Regeneration: Reviving our town centres
Rowenna Davis, associate partner at Global Future Foundation, sets out 12 principles for reviving our town centres.
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’. |
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.
