functions, but commissioners are likely to continue to intervene in specific areas. |
Brum blame culture still 'largely unaddressed'
04/12/2023 Birmingham City Council’s problems of governance and accountability are still ‘largely unaddressed’, despite some gains made by the authority. |
Council told to stick with ‘unsuitable’ local plan
01/12/2023 The Government has told Erewash Borough Council to stick with its emerging local plan, which has been branded ‘out-of-date and unsuitable’ by the authority. |
MPs launch inquiry into controversial watchdog
24/11/2023 An inquiry looking at the remit of the controversial Office for Local Government (Oflog) was launched by MPs today. |
Job cuts 'inevitable' at Brum
14/11/2023 Birmingham City Council is poised to reveal a worse-than-expected financial position as it embarks on a savings drive and ‘inevitable’ job cuts, The MJ has learned. |
Spectre of s114 looms over Nottingham
14/11/2023 Nottingham City Council has edged closer to issuing a section 114 notice, after revealing it still faces a significant in-year deficit despite tightening its purse strings. |
South Cambs issued Best Value notice over four-day week
03/11/2023 The Government has issued a non-statutory Best Value notice to South Cambridgeshire District Council ‘following concerns about its trial of a four-day working week’. |
Peterborough leader loses confidence vote
02/11/2023 Peterborough City Council has new political leadership after councillors voted to remove Conservative leader Wayne Fitzgerald. |
Confidence vote risks ‘further government intervention’
27/10/2023 The leader of Peterborough City Council has said a confidence motion in him will result in ‘major political instability’ and risks further intervention from the Government. |
Sandwell council should be abolished, MP says
25/10/2023 Shaun Bailey MP has called for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council to be dismantled. |
Birmingham 'actively exploring' action against s151
12/10/2023 Birmingham CC is ‘actively exploring’ action against its former director of council management Becky Hellard for her role in the collapse of the council. |
Guildford leader survives confidence vote
11/10/2023 Guildford BC’s leader has survived a vote of no confidence over the authority’s finances. |
Threat to councils' planning powers lifted
06/10/2023 Nine councils have avoided being stripped of their planning decision-making powers after drastically improving their performance figures. |
Birmingham commissioners revealed
05/10/2023 The team tasked with turning round Birmingham City Council has been announced – including a former Labour minister and a serving council chief. |
Woking entered s114 territory in 2018
13/09/2023 Woking BC may have faced a section 114 notice at least four years before it declared effective bankruptcy, senior councillors have been told. |
Brum braced for Government intervention
12/09/2023 Birmingham City Council is braced for a wide-ranging Government intervention to help rescue the authority’s bleak finances, and improve political and officer leadership. |
Best Value notice for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
03/08/2023 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has been issued with a Best Value notice after a review found its budget was ‘unrealistic’. |
Warning Birmingham equal pay bill could rise further
26/07/2023 Birmingham City Council’s mammoth equal pay bill could rise further if it fails to meet a tight deadline to fix the issue. |
Government formally intervenes in Croydon
20/07/2023 Ministers have moved Croydon LBC’s improvement and assurance panel to a statutory footing, meaning it can instruct rather than guide the council. |
Intervening at the local level
05/07/2023 After the launch of Oflog yesterday at the LGA conference, Nick Graham, Buckinghamshire Council, takes a step back to look at Government interventions. |
Thurrock commissioners call for sector-wide change
15/06/2023 The team from Essex CC led by Tony McArdle have made recommendations for the wider sector in its Best Value report on Thurrock, published today. |
Woking issues Section 114
07/06/2023 Stricken Woking BC has issued a Section 114 notice as the authority continues to work with Government on a solution its financial crisis. |
Government steps in at Woking after huge debts revealed
25/05/2023 Secretary of state Michael Gove has demanded an intervention in Working BC begin immediately after the scale of its financial problems emerged. |
Dudley in health and safety breach
27/04/2023 Dudley MBC has been found to have breached health and safety rules by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). |
Scottish council leaders and police strengthen collaboration
18/04/2023 Local authority leaders in Scotland have agreed four key priority areas to strengthen collaboration between local government and policing. |
Kent receives improvement notice for SEND failings
06/04/2023 An improvement notice has been issued to Kent CC after it failed to turn around its special educational needs and disability (SEND) services. |
Questions over Slough's 'viability'
16/03/2023 The Government has said there are question marks over the ‘viability’ of Slough Council as a unitary as it announced plans for it and Thurrock and Croydon. |
No extra social care funding for struggling councils
13/03/2023 A minister said councils would receive further support if they were found to be in need of improvement under new Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessments. |
Commisioners praise progress at Liverpool
09/03/2023 Troubled Liverpool City Council is making progress, its commissioners have ruled, but there are still risks. |
'Progress falls short' at Nottingham
02/02/2023 Nottingham City Council has been too slow in turning around its finances, according to the team charged with overseeing its recovery. |
Gove announces further intervention at Liverpool City Council
08/11/2022 The Government has appointment another commissioner to oversee Liverpool City Council following 'serious shortcomings' around financial management and senior leadership. |
Auditor hands statutory recommendations to two councils
04/11/2022 Two councils have been issued with rare statutory recommendations by their external auditor. |
Improvement notice for Nottingham's children's services
25/10/2022 An improvement notice has been handed to Nottingham City Council over its children’s services. |
Thurrock to switch borrowing to PWLB
05/10/2022 Thurrock BC will reduce its ‘over-reliance’ on borrowing from other councils by taking out £836m of loans from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB). |
Liverpool set for further intervention
19/08/2022 Commissioners at Liverpool are set to take on governance and financial decision making in an extension of their powers following a damning report. |
Slough's financial challenge 'unprecedented'
28/07/2022 Commissioners at Slough Council are set to be given powers over recruitment after finding it was unable to turn around its finances quickly enough. |
Structural change not a cure-all for children's services
11/07/2022 Structural change alone is not enough to turn around children’s services, a new report has found. |
Commissioners to oversee strategic decisions at Nottingham
23/06/2022 Commissioners are to oversee strategic decisions at Nottingham City Council amid fears of ‘further serious issues’ on the scale that led to a section 114. |
Government intervenes at Sandwell Council
23/03/2022 The Government has intervened at Sandwell Council after a review found a 'deeply troubling picture of mismanagement'. |
Merthyr Tydfil improvement board ends
16/03/2022 Independent oversight of Merthyr Tydfil CBC has come to an end following improvements to its governance and sustainability. |
Slough given conditions for £300m bailout
08/03/2022 Slough Council will only be considered for a £307m Government bailout to cover its deficits if it proves it can turn itself around financially, the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has warned. |
Commissioners sent in to struggling Slough
01/12/2021 The Government has sent commissioners in to struggling Slough BC in a bid to turn round its failing finances. |
Council chiefs urge Government to put children at ‘heart of recovery’
14/07/2021 Local authority leaders have called for a cross-government strategy to ensure that children and young people are at the heart of the post-pandemic recovery. |
Commissioners appointed at Liverpool City Council
10/06/2021 Surrey CC’s chief executive Joanna Killian will be part of the team of independent commissioners who will oversee improvements at Liverpool City Council, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today. |
Councils should have legal duty to provide ‘early help’ says report
02/06/2021 A new report is calling for a legal duty on local authorities to provide early help to children and families, rather than providing what is easiest to measure. |
Good luck Liverpool
08/04/2021 Intervention can be the best thing that happens to a council, ‘and can serve only to define the past not the future’, says Jo Miller. But the cause of the failure must be recognised and the right series of actions taken, she believes. |
Jenrick steps in at 'dysfunctional' Liverpool
24/03/2021 Commissioners will be sent in to Liverpool City Council after an independent inquiry found serious mismanagement and a dysfunctional culture, communities secretary Robert Jenrick has told Parliament. |
Nottingham plans £100m asset sale
19/01/2021 The council has identified £100m of assets for sale as part of a plan to bring its finances under control. |
Charities call for 'vital' early intervention funding to safeguard children
18/05/2020 Funding cuts to children's services have left councils unable to cope with the current crisis, charities have warned today. |
|
Eight councils to receive £20,000 to develop ‘behavioural insights’
08/01/2020 Eight local authorities are to receive £20,000 each in order to help them develop new ways to change the behaviour of residents as part of an effort to reduce demand on overstretched councils. |
|
Leader of ‘fractious’ council seeks government help
28/06/2019 The leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council has asked the Welsh Government for help to overcome its ‘fractious’ position and financial challenges. |
|
'We've broken the social contract with people'
05/06/2019 Former Society of Local Authority Chief Executives president Jo Miller is leaving her chief executive role at Doncaster MBC to take up a new local government post in New Zealand. She talks to Heather Jameson about her legacy. |
|
The rise of anti-social behaviour: Can we stop it?
04/06/2019 Rebecca Bryant suggests collaboration, communication and transparency are key to tackling the rise in anti-social behaviour. |
|
Brum improvement team issues final damning judgement and walks away
02/04/2019 Birmingham City Council’s intervention team has issued a final, damning report on the crisis-hit council and walked away – despite admitting its job is not complete. |
|
Councils call for Troubled Families funding after success of scheme
20/03/2019 Council leaders have called for continued funding for the Troubled Families programme after an evaluation found the scheme has helped hundreds of thousands of families. |
|
Northants can use £70m in capital receipts to plug finance gap
29/11/2018 Northamptonshire CC will be allowed to use £70m in capital receipts to plug its financial black hole, local government secretary James Brokenshire has ruled. |
|
Whitehall plans to tackle bad health need ‘long-term investment’, charity says
05/11/2018 Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the Government is committed to supporting local councils in improving health locally through ‘innovation, communication and community outreach.’ |
|
Brokenshire to end intervention at Rotherham Council
24/07/2018 Rotherham Council looks set to regain full control of its services, after communities secretary James Brokenshire said he was 'minded' to end intervention. |
|
Commissioners call for end of intervention in Rotherham
19/06/2018 Ministers have been urged to return full powers back to Rotherham Council, after an independent report found 'impressive' improvements across the authority. |
|
Whitehall cuts ‘undermining’ support services for vulnerable children
01/05/2018 Government funding reductions have forced councils to cut back on early support services for vulnerable children, an education policy think tank has found. |
|
Whitehall launches £40m strategy to fight violent crime
09/04/2018 The Government today launched a multi-million pound strategy to tackle the ‘root causes’ of violent crime, including a task force involving local authorities. |
|
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. |
|
Three councils face intervention over local plans
26/03/2018 Three councils are facing government intervention over their failure to produce a local plan. |
|
County council imposes an emergency spending ban
03/02/2018 Northamptonshire CC’s director of finance has issued a section 114 order, calling a halt to spending at the cash-strapped authority. |
|
Plymouth agrees to manage Torbay’s failing children’s services
31/01/2018 Plymouth City Council has agreed to take on full managerial responsibility for the ‘inadequate’ children’s services in Torbay. |
|
Rotherham's children's services rated 'good' in dramatic turnaround
29/01/2018 Rotherham Council’s children’s services have been rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, following three years of Government intervention in the aftermath of the child sexual exploitation scandal. |
|
Five London councils commission programme to keep troubled youngsters out of care
16/01/2018 Five London boroughs have jointly commissioned a new programme to help vulnerable young people stay out of care. |
|
Councils can only afford to help children in crisis, charities warn
15/11/2017 Councils have been forced to close services designed to spot early signs of child neglect and abuse as they can only afford to help those in crisis, a report has warned today. |
|
Grenfell council asks government to step back
07/11/2017 Kensington and Chelsea RLBC has asked the Government to water down its oversight at the council following the Grenfell Tower fire in June. |
|
Councils call for 2% health precept to invest in prevention
25/09/2017 District councils have called for introduction of a new health precept on council tax in order to raise £25m for preventative measures. |
|
Rotherham set to be handed back five powers
19/07/2017 A further five powers are due to be returned to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council following improvements by the council. |
