Local Elections: What voters really want from their councils
With voters heading to the polls tomorrow, a recent YouGov survey reveals what local issues matter most — and the answers are not always what you might expect.
£50m boost to help households hit by soaring heating oil costs
17/03/2026 Over £50m in Government support has been announced to help low-income families struggling with rising heating oil costs due to conflict in the Middle East. |
Autumn Budget Insights: Saving supported housing
27/10/2025 Supported housing is on a financial knife-edge and needs emergency funding in the upcoming Budget, says Sarah Finnegan of the National Housing Federation. |
One in 10 supported homes at risk
29/08/2025 50,000 specialist homes for people with support needs are at imminent risk of closure due to ongoing funding pressures, National Housing Federation warns. |
Supported housing shortage costs NHS £71m, warns LGA
27/08/2025 Local government leaders have called on the Government to invest more in supported housing to help save the NHS £50m a year. |
Rough sleeping rates surge by 63% over a decade
30/06/2025 Rough sleeping rates in London reached a peak between April 2024 and March 2025, research reveals. |
Councils urged to ringfence housing for women prison leavers
15/05/2025 Local authorities should ringfence a proportion of their supported housing units for women released from prison, a new report says. |
VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
08/05/2025 As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant. |
Government launches support network to help local veterans
06/05/2025 Local authority leaders have welcomed a new system designed to make it easier for veterans to access care and support but cautioned against the duplication of services. |
Extra support for military personnel ‘lottery’
08/04/2025 Military personnel and their families face a postcode lottery when it comes to accessing local services, the Commons Defence Committee has revealed. |
Rochdale apologises for 1,500 SEND plan backlog
13/03/2025 Rochdale BC has apologised after admitting it has a backlog of 1,500 support plans to review for children with special educational needs and disabilities. |
Supported housing ‘on a knife edge’
20/09/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to boost spending on supported housing and consider a ring-fenced fund in next month’s Budget. |
Half of universal credit claimants ran out of food last month
02/09/2024 Almost half of people (48%) claiming universal credit ran out of food last month and could not afford to buy more, a charity has found. |
Household Support Fund extended six months
02/09/2024 The Household Support Fund (HSF) will be extended for another six months, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed. |
Children face holiday hunger without support fund
21/08/2024 Children in more than a quarter of council areas could go hungry during the upcoming school holidays if the Household Support Fund (HSF) is not extended. |
LGA warns of ‘impending cliff-edge’ when support fund ends
15/08/2024 Council bosses are again urging the Government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) to avoid an ‘impending cliff-edge’ in support. |
Police meet families about ashes found at funeral home
01/07/2024 Police and council officers have met with families who were identified in relation to ashes found during an investigation at a funeral home in Hull. |
£23bn in benefits goes unclaimed
19/04/2024 The total amount of unclaimed benefits in the UK is now £22.7 billion a year, analysis has found. |
Two in five adults fear mounting housing pressures
24/01/2024 Two in five people who pay housing costs in England are worried that pressures will get worse this year, new research has found. |
Liverpool’s homelessness bill leaps from £250,000 to £19m
15/11/2023 The leader of Liverpool City Council has called for urgent help as the local authority’s homelessness accommodation bill jumps from £250,000 to £19m. |
Disconnected job schemes failing to tackle unemployment
17/10/2023 Nine million people who are struggling to find work are at risk of being left out of the labour market because of a ‘complex patchwork’ of job schemes. |
Islington Council scraps library fines
17/04/2023 Islington residents who have an overdue library book can now return it without fear of being penalized, the local authority has said. |
