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Future Forum North: Devolution is here to stay
12/5/2025 Devolution ‘can feel like a marriage with no prospect of divorce’ but is ‘here to stay’, the president of senior officers’ group Solace has told The MJ’s Future Forum North. |
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New strategic authorities should 'embrace' disagreement
10/17/2025 Areas moving towards devolution deals have been advised to ‘embrace’ inevitable disagreement between councils and new strategic authorities. |
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SOLACE: Funding fails to offset the years of lost cash, claims president
10/16/2025 Central government funding for regeneration is positive but ‘can only go so far in offsetting the long years of lost funding', Solace president Robin Tuddenham has claimed. |
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Sector call for council tax review
12/13/2024 Local government has called for a ‘fundamental review of council tax' in a long-awaited report. |
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Council recruitment drive launches across England
11/4/2024 A national recruitment campaign has launched to encourage people to work for their local council. |
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Solace: Underfunding councils ‘ultimate false economy’
10/14/2024 Failing to properly fund councils is ‘the ultimate false economy’ because it forces them to make ‘repugnant’ cuts which lead to greater problems in the future. |
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Scottish councils face critical workforce gaps
9/5/2024 Local authorities in Scotland are facing critical workforce gaps in multiple areas, in particular in social care and social work, a new report has found. |
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King recognises council chiefs in honours
6/17/2024 Current and former local authority bosses have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours. |
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Guildford issues ‘heartfelt apology’ after £13.5m contract overspend
5/9/2024 Guilford Borough Council is at ‘serious risk’ of failing to deliver Best Value after overspending by millions on a housing contract, reviews have found. |
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Officer warning over street votes
2/6/2024 Council officers have issued a scathing response to plans for street-level planning votes – dismissing the idea as a costly ‘proliferation of polls’. |
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Local government recruitment drive launches
1/10/2024 Councils in the North East of England will pilot a new campaign to encourage people to take up a job in local government. |
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EXCLUSIVE: Sector to plot solutions for 'broken' finance system
10/18/2023 Local government is planning to collectively come up with some innovative ideas about how the ‘broken’ finance system could be improved, The MJ has been told. |
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Chiefs' new professional development framework launched
10/17/2023 The first version of a new professional development framework to keep local government chief executives ‘ahead of the game’ has been launched. |
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Wales to consider funding bids straddling English border
9/11/2023 Wales’ economy minister has said he would consider funding bids from a new council partnership that crosses the Welsh and English border. |
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Croydon elections 'secure' despite 'justified' criticism
8/8/2023 A review of Croydon’s 2022 elections has backed chief executive Katherine Kerswell’s handling of the delayed result but said some criticism was ‘justified’. |
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Pension changes could ease recruitment pressure
3/21/2023 Changes to the pension rules could ease the pressure on senior recruitment in local government, sector figures have suggested. |
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Stark Solace survey gives thumbs down to Autumn Statement
11/21/2022 Nine in 10 council managers believe the Autumn Statement will impact negatively on residents, with many frontline services expected to be axed. |
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Solace Summit: recruitment crisis laid bare
10/13/2022 The scale of the recruitment crisis facing councils has been laid bare at the Solace Summit. |
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EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall risk warning over election reforms
4/29/2022 Whitehall officials have privately admitted councils could be overwhelmed by one of the largest sets of electoral reforms ever seen by local authorities, The MJ understands. |
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Northern Irish councils in devolution call
11/24/2021 The sector is pressing for increased powers to help the country to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Pushing for real reform
1/21/2021 The pandemic was a game changer for the central/local government relationship, says Joanne Roney, who has started her two-year stint as president of Solace. |
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May elections to go ahead as council chiefs call for indemnity
1/21/2021 Local elections will go ahead on 6 May despite the ongoing pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled. |
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Town hall rich list branded 'inane and distasteful'
4/15/2020 Attempts to criticise local government salaries have been branded as ‘both inane and distasteful' by chief executives’ body Solace. |
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Sector fumes over lack of pre-Brexit briefing
2/21/2019 Councils have threatened to walk away from Government attempts to engage with them on Brexit amid growing frustrations about the response to their concerns. |
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Nearly £1bn cut from Scottish authorities in past eight years
2/5/2019 Funding cuts are finally beginning to take their toll as Scottish councils can no longer protect services, according to report published today. |