Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
EXCLUSIVE: Councils given 100,000 asylum housing target
21/05/2024 Councils have been told to identify an extra 100,000 bedspaces for asylum seekers amid Home Office expectations of a surge in arrivals, The MJ can reveal. |
EXCLUSIVE: Home Office accused of misleading council over asylum plans
24/10/2023 The Home Office faces accusations in the High Court it misled a council over controversial plans for an asylum centre at a former military base. |
Counties in council tax warning
07/10/2021 County leaders have warned council tax bills would have to rise by almost a quarter over three years to get close to eliminating their deficit. |
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. |
County areas chase devo dream
17/08/2021 County areas are lining up to strike one of the first tranche of devolution deals. |
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. |
Jenrick announces unitary deals
22/07/2021 North Yorkshire and Somerset County Councils have been given the go ahead to become single unitary councils, while Cumbria will be carved in two. |
Councils urged to create 10-20 year plans
06/07/2021 Councils with a ‘credible’ local plan will be given extra powers and freedoms, the community secretary said today. |
Commissioners appointed at Liverpool City Council
10/06/2021 Surrey CC’s chief executive Joanna Killian will be part of the team of independent commissioners who will oversee improvements at Liverpool City Council, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today. |
Controversial Somerset poll backs district plan
07/06/2021 A controversial poll on reorganisation in Somerset has come out in favour of a district-based proposal. |
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. |
£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. |
Jenrick steps in at 'dysfunctional' Liverpool
24/03/2021 Commissioners will be sent in to Liverpool City Council after an independent inquiry found serious mismanagement and a dysfunctional culture, communities secretary Robert Jenrick has told Parliament. |
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. |
Jenrick outlines measures to support al fresco dining
08/03/2021 Councils have been told pavement licenses will be extended for a further 12 months to support the reopening of outdoors hospitality. |
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. |
Jenrick confirms £3.5bn plan to replace unsafe cladding
11/02/2021 Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed that the Government will fully fund the cost of replacing unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in residential buildings six storeys and over in England. |
Rapid review warns of 'serious failures' at Croydon Council
02/02/2021 A rapid review has uncovered 'significant failings in the leadership and management' at Croydon Council. |
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. |
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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. |
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Jenrick announces revised plan for housing algorithum
16/12/2020 The Government has announced a raft of new measures in an attempt to provide much-needed homes in urban areas and on brownfield sites. |
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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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Councils asked to review rough sleeping plans
05/11/2020 Councils have been asked to review their plans and ensure every rough sleeper is offered somewhere safe to go to help protect them from COVID-19. |
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Jenrick confirms rapid review into Nottingham City Council
03/11/2020 A rapid non-statutory review will be conducted into Nottingham City Council following the collapse of its Robin Hood Energy scheme. |
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Jenrick announces allocations for £1bn council funding
22/10/2020 Local government secretary, Robert Jenrick, has confirmed allocations for individual councils from the £1bn of extra funding announced by the prime minister earlier this month. |
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Reorganisation battle lines drawn over think-tank report
20/10/2020 The bitter war of words between counties and districts over reorganisation stepped up this week as battle lines were drawn around a new think-tank report. |
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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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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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Council chiefs welcome £12bn affordable housing fund
08/09/2020 Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s affordable housing funding announcement, but called for more powers to deliver social homes in their local areas. |
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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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Reforms to fast-track local plans
06/08/2020 Councils will face sanctions unless they draw-up local plans within 30 months under government proposals to overhaul the planning system. |
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Ministers to receive Somerset unitary business case
31/07/2020 A business case for a single Somerset unitary has been sent to communities secretary Robert Jenrick and local government minister Simon Clarke. |
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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. |
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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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Council planning powers under threat
08/06/2020 Planning powers could be shifted from local authorities to development corporations as part of an economic stimulus package to be announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson later this month. |
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Councils locked out of plans to lift lockdown
31/05/2020 Plans to lift the lockdown for people who have been shielded were not revealed to local government before they were announced at the weekend. |
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Westferry Printworks scheme quashed after Jenrick accused of 'bias'
27/05/2020 The Government has agreed to revoke planning permission for the former Westferry Printworks on the Isle of Dogs after being accused of bias towards the developer. |
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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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Jenrick unveils £76m funding for ‘most vulnerable’
04/05/2020 The communities secretary has announced £76m funding to support the ‘most vulnerable’ in society during the pandemic. |
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Districts win in latest allocations
28/04/2020 Districts have won a significantly higher share of funding in the latest allocations of government cash to help councils cope with coronavirus. |
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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 moves to ease cash flow pressures
16/04/2020 New measures to help ease immediate financial pressures faced by councils in England due to the coronavirus outbreak have been announced by the Government. |
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Thousands of firms receive financial help from councils
14/04/2020 Almost 100,000 small businesses across the country have already been paid a share of more than £1bn to help support them through the coronavirus crisis, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said. |
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Councils put at heart of coronavirus response
23/03/2020 Councils will be put at the heart of the response to coronavirus by delivering a national network of support to people at very high risk. |
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Jenrick 'deeply disappointed' in housing delivery under Khan
13/03/2020 The number of homes being delivered in the capital under Sadiq Khan has been ‘deeply disappointing’, according to secretary of state for housing Robert Jenrick. |
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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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Boost for Yorkshire leaders committee talks
15/01/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has agreed to talks on the role and functions of a new committee of leaders from across Yorkshire. |
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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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Core Cities' £28bn Shared Prosperity Fund warning
26/09/2019 The proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) must be worth at least £28bn over seven years if the UK is to deliver its devolved policy objectives, a leading sector body has warned. |
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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. |
