The Bay – a pivot to purpose
Tim Pope and Sam Plum explain why local government reorganisation can be used as a catalyst for a new generation of councils that reflect their local economies and can lead the recovery.
Nearly 90,000 children set to spend Christmas in temporary housing, warns London Councils
14/12/2020 Nearly 90,000 children in the capital will spend Christmas in temporary accommodation organised by their local council, new figures have warned today. |
London boroughs vow to do more to tackle racial inequalities
09/12/2020 The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on ethnic minorities shows there’s ‘so much more to do’ to promote racial equality, London borough leaders have said. |
Apprenticeship levy is 'flawed' says London Councils
02/12/2020 ’Flaws’ in the apprenticeship levy are stopping councils from making use of the funds, London Councils has warned today. |
London boroughs face £600m adult social care shortfall by 2025
23/11/2020 Local authorities in London have called on the Government to ensure adult social care receives the same funding increases as the NHS in the upcoming spending review. |
Crisis call for return of Everyone In
04/11/2020 The chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis has called for ring-fenced funding for councils to provide COVID-safe accommodation for anyone at risk of rough sleeping. |
London boroughs call for £115m to retrofit energy inefficient buildings
03/11/2020 Local authorities in London are calling on the Government to ‘secure London’s environmental and economic future’ by increasing funding for councils to retrofit energy inefficient buildings. |
London boroughs meet digital apprentices target
28/08/2020 Councils in London have met their target of recruiting 100 digital apprentices by September 2020. |
Income compensation scheme fails to cover the cost of Covid
25/08/2020 Government plans to compensate councils for income lost due to COVID-19 are only likely to cover half the cost of the losses, it is claimed. |
Evictions ban extended
21/08/2020 The Government has extended the ban on evictions of renters for a further month following lobbying by councils. |
Councils warn of ‘avalanche of evictions’
21/08/2020 The local government sector is braced for a deluge of homelessness following the end of the evictions ban. |
London councils triple the number of apprenticeships created by boroughs
18/08/2020 Local authorities in London have this year increased the number of apprenticeships created directly by boroughs by 14%, according to new data released by London Councils. |
London boroughs face £23m rent arrears due to Universal Credit
22/07/2020 The rollout of Universal Credit is leading to thousands of council tenants falling behind on rent payments, new research commissioned by London Councils has found. |
London Councils warn spending on homelessness is 'unsustainable'
08/06/2020 London boroughs are spending an extra £50m on homelessness services due to Covid-19, new figures have revealed. |
London boroughs call for urgent increase to rateable value threshold
29/04/2020 London Councils has called for the rateable value threshold to be increased to help more businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic. |
PPE supplies to 'run out within days'
24/04/2020 Dwindling supplies of vital life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline care workers will run out within days, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned today. |
London has highest poverty rates, report shows
21/04/2020 London has greater levels of poverty than any other region in the UK, new figures have revealed today. |
Next London mayor must ‘forge’ new template for devolution
24/02/2020 London boroughs have called on the next mayor to ‘reset’ the relationship between central Government and Britain’s cities and counties. |
London Councils drives forward co-ordinated approach to car clubs
20/02/2020 London Councils has launched a new online resource to help boroughs take a more co-ordinated approach to car clubs. |
London aims to be ‘first city’ to stop new HIV infections
05/02/2020 Over 30 organisations have joined together in an effort to make London the first city in the world to stop new HIV infections. |
Boroughs in GP estate devolution call
24/01/2020 London Councils has called for more devolution to boroughs of decisions on the GP estate. |
Sector presses for further action on cladding
21/01/2020 Building safety reforms billed as the ‘biggest change for a generation’ do not go far enough to clamp down on potentially dangerous cladding, councils argued this week. |
Welfare provision ‘overly centralised’, London council chiefs say
17/10/2019 Council leaders in London have called on Whitehall to give them the powers to deliver local welfare support to residents. |
Pledging to make air pollution a national priority
09/10/2019 Cllr Julian Bell explains how the capital's local government is leading the way by raising awareness of air pollution, and tackling it with innovative projects. |
London boroughs warn of £540m care crisis
21/08/2019 A report has warned that unless Whitehall addresses the national social care crisis London’s adult social care system faces a funding gap of £540m by 2025. |
Drug poisoning deaths up 16% in face of public health cuts
16/08/2019 Council chiefs warn that cuts to public health grants are a ‘false economy’ which make it more difficult to provide support and treatment to drug users. |
Financial risk for children's services across London is 'unsustainable'
22/07/2019 Children’s services across London are facing an unsustainable level of financial risk, a new report commissioned by London Councils has warned. |
Criminals making £100m a year from London’s illegal tobacco trade
28/06/2019 Illegal tobacco trade in London is bringing crime into communities and undermining stop smoking efforts, London Councils has warned today. |
London Councils welcomes ‘new era of digital transformation’
10/06/2019 The London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) has officially launched today to help the digital transformation of public service. |
Council tax system needs 'fundamental reform'
16/05/2019 The council tax system is ‘highly regressive and unsustainable,’ and needs ‘fundamental reform,’ progressive think-tank IPPR has argued. |
London council budgets slashed 17% over last decade
13/05/2019 London’s local authority budgets have dropped by nearly a fifth – or 17% – per head over the last eight years, a new study has revealed. |
Housing benefits should be ‘at least’ 30% of market rates, London Councils says
09/05/2019 London boroughs have called on Whitehall to lift the Local Housing Allowance to at least 30% of local market rates for private sector accommodation to help ease the pressure on councils. |
Modular homes to be developed for homeless families in London
16/04/2019 Temporary modular homes are to be developed for homeless families in the capital following a £11m investment by mayor Sadiq Khan. |
Councils collaborate to address homelessness crisis
14/03/2019 Over a dozen London boroughs have joined the collaborative programme Capital Letters, which aims to support homeless households across the capital. |
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. |
London Councils forms company to tackle homelessness
02/01/2019 A not-for-profit company will be created to provide housing for homeless families in 11 London boroughs. |
Capital's councils demand 'fair share' of new roads cash
13/11/2018 London’s boroughs have said they are not getting a fair share of road maintenance cash after they were awarded only £17m of the extra £420m for local authority roads announced during the budget. |
London boroughs ‘hard hit’ by austerity, think tank says
09/05/2018 London’s boroughs have been ‘hard hit’ by Government cuts, a new analysis shows, with council spending in the capital falling by nearly a fifth in seven years. |
Business rate pilot councils could see £870m cash boost says think tank
12/04/2018 Local authorities are missing out on millions of pounds because of an £870m cash boost to business rate pilot councils, according to a study today from the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank. |
Electric vehicle charging points to quadruple in London next year
19/03/2018 London boroughs are set to deliver another 2,630 charging points in the next financial year, an increase of over 300%, according to a new survey. |
Haringey leader to step down amid controversy over regeneration scheme
30/01/2018 Cllr Claire Kober has announced she will be stepping down from her position as the leader of Haringey Council in light of the controversy surrounding the borough’s regeneration plans. |
Government is misguided on business rates, London Councils warns
17/01/2018 The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) belief that councils do not want 100% business rates retention is misguided, London Councils has warned. |
'Landmark' health and social care devolution deal agreed for London
15/11/2017 National and local leaders have signed a ‘landmark’ devolution deal for health and social care in London. |
Kober reselected for Haringey seat
09/11/2017 The chair of London Councils and leader of Haringey LBC has fought off a challenge from Labour activists to keep her council seat. |
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.
