What really caused the council funding crisis?
Max Mosley, NIESR, explores the origins of the local government funding crisis and warns the next government will have to act quickly to address it.
Siân Berry quits London Assembly three days after re-election
08/05/2024 Green Party politician Siân Berry has stood down from the London Assembly just three days after she was re-elected. |
Demolition of Only Fools and Horses tower set for 2027
07/05/2024 The iconic London tower block whose exterior served as Nelson Mandela House in the opening credits of Only Fools and Horses is set to be demolished in 2027. |
Night-time economy leaders frustrated at lack of support
24/04/2024 Business leaders working in London's night-time economy have expressed their ‘frustration and anger’ at the lack of governmental support the sector receives. |
Khan pledges to build 6,000 ‘rent control’ homes
05/04/2024 London mayor Sadiq Khan will today commit to building homes with capped rents as part of his bid for re-election next month. |
Young homeless people feel ‘ignored’ by councils
27/03/2024 Young people experiencing homelessness feel ‘dismissed and ignored’ when they approach local authorities for help, research has found. |
Council homes acquisition plan could save boroughs £1.5bn
12/03/2024 Plans to boost London’s council housing supply by buying from the private market could save boroughs and the Government billions over the next 20 years, a report has found. |
City Hall hails ‘dramatic’ air quality improvements
12/03/2024 Air quality in the capital has improved ‘much faster’ than in the rest of the UK because of policies introduced by the London mayor, according to a report. |
High Court overrules Gove on M&S demolition
04/03/2024 The Government’s decision to block Marks & Spencer’s plans to demolish and redevelop its flagship central London store was unlawful, the High Court has ruled. |
London boroughs spend £3m a day on temporary accommodation
28/02/2024 The cost of temporary accommodation in the capital ‘threatens to bankrupt boroughs’, London Councils has warned. |
UK’s first healthcare air quality alert launched
28/02/2024 Healthcare professionals in London will be notified directly about high pollution episodes, London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced. |
Harry Kane statue in storage for years
22/02/2024 Waltham Forest Council is struggling to find a suitable location for a statue of local hero Harry Kane. |
Finance chiefs join Household Support Fund plea
14/02/2024 Senior finance officers across London have urged the Government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) into the 2024-25 financial year. |
Ealing agrees £150m package to buy up housing
14/02/2024 Councillors in Ealing have approved a £150m plan to acquire housing in the face of soaring temporary accommodation costs. |
Khan pledges £15m for domestic abuse services
14/02/2024 Projects that support survivors of domestic abuse in the capital will receive an extra £15m, the major of London has announced. |
Rough sleeping in London reaches record high
01/02/2024 More people were sleeping rough in the capital at the end of 2023 than at any period in the past decade. |
TfL hands boroughs another £80m for streets
31/01/2024 Transport for London (TfL) has announced up to £80.4m for boroughs to improve public transport, make walking and cycling safer and create new school streets. |
Schools face ‘impossible choices’ as demand drops
29/01/2024 Falling demand for school places across London will have major implications for the future of education provision in the capital, a new report says. |
Thames Water sewage spills more than quadruple
25/01/2024 The mayor of London has called out the ‘scandalous’ increase in instances of sewage flowing into the capital’s rivers, urging Thames Water to ‘get a grip of the situation’. |
City Hall to decide on Wimbledon expansion plans
23/01/2024 The Mayor of London’s office has called in a controversial planning application to expand Wimbledon’s tennis grounds. |
Report warns of 'lethal' climate change risks
17/01/2024 With London and the UK ‘underprepared’ for extreme weather and an absence of national leadership on climate, regional government must adapt at pace, a new report argues. |
First-of-kind tool links road casualties and deprivation
12/01/2024 Transport for London has launched a dashboard which shows how deprivation is linked to higher levels of death and injury on the capital’s roads. |
London boroughs’ share of HS2 pothole fund confirmed
20/12/2023 Allocations for a £235m funding pot aimed at fixing London’s pothole-strewn roads have been confirmed by the Government. |
Gove intervenes over Khan’s housebuilding plans
19/12/2023 Housing secretary Michael Gove has said he is taking urgent action because London is ‘failing’ to provide affordable homes. |
Gov’s migration plans threaten ‘recruitment crisis’
13/12/2023 Hundreds of thousands of non-UK nationals working in London’s health and social care sector are likely to be hit by the Government’s new migration policies, Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned. |
Mayor of London criticised for Saudi ads
13/12/2023 Mayor Khan has been criticised after Saudi adverts appeared on the TfL Network despite advertising restrictions on countries with poor human rights records. |
Think tank calls for housebuilding on ‘grey belt’
08/12/2023 London should address its ongoing housing crisis by building on low-quality parts of the green belt, a think tank focused on the capital has argued. |
New scheme to help London councils buy homes
20/11/2023 London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a programme that will fund councils to purchase homes from the private market. |
Council admits hand in disposing of tents
15/11/2023 Camden Council has admitted that it was involved in the disposal of homeless people’s tents in central London last week. |
Call for 'urgent action on deepening housing crisis'
10/11/2023 The council that increased new homes supply the most last year has urged the Government to take ‘urgent action’ on the ‘deepening housing crisis’. |
Homelessness warning over LHA freeze
09/11/2023 A maintained freeze on local housing allowance (LHA) rates could push 60,000 Londoners into homelessness over the next six years, according to new analysis. |
‘Stark inconsistency’ across London on Build to Rent
08/11/2023 Planning policy across London boroughs ‘could do far more’ to provide a comprehensive basis for the delivery of Built to Rent (BtR) schemes, a report has argued. |
DCN writes to Hunt over temporary accommodation pressures
01/11/2023 Following a summit attended by 158 councils, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned chancellor Jeremy Hunt about ‘unprecedented’ numbers of people turning to councils in the face of homelessness. |
‘Tragic and shameful’ rough sleeping increase in London
01/11/2023 City Hall had told the Government it must act to avoid ‘spiralling’ homelessness this winter after new data showed rising rough sleeping across the capital. |
Khan hails ULEZ compliance as revenue doubles
31/10/2023 London mayor Sadiq Khan has welcomed new data showing that compliance rates in the new outer London part of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) have nearly caught up with those in inner London. |
Khan puts £10m into street works co-ordination
31/10/2023 London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a further £10m for his Infrastructure Coordination Service (ICS), which aims to reduce the delays caused by street works in the capital. |
Islington ordered to pay £66,000 after housing investigation
24/10/2023 A ‘disjointed’ approach to complaints and a ‘lack of ownership’ were found in a special investigation to be behind Islington Council's 'persisting' housing problems. |
Fighting poverty at the local level
18/10/2023 This week for London Challenge Poverty Week John McGeachy, campaigns manager for Age UK London talks poverty amongst older people and what councils can do. |
London faces ‘chronic’ street clutter issue
18/10/2023 Central London has a ‘chronic’ issue with street clutter such as disused phone boxes and discarded e-bikes, a think tank has warned. |
Boroughs to get opt out from future ULEZ-style schemes
13/10/2023 Legislation that will enable London boroughs to opt out of future road charging schemes has been welcomed as ‘an enormous step forwards in local democracy’. |
New travel concession for London care leavers
09/10/2023 Care leavers aged 18-25 will receive half-price bus and tram travel in London, mayor Sadiq Khan announced today. |
Where’s Wally? Stolen statue spotted and returned to council
29/09/2023 A piece of art stolen in a heist 16 years ago has been returned to Ealing Council. |
Council orders demolition of ‘mutant’ apartment blocks
28/09/2023 In an unprecedented move, Greenwich Council has ordered the demolition of two residential towers because of ‘significant deviations’ from planning permission. |
Unite and council reach deal to end waste strike
27/09/2023 Waste service workers and street cleaners return to work today after negotiations between Tower Hamlets Council and the trade union Unite put an end to industrial action. |
London council calls for power to impose overnight levy
20/09/2023 Westminster City Council has called on the Government to enable local authorities to tax tourists on stays. |
No investigation over ULEZ research collusion claims
15/09/2023 There will be no investigation into the London Mayor’s deputy for environment over reports that she urged scientists to counter research relating to low emissions zones, the Mayor's office has said today. |
Council signs deal for Oxford Street revamp
14/09/2023 Westminster City Council has signed a new agreement and approved the next stage of a £90m investment in Oxford Street this week. |
London boroughs form partnership to tackle domestic abuse
11/09/2023 Seven boroughs in south London have launched a two-year programme which aims to tackle domestic abuse. |
Landlord fined £285,000 after council investigates illegal homes
01/09/2023 A landlord who crammed vulnerable tenants into tiny flats above a Stoke Newington pub has been fined £285,000 after Hackney Council enforcement officers intervened. |
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.
