Delivering Regeneration: How collaborative contracts are transforming place-making
Discover how collaborative contracting is helping councils deliver regeneration more effectively with this free special report from LocalGov and NEC Contracts.
Review of Welsh funding formula already underway
6/5/2026 Wales’ new local government minister has said work has already started on reviewing the country’s local government funding formula. |
Printing fault sees council distribute ballots by hand
5/7/2026 Cardiff Council has been required to deliver voting packs by hand following a printing error that resulted in nearly 1,400 ballots not reaching applicants. |
Wales Green Party pledges ‘rent pressure zones’
4/9/2026 The Wales Green Party has pledged to allow local authorities to declare ‘rent pressure zones’ as part of its pitch ahead of the Senedd election in May. |
Think tank warns of Section 114 notices risk in Wales
4/8/2026 A think tank has warned that the current local government model in Wales is ‘no longer sustainable’ and urged immediate reforms to prevent service collapse. |
Welsh councils warn social care system ‘stretched too far’
3/26/2026 Welsh councils are warning that social care is under unsustainable pressure and cannot continue without long-term funding certainty. |
Monmouthshire CC becomes first Welsh county council to receive Council of Sanctuary status
3/24/2026 Monmouthshire has been declared the first Welsh county council to be awarded Council of Sanctuary status following an expert assessment. |
Welsh councils receive £50m capital funding boost
3/24/2026 All 22 Welsh local authorities are to receive a share of £50m in additional capital funding this financial year, the Welsh Government has announced. |
Wales Auditor General raises alarm over council account delays
3/24/2026 Auditor General for Wales has written to all local government bodies raising concerns about increasing delays in the auditing of statutory accounts. |
Welsh Government confirms £11m for storm recovery
3/16/2026 The Welsh Government has announced £11.2m in funding to help councils recover from the severe storms that struck communities across Wales in late 2025. |
Welsh councils urge funding boost to ease social care pressures
3/9/2026 Welsh councils have called for additional funding for social care to help break what they describe as a cycle of ‘managing crisis’ across frontline services. |
Wales rolls out 150 cameras in fly-tipping crackdown
2/19/2026 The Welsh Government is stepping up efforts to tackle fly-tipping with new funding for surveillance cameras and a review of penalty levels. |
Health and social care integration plans receive £7.1m boost
2/18/2026 Plans for health and social care integration in Powys, mid-Wales have received a £7.1m funding boost. |
Swansea Council hits out at ‘unlawful’ plans for regional rugby restructure
2/5/2026 Swansea Council has branded the handling of the Welsh regional rugby restructure proposals ‘wholly unacceptable’. |
Bus services reform in Wales becomes law
2/2/2026 Legislation to reform how local bus services are delivered in Wales has received Royal Assent and become law, marking a shift in public transport policy. |
Auditor urges Welsh councils to improve capital plans
1/29/2026 It is not always clear how capital plans are helping councils in Wales to deliver their priorities, auditors have concluded. |
Welsh Government funding boost for councils
1/23/2026 The Welsh Government has confirmed it will make £112.8m in additional funding available to local government in its final budget for 2026-27. |
Call for 'national fee model' for care support
1/19/2026 Care Forum Wales (CFW) has called for a ‘national fee model’ to end the ‘postcode lottery’ of care funding. |
Council tax prison call
12/11/2025 England should follow Scotland and Wales in scrapping the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax, a charity has urged after latest figures from the Ministry of Justice revealed 19 people received suspended sentences last year. |
WLGA: Provisional funding settlement ‘does not come close’
11/25/2025 Council leaders across Wales have warned that the provisional 2026-27 local government settlement ‘does not come close’ to matching financial pressures. |
Welsh councils 'very close' to issuing s114 notices
11/11/2025 Wales' outgoing auditor general has said some of the country's councils are ‘very close' to issuing section 114 notices. |
Cheaper bus fares extended to younger passengers across Wales
11/3/2025 More young people across Wales will now benefit from reduced bus fares as the £1 fare pilot scheme expands to include all 5–15-year-olds. |
Welsh Government launches consultation on local election rules
10/28/2025 The Welsh Government has opened a 12-week consultation on proposals to modernise local election rules ahead of the 2027 polls. |
Welsh Government confirms council tax changes
10/1/2025 The Welsh Government is to extend the time allowed before council tax enforcement can take place. |
Welsh councils warn of job losses without budget boost
9/22/2025 Welsh council leaders have warned of job losses, service cuts and council tax hikes unless next year’s budget brings extra funding. |
Audit warns of ‘critical governance failings’ at Wrexham Council
9/9/2025 An audit has revealed that Wrexham County Borough Council has made ‘insufficient progress’ in solving ‘critical governance issues’. |
Wrexham bin strike called off after deal reached
8/28/2025 A planned bin strike in Wrexham has been suspended after last-minute talks between Unite and Wrexham County Borough Council. |
Hefin David: Tributes paid to ‘champion of the people’
8/13/2025 Local government leaders across Wales have paid tribute to Welsh Labour politician Hefin David who died suddenly on Tuesday. |
Social care services in Wales receive £30m boost
8/12/2025 Local authorities across Wales are set to receive a £30m funding boost from the Welsh Government to strengthen community-based social care services. |
Welsh councils prepare to transform community spaces
5/12/2025 Nine councils in Wales are due to receive £31.5m to support ongoing development projects in local towns and communities. |
Welsh council tax rise of 7.2%
4/14/2025 Local authorities in Wales are raising council tax by an average of 7.2% in 2025/26 - the second largest rise for more than 20 years. |
Local transport in Wales gets £110m boost
4/11/2025 The Welsh Government has announced an investment of £110m to boost local transport. |
Bus franchising no ‘panacea’, warn Welsh council chiefs
3/31/2025 Council chiefs in Wales have welcomed plans to transform the way local bus services are planned and delivered but cautioned that its rollout will take time. |
Funding floor for Welsh councils
2/24/2025 Councils in Wales are to see an average funding increase of 4.3%, following the announcement of the Welsh Government's Budget. |
Pembrokeshire could lose 68 councillors
1/30/2025 The number of town and community councillors in Pembrokeshire could be cut by 10% following a review by Wales’ Democracy and Boundary Commission. |
Edinburgh tourism tax could be starting point for fiscal devolution, experts suggest
1/20/2025 The approach to a tourism tax being taken forward in Scottish and Welsh cities could be a starting point for fiscal devolution in England, experts suggest. |
Local Welsh treasures receive £2m boost
12/24/2024 Over £2m will be awarded to seven local places in Wales including music venues and community and leisure centres. |
4.3% boost for Welsh councils
12/12/2024 Councils will receive £6.1bn from the Welsh Government to spend on delivering key services, increasing core revenue funding by 4.3% next year, ministers have announced. |
Welsh councils 'financially unsustainable' without action
12/4/2024 ‘Significant’ risks facing Welsh councils’ finances are likely to increase unless action is taken, a public sector watchdog has warned. |
Wales introduces tourism tax Bill
11/27/2024 A Bill that would allow councils to introduce a levy on overnight stays has been introduced in Wales this week. |
Welsh councils plead to plug growing gap
11/11/2024 An umbrella body is pushing for the Welsh Government to help plug a £559m funding gap so councils do not have to make ‘impossible decisions’. |
Auditor uncovers £7m of fraud and errors
10/23/2024 More than £7m worth of fraud and payment errors have been identified in Wales in a counter-fraud initiative, according to Audit Wales. |
Council leader quits over paedophile headteacher row
10/18/2024 The leader of Gwynedd Council has stood down after a row over his initial failure to apologise to the victims of a convicted paedophile headteacher. |
Welsh councils face £559m budget gap
10/10/2024 Councils across Wales face ‘extraordinary’ budget pressures totalling an estimated £559m next year, according to the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). |
More than £2m needed to sort Welsh recycling scheme
9/30/2024 Senior Denbighshire CC members will be asked to plough more than £2m into a recycling scheme that has led to ‘unacceptable' numbers of missed collections. |
New Flintshire leader issues bankruptcy warning
9/26/2024 The new leader of Flintshire County Council has warned the local authority could be forced to declare effective bankruptcy. |
Welsh council chiefs call for end to social care ‘quick fixes’
9/24/2024 Local authority leaders in Wales have called on the Welsh Government to invest more in social care to ease the pressure on the NHS this winter. |
Welsh councils face 'challenging' 20mph decisions
9/20/2024 Welsh authorities face ‘challenging decisions’ as they review requests for some roads to be exempt from the 20mph default speed limit, council leaders say. |
Welsh council cuts free transport to English-language schools
9/20/2024 A Welsh council has made broad cuts to its school transport provision – with some only affecting children taught in English. |
Wales ‘a long way’ from active travel aims
9/19/2024 The Welsh Government is a long way from achieving the step-change in active travel it set out more than a decade ago, a spending watchdog has found. |
New homes should be for Welsh speakers, council says
9/6/2024 A community council in Wales has objected to plans for a new affordable housing development amid fears of a decline in non-Welsh speakers. |
Significant funding needed for Wales to ‘get close’ to housing pledge
9/5/2024 The Welsh Government is unlikely to deliver on a pledge to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes for rent by 2026, according to a spending watchdog. |
Audit Wales tells councils to improve performance information
7/30/2024 Councils in Wales are not giving enough information to leaders about what their communities think of their services, a public sector watchdog has found. |
Welsh Government drops controversial council tax notice plan
7/10/2024 The Welsh Government has dropped its controversial plan to end the legal requirement to publish council tax notices in local newspapers. |
Labour could bring in automatic voter registration
6/27/2024 It has been reported that Labour plans to introduce automatic voter registration (AVR) if elected next week. |
Thousands of bins missed as council rolls out new service
6/19/2024 Denbighshire County Council has apologised after waste from thousands of households was not collected as a new recycling service was rolled out. |
Welsh editors in warning over council tax notice law
6/11/2024 Editors in Wales have issued a warning over the Welsh Government’s plans to stop council tax notices being published in local newspapers. |
Pembrokeshire buys housing stock worth £3.5m
5/21/2024 Pembrokeshire County Council has spent more than £3.5m acquiring housing since November. |
Wales pushes back council tax reform
5/15/2024 Council tax reforms will not come into force until 2028, the Welsh Government has announced. |
New centre to protect Welsh councils from cyber attacks
5/13/2024 The Welsh Government has established a security operations centre (SOC) dedicated to protecting local authorities from cyber attacks. |
Re-elected Burnham calls for Right to Buy suspension powers
5/7/2024 Greater Manchester’s re-elected mayor has called for powers to suspend Right to Buy on new homes under plans to build 10,000 houses across the region. |
Wales to ‘correct’ guidance on 20mph speed limits
4/22/2024 The Welsh Government will change its guidance on 20mph speed limits, the transport minister has said. |
Welsh council tax rises finalised
3/13/2024 The average council tax rise for Welsh local authorities will be just over 8% next year. |
Regulator calls for 'substantial' planning intervention
2/26/2024 The planning system requires ‘substantial intervention’ by the Government to ensure consistent delivery of new homes, a major study has concluded. |
Wales could drive agenda on council tax, report argues
2/12/2024 Wales could have a chance to deal with unfairness in the council tax system and drive the agenda for other nations and regions to follow, says think-tank. |
Pembrokeshire council proposes record 21% council tax hike
2/8/2024 Pembrokeshire County Council has proposed the highest ever percentage increase in council tax in Wales. |
Welsh government announces £25m for councils
2/7/2024 The Welsh government has announced an additional £25m to support cash-strapped local authorities in 2024-25. |
Call for ‘different approach’ to brownfield
1/24/2024 A more ‘systematic, interventionist and collaborative’ method could ‘significantly’ increase the regeneration of brownfield sites in Wales, according to a new report. |
Welsh councils commit to improving benefits system
1/22/2024 All local authorities in Wales have signed up to a new charter, committing to work with the Welsh Government to develop a consistent benefits system. |
Welsh minister backs tax reforms
1/3/2024 One of the candidates to become first minister of Wales has backed reform of council tax. |
‘Very difficult year ahead’ for Welsh councils
12/19/2023 Council bosses say local authorities in Wales face a 'considerable' funding gap despite the devolved nation’s planned cuts in other departments to protect local services. |
Wales passes workplace recycling law
12/8/2023 New Workplace Recycling Regulations have been passed in Wales, which will require all businesses to separate recyclable materials. |
Wales consults on council tax reform
11/14/2023 The Welsh Government has launched a consultation on redesigning the country's council tax system. |
Councils sign cross border partnership
11/13/2023 Two English councils, Herefordshire and Shropshire, and two Welsh county councils, Monmouthshire and Powys, have signed a partnership agreement. |
How AI surveys show councils need a new approach on litter
10/31/2023 Gavin Ellis, co-founder and director of Hubbub, discusses how litter survey projects on Glasgow and Cardiff roads suggest that a new approach is needed by local authorities. |
Welsh councils face £750m shortfall
10/25/2023 Local government finances in Wales are on an ‘unsustainable path’, according to a report from Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre. |
Extra cash for Welsh social care in emergency spending revisions
10/17/2023 Council budgets will remain largely unchanged, but there should be more cash for social services, following the Welsh Government’s emergency public spending revisions. |
Welsh government urged to improve diversity in local politics
10/17/2023 Women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities are under-represented in Welsh local government, according to a new Senedd committee report. |
Home Office ditches Stradey Park asylum plans
10/10/2023 The Home Office has withdrawn its controversial plans to house asylum seekers at the Stradey Park Hotel in Furnace, Llanelli. |
Care workers in Wales feel undervalued, poll reveals
10/5/2023 Social care workers in Wales feel undervalued by the public and underpaid for the work they do, a new survey has revealed. |
Wales to automatically register voters
10/3/2023 The Welsh Government is set to establish automatic voter registration for local government and Senedd elections. |
Welsh local services at ‘mortal risk’, council chiefs warn
9/15/2023 Local authority leaders in Wales have warned the UK Government that local services could be at ‘mortal risk’ if further funding was not forthcoming. |
Watchdog uncovers ‘weaknesses’ in councils’ workforce plans
9/12/2023 Weaknesses in Welsh councils’ workforce strategies could hamper their ability to deliver in the long term, Audit Wales has found. |
Welsh councils press for more housing support
9/11/2023 The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has called on the UK Government to prioritise housing and homelessness services. |
Wales to consider funding bids straddling English border
9/11/2023 Wales’ economy minister has said he would consider funding bids from a new council partnership that crosses the Welsh and English border. |
Audit reveals ‘deficiencies’ councils’ record keeping
9/7/2023 Auditors have found ‘significant deficiencies’ in the financial management and record keeping of Ammanford Town Council and Llanferres Community Council. |
EXCLUSIVE: Housing pressures may push councils into effective bankruptcy
9/4/2023 Rising housing pressures will force some councils to effectively declare bankruptcy, a local authority chief executive with more than 40 years of experience in the sector has warned. |
Weaknesses in Newport counter-fraud approach
8/17/2023 ‘Weaknesses’ have been found in Newport City Council’s approach to fraud, a finance watchdog has reported. |
Alarm over Welsh budget warnings
8/10/2023 The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has warned a return to austerity would be ‘devastating’ following budget warnings from the devolved Government. |
Pay dispute to stretch into autumn
8/7/2023 The local government pay dispute is destined to stretch into the autumn as trade union Unite warned ‘coordinated industrial action’ was ‘inevitable’. |
‘Real fears’ that post-Grenfell safety legislation won’t be delivered
7/31/2023 Auditor General for Wales has raised concerns over the devolved government’s implementation of building safety legislation that was created after Grenfell. |
Wales and Cornwall strengthen ties in new agreement
7/18/2023 The Welsh government and Cornwall Council have formed a ‘strategic alliance’ to strengthen their historical, cultural and linguistic ties. |
Cardiff Council leader calls for investigation into Ely collision
5/23/2023 The leader of Cardiff Council has called for an investigation into the events that led to the deaths of two teenagers and a riot on Monday night. |
'Widespread industrial action' warning
5/10/2023 Unite has warned the Scottish Government and employers there ‘could be widespread industrial action’ without a ‘significant increase’ to the current pay offer. |
Welsh village opposes plans to house refugees in hotel
5/9/2023 Villagers in Wales have vowed to fight plans for 400 asylum seekers to be lodged in a former hotel. |
Welsh Government to detail council tax reform later this year
5/3/2023 The Welsh Government has revealed it will announce details of its council tax reforms later this year. |
Pavement parking ban parked after 'frustratingly slow' jibe
4/4/2023 The Welsh Government has shelved a consultation on banning pavement parking after councils apparently claimed they were too busy to engage with it. |
Welsh council chiefs welcome free school meal extension
3/10/2023 Councils in Wales have welcomed the Welsh government’s announcement that free school meals will continue for children from lower income families over holidays. |
Digitisation must not lead to ‘two-tier society’, auditor says
3/9/2023 Spending on internet infrastructure must be balanced with measures to prevent creating a two-tier society when it comes to services, Welsh government says. |
Welsh councils need to encourage resilience, auditors say
1/24/2023 Local authorities in Wales must do more to encourage and grow community resilience against a backdrop of cuts, auditors have said. |
Watchdog raises safeguarding concerns at Powys
12/20/2022 A watchdog has taken Powys CC to task over the lack of ‘control’ of its safeguarding arrangements. |
