Building Healthier Communities: The Case for Investing in Public Health
Explore how targeted, community-based public health strategies can improve lives, reduce NHS pressure, and deliver cost savings for local authorities.
Council chiefs warn of ‘corrosive impact’ of fake news
30/06/2025 Councillors have warned of the ‘dangers to democracy’ posed by fake news, as more than half say they have had misinformation published about them. |
Peer warning over councillor financial understanding
04/02/2025 Not all 39 councillors at a Nottinghamshire council are fully getting to grips with the financial challenges for the local authority, peer review has warned. |
Housing directors association being explored by LGA
25/06/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) is exploring the creation of an association of housing directors. |
Sir Keir: We need to review voter ID rules
19/06/2024 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has suggested his party would review the policy of mandatory voter ID if elected to govern. |
Councils and NHS row over Better Care Fund use
18/06/2024 Some Integrated Care Boards are seeking to challenge the parts of the Better Care Fund earmarked for social care funding, LGA councillors have been told. |
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. |
LGA pushes ahead with model parental leave policy
06/06/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has agreed to develop a model policy on parental leave for councillors. |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA starts to shift on standards
04/06/2024 Senior Local Government Association (LGA) figures expect the organisation’s reluctance to beefing up the standards regime to shift after the General Election. |
Growth at heart of LGA White Paper
03/06/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for powers and funding so that councils can take a leading role in driving inclusive growth. |
LGA axes conference due to election clash
24/05/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has officially cancelled its annual conference after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the General Election that clashed with the event. |
BT: Too many councils failing to engage
21/05/2024 ‘Too many’ councils are failing to engage with telecoms giant BT as it works to switch customers to digital phone lines, the firm has said. |
LGA to review new assurance resource
20/05/2024 An improvement and assurance framework will be reviewed by Local Government Association (LGA) members ahead of publication as a new resource for the sector. |
BREAKING: Angry LGA leaders write to Gove over Oflog league table story
03/05/2024 Oflog's ‘lack of action to correct misleading information’ in rankings compiled by The Times ‘calls into question its ability to inform,’ Gove told. |
Council to announce chief after capacity criticism
15/04/2024 East Devon DC is hoping to announce its new chief executive early next month after peers said senior level capacity was currently ‘limited’. |
Government ignores sugar levy calls
12/04/2024 The Government has ignored Local Government Association (LGA) calls for the sugar levy to be spent by councils to tackle physical inactivity. |
Devolve NHS England's £168bn budget to local government, says report
02/04/2024 NHS England’s £168bn budget should be handed to local government in a radical restructure, the Reform think-tank has suggested in a report today. |
Officer-councillor tensions affecting outcomes, review finds
20/03/2024 Tensions between Teignbridge DC’s executive and senior leadership team are ‘inhibiting progress and damaging the council’s reputation,’ review warns. |
LGA warning over XL Bully dogs ban
19/03/2024 Councils face a double whammy of soaring costs and declining police support as they try to enforce a ban on XL Bully dogs. |
Four-day week council decision 'disappointing and arrogant'
14/03/2024 South Cambridgeshire DC’s decision to continue with its four-day week is ‘disappointing and arrogant,’ local government minister Simon Hoare has said. |
Right to Buy lobbying fails as temporary boost ended
08/03/2024 The Treasury has confirmed councils will no longer keep 100% of Right to Buy (RTB) receipts after the current financial year despite lobbying by the sector. |
'Culture of mistrust' found at Newham
04/03/2024 Newham LBC’s chief executive has vowed to tackle the ‘culture of mistrust’ among politicians and officers laid bare by a critical peer review. |
Lending rates could spike after audit reset, LGA warns
01/03/2024 Proposals to reset the local audit system and clear the backlog of accounts could drive up the lending rates offered to the sector, councils have warned. |
Local government launches cultural services alliance
01/03/2024 Organisations representing local government have joined forces to form a new National Alliance for Cultural Services. |
LGA 'strengthens' peer challenge but still won't name and shame resistant councils
01/03/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has launched its ‘strengthened’ corporate peer challenge (CPC) to help neutralise the threat from Oflog. |
Chiefs: Sector can afford senior pay hike
20/02/2024 Council chiefs have insisted their pay settlement must match the award for local government staff after years in which senior wage rises have fallen behind. |
Local government figures made peers
12/02/2024 Local government has been recognised in the latest round of peerages, with two senior figures heading to the House of Lords. |
Local government recruitment drive launches
10/01/2024 Councils in the North East of England will pilot a new campaign to encourage people to take up a job in local government. |
LGA calls for powers to withhold councillors' address
10/01/2024 Monitoring officers should be allowed to withhold councillors’ home addresses from public registers to help tackle rising levels of abuse and hate, Smith Square has said. |
Councils welcome PWLB rate extension
27/11/2023 Councils have welcomed Jeremy Hunt’s decision to extend preferential Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) expenditure. |
EXCLUSIVE: Oflog pushes ahead with early warning system
16/11/2023 Senior Oflog officials are pressing ahead with their plans to create an early warning system for councils in trouble despite continuing LGA resistance. |
Land value tax could redistribute billions
09/11/2023 A plan to reform business rates could lead to billions of pounds being redistributed from high land value areas to other parts of the country. |
DLUHC blasted over levelling up failure
08/11/2023 The levelling up department has been blasted for failing to deliver its remit by a senior sector figure. |
Emergency summit held amid temporary accommodation warnings
31/10/2023 More than 150 councils this week attended an emergency summit as the cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities increases rapidly. |
DCN in cuts warning
24/10/2023 Cultural services, community support and parks and green spaces are all at risk of cuts without a boost to the local government finance settlement, respondents to a District Councils’ Network (DCN) survey have warned. |
LGA chief departs
06/10/2023 Local Government Association chief executive Mark Lloyd will be leaving with immediate effect, the association has announced. |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA chief under threat
27/09/2023 The future of Local Government Association (LGA) chief executive Mark Lloyd today hangs in the balance as the new Labour-led regime considers changes. |
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. |
EXCLUSIVE: Housing pressures may push councils into effective bankruptcy
04/09/2023 Rising housing pressures will force some councils to effectively declare bankruptcy, a local authority chief executive with more than 40 years of experience in the sector has warned. |
South East Councils to consider devolution of vehicle excise duty
01/09/2023 The devolution of vehicle excise duty (VED) will be among the options expected to be considered by a London Finance Commission-style investigation. |
Health backing for police withdrawal delay
08/08/2023 Senior healthcare figures have backed councils’ demand to delay police withdrawal from non-urgent mental health callouts. |
Pay dispute to stretch into autumn
07/08/2023 The local government pay dispute is destined to stretch into the autumn as trade union Unite warned ‘coordinated industrial action’ was ‘inevitable’. |
Fresh LGA drive to influence MPs over skills
07/08/2023 The Local Government Association has proposed to establish a skills and employment working group as it seeks to influence MPs ahead of the election. |
Trust in councils plummets following pandemic
04/08/2023 Public approval of councils has reached record lows in key areas, according to the latest polling for the Local Government Association (LGA). |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA stance on corporate peer challenges starts to shift
31/07/2023 Elements of the LGA are privately moving towards accepting that corporate peer challenges should be put on a statutory footing, The MJ understands. |
Hastings' financial controls 'not fully developed'
31/07/2023 Senior Hastings BC councillors will be urged next week to ‘bring in and embed more stringent financial controls and accountability to urgently reduce spending’. |
Exploitation warning after Illegal Migration Bill becomes law
20/07/2023 Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) could be in danger of being exploited after the Illegal Migration Act created an incentive for them to run away. |
Lloyd: Pandemic simulation kept secret from sector
12/07/2023 Lessons from a Whitehall-run pandemic simulation exercise in 2016 were kept secret from local government, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has heard. |
Overton rejects breakaway Green group idea
10/07/2023 The re-elected leader of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) independents has rejected the idea of a breakaway Green group. |
Progress on devolution 'too slow' - LGA vice-president
16/06/2023 A Local Government Association vice-president has expressed ‘serious concerns about the Government’s increasing desire to centralise local service delivery across England out of Whitehall’. |
Poor pandemic planning criticised
13/06/2023 Public health directors have criticised the Government’s Covid-19 preparedness – warning Whitehall must utilise council expertise to avoid repeat. |
Council urged to address low reserves
12/06/2023 Senior managers at Eastbourne BC must address the council’s low levels of reserves given current cost pressures within sector, an LGA-led review has warned. |
Councils 'not ready' for Met's mental health withdrawal
30/05/2023 Councils are not ready for the consequences of the Metropolitan Police Services’ decision to withdraw from non-emergency mental health callouts, experts warn. |
EXCLUSIVE: ‘It’s time for a new Audit Commission’
12/04/2023 An ex-senior mandarin has today called for a new Audit Commission as The MJ reveals the draft metrics the Government is considering for its new watchdog. |
Councils warning over Prevent reforms
28/03/2023 Councils have raised serious concerns about the Government’s proposed Prevent counter-extremism strategy reforms. |
Croydon pushes ahead with drive to hold former leaders to account
23/03/2023 Croydon LBC has announced ‘unprecedented action’ to hold ex-senior leaders to account for ‘misconduct, wrongdoing and failures in governance’. |
LGA to beef up council oversight amid Oflog fears
07/03/2023 The Local Government Association (LGA) today revealed plans to beef up its oversight of councils in an effort to stave off Government interference. |
Children's social worker numbers drop for first time since 2017
27/02/2023 The Government has been urged to act after official figures showed the number of children’s social workers has fallen for the first time since 2017. |
Investigator says 'heads must roll' after Croydon collapse
24/02/2023 An independent report into the reasons for the financial collapse of Croydon LBC that has finally been officially published has said ‘heads must roll’. |
LGA-backed coalition in fresh plea for Government leisure support
22/02/2023 A coalition including the Local Government Association has written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warning of the ‘final straw’ for many gyms, pools and clubs. |
Peer review calls for statutory officers to meet more
21/02/2023 Stockport MBC statutory officers should meet more regularly, a peer review team has advised the council. |
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. |
DLUHC: No more section 114 notices expected
10/01/2023 Whitehall officials are not expecting councils to issue further section 114 notices in the coming weeks, crediting the sector’s ‘positive’ settlement. |
Worsening audit backlog revealed
08/12/2022 Councils are managing financial challenges and planning for the future with ‘limited assurance about their underlying financial positions,’ auditors warn. |
Long-buried report reveals 'organisational dysfunction'
03/10/2022 ‘Organisational dysfunction at the most senior level’ of Croydon LBC has been laid bare in a long-buried report leaked to The MJ. |
Employers warn against local pay deals
19/07/2022 Councils have been warned against undermining the ‘fundamental integrity’ of national talks by agreeing local deals as pressure grows on pay. |
LGA Conference: Sector should consider offering four-day week
29/06/2022 Councils may have to consider offering a four-day week in order to attract the staff desperately needed by the sector, a workshop at the Local Government Association’s (LGA) annual conference has heard. |
Gove says new body will 'shine light' on sector failures and successes
28/06/2022 Michael Gove has reaffirmed his plans to ‘shine a light’ on both the failures and successes of councils with a new Office for Local Government. |
Council chiefs warn of 'disastrous' financial crisis
27/06/2022 More councils could be tipped into financial crisis while others face emergency cuts due to soaring inflation and living wage increases, the LGA warned today. |
Rising wage bill could lead to service cuts
21/06/2022 Government pledges on the National Living Wage (NLW) could cost councils at least £400m over the next two years and force further service cuts, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
There is no more cash for COVID, Government confirms
31/03/2022 There will be no more funding to help councils deal with outbreaks of COVID, the Government has confirmed. |
Ministers urged to reverse public health cuts
22/03/2022 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged ministers to reverse public health cuts amid warnings the COVID-19 pandemic has left staff exhausted and exacerbated recruitment difficulties. |
Gove urges pension funds to add to Russian pressure
14/03/2022 Levelling up secretary Michael Gove has urged local government pension scheme (LGPS) committee chairs to consider what more they can do to exert pressure on Russia. |
Councils warn of 'staffing crisis' amid exodus
03/03/2022 Councils have warned of a ‘staffing crisis’ as the number of children and family social workers quitting the profession hits a five-year high. |
Oxfordshire councils look to scrap partnership
18/01/2022 Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council have announced they are looking to end their formal partnership. |
LGA warning over soaring care costs
23/11/2021 Soaring adult and children’s care costs mean councils could ‘soon fail to support everyone they need to,’ town halls have warned. |
Think-tank makes call for wellbeing budgets
18/10/2021 The Government should introduce ‘wellbeing budgets’ that look beyond gross domestic product (GDP) to reduce regional health inequalities, a think-tank has urged. |
Reed accuses government of dropping devolution
07/07/2021 Shadow communities secretary Steve Reed has accused the Government of dropping its commitment to devolution. |
Social housing shortage blamed for rising bed and breakfast use
02/07/2021 Rising numbers of people who are homeless are being placed in bed and breakfasts due to a severe shortage of social housing, council leaders have warned. |
Councils can issue traffic fines from December
15/06/2021 Powers to enforce moving traffic offences will not be extended to local authorities in England outside London until the end of the year, a Department for Transport (DfT) minister has said. |
Virtual insanity: Councils hit out at refusal to extend meeting rules
26/03/2021 Councils will not be able to hold virtual council meetings after 6 May after the Government refused to budge on changes to legislation. |
Councils to be given five years to spend Right to Buy receipts
22/03/2021 Councils will be given five years to spend receipts from Right to Buy sales as part of an overhaul of the key housing policy, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced. |
Unison call for election safety measures
01/03/2021 The Government needs to implement strict measures in May’s local elections to keep staff safe, trade union Unison urged today. |
Councils call for extra cash for expanded shielding list
17/02/2021 Councils have called for more access to data and extra cash to deal with sharp spike in the number of people shielding from coronavirus. |
Commission proposes third option on integrated care
11/01/2021 The Health Devolution Commission (HDC) has called for a third 'health and prosperity' model of Integrated Care Systems. |
Leisure centre collapse warning
20/11/2020 Under-pressure leisure centres will go under without further rescue funding on top of the £100m already pledged by the Government, district councils have warned. |
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Councils bid for vaccine role
16/11/2020 Councils have made a bid to play a key role in distributing the new coronavirus vaccine. |
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Coronavirus leads to scrapping of three-year Spending Review
21/10/2020 Plans to create a three-year settlement for public spending have been abandoned as latest figures show the havoc coronavirus is wreaking on the public finances. |
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Fragmented council funding risks to value for money, report warns
05/10/2020 The increasing fragmentation in council funding ‘undermines central government’s understanding of service delivery’ and ‘risks impeding value for money,’ a report has warned. |
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Sector surprise at COVID marshal scheme
09/09/2020 Local government has been blindsided by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that an army of COVID marshals will enforce tough new rules. |
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Hancock scraps Public Health England
17/08/2020 Ministers have been accused of making Public Health England (PHE) a scapegoat by scrapping the body for alleged failures in the testing and tracing of coronavirus. |
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Councils urge extension for grants support scheme
03/08/2020 Fresh calls have been made for councils to be allowed to dole out to businesses the £1.6bn unspent from the Government’s small firms grant funds. |
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Better response to pandemic from European councils, says think-tank
16/07/2020 Local government across Europe has been able to react to the coronavirus crisis with greater power and autonomy than in the UK, a report published today has found. |
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Immigration plans branded an 'embarrassing shambles'
14/07/2020 The Government’s latest plans for post-Brexit immigration rules have been branded an ‘embarrassing shambles’ after they failed to include care workers. |
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Councils in local virus data call
03/07/2020 Councils have called for the Government to go further after it finally started to publish more coronavirus testing data. |
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COVID funding gap hits £7.4bn, LGA estimates
01/07/2020 The funding gap created by COVID-19 now stands at £7.4bn, the Local Government Association has said. |
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Councils back evictions ban in face of landlord criticism
15/06/2020 Councils have insisted police powers can still be used to evict perpetrators of domestic violence amid the evictions ban. |
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Seven out of 10 happy with council support
09/06/2020 Seven out of 10 people are very or fairly satisfied with the way their council is supporting them and their household during the coronavirus pandemic, Local Government Association research has found. |
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LGA split over worker bonus
26/05/2020 A cross-party agreement that the Local Government Association (LGA) would lobby for a coronavirus payment to staff was ditched after senior councillors blocked the move, The MJ can reveal. |
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Councils call for single supply system for PPE
22/05/2020 Councils have called for a single system for the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid local government employees being treated as ‘second class workers’. |
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Councils given £300m and key tracking role
22/05/2020 Councils in England will be handed £300m by the Government as they are given a key role in driving forward testing and tracing. |
