Sharpening the commercial edge
The case for well-managed council commercial activity is one that needs to be defended if we want a mature and sustainable local state, argues Jonathan Werran.
Queen's speech: PM's 'live local and prosper' promise
09/05/2021 Levelling up, boosting the economy and backing the NHS are set to be the priorities for Tuesday’s Queen’s speech. |
Thousands of people evacuated after WW2 bomb detonation
01/03/2021 Residents were forced to evacuate their homes this weekend following the detonation of a World War Two bomb in Exeter. |
Councils welcome £148m funding boost to cut misuse of drugs
20/01/2021 Five areas across England will pilot a new approach to tackling drug misuse under plans announced today by the Government. |
Sadiq Khan proposes 9.5% council tax increase
08/01/2021 The mayor of London has announced council tax will increase by 9.5% to help fund free travel for young people and the over 60s. |
Liverpool to undergo best value inspection
17/12/2020 Liverpool City Council will undergo an inspection of whether it is complying with its best value duty after the arrest of its mayor. |
'Data desert' on vulnerable children and county lines, report warns
03/12/2020 Local authorities and police forces are failing to identify the number of vulnerable children being exploited by criminal gangs, a new report has warned. |
Keeping the Welsh public safe with PSBA’s network
17/07/2020 PSBA has supported Dyfed-Powys Police (DPP) with network solutions for over a decade, providing connectivity services to enable DPP to serve Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Powys, the largest police force area in England and Wales. |
Council declares major incident as thousands flock to beach
26/06/2020 A council was forced to declare a major incident yesterday after thousands of people flocked to the beach on the hottest day of the year. |
Councils back evictions ban in face of landlord criticism
15/06/2020 Councils have insisted police powers can still be used to evict perpetrators of domestic violence amid the evictions ban. |
Man jailed for racially abusing a council worker
07/04/2020 A man has been jailed after racially abusing a council worker in Bristol, accusing them of bringing coronavirus into the country. |
Lack of joint working in the fight against ‘county lines’ puts children at risk
10/01/2020 Local authorities don’t always tell the police when they move ‘at risk’ children into their areas, a new report has warned. |
Keeping the Welsh public safe with PSBA’s network
14/11/2019 How PSBA’s network services are helping Dyfed-Powys Police to forge cost-effective links with communities and localities. |
Priti Patel unveils £20m funding to tackle county lines
02/10/2019 The Government has announced a package of new measures to tackle county lines drugs gangs. |
Care home closed amid allegations of ‘child cruelty’
02/08/2019 A care home in the north Bristol area for children with special needs has been closed down amid allegations of child cruelty. |
Stop 'criminalisation' of children in care homes, council chiefs say
09/07/2019 More must be done to stop the 'criminalisation' of children in care homes, according to local government leaders. |
Nearly 600 people arrested to tackle county lines drug gangs
21/05/2019 Nearly 600 people have been arrested in a single week for their suspected involvement in drug dealing across county lines. |
Forty people investigated over child abuse in Rotherham
09/05/2019 Forty people have been arrested or interviewed over child sexual abuse in Rotherham in the past two months. |
Security fears after candidate addresses published
02/05/2019 Security concerns have been raised after a loophole forced councils to publish the home addresses of candidates standing in the EU elections. |
Knife crime hits ‘record’ highs
26/04/2019 Knife crime in England and Wales rose to record levels last year, according to the most recent statistics. |
Council fined for leak of its gang database
05/04/2019 The London Borough of Newham has been fined £145,000 by the data watchdog for revealing personal information on more than 200 people who were on a police database. |
Police investigate after council workers lock a body in apartment
29/03/2019 A Scottish council has said it is supporting the police in their investigations after the body of Michael Stewart was locked into his apartment in Aberdeen. |
A lack of police training ‘hinders’ slavery convictions, charity says
26/03/2019 The response of the police to modern slavery victims ‘hinders’ the prosecution of traffickers and exploiters, a charity has claimed. |
Council denies ‘litany of failures’ in Shamima Begum case
19/02/2019 The lawyer representing the family of Shamima Begum has accused the borough of Tower Hamlets of a ‘litany of failures’ leading up to the teenager's decision to join ISIS. |
Pilot project helps a third of youths quit ‘county lines’
14/02/2019 Specialist support helped nearly a third of young people in a pilot project to quit 'county lines' involvement with drugs, according to a review. |
Whitehall to tackle illegal traveller sites
07/02/2019 The home secretary has announced that he is considering making it a criminal offence for travellers to set up camps on land they should not be on - despite a shortage of legal sites. |
Khan announces £85m to tackle violent crime
25/01/2019 Sadiq Khan has announced he will be using £85m of city hall funding to tackle violent crime. |
Crime prevention budgets ‘slashed’ under Tories
21/01/2019 Crime prevention budgets have been cut by more than a half since 2010, an analysis from Labour has revealed. |
Police arrest 55 in connection with child sex abuse cases
15/01/2019 Police have arrested 55 men in connection with historical child sex abuse cases in West Yorkshire. |
Not enough evidence to prosecute in Tower Hamlets fraud case, Met says
10/09/2018 An investigation into allegations of fraud in Tower Hamlets has concluded that there is not enough evidence to prosecute those involved, although evidence of a ‘serious criminal offence’ has been uncovered. |
Lack of suitable accommodation forcing police to lock up children
10/09/2018 A lack of suitable accommodation is forcing the police to detain children and vulnerable adults, the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has warned. |
Government publishes new guidelines on protecting vulnerable suspects
01/08/2018 New guidelines have been issued to protect vulnerable adults suspected of committing an offence. |
Council taking action against landlord after ‘unexplained’ deaths
10/04/2018 Harrow Council is taking action against the owner of a house where two men were found dead and five others were hospitalised after a possible carbon monoxide leak. |
Schools evacuated after hoax bomb threat
20/03/2018 Pupils across England were evacuated yesterday after an aggrieved gamer sent a hoax email threatening to bomb one of hundreds of schools. |
Javid latest MP to receive 'punish a Muslim' letter
16/03/2018 Local government secretary Sajid Javid has become the fifth politician to receive a hate-filled anti-Muslim letter. |
Councils join new alliance to help people report child abuse
16/03/2018 Local councils have joined forces with police chiefs, charities and the Government to help encourage the public to report suspicions of child abuse. |
Cheshire East refers land purchase to police
07/03/2018 Cheshire East Council have referred two new matters of concern to the local police after an assessment flagged concerns over the purchase of a plot of land. |
Khan warns cuts ‘reversed’ progress in tackling causes of crime
05/01/2018 Central Government cuts have ‘reversed decades of progress’ in tackling the root causes of violent offending, says the Mayor of London. |
Windsor leader calls for ‘crack down’ on homeless before royal wedding
04/01/2018 The leader of Windsor and Maidenhead council has become embroiled in controversy after publishing an open letter calling on the police to crack down on begging ahead of the royal wedding. |
London mayor to increase council tax
21/12/2017 Sadiq Khan today announced proposals to increase his share of council tax from April 2018 by an average of 27p a week in order to fund emergency services. |
Children in care criminalised for ‘minor issues’
18/12/2017 Children living in care are being criminalised for ‘minor issues’, new report from a penal reform charity warns. |
Council leader cleared of ‘spurious’ corruption allegations
11/09/2017 A police investigation into allegations of corruption against the leader of North Lanarkshire Council has been dropped. |
Council leader denies management changes are linked to police probe
03/08/2017 The leader of Lancashire County Council has rebuked claims his plan to slash senior management posts was linked to his arrest as part of an ongoing police investigation. |
Hackers use mayor's profile to make racist posts
17/07/2017 The mayor of Leeds has been forced to speak out after suffering a barrage of online abuse when hackers posted racist comments in her name. |
The public sector's response to extremism is still too disjointed
16/06/2017 Tracie Evans suggests better pooling of resources would allow the public sector to identify and deal with potentially dangerous behaviour faster. |
Police to guard all polling stations in Tower Hamlets to tackle voter intimidation
07/06/2017 Police will be present at every polling station in Tower hamlets in a bid to tackle electoral fraud and voter intimidation. |
Mayor Khan to hold vigil for victims of ‘cowardly’ terror attack
05/06/2017 The Mayor of London will hold a vigil today in memory of those killed in the weekend’s terrorist attacks as local leaders from across the country offer their support to the capital. |
Council investigates ‘tragic’ death of zoo keeper
01/06/2017 Huntingdonshire District Council will be carrying out a joint investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of zoo keeper Rosa King. |
Liverpool council chief arrested over alleged financial irregularities probe
23/05/2017 Four men including Liverpool City Council chief executive Ged Fitzgerald have been arrested as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the tendering of council contracts to BT. |
Holyrood launches national missing persons framework
11/05/2017 Scotland’s first missing persons framework has been launched as part of a push to help tackle thousands of missing persons cases. |
Minister rejects police pleas for help tackling anti-fracking protests
26/04/2017 The Government has rejected a plea from the police for extra funds to help pay for policing anti-fracking protests in Lancashire. |
Man charged for compiling ‘hit-list’ of Durham councillors
19/04/2017 A man who claimed he would take out ‘contracts’ on 57 Labour councillors in Durham has been charged by the police. |
Report shows rise in fraud related to voting offences
24/03/2017 There were 260 reported cases of electoral fraud last year, according to a new report from the Electoral Commission. |
'Major failures' found in Tower Hamlets fraud investigation
10/03/2017 Members of the London Assembly have accused the police of ‘major failings’ in their investigation of electoral fraud in Tower Hamlets. |
Managing the evictions of trespassers
03/02/2017 Steve Wood outlines how best local authorities can remove trespassers from their land and properties. |
Charity finds steep rise in child-on-child sexual abuse
03/02/2017 The number of children committing sexual offences against other children has risen by 78% in three years, new research has revealed. |
Sandwell council refers fraud allegations against councillors to police
19/01/2017 A West Midlands council has referred allegations of ‘potential collusion and fraudulent practice’ by two councillors to the police |
London mayor raising council tax to fund police services
19/12/2016 The mayor of London is raising council tax for the first time in nine years in order to fund the police, committee says. |
Ofsted chief accuses some police forces of failing on child protection
19/10/2016 The chief inspector of Ofsted has criticised police forces for failing to protect children from abuse. |
South Lanarkshire deputy leader suspended
14/10/2016 The police have charged a Scottish Labour councillor after an alleged incident last month. |
50% of those referred to de-radicalisation programme refuse help, police say
24/08/2016 Just under half of the individuals offered support from the Government’s de-radicalisation programme last year refused to participate, according to the police. |
Council library staff trained to help people file police reports
24/08/2016 Library staff at Norfolk County Council will be helping people access police services as part of a six month pilot scheme. |
Councils back ban on 'zombie knives'
15/08/2016 Councils have backed new legislation that will ban the sale, importation and manufacture of ‘zombie knives’. |
'Hardcore' protestors force council to review security
09/08/2016 A London council has been forced to review its security and access arrangements after council staff and councillors were subject to aggression and abuse from protestors. |
EU referendum leads to 'sharp rise' in reported hate crime
11/07/2016 There has been a 42% increase in the number of reported hate crimes since the EU referendum, new figures have revealed. |
Reports of hate crime up by 57% following Brexit
28/06/2016 There has been a 57% increase in the number of hate crimes reported to a police website following last week’s referendum. |
Rogue companies dump more than 1,000 cars near Gatwick Airport
28/06/2016 A investigation by two councils and the police has uncovered more than a 1,000 vehicles abandoned by rogue parking operators in a boggy field near Gatwick Airport. |
Child cruelty at highest level in a decade
22/06/2016 Recorded child cruelty offences are the highest they have been in a decade, children’s charity warns. |
Thousands of sex offences against children ‘cyber-flagged’ by police
21/06/2016 More than 3,000 sex crimes involving the Internet were committed against children last year, the NSPCC reveals. |
Pensioner's body found in council flat after seven months
10/06/2016 An 82-year-old man was found dead in his council flat last Friday after his body went undiscovered for seven months. |
Police hunt man after council offices attacked with sledgehammer
07/06/2016 Essex Police are searching for a man who caused thousands of pounds worth of damage, when he smashed in windows at Maldon District Council’s offices with a sledgehammer. |
Mass brawl breaks out after Luton festival
31/05/2016 he leader of Luton Council said she is ‘appalled’ the town’s festival was marred by violent scenes, which saw four people stabbed. |
MPs call for missing children system to be axed
26/05/2016 A group of MPs has called for a police system for recording missing children to be scrapped because it does not safeguard them from harm. |
Lollipop man fitted with body camera to catch dangerous drivers
24/05/2016 A lollipop man in West Sussex has been kitted out with a body camera in a bid to clampdown on dangerous drivers and abusive motorists. |
Funding for safe spaces to stop vulnerable people being ‘unnecessarily locked up’
09/05/2016 A new £15m fund will be made available for councils to provide safe accommodation for people suffering mental health crises in public spaces. |
Report: Teenagers criminalised due to children’s homes failures
30/03/2016 Children’s homes too often resort to involving police rather than offering teenagers in their care the support they need, according to a new report. |
Police to investigate historic children in care abuse in Essex
09/03/2016 Essex Police have launched an investigation into allegations about historic sexual abuse against children in care. |
PCSOs need better crime scene training, warn union leaders
29/02/2016 Two-thirds of police and community support officers (PCSOs) have received little or no training to guard scenes of crime, a new report has revealed. |
Bomb hoax forces schools in West Midlands to be evacuated
20/01/2016 Four schools in the West Midlands were evacuated yesterday after police received a threat there was a bomb in each of their grounds. |
Red-light district given the go ahead in Leeds
18/01/2016 A red-light district has been made a permanent part of Leeds a few weeks after the murder of a sex worker in the area designated for legal prostitution. |
Figures show vulnerable children being held overnight in police cells
07/01/2016 Around 100 children a week are being held overnight in police cells due to a lack of suitable council accommodation, new figures have revealed. |
Responsibility for fire and rescue policy to move to the Home Office
06/01/2016 Responsibility for fire and rescue policy will move to the Home Office, the Prime Minister confirmed yesterday. |
Council leader to step down in wake of drink-driving charge
05/01/2016 The leader of Worcestershire County Council has confirmed he will step down from his role after being caught drink-driving. |
Councils secure funding to help domestic abuse victims
11/12/2015 The allocation of £3.5m to support domestic abuse victims has been announced with the naming of 46 local authorities which placed successful bids. |
Council worker jailed for stealing half a million from care funds
04/12/2015 A finance officer at Haringey Council has been jailed for defrauding the council out of nearly £500,000. |
Research links use of legal highs with begging and aggressive behaviour
06/11/2015 A study in Newcastle has found links between the use of legal highs with increasing levels of antisocial behaviour and incidents of begging among young people. |
Fear is stopping huge numbers of older teenagers from reporting sex crimes warns report
04/11/2015 Fear is preventing huge numbers of 16 and 17 year olds from reporting sex crimes, according to The Children’s Society. |
Council gets power to seize legal highs
28/10/2015 The City of Edinburgh Council has become the first authority in Scotland to be legally allowed to seize ‘legal highs’. |
West Bromwich pushes to get knives off the streets
25/10/2015 A knife surrender bin has been unveiled in West Bromwich high street for people to voluntarily give up their weapons. |
Cuts could increase number of children in custody warn councils
05/10/2015 Youth Offending Team (YOT) funding cuts could increase the number of children in custody, council leaders warn. |
Thousands of parking tickets could be refunded in West Yorkshire
21/08/2015 Thousands of parking fines could be refunded in West Yorkshire, after the police admitted 16,000 tickets had been issued in error. |
Man pleads guilty to assaulting council worker and beating dog
19/08/2015 A man has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and assault, after he was caught on CCTV beating a dog in Chelmsford city centre. |
Council raid reveals 55 people living in ‘Dickensian’ conditions
17/08/2015 A dawn raid by council officers has uncovered 55 people – including 11 children – living in three houses amid ‘Dickensian’ conditions. |
Taxi drivers become council’s ‘eyes and ears’ on child sexual exploitation
11/08/2015 Taxi drivers have been given a safeguarding handbook to help them act as a city’s ‘eyes and ears’ on issues including child sexual exploitation. |
Workers charged following West Lothian Council drugs raid
30/07/2015 Three men have been charged with drug offences following a police raid on a number of West Lothian Council premises. |
Oftsed proposes joint targeted inspections for child protection
15/07/2015 Inspectors will have new powers to target local agencies that are failing to work together to safeguard children, under proposals launched today. |
Landmark jail sentence handed to parking cheat
26/06/2015 A motorist has been given 16 weeks in jail for forging a resident parking permit – believed to be the first prison sentence handed out for such an offence in Britain. |
Mayor calls for new local powers after 26-in-a-house shock
25/06/2015 A London mayor has called for stronger local housing powers after his council discovered 26 people living in three-bedroom house. |
14,000 fake cigarettes seized in council swoop
25/06/2015 Stoke-on-Trent City Council officers have seized 14,000 counterfeit cigarettes and 5kg of hand-rolling tobacco in a joint operation with Staffordshire Police. |
Council calls in Batmobile after police recover Gotham road sign
25/06/2015 A midlands council has welcomed the return of a road sign thought to have been stolen by Batman enthusiasts. |
New powers needed to prevent children being groomed, say councils
25/06/2015 Councils should be given the power to intervene when parents or social workers fear a child is being groomed by a sexual predator, leaders have demanded. |
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.
