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.
Councillor resigns after indecent exposure guilty plea
17/03/2025 Leader calls for councils to be empowered to remove politicians who commit crimes after resignation of a councillor who pleaded guilty to indecent exposure. |
New rules at district after ‘inappropriate behaviour’
26/02/2025 Teignbridge District Council has agreed to adopt a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to swearing and abusive behaviour after auditors criticised the behaviour of some members. |
Investigation after ‘wrestling match’ at council meeting
14/02/2025 A hearing will be held at Darlington Borough Council next week after a heated row between two councillors descended into a ‘wrestling match’. |
Poor behaviour getting worse, survey finds
12/02/2025 Poor behaviour among councillors and officers is getting worse, according to a survey by senior officers' organisation Solace. |
Councillor suspension power welcomed by officers
23/01/2025 Council chiefs have welcomed Government moves to give councils powers to suspend councillors found to have breached their code of conduct. |
Councils could get new powers to suspend members
19/12/2024 Councils could get new powers to suspend councillors found to have breached their code of conduct under new government proposals. |
Report finds ‘alarming erosion of governance capacity’
02/12/2024 Governance within councils must be improved if local public finances are to be rebuilt, a think-tank has argued. |
EXCLUSIVE: Former minister raises concerns over standards reform
20/11/2024 A former local government minister has expressed concerns over proposed reforms that could allow the suspension of councillors who violate codes of conduct. |
Rayner: Bullying councillors could face suspension
24/10/2024 Councils could soon be able to suspend members who violate codes of conduct and will no longer be required to publish councillor addresses, Rayner says. |
Landlords facing increasing costs due to selective licensing
12/08/2024 Thousands of landlords in England are facing increasing costs due to selective licensing schemes imposed by local councils, new research has found. |
Four councils criticised for social housing failures
09/07/2024 Four local authorities have been criticised for failing to meet the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RSH) new consumer standards. |
CIPFA calls for governance overhaul
25/06/2024 A ‘transformative overhaul of governance’ has been called for by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA starts to shift on standards
04/06/2024 Senior Local Government Association (LGA) figures expect the organisation’s reluctance to beefing up the standards regime to shift after the General Election. |
Councillor accused of making ‘racist remarks’ during LGA meeting
17/05/2024 A Tendring district councillor has been found to have breached the councillors’ Code of Conduct by allegedly making ‘highly offensive’ and ‘racist remarks’. |
Leader bullied two senior officers, report finds
15/03/2024 A council leader’s behaviour towards two senior officers amounted to bullying, a report into a code of conduct complaint has found. |
Fresh call for minimum standards to protect private renters
19/01/2024 MPs have urged the Government to protect tenants from the ‘catastrophic’ impact of poor-quality homes on their health. |
Mayor failed to intervene following bullying
27/11/2023 Details have emerged of a bullying probe at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority that found mayor Nik Johnson breached the organisation’s code of conduct. |
Councils' readiness to adopt new accounting standards questioned
17/10/2023 Doubts have been raised over the readiness of local authorities to adopt international accounting standards. |
Ministers fear public building disruption after school closures
07/09/2023 Some ministers fear disruption and huge costs if public buildings with RAAC are held to the standards the Department for Education set by closing schools. |
Councils face £18m bill from new housing standards
08/08/2023 Local authorities could be stuck with an £18m bill to implement new government housing standards, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Town council urges Nadine Dorries MP to quit
27/07/2023 Flitwick Town Council has called on Nadine Dorries MP to ‘immediately vacate’ her seat to allow for a by-election. |
South Lanarkshire leader suspended for leaking confidential information
28/06/2023 South Lanarkshire council leader Joe Fagan has been suspended for disclosing confidential information to the press. |
Local authority building control body welcomes £16.5m grant
09/03/2023 The representative body for council building control in England and Wales will receive a £16.5m grant to support the delivery of new building safety standards. |
Councillor apologises for assaulting blogger
02/02/2023 A Sandwell councillor who assaulted a blogger by knocking the phone out of his hands has apologised for the incident. |
Auditor calls for national changes after public interest report
01/02/2023 External auditor Grant Thornton has called for national changes after cataloguing a ‘toxic’ culture and ‘dysfunctional environment’ at Cheshire East Council. |
Council’s standards investigation not conducted ‘fairly’
19/01/2023 Local authorities need to ensure that their standards investigations into the actions of councillors are conducted ‘fairly and properly’, Ombudsman says. |
Consultation on standards in private rented sector launched
02/09/2022 Council chiefs have welcomed a consultation on improving standards in the private rented sector, but cautioned that councils should be sufficiently funded. |
York reviews elderly care amid watchdog criticism
09/08/2022 City of York Council has agreed to review its handling of an elderly care plan for a vulnerable couple after a rebuke from the sector’s ombudsman. |
Ministers fail to act on calls to beef up standards
18/03/2022 The Government has been accused of ‘willfully looking the other way’ on standards after failing to act on recommendations to beef up sanctions. |
Standard boosting algorithm transparency launched
30/11/2021 The Government today launched one of the world’s first national standard for algorithmic transparency which will impact councils using computer algorithms. |
Liverpool puts forward improvement plan
12/05/2021 Liverpool City Council has drafted an improvement plan and letter in response to the Caller report, which called for an intervention in the city. |
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. |
Liverpool mayor steps down amid police probe
10/12/2020 Liverpool City Mayor Joe Anderson has stepped down from his post following his arrest last week. |
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MHCLG demands updates after Liverpool mayor arrest
08/12/2020 Government officials have written to the chief executive of Liverpool City Council demanding updates on its governance after the arrest of the city’s mayor last week. |
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Liverpool mayor believed to be one of five arrested in police investigation
04/12/2020 Liverpool City Council Mayor Joe Anderson is believed to be one of five people arrested as part of an ‘ongoing investigation’, local newspaper reports have claimed. |
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Union calls for Sanctuary Care homes to be brought ‘back in-house’
14/01/2020 Unite is urging councils who have contracts with Sanctuary Care to bring them ‘in-house’ after a criminal investigation was launched into one of its homes. |
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Council makes 'significant progress' after standards issues
01/03/2019 Sandwell MBC has made ‘significant progress’ following an independent review last year. |
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Call for power to ban councillors
30/01/2019 Council standards boards should have the power to ban councillors for up to six months without allowances, the Committee on Standards in Public Life has recommended. |
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Don't dump the rule book under pressure, ombudsman warns councils
04/12/2018 Councils have been warned not to let budget squeezes and disruption caused by change programmes to land them in trouble with the Ombudsman. |
