Pushing for real reform
The pandemic was a game changer for the central/local government relationship, says Joanne Roney, who has started her two-year stint as president of Solace.
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2020
16/12/2020 Although the dispute over council pay caused the most stir in the local government sector this year, the impact of dealing with the pandemic obviously dominated the headlines as well. |
Spending Review: £2.9bn 'restart programme to help unemployed'
25/11/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a three-year £2.9bn ‘restart programme’ to help more than one million people unemployed for more than a year find work. |
PM publishes ten point plan for 'green industrial revolution'
18/11/2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has published his ten point plan for creating a 'green industrial revolution' for 250,000 new jobs. |
Government announces ‘additional’ £40m of green funding
16/11/2020 The Government has announced that more areas are to be designated national parks and a second round of funding will be available to support the delivery of green jobs. |
Labour calls for creation of 400,000 green jobs
10/11/2020 Labour has called on the Government to ‘build it in Britain’ and to support the creation of 400,000 new jobs with a green economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. |
Youth and BAME jobs hit hardest by lockdown
28/10/2020 Young people, BAME workers and those on insecure contracts have lost out most as a result of the changing jobs market during the COVID-19 crisis, says new research from the Resolution Foundation. |
Mayor 'rejects' government lockdown restrictions
02/10/2020 Middlesbrough Mayor, Andy Preston, has said he doesn't accept the new lockdown measures being imposed by the Government as they are based on ignorance and factual inaccuracies. |
Launch of £2bn youth employment scheme
02/09/2020 The Government has launched its £2bn scheme to create thousands of jobs for unemployed young people. |
DCN: Bigger local government is ‘not better or cheaper’
01/09/2020 Proposals for county unitary councils would be 122 times larger than the average council in Germany, a new report by the District Councils’ Network (DCN) warns today. |
Chancellor confirms £2bn jobs scheme for young people
08/07/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £2bn ‘kickstart scheme’ for jobs to prevent an entire generation of young people being ‘left behind’. |
Councils predict one million new low-carbon jobs by 2050
11/06/2020 The low-carbon and renewable energy economy could create nearly 700,000 jobs by 2030 in England, increasing to 1.18 million by 2050, a new report has revealed. |
Local government pay summit to go ahead
30/03/2020 Negotiators hope to keep local government pay discussions on track despite the difficulties posed by the coronavirus crisis. |
Tees Valley mayor strikes ‘landmark deal’ on former steelwork land
21/02/2020 A landmark deal has been agreed that will see the 840 acres of land owned by SSI UK transferred to the South Tees Development Corporation. |
Council prepares to approve £306m investment strategy
20/01/2020 A multi-million pound investment strategy that will see the delivery of 2,000 new homes is set to be approved by Oldham Council. |
Council to launch ‘town-wide’ creative skills project
16/01/2020 Luton Council has decided not to bid to be the City of Culture in 2025 but instead will launch a town-wide creative skills project. |
Half of local government workers worry about redundancy as a result of cuts
14/11/2019 Around 50% of local government workers worry that they could be made redundant by technological innovation or Government cuts, a survey has revealed. |
Council sets out plan to build 1,000 social homes
12/11/2019 Nottingham City Council has committed to building or buying 1,000 council houses and creating thousands of new jobs over the next decade. |
British Steel rescue deal agreed ‘in principle’
11/11/2019 A rescue deal for the manufacturer British Steel looks set to go ahead as China's Jingye Group agrees in principle to purchase the struggling business for £70m. |
High street hit as retail employment falls by 85,000
24/10/2019 ‘Weak’ consumer demand and ‘Brexit uncertainty’ have been blamed for the decline of the high street as figures reveal thousands of retail jobs have been lost. |
Liverpool submits £230m ‘Green City Deal’
30/07/2019 The mayor of Liverpool has submitted a proposal to the new prime minister for a £230m Green City Deal to tackle climate change and boost the economy. |
Young people ‘fear for their future’, charity says
08/07/2019 Young people fear for their future and feel ignored by politicians, according to new report. |
Council chiefs call for devolution to rural communities after Brexit
04/07/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to devolve more powers to rural areas in the event that Britain leaves the European Union. |
Post-Brexit free trade zones could ‘rebalance the economy’, think tank claims
25/06/2019 Whitehall should establish free trade zones in most deprived areas after Brexit in order to incentivise growth and rebalance the economy, think tank argues. |
Around 25% of local government jobs ‘slashed’ due to austerity
21/06/2019 New data from Unison has revealed that a quarter of local government jobs have been cut over the last decade as a result of austerity. |
British Steel’s financial troubles could cost councils nearly £3m
22/05/2019 Local authorities could lose £2.8m in business rates should British Steel go into administration, a real estate company has calculated. |
Council chiefs call for action on 'youth jobs gap'
24/04/2019 Local authority leaders have renewed calls for an integrated employment and skills service following a report highlighting a 'youth jobs gap'. |
Council gives plan to deliver nearly 20,000 homes the go-ahead
27/03/2019 A 20-year plan to deliver homes, jobs, transport infrastructure and community facilities for Warrington has been given the thumbs-up. |
Whitehall announces £36m to develop coastal communities
25/03/2019 Around 70 coastal projects have been awarded a total of £36m by the Government as part of an effort to attract tourists and create jobs. |
Southern cities provide more jobs for low-skilled workers than in the North
07/03/2019 Employment opportunities are greater for low-skilled workers in southern English cities than those in the North or Midlands, a think tank has discovered. |
Hundreds of Birmingham refuse workers to strike ‘weekly’
05/02/2019 Over 300 refuse workers have announced they will begin two days of strike action a week in an escalation of the ongoing industrial dispute with the council. |
Place jobcentres next to council services, London boroughs urge
24/01/2019 Jobcentre support should be placed alongside council services to help tackle long-term unemployment and in-work poverty, London Councils have said today. |
Welsh council ‘profoundly’ disappointed at suspension of nuclear deal
18/01/2019 The Isle of Anglesey council has expressed ‘profound disappointment and concern’ at Hitachi’s decision to suspend work on a nuclear power plant in north Wales. |
Homes England agrees £70m loan for new homes in Northamptonshire
15/01/2019 A £70m cash injection from Homes England will bring around 8,500 new homes and up to 3,000 jobs to Northamptonshire. |
Whistleblower loses ‘unfair dismissal’ case against council
20/07/2018 Cheshire East Council has welcomed an employment tribunal decision which found a ‘whistleblower’ was not dismissed unfairly. |
South East councils call for powers to tackle skills shortage
17/07/2018 Councils have called for more powers to help address the skills shortage as report shows nearly all jobs will soon be closed to people without qualifications. |
Whitehall announces £67m town deal for Greater Grimsby
06/07/2018 The Government has announced what it describes as a ‘landmark’ town deal for Grimsby in an effort to deliver thousands of new jobs and homes to Lincolnshire. |
Half of council staff considering quitting their job, survey finds
18/06/2018 Half of council workers are thinking of leaving their job for less stressful work elsewhere, according to a new survey by trade union Unison. |
Adult social care contributes £38bn to English economy
05/06/2018 Adult social care employers contribute £38.5bn to the English economy and create 1.5 million job roles, according to a new report. |
Londoners with disabilities need more support into work, think tank says
02/05/2018 Sadiq Khan should create a taskforce dedicated to supporting disabled people into work, think tank says. |
Cornwall proposes post-Brexit plan to create 20,000 jobs
27/04/2018 Cornwall Council has called on Whitehall to devolve more powers to the south western peninsular as part of a plan to help it cope with the impact of Brexit. |
Luton pays £3.2m to save car factory
05/04/2018 Luton Council has paid out over £3m as part of a package to keep car manufacturing in the town. |
Government confirms more job centre closures
04/04/2018 More job centres will be co-located within local government premises as part of moves to cut costs, the Government confirmed today. |
Government cuts force council to propose 50 redundancies
04/12/2017 Blackpool Council could make up to 50 people redundant and lose a further 20 contract posts under spending plans for next year. |
Sites of individual placement and support (IPS) trials for addiction named
22/11/2017 Seven council areas have been named as sites for individual placement and support (IPS) trials for drugs or alcohol dependency in community treatment services. |
Council staff told to take mandatory unpaid leave
02/11/2017 Northamptonshire County Council has told its staff they must take a day’s mandatory unpaid leave as part of an effort to save £2m a month. |
East Renfrewshire to axe 300 posts
05/10/2017 Hundreds of staff at East Renfrewshire Council could be axed in an attempt to close a £26m funding gap. |
Councils appoint partner for 5,000 new jobs project
05/10/2017 South Tyneside and Sunderland City Councils have appointed a new development partner to drive forward a project to deliver more than 5,000 jobs in the region. |
Local authorities join the jobs rush
17/08/2017 Sam Clayden explores some of the exciting new job roles being formed in local government. |
Fiscal devolution could help counties create one million jobs, report says
04/07/2017 England’s counties have called on the Government to institute a ‘radical programme of fiscal devolution’ in order to create one million jobs and prepare the country for Brexit. |
Hornblower wanted!
29/06/2017 A city council is attempting to recruit a new Hornblower in order to continue a 1,200-year-old tradition. |
Refuse collection workers threaten strikes in Birmingham
31/05/2017 Refuse workers in Birmingham have started voting on strike action amid accusations of financial mismanagement and an overspend by the council of nearly £10m. |
Social care could be ‘hit hard’ by Brexit, warn think tank
26/05/2017 The social care sector could be hard hit by an exodus of EU workers unless assurances are given they will be able to stay in the UK after Brexit, experts warn. |
‘Shocking’ one in 10 UK workers in insecure jobs
07/02/2017 There has been a ‘shocking’ rise in the number of insecure workers delivering frontline public services, trade unions warn. |
Proposed Jobcentre Plus reforms ‘significant missed opportunity’
27/01/2017 The Government’s proposals to merge Jobcentre Plus offices and benefit centres are ‘a significant missed opportunity’, say council chiefs. |
Glasgow commits to 50,000 new jobs by 2023
25/11/2016 The most ambitious jobs creation target has been launched today by Glasgow City Council. |
Council reforms to save millions but will cost jobs
04/11/2016 Dudley Council is undertaking ‘radical’ reforms in a bid to find £25m worth of savings—but over 100 jobs are likely to be lost in the process. |
Councils should have responsibility for Work and Health Programme
03/11/2016 Funding and responsibility for the new Work and Health Programme (WHP) should be devolved to local areas, council chiefs say. |
Council workforces shrink to record low
15/09/2016 The number of people working for local authorities is at a record low, according to official statistics. |
Councils call for devolution of national work programme
31/08/2016 The funding and responsibility for the new Work and Health Programme (WHP) should be devolved to groups of councils in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, town hall chiefs have said. |
Investment in city’s transport to create jobs and boost economy
16/08/2016 Lincoln’s multi-million pound investment scheme promises to create up to 200 jobs and boost the economy by £9m a year. |
Council approves scheme to create hundreds of jobs
09/08/2016 A northern borough council has approved a new multi-million pound scheme to create hundreds of jobs. |
Northern Powerhouse could create 850,000 new jobs
30/06/2016 New technologies, infrastructure and investment could help transform the North of England’s economy, according to an independent review. |
Deal with car manufacturer to create 2,000 jobs
28/04/2016 Coventry City and Warwick District councils have backed plans by Jaguar Land Rover to create 2,000 jobs in a £500m investment. |
Enterprise allowance kick-starts 80,000 new firms
30/03/2016 A Government scheme that encourages jobseekers to launch businesses has created more than 80,000 new firms in the last five years with Liverpool generating the most start-ups. |
Enterprise zones continue to drive jobs growth
30/03/2016 More than 1,900 jobs were created across England’s 24 enterprise zones between July and September last year, latest figures have revealed. |
Report: Boost to poorest from jobs boom will be undone by welfare cuts
02/03/2016 Despite jobs growth lifting 400,000 children out of poverty over the last year, welfare and tax credit cuts will result in the poorest seeing no growth in their incomes for the next five years, a report has found. |
Multi-billion pound partnership secures 2000 jobs in Glasgow
26/02/2016 Scotland’s biggest council has secured a £2.7bn partnership that will protect jobs for the next 30 years, it was announced yesterday. |
Jobs boom in cities accompanied by low urban wages, report reveals
25/01/2016 Nearly a million new jobs have been created in British cities since 2010, but the average salary has decreased, according to a new report from Centre for Cities. |
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.
