Councils and mayors are to be handed a central role in developing skills pipelines for local industries, as the Government unveils what it calls a ‘fundamental change’ to the education system aimed at tackling youth unemployment. Here's what council leaders and officers need to know.

Opinion

Parks: Councils' secret weapon, not an easy cut

Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd tells LocalGov why councils weighing cuts to green spaces are missing the bigger picture.

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Rogue trader jailed for stealing £187k from 22 victims

Oldham Council acting ‘unlawfully’, legal boss says

Ex-neo-Nazi quits council race, becomes Badenoch adviser

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Devo minister resigns

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Safeguarding Children - the AAT Way

MSL enhances hygiene auditing with air quality testing for Awaab’s Law compliance

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Bolton Council Upgrades 120+ School Crossings with Smart CMS Control by Lucy Zodion

NEC CONTRACTS HAS GONE DIGITAL: PAPERLESS, TO GIVE YOU MORE

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Case Studies

Acrospire Improves Safety Across Greenwich Subways with LED Lighting Upgrade

Cornwall’s Coastal Heritage Lighting Upgraded with Acrospire Lanterns

Acrospire Delivers Durable Handrail Lighting Upgrade for Historical Landmark Jacob’s Ladder

Acrospire Delivers Seamless Heritage Lighting Upgrade on Bath’s North Parade Bridge

Acrospire Delivers Retrofit Lighting for Newbridge’s Joe Calzaghe Footbridge

Acrospire Delivers PIR-Controlled Lighting at Ruislip Lido Car Park

Spennymoor Market Place and Consett Middle Street revitalised using Thorn Lighting’s Thor Lanterns and Customisable Gobo Projectors

Company Anouncements

Acrospire promotes LED retrofit for structurally viable lighting assets

Vent-Axia Welcomes the Future Homes Standard as Competency Takes Centre Stage

Apricorn Becomes First and Only Hardware-Encrypted USB Storage Device Manufacturer to Achieve AS9100 Certification

AAT helps Councils step up to address children’s social care

CU Phosco Approved as a Crown Commercial Service Supplier

Acrospire triumphs at the 2025 HEA Awards with Sustainable Project of the Year

TRT Lighting retrofit helps Lincolnshire County Council cut street lighting energy use by over 65%

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Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be advertising the Tree Officer role on before of North Herts Council. To apply for this position, please England, Hertfordshire, Letchworth Garden City

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Need To Know

What is a Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo)?

Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews: Safeguarding Children After Abuse or Neglect

Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2018

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