VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Labour scraps counties' devo deals
13/09/2024 Norfolk and Suffolk CCs have revealed the new Labour Government has scrapped the directly-elected county leader devolution deals agreed with the Conservatives. |
Ministry in rebrand to put levelling up centre stage
20/09/2021 New secretary of state Michael Gove will preside over a beefed up new department with a firm focus on levelling up, it has been revealed. |
Jenrick sacked as communities secretary
15/09/2021 Robert Jenrick has been removed from the role of secretary of state for housing, communities and local government in the Cabinet reshuffle. |
Levelling up too focused on infrastructure, claims report
14/09/2021 Ministers’ ‘levelling up’ agenda is too focused on new infrastructure projects at the expense of improving key public services, councils representing English towns and cities have warned. |
Jenrick primes inspectors for planning changes despite growing revolt
06/08/2021 Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has written to the chief of the Planning Inspectorate amid growing fears over a revolt over planning proposals. |
Government threatens borrowing cap return
29/07/2021 The Government has threatened to apply statutory borrowing caps on councils that continue to expose themselves to excessive risk. |
BREAKING: Slough becomes second council to issue Section 114 in a year
01/07/2021 Slough Council has become the second local authority in less than a year to issue a dreaded Section 114 notice. |
Eight councils to undergo independent financial reviews
01/07/2021 Eight councils granted ‘exceptional support’ from the Government are to undergo independent reviews of their finances. |
Special needs deficits to grow to £1.3bn in two years
30/06/2021 A ‘spiralling deficit’ in special educational needs services (SEN) is expected to grow to an ‘unmanageable’ £1.3bn in just two years’ time, county councils have warned. |
MHCLG uses social impact investment to fund homes for rough sleepers
11/06/2021 A three-year social investment pilot will help fund over 200 homes for rough sleepers across England. |
MHCLG is 'too optimistic' about councils' cash, says watchdog
04/06/2021 The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is overly optimistic about councils’ financial resilience after the pandemic, MPs have warned. |
Wolverhampton's i9 selected to house MHCLG's Midlands base
28/05/2021 Two floors of Wolverhampton’s new i9 office building will be home to the first ministerial department outside of London, it has been announced. |
Council tax collection deficit hits £500m
27/05/2021 Councils will need ‘additional help from taxpayers’ to balance their books, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has warned. |
Liverpool puts forward improvement plan
12/05/2021 Liverpool City Council has drafted an improvement plan and letter in response to the Caller report, which called for an intervention in the city. |
Funds unveiled to support uptake of neighbourhood planning
26/04/2021 The Government is urging local planning authorities to apply for funding or take part in a pilot project to boost the uptake of neighbourhood planning. |
Shielding scheme took too long to identify up to 800,000, says PAC
20/04/2021 MPs have hit out at the Government’s ‘quickly drawn up’ COVID-19 shielding programme for taking too long to identify up to 800,000 people who may have missed out on help. |
£31m Hong Kong integration fund launched
08/04/2021 Funding of £30.7m will be provided to councils to support new arrivals from Hong Kong. |
Levelling up fund faces legal challenge
06/04/2021 The Government could face legal action over its ‘troublingly opaque’ allocation of the Levelling Up Fund. |
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. |
Public inquiry to be held into Cumbrian coal mine
12/03/2021 The Government has 'called in' planing approval of a new coal mine near Whitehaven by Cumbria County Council. |
Landmark judgement brings rough sleeping clarity
11/03/2021 Councils have the legal powers to help people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) who are sleeping rough during the pandemic after a landmark judgement. |
Councils left seriously underfunded, NAO finds
08/03/2021 Coronavirus has left local authorities seriously underfunded and facing budget cuts unless the Government can create a long-term financial plan for the sector, a study from the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned. |
Budget 2021: Sunak warns of pain to come
03/03/2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a budget to protect ‘livelihood and jobs’ – with a warning of public finance pain to come. |
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. |
MHCLG to make move from Whitehall to Wolverhampton
22/02/2021 The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is setting up a second headquarters in the Black Country as part of plans to shift civil servants away from the capital. |
Six councils edge closer to bail out deal
04/02/2021 Six councils are deep in negotiations with the Government in a bid to claw them out of their financial difficulties in the run up to next week’s settlement, The MJ understands. |
Starmer demands halt to ‘absurd’ council tax rises
11/01/2021 Labour leader Keir Starmer has called for central government to increase funding for local authorities to prevent council tax hikes. |
MHCLG demands updates after Liverpool mayor arrest
08/12/2020 Government officials have written to the chief executive of Liverpool City Council demanding updates on its governance after the arrest of the city’s mayor last week. |
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MPs savage abandoned £192m housing scheme
08/12/2020 A £192m affordable housing programme that failed to deliver any homes has been labelled ‘deplorable’ by the Public Accounts Committee. |
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Allocation of £3.6bn towns fund appears 'politically motivated', watchdog warns
11/11/2020 The Government has been accused of 'political bias' when allocating funding from its £3.6bn Towns Fund by the public spending watchdog. |
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Croydon issues Section 114 notice
10/11/2020 Crisis-hit Croydon LBC has issued a Section 114 notice after extra spending controls proved not to be enough. |
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Combined authority expansion halted by ‘party politics’
09/11/2020 The expansion of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has stalled after leaders failed to reach an agreement. |
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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. |
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Three areas invited to submit unitary proposals
09/10/2020 The Government has today invited councils in three areas to submit proposals for the creation of unitary local authorities by April 2023. |
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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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Croydon would have issued s114 'in normal circumstances'
17/09/2020 Croydon LBC’s £49m total net forecast general fund overspend means it would have had to have issued a Section 114 notice in ‘normal circumstances,’ senior councillors have heard. |
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Councils warn of 'housebuilding fiasco'
15/09/2020 New government housing targets will lead to a north-south divide in England, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
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Local government minister quits
08/09/2020 Simon Clarke said he was leaving the Government for 'purely personal reasons’. |
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Review calls for new local government audit regulator
08/09/2020 A new local government audit body should be created and ministers should change the way they judge the financial stability of councils, a review of local government audit has found. |
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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. |
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Evictions ban extended
21/08/2020 The Government has extended the ban on evictions of renters for a further month following lobbying by councils. |
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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. |
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MPs slate ministers over local government funding
23/07/2020 MPs have slated ministers for failing to give local government sufficient funding and urged them to ensure a 'clear and timely financial settlement’ in readiness for the next phase of the pandemic. |
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Ministry was 'blind' to council investment risks says watchdog
13/07/2020 Ministers have been blind to the risk of commercial investments by councils, Parliament’s spending watchdog has claimed. |
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Jenrick announces more cash, income compensation and tax delay
02/07/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced more cash and new ways councils will be reimbursed for income lost as a result of coronavirus. |
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MPs refuse to back down on Westferry
01/07/2020 MPs have refused to accept the Prime Minister’s attempts to close down questions over Robert Jenrick’s decision on the Westferry Printworks planning application. |
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Luton forced into unavoidable cuts
17/06/2020 Luton BC’s boss has said the council has done all it can but has no other choice than to cut 365 jobs and frontline services. |
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Councils call for clarity on local lockdowns
16/06/2020 Councils this week called for clarity on the legal powers they will have if they are forced to implement local coronavirus lockdowns. |
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CIPFA issues temporary s114 guidance
11/06/2020 Council finance chiefs have been given new guidelines for dealing with financial collapse during the coronavirus crisis. |
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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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No bail outs for commercial investments
22/05/2020 Plans to bail out councils struggling with their finances could vary between authorities - but they will not cover commercial investments, The MJ understands. |
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No-deal Brexit planning would 'overwhelm' emergency response
19/05/2020 Planning for a no-deal Brexit at the end of this year would ‘overwhelm’ the country’s emergency response capacity, the Government has been warned in a leaked report. |
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Councils need another £12.8bn to cope with coronavirus - LGA
27/04/2020 Councils may need up to another £12.8bn from the Government to get through the coronavirus crisis, the chairman of the Local Government Association (LGA) has suggested. |
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Jenrick unveils an extra £1.6bn for coronavirus crisis
18/04/2020 Councils are to receive an extra £1.6bn in funding to deal with the coronavirus crisis, communities secretary Robert Jenrick has announced. |
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Budget 2020: New West Yorkshire mayor announced
11/03/2020 A new directly-elected West Yorkshire mayor has been announced with the Government signing a new devolution deal amid plans to ‘level up’ the UK economy. |
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Seven out of 10 councils overspend on homelessness
28/01/2020 Seven out of 10 English councils overspent their homelessness budgets in 2018/19 by a combined total of nearly £115m, Local Government Association (LGA) analysis has found. |
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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. |
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Jenrick hails 'biggest multi-billion pound spending increase in a decade'
20/12/2019 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed what he describes as the ‘biggest multi-billion pound spending increase for councils in a decade’. |
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Whitehall silence as Gwynne calls for provisional settlement
17/12/2019 Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has called on ministers to publish the provisional finance settlement immediately amid silence on its timing from Whitehall. |
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No starter homes have been built yet, investigation finds
05/11/2019 None of the Government’s planned ‘starter homes’ have yet been built as legislation has not been implemented, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found. |
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Government warned resilience forums could be stretched
04/09/2019 Local resilience forums (LRFs) would be stretched if Brexit forced them into 24/7 operations over an extended period, the Government has been warned in a report leaked to The MJ. |
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Councils face more funding uncertainty
14/08/2019 ‘Indicative numbers’ for the amount councils will receive in 2020/21 will not be published before next month’s Spending Review, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has admitted after it missed a self-imposed deadline. |
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Government activates emergency funds for flood-hit councils
12/08/2019 The Government has activated an emergency fund for councils affected by flooding. |
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Local government ‘shut out’ of Brexit discussions, Labour warns
08/08/2019 Andrew Gwynne, the shadow secretary of state for communities and local government, has raised concerns that local authorities will not be represented on the Government’s EU Exit Operations Committee. |
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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. |
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LEPs ‘lack transparency’ despite receiving £12bn of Government funding
05/07/2019 The Government has ‘no real understanding’ of the impact which the Local Growth Fund has had on local economic growth despite investing £12bn of taxpayers’ money, MPs say. |
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NAO to wade into fair funding review
05/06/2019 The National Audit Office (NAO) is gearing up to scrutinise the Government’s divisive fair funding review, The MJ can reveal. |
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Government pays £15m to councils after business rate 'error'
03/06/2019 The Government may have to pay out up to £15m to councils after it made yet another error in its business rate pilot administration. |
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Council governance systems ‘inadequate’ for austerity era
15/05/2019 The Government has not done enough to ensure that governance systems in local authorities are suitable for an ‘era of financial pressure and rapid change’, MPs have warned. |
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Delay to Northamptonshire reorganisation welcomed
14/05/2019 Council leaders have welcomed the year-long delay to plans to create two new unitaries in Northamptonshire. |
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Brokenshire moves to boost local government accountability
09/05/2019 Brokenshire moves to impose fresh conditions on ‘top slice’ cash |
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Hopes for legislative backing behind new code
24/04/2019 An overhaul of financial management in councils could be enshrined in law, according to a consultation that stakeholders must respond to within days to influence. |
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Concern over councils' ability to cope with polls
17/04/2019 Council chiefs have raised concerns with Government about the sector’s capacity to run EU elections so close on the heels of local polls. |
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Call for inspection pause in case of Brexit hit
10/04/2019 Council chiefs have urged Whitehall to be ready to ease pressures on the sector for up to six months if Brexit threatens to stretch capacity. |
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Councils defend council tax hikes
27/03/2019 Councils have had ‘little choice’ but to raise council tax to protect local services, the Local Government Association has said, after the latest tax rises were revealed. |
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Sector fumes over lack of pre-Brexit briefing
21/02/2019 Councils have threatened to walk away from Government attempts to engage with them on Brexit amid growing frustrations about the response to their concerns. |
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MPs pile pressure on Government over business rates reform
21/02/2019 MPs have urged ministers to assess specific proposals for reforming business rates by the autumn. |
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MHCLG to make 'compelling case' for more funding
13/02/2019 Local government minister Rishi Sunak has vowed that his department will ‘make a compelling case’ for more funding ahead of this year’s Spending Review. |
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Councils accused of not doing enough to prepare for Brexit
04/02/2019 Councils are not doing enough to prepare for Brexit and need to step up their game, the concerned Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has told sector figures. |
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Brokenshire gets Brexit breakdown from chiefs
31/01/2019 Chief executives have told communities secretary James Brokenshire Whitehall needs to be more joined up between departments and in its communications with councils over Brexit. |
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LGA faces financial headache
25/01/2019 Smith Square has acknowledged the financial challenges it faces as it freezes subscriptions while grappling with declining Government grants and a pension scheme deficit. |
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Buckinghamshire districts threaten legal action over unitary plan
21/01/2019 Two Buckinghamshire districts have written to the Government warning they could launch legal proceedings over plans to create a single county unitary. |
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Whitehall 'leadership' needed to help councils cope with financial pressures
15/01/2019 The Government must improve oversight and transparency over local authorities to ensure their financial sustainability, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. |
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Ministers play down commercialisation 'crackdown'
10/01/2019 Ministers have played down the prospect of a widespread crackdown on councils that borrow for commercial reasons. |
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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. |
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Finance settlement: Government floats commercialisation crackdown
13/12/2018 Whitehall is considering a crackdown on councils that excessively borrow for commercial reasons as it continues to restrict council tax rises. |
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Local government finance settlement delayed by Brexit debate
05/12/2018 Today's provisional local government finance settlement has been delayed – just weeks after Whitehall agreed to bring it forward and fix a date. |
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At least 160 youth centres have closed since 2016, FOI reveals
03/12/2018 At least 160 youth centres have closed since 2016, a report based on Freedom of Information Act requests by Unison claims. |
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MHCLG ‘not expecting another Northamptonshire situation’
26/11/2018 Local government finances are sustainable and the collapse of another authority is not expected, the ministry’s top civil servant has insisted. |
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Labour hits out at housing cash shift
12/11/2018 Labour has called for all areas to receive greater Government backing after Whitehall shifted the focus of its housing cash. |
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No-deal Brexit disruption warning
31/10/2018 Local authorities have been warned to prepare for up to three months of disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit. |
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Ministry moves on Brexit
24/10/2018 Senior Marsham Street officials have stepped up their preparations for Brexit after complaints from frustrated councils that they were being shut out of the process. |
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Rotherham council to regain full control of services
19/09/2018 All powers are to be returned to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, three years after government intervention. |
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LEPs told to improve ahead of EU funding changes
06/09/2018 Fresh concerns have emerged about local enterprise partnerships (LEP) as the Government considers whether to use them to funnel UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) cash. |
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Government steps in following Grenfell Tower outcry
01/08/2018 The Government will take on responsibility for the Grenfell Tower site, Marsham Street has announced. |
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Working homeless figures soar over five years
23/07/2018 The number of families described as ‘working homeless’ has soared over the past five years, housing charity Shelter has warned. |
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Rise in children's services spending
28/06/2018 The amount expected to be spent on children’s social care in 2018/19 is up 6.8% or £542m compared to the figure in 2017/18 budgets, latest figures have shown. |
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£30m cash boost to tackle rough sleepers
09/06/2018 Communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced a £30m cash boost to tackle rough sleepers in the worst hit parts of the country. |
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James Brokenshire replaces Javid as local government secretary
30/04/2018 James Brokenshire has been appointed new secretary of state for housing, communities and local government after Sajid Javid was named as the new home secretary. |
