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.
EXCLUSIVE: Push for local PACs slows amid Whitehall scepticism
16/05/2025 Support for establishing local versions of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) across England is softening as the Government ponders whether to push the idea. |
Councils struggle to tackle violence against women and girls
16/05/2025 Local support services for violence against women and girls (VAWG) are experiencing increased pressure due to high volumes of referrals and inadequate funding, study finds. |
Government ‘complacent’ over cladding capacity issue
20/03/2025 The Government ‘appears complacent’ about the fact there is insufficient capacity across local government to address the dangerous cladding crisis, MPs warn. |
Government ‘flying blind’ on finances due to audit crisis
18/03/2025 The Government does not have sufficient oversight of local authority finances due to the ‘unprecedented’ local audit crisis, MPs warn. |
PAC: ‘Unviable’ SEND system pushing councils towards bankruptcy
15/01/2025 Almost half of all councils in England are in danger of effective bankruptcy within 15 months due in part to the ‘failing’ SEND system, MPs warn. |
Ministers stand firm on tax bands
26/03/2024 MPs told there are ‘no plans’ to revalue council tax bands due to the cost and disproportionate impact on lower-income households and pensioners. |
PAC: Government has ‘no roadmap’ for fixing social care
20/03/2024 The Government has ‘no roadmap’ for fixing the failing social care system and ‘nothing meaningful’ in place that might demonstrate progress, MPs warn. |
Hopes for regen scheme revived after Home Office scales back asylum plan
20/03/2024 A £300m council-led regeneration scheme threatened when Whitehall commandeered the site for asylum accommodation could now go ahead. |
Levelling up plagued by ‘astonishing delays’
15/03/2024 The Government’s levelling up agenda has been characterised by ‘astonishing delays’ and blind optimism, according to Parliament’s spending watchdog. |
Home Office 'chaos' leaves thousands of illegal arrivals in 'perma-backlog'
27/02/2024 The Government’s struggling asylum policy has heaped significant demand on cities’ housing services, experts have warned. |
Drug-related deaths up by 80%
09/02/2024 Financial uncertainty is undermining local efforts to battle drug addiction, council chiefs warn as report finds drug-related deaths are up 80% over a decade. |
PAC: New housing continues to be built in high risk areas
17/01/2024 More than half of councils rarely or never inspect a new housing development to check compliance with flood risk planning conditions, new PAC report says. |
Home Office 'failing to engage' councils
26/10/2023 The Home Office is ‘failing to engage meaningfully with local authorities’ on asylum, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report published today. |
MPs call for more funding for alcohol treatment
25/05/2023 Local authorities must be given the certainty and stability over funding they need to maintain and improve alcohol treatment programmes, MPs say. |
Calls for supported housing improvements
09/05/2023 MPs and Whitehall’s spending watchdog have demanded improved regulation and data on supported housing amid evidence the system is blighted by rogue landlords. |
Treasury tightens grip over DLUHC spending
08/02/2023 New capital projects by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will now have to be approved by the Treasury. |
MPs urge HMRC to up game
10/01/2023 HMRC is failing to collect billions of pounds of tax it is owed each year that could have helped further fund local public services, MPs have warned. |
Council chiefs welcome call to embed ‘culture of evaluation in social care’
23/11/2022 Council leaders have welcomed a call to embed a 'culture of evaluation in social care’ and to build on the the children’s social care innovation programme. |
Mandarins deny ICSs 'set up to fail'
03/11/2022 MPs on the Public Accounts Committee quizzed top civil servants from the Department of Health and Social Care about the new bodies. |
Warning of £75m audit fee increase
03/10/2022 Experts have warned councils could be hit by a £75m increase to their audit fees as details of the next five-year procurement were announced. |
Government ‘gambling’ with levelling up funding
08/06/2022 Levelling up should be delivered with ‘measurable targets’, council leaders say as MPs raise questions over the funding of the Government’s flagship agenda. |
DLUHC 'almost wilfully blind' to state of local government finances warn MPs
31/01/2022 A ‘chronic’ lack of funding for council services amid soaring demand means many communities face a ‘long slog’ out of the COVID-19 pandemic, MPs warned today. |
Council chiefs call for digital champions to help gigabit broadband roll-out
19/01/2022 Local authority leaders have urged the Government to allow councils to create digital champions to help speed up the roll-out of gigabit-capable broadband in hard to reach areas. |
Powers warning ahead of new deals
07/12/2021 A new report today warns areas reluctant to accept directly-elected leaders in the next wave of devolution deals may be offered ‘fewer powers and flexibilities’. |
Kerslake: Government must act now on rough sleeping
23/09/2021 Strides made to end homelessness during the pandemic could be lost if the Government does not act now, a major new report on rough sleeping has concluded. |
Ministers appear 'complacent' over care home closures, MPs warn
16/06/2021 The Government ‘seems complacent’ about the risk of care homes collapsing in the wake of the pandemic, MPs have warned today. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
MPs call for review of local authority flood funding
26/02/2021 The Government needs a better understanding on whether funding allocated to local authorities to prevent flooding is matching local risks, MPs have warned today. |
Care workers were left without PPE during first wave of COVID-19, watchdog warns
10/02/2021 Social care providers were left without adequate PPE at the start of the pandemic, the public spending watchdog has warned today. |
More councils will be forced to issue Section 114 notices, MPs warn
22/01/2021 More councils will ‘soon be unable to balance their books and be forced to issue Section 114 notices,’ the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has warned. |
Spending watchdog highlights 'litany of failures' on superfast broadband
08/01/2021 A 'litany’ of failures by the Government will leave rural homes and businesses without superfast broadband, MPs have warned today. |
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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Committee condemns ‘pie-in-the-sky’ cladding promises
16/09/2020 Thousands of people are at risk because of ‘serious shortcomings’ in the Government’s long-term response to the Grenfell Tower fire. |
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Government handling of social care during pandemic attacked
29/07/2020 MPs have delivered a blistering attack on the Government’s handling of social care during coronavirus. |
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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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Government 'failed to prepare' on PPE, say MPs
08/07/2020 The Government has failed to ensure there is enough personal protective equipment (PPE) in the event of a second wave of coronavirus, a watchdog has warned today. |
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MPs tell department to 'get a grip' on SEND
05/05/2020 The Department for Education (DfE) does not have a grip on mounting pressure in the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system, a watchdog has found. |
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Government in 'denial' over councils' finances, warn MPs
06/02/2019 Marsham Street has ‘an unacceptable lack of ambition’ for local government – with no aspiration for improving finances beyond merely ‘coping’, according to a scathing Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. |
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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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MPs call for 'credible, long-term plan' for social care
09/05/2018 MPs today called on ministers to outline a ‘credible, long-term plan’ to reverse the perception of English social care as a ‘source of national shame’. |
