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: Controversial voter ID plans roll forward
11/05/2021 Voter ID is expected to be introduced by May 2023 after the Government pledged to introduce legislation to ‘ensure the integrity of elections’. |
Devolution White Paper to be replaced by levelling up proposals
04/05/2021 A levelling up White Paper will replace the long-awaited policy document on devolution and local recovery. |
Council had 'truly toxic atmosphere,' tribunal hears
27/04/2021 The Hammersmith & Fulham LBC director at the centre of an unfair dismissal claim had been working in a ‘truly toxic atmosphere,’ an employment tribunal has heard. |
Vaccine may be made compulsory for care home staff
14/04/2021 Staff in English care homes with older adults may be required to have a COVID-19 vaccine in a bid to tackle hesitancy within the sector. |
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. |
Government confirms May election date
05/02/2021 The Government has officially confirmed local elections will go ahead on May 6. |
Scottish councils' cost call
27/01/2021 Scottish local authorities have called for the costs of COVID-19 to be met by the Government north of the border. |
Labour announces ‘constitutional commission’ on devolution
21/12/2020 Leader Sir Keir Starmer said it will look at transferring more powers from Westminster to local leaders. |
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. |
Jenrick confirms £1.55bn boost for local government
17/12/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick today used the provisional finance settlement for 2021/22 to confirm the allocations for £1.55bn funding. |
Spending Review: £2.9bn 'restart programme to help unemployed'
25/11/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a three-year £2.9bn ‘restart programme’ to help more than one million people unemployed for more than a year find work. |
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. |
Blue wall rebels call for economic kickstart
27/10/2020 Northern Tory MPs led by the former Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry have urged their government to kickstart its promised ‘levelling up’ agenda with a Northern Economic Recovery Plan. |
Public sector exit cap signed into law
15/10/2020 The £95,000 cap on public sector exit payments was signed into law last night and will come into force on November 4. |
Planning proposals will 'disempower' councils
28/09/2020 The Lib Dems have used their autumn conference to warn that the Government’s planning proposals will ‘disempower’ councils. |
Starmer vows to tackle the 'decade of drift' on sorting social care
22/09/2020 Government failure to protect care homes during the pandemic is a ‘national scandal’, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told his party’s virtual conference today. |
Leader of Northumberland Council is deposed
03/09/2020 The leader of a scandal-hit council compared to North Korea has been deposed after a vote of no confidence at a fiery meeting. |
Hancock scraps Public Health England
17/08/2020 Ministers have been accused of making Public Health England (PHE) a scapegoat by scrapping the body for alleged failures in the testing and tracing of coronavirus. |
Councils in local virus data call
03/07/2020 Councils have called for the Government to go further after it finally started to publish more coronavirus testing data. |
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. |
Local lockdown powers up in the air
27/05/2020 Council powers over calling a local lockdown are still to be thrashed out as the NHS’ test and trace system is formally launched. |
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. |
Former Lambeth leader takes on shadow communities role
06/04/2020 Former Lambeth LBC leader Steve Reed has become the new shadow communities and local government secretary replacing Andrew Gwynne. |
'Ambitious programme of domestic reform' promised in Queen's Speech
19/12/2019 The second Queen’s Speech in almost as many months has promised an ‘ambitious programme of domestic reform’. |
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. |
Devolution revolution expected after Johnson wins
13/12/2019 Local government was this morning expecting a devolution revolution after Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a sweeping election win. |
Lib Dems unveil plans to tackle homelessness
28/11/2019 The Liberal Democrats have set out a raft of plans to end rough sleeping if they won the General Election. |
Council to buy back estates from developer
19/11/2019 Hammersmith and Fulham LBC is to take back ownership of two housing estates 12 years after they were sold off by a previous administration. |
Javid promises devolution White Paper
30/09/2019 A new White Paper to more powers to local areas was announced in the Chancellor’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today. |
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. |
Recognition for council pair in Queen's Birthday Honours
10/06/2019 The leader and former chief executive of a district council have both received awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. |
Call for leader to quit after 'repeated failures'
05/06/2019 Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has called for Northamptonshire CC leader, Matt Golby, to quit after ‘repeated failures’ in the council’s children’s services. |
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. |
Conservatives struggle at the polls as Lib Dems gain
03/05/2019 The two main political parties have made big loses in the local elections, with the Liberal Democrats and independents looking like the real winners of the night. |
Labour would create local government commission
11/02/2019 Labour would create a new commission that would allow councillors to influence every decision that affects local authorities if they won a General Election. |
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. |
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. |
Corby calls for delay on Northants reorganisation
08/01/2019 Corby BC has called for the creation of new unitary authorities to be pushed back, claiming there is not enough time to reorganise Northamptonshire’s public services. |
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. |
Councillors silenced on secret fiscal devolution report
31/10/2018 Senior councillors have been warned not to talk about a secret Local Government Association (LGA) report that models what fiscal devolution might look like, The MJ has been told. |
Minister embroiled in 'Oliver Twist' row
24/10/2018 Welsh local authorities have called on the First Minister to consider sacking his colleague in charge of councils after he labelled councillors ‘Oliver Twists’. |
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. |
Liverpool CC peer review watered down under pressure
10/10/2018 Liverpool City Council’s corporate peer review was significantly watered down before publication after pressure from the authority, The MJ has learned. |
Government launches scheme to ‘boost’ political participation among pupils
14/08/2018 The Government has launched a programme aimed at teaching young people about politics and promoting participation in the political system. |
Northampton unitary plan falls
15/05/2018 The tight timeframe for reorganising local government across Northamptonshire claimed its first victim this week despite ministers’ decision to extend the consultation period. |
Brokenshire announces Northamptonshire commissioners
09/05/2018 New local government secretary James Brokenshire has today announced the two commissioners appointed to help rescue troubled Northamptonshire CC. |
Brokenshire promises a 'hands on approach' to local government
02/05/2018 New secretary of state James Brokenshire has declared himself to be ‘a real fan of local government’ and vowed to take a ‘hands on’ approach to his relationship with the sector. |
Labour outlines housing policy
19/04/2018 Labour would scrap right to buy, and give councils new borrowing freedoms and central funding in a bid to kick-start house building, the party said today. |
Scrap 'outdated and regressive council tax, says think tank
20/03/2018 Council tax is ‘outdated and regressive’, and the Government should consider scrapping it in favour of a fairer system, according to a think tank. |
Robin Wales ousted as Newham Mayor
16/03/2018 Sir Robin Wales has been deselected as the Mayoral candidate for Newham LBC. |
Whitehall's local government finance cover-up is exposed
20/02/2018 Key Whitehall departments involved in attempt to bury changes to provisional finance settlement data. |
Labour accuses Government of 'holding back' local government
29/01/2018 Labour MPs have urged ministers to provide ‘strategic vision’ for local government. |
Councillors to kick-start joint plans with London mayor
26/01/2018 More than 100 council leaders and councillors from the south-east and east of England will today meet London mayor Sadiq Khan to kick-start joint plans. |
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.
