10 ways councils are making budgets go further
Discover 10 ways councils are stretching budgets further, from digital transformation and energy efficiency to community partnerships and data-driven decision-making.
New strategic authorities should 'embrace' disagreement
17/10/2025 Areas moving towards devolution deals have been advised to ‘embrace’ inevitable disagreement between councils and new strategic authorities. |
SOLACE: Funding fails to offset the years of lost cash, claims president
16/10/2025 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. |
Sector call for council tax review
13/12/2024 Local government has called for a ‘fundamental review of council tax' in a long-awaited report. |
Council recruitment drive launches across England
04/11/2024 A national recruitment campaign has launched to encourage people to work for their local council. |
Solace: Underfunding councils ‘ultimate false economy’
14/10/2024 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. |
Scottish councils face critical workforce gaps
05/09/2024 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. |
King recognises council chiefs in honours
17/06/2024 Current and former local authority bosses have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours. |
Guildford issues ‘heartfelt apology’ after £13.5m contract overspend
09/05/2024 Guilford Borough Council is at ‘serious risk’ of failing to deliver Best Value after overspending by millions on a housing contract, reviews have found. |
Officer warning over street votes
06/02/2024 Council officers have issued a scathing response to plans for street-level planning votes – dismissing the idea as a costly ‘proliferation of polls’. |
Local government recruitment drive launches
10/01/2024 Councils in the North East of England will pilot a new campaign to encourage people to take up a job in local government. |
EXCLUSIVE: Sector to plot solutions for 'broken' finance system
18/10/2023 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. |
Chiefs' new professional development framework launched
17/10/2023 The first version of a new professional development framework to keep local government chief executives ‘ahead of the game’ has been launched. |
Wales to consider funding bids straddling English border
11/09/2023 Wales’ economy minister has said he would consider funding bids from a new council partnership that crosses the Welsh and English border. |
Croydon elections 'secure' despite 'justified' criticism
08/08/2023 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’. |
Pension changes could ease recruitment pressure
21/03/2023 Changes to the pension rules could ease the pressure on senior recruitment in local government, sector figures have suggested. |
Stark Solace survey gives thumbs down to Autumn Statement
21/11/2022 Nine in 10 council managers believe the Autumn Statement will impact negatively on residents, with many frontline services expected to be axed. |
Solace Summit: recruitment crisis laid bare
13/10/2022 The scale of the recruitment crisis facing councils has been laid bare at the Solace Summit. |
EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall risk warning over election reforms
29/04/2022 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. |
Northern Irish councils in devolution call
24/11/2021 The sector is pressing for increased powers to help the country to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Pushing for real reform
21/01/2021 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. |
May elections to go ahead as council chiefs call for indemnity
21/01/2021 Local elections will go ahead on 6 May despite the ongoing pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled. |
Town hall rich list branded 'inane and distasteful'
15/04/2020 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
21/02/2019 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
05/02/2019 Funding cuts are finally beginning to take their toll as Scottish councils can no longer protect services, according to report published today. |
