From council pay rises to troubled outsourcing firms, here is our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2018.

1. Unison accepts 2% pay rise for local government staff

2. Union members vote to accept 2% pay rise for council staff

3. Update: All three unions accept council pay deal

4. A better pay deal for local government?

5. Seven council staff arrested in fraud probe

6. The top 10 things local government can expect in 2018

7. British citizens ‘largest nationality’ recorded in slavery figures

8. Northamptonshire CC to axe 'hundreds of jobs’ due to funding crisis

9. Councils bring services in-house following Carillion collapse

10. Court reverses £400m sleep-in shift ruling

11. Tory councillors all resign from local council

12. Union urges council staff to reject pay offer

13. Half of council staff considering quitting their job, survey finds

14. Council to sell brand new £53m headquarters

15. Top 10 most productive councils revealed

16. Japanese knotweed: New advice to tackle a growing problem

17. Council employee convicted of £1m pension fund fraud

18. Unison narrowly rejects pay offer to council staff

19. Cheshire East chief executive quits after 15 month suspension

20. Allied Healthcare to sell off all council contracts within three weeks

21. May rebrands DCLG

22. Outsourcing giant Capita warns of £500m losses

23. Local government funding to be slashed by a further £1.3bn

24. Local government staff recognised in New Year's Honours list

25. Five councils to help with Government integration plan

26. Council leaders warn of ‘catastrophic collapse’ without cash injection

27. Ombudsman issues ‘rare’ second report criticising council

28. Auditors warn Northamptonshire CC budget could be ‘illegal’

29. Councils should ‘step back’ from service provision, think tank says

30. Outsourcing giant Capita announces profit warning and massive debt

31. Review finds 'insufficient financial controls' enabled £2m council fraud

32. Call for Javid to resign after 'misleading' House of Commons

33. Council employee exploited systems ‘failures’ to steal £1m

34. Council staff to strike over equal pay claims

35. Tories set for election defeat in three flagship London boroughs poll predicts

36. Council criticised for 'bizarre' royal family mourning kits

37. From ghost town to go-to town

38. Barnet to review outsourcing partnership with Capita

39. Three councils face intervention over local plans

40. Javid gives ‘green light’ to Dorset reorganisation

41. Unison narrowly rejects pay offer to council staff

42. Councils turning against outsourcing, survey reveals

43. Council to take pay dispute to Supreme Court

44. Council's pay freeze is ruled unlawful by Court of Appeal

45. Councils losing millions through tax loophole

46. Corby refuses to sign Northants unitary plans

47. Exclusive: Regulator accuses Allied Healthcare of misleading councils and renews collapse warning

48. Council offers voluntary redundancy to its staff

49. Incremental pay rises - an endangered species?

50. James Brokenshire replaces Javid as local government secretary

51. ‘Under pressure’ HMRC threatens welfare claimants, MPs warn

52. Two council websites hacked by crypto-coin miners

53. Care provider winds up its local authority contracts

54. Unitary council stops all non-urgent spending in face of £2.8m overspend

55. Haringey leader to step down amid controversy over regeneration scheme

56. Northamptonshire County Council agrees to sell new £53m headquarters

57. Javid finds extra £166m in final settlement

58. Hammond offers little respite for council finances

59. Councils urged to adopt a ‘changemaking’ approach

60. Only five councils bid for electric car charge points funding

61. PM unveils 'major overhaul' of planning rules

62. Local government figures celebrated in Queen's birthday honours

63. Contractor ordered to pay Birmingham £50m in PFI dispute

64. Majority of councils ‘in breach’ of payment practice rules

65. Fitzgerald resigns from Liverpool ahead of crunch meeting

66. More councils chosen to pilot voter ID scheme

67. Rogue landlord database goes live

68. Councils sue Barclays over controversial LOBO loans;

69. Council called out on bullying and harassment

70. County council imposes an emergency spending ban

71. Whitehall launches new ‘Council for the North’

72. One man lodges 673 complaints about local council

73. Shropshire Council staff told to work from home ‘one day a month’

74. Inspectors sent in to probe Northamptonshire Council's finances

75. Council threw £40m 'down the drain' in flawed Stadium investment

76. Unison appeals against reversal of £400m sleep-in shift ruling

77. Road maintenance spending at ‘lowest level’ in a decade

78. Councillors of the year revealed

79. Councils should not pick up costs of reversing ‘staircase tax’ warn MPs

80. Local government pension scheme makes 'significant progress'

81. Councils given access to satellite images for planning

82. Four East Midlands authorities explore devolution options

83. Northamptonshire County Council sells HQ in £64m deal

84. A benchmark for website accessibility

85. Councils have 'dangerous dependence' on a handful of suppliers

86. Council first to use new legal powers to demand Brexit clarity

87. Union blasts Somerset CC for ‘financial incompetence’

88. Care England wins right to intervene in sleep-in care case

89. Capita to pay council more than £4m for poor performance

90. Technology and the public sector 2018

91. Council accused of 'putting public money at risk' over shopping centre investment

92. Council fined £120,000 for data breach

93. Whistleblower loses ‘unfair dismissal’ case against council

94. List reveals top 15 suppliers to local government in 2017

95. Northamptonshire CC faces £16m bill for spending ring-fenced cash

96. Ombudsman upholds 80% of complaints about special educational needs support

97. Council worker ‘mistakenly’ cuts Attenborough’s wildflower meadow

98. Digital challenge of Universal Credit

99. Super councils get the go-ahead

100. Councils face calls to ban 'dangerous' weedkiller