Structures should be 'rationalised,' Hoare tells DCN
14/03/2024 Council funding should have been reformed by now and structures need to be ‘rationalised’ the local government minister told the DCN conference. |
Four-day week council decision 'disappointing and arrogant'
14/03/2024 South Cambridgeshire DC’s decision to continue with its four-day week is ‘disappointing and arrogant,’ local government minister Simon Hoare has said. |
Oflog should consolidate financial results monthly, say accountants
11/03/2024 The Office for Local Government (Oflog) should consolidate the financial results and position of local authorities on a monthly basis, accountants say. |
Middlesbrough avoids ‘catastrophic’ s114 with approved budget
11/03/2024 Councillors in Middlesbrough have approved a budget with ‘savings and income generation plans’ worth £13.9m. |
Right to Buy lobbying fails as temporary boost ended
08/03/2024 The Treasury has confirmed councils will no longer keep 100% of Right to Buy (RTB) receipts after the current financial year despite lobbying by the sector. |
Two-year Sandwell intervention to end
07/03/2024 Local government minister Simon Hoare has today confirmed that Whitehall’s two-year intervention at Sandwell Council will end. |
Gove urged to ‘listen’ to Cambridge on housing plans
07/03/2024 Communities need ‘far more detail’ and to have their say on government plans for a major expansion of housing around Cambridge, local leaders have said. |
Craig's call for asylum change
07/03/2024 Manchester City Council’s leader has urged Whitehall to implement ‘simple changes’ to asylum policy to ease huge pressures on major urban centres. |
Budget: Trailblazer devo deal for North East
06/03/2024 The North East has secured a trailblazer devolution deal that could provide a package of new funding potentially worth more than £100m, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in his Budget. |
Lending rates could spike after audit reset, LGA warns
01/03/2024 Proposals to reset the local audit system and clear the backlog of accounts could drive up the lending rates offered to the sector, councils have warned. |
Bradford issued Best Value Notice
01/03/2024 The Government has issued a Best Value Notice to City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council over concerns about its financial resilience and children’s services. |
LGA 'strengthens' peer challenge but still won't name and shame resistant councils
01/03/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has launched its ‘strengthened’ corporate peer challenge (CPC) to help neutralise the threat from Oflog. |
Councils set for £2.5bn in exceptional financial support
29/02/2024 The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has agreed to grant 19 local authorities ‘in principle’ capitalisation directions worth almost £2.5bn. |
£220m boost for homelessness services
28/02/2024 The Government has announced £220m for councils to prevent families from becoming homeless and provide support for people sleeping rough. |
Home Office 'chaos' leaves thousands of illegal arrivals in 'perma-backlog'
27/02/2024 The Government’s struggling asylum policy has heaped significant demand on cities’ housing services, experts have warned. |
Councils should be given more flexibility over fund, says LGA
27/02/2024 Councils should be given more flexibility over funding, a senior councillor has said in the aftermath of reallocated funding from HS2. |
Regulator calls for 'substantial' planning intervention
26/02/2024 The planning system requires ‘substantial intervention’ by the Government to ensure consistent delivery of new homes, a major study has concluded. |
Thurrock boosted by £500m after sale
26/02/2024 Thurrock Council has received £510m in payments following the sale of Toucan Energy Holdings – the firm that triggered a section 114 notice when it collapsed. |
Birmingham 'worse' than commissioners feared
22/02/2024 The situation in Birmingham City Council is worse than commissioners expected, a report to the secretary of state has claimed. |
New analysis says housing building target needs to rise
21/02/2024 England could need over 500,000 news homes every year according to analysis just released. |
Government timetable could push councils to issue section 114s
16/02/2024 Government’s timeline for implementing changes to tackle risky borrowing by some councils could end up pushing councils into S114 territory, treasurers warn. |
Mapley to take over from Whiteman at CIPFA
16/02/2024 Hertfordshire CC boss Owen Mapley will take over as Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) chief executive officer when Rob Whiteman retires, it has been announced. |
LGA moves towards performance support role
14/02/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) is to take a more proactive role as it seeks to do more to prevent Whitehall intervention in councils, The MJ understands. |
Further planning reforms on way, says Gove
12/02/2024 Empty shops could be quickly converted into homes and developers given fresh incentives to build on brownfield sites under ministers’ latest plans to expedite housebuilding. |
Local government figures made peers
12/02/2024 Local government has been recognised in the latest round of peerages, with two senior figures heading to the House of Lords. |
Core Cities in Household Support Fund warning
01/02/2024 Failing to extend the Household Support Fund will be ‘catastrophic for many people in our poorest communities,’ Core Cities has warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. |
Health boost for Housing First residents, research finds
01/02/2024 Housing First – under which homeless people are guaranteed a home while they access support – reduces demand on health and social care services, study finds. |
Council financial crisis ‘out of control’
31/01/2024 MPs have issued a stark warning on the ‘very real’ prospect of more councils in England ‘effectively going bust’ if the Government does not address a £4bn funding gap. |
NILGA welcomes chance of return to Stormont rule
31/01/2024 Local government in Northern Ireland has welcomed the news of a possible return to rule at Stormont. |
Woking to sell development to county
25/01/2024 A major deal between Woking BC, Surrey CC and McLaren is set to help ease the financial pressure on the troubled borough and pave the way to selling its HQ. |
Social housing at low risk from 'rogue' equity investors
23/01/2024 The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has assured MPs the sector is at lower risk of ‘rogue’ equity investors that previously entered care markets. |
Finance settlement ‘undermines levelling up’
22/01/2024 The local government finance settlement failed to distribute funding fairly, council bosses have argued. |
Southampton latest to request financial support
19/01/2024 Southampton City Council has begun the ‘sensible’ process of seeking Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) as it struggles to balance its budgets. |
Exempting asylum housing from Awaab's Law branded 'unacceptable'
18/01/2024 Charities have described as ‘unacceptable’ plans to exempt asylum accommodation from ‘Awaab’s Law’ forcing social landlords to deal with poor-quality housing. |
£17m to help rough sleepers for councils ‘most in need’
16/01/2024 The Government has provided £17m to help homeless people off the streets as it insisted it would deliver its pledge to end rough sleeping this year. |
Councils lobby for extra support ahead of final finance settlement
12/01/2024 Councils have begun 2024 by urgently lobbying Whitehall over extra financial support amid widespread concern the provisional finance settlement falls far short of what’s needed. |
Call to end £250m business rate loophole
11/01/2024 A campaign to end a loophole which is estimated could cost councils a massive £250m in lost business rates revenue has been backed by senior politicians. |
£2.9bn private investment in freeports, says Gove
10/01/2024 Michael Gove has said new freeports have attracted £2.9bn of investment and created 6,000 jobs since they were established in 2022. |
LGA calls for powers to withhold councillors' address
10/01/2024 Monitoring officers should be allowed to withhold councillors’ home addresses from public registers to help tackle rising levels of abuse and hate, Smith Square has said. |
Housing provider downgraded by regulator
08/01/2024 The social housing regulator has downgraded a major provider across London and the southeast following a review. |
Manchester leads list for local government in New Year honours
02/01/2024 The chief executives of both Manchester City Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have been recognised in the New Year Honours List. |
Gove intervenes over Khan’s housebuilding plans
19/12/2023 Housing secretary Michael Gove has said he is taking urgent action because London is ‘failing’ to provide affordable homes. |
Government set to appoint commissioners at Nottingham
13/12/2023 The levelling up secretary is ‘minded to’ escalate government intervention at Nottingham due to ‘serious concerns’ over the city council’s finances and governance. |
Liverpool to regain certain functions but intervention expected to continue
13/12/2023 Liverpool City Council is set to regain control over some of its functions, but commissioners are likely to continue to intervene in specific areas. |
Local authority leaders criticise minimum service levels
11/12/2023 'Unfair’ and ‘undemocratic’ minimum service levels will lead to ‘more frequent and longer strikes’, according to mayors and council leaders from across UK. |
Gove criticises ‘unacceptable’ maladministration findings
11/12/2023 Housing secretary Michael Gove has told three councils he will take a ‘personal interest’ in how they improve following findings of severe maladministration by the Housing Ombudsman. |
Birmingham given a month to make £300m savings plan
07/12/2023 Commissioners have given Birmingham City Council until 7 January to set out a ‘credible plan’ for addressing a £300m budget gap over the next two years. |
Home Office admits 'more we can and need to do'
30/11/2023 More needs to be done to share data and improve communications with councils, Home Office mandarins have admitted. |
Councils welcome PWLB rate extension
27/11/2023 Councils have welcomed Jeremy Hunt’s decision to extend preferential Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) expenditure. |
Autumn Statement: Hunt devolves but councils face new costs
22/11/2023 The chancellor has unfrozen housing benefits and announced positive devolution news in his Autumn Statement, but signalled tighter public spending. |
Autumn Statement: Hunt announces surprise LGPS plan
22/11/2023 The Chancellor has announced a surprise target to ensure all Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds are invested in asset pools of £200bn or more. |
Autumn Statement: Unprotected departments face further cuts
22/11/2023 So-called ‘unprotected’ Whitehall departments face further budget tightening despite a pledge in the Autumn Statement to increase public sector productivity. |
Autumn Statement: Living Wage hike places council budgets under pressure
22/11/2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed the biggest-ever hike in the UK minimum wage – but the move places strained council finances under fresh pressure. |
Autumn Statement: Business rates measures to be fully funded
22/11/2023 Plans to extend business rates relief will be fully funded for local authorities, the small print of the Autumn Statement has confirmed. |
Expected devo boost in Autumn Statement
22/11/2023 Seven counties are expected to be among a swathe of non-mayoral devolution deals being lined up by the Government. |
Economic pessimism a ‘damning indictment’ of levelling up
20/11/2023 Half of people think Conservative policies would have a negative impact on their local economy over the next five years, a think-tank has found. |
EXCLUSIVE: Oflog pushes ahead with early warning system
16/11/2023 Senior Oflog officials are pressing ahead with their plans to create an early warning system for councils in trouble despite continuing LGA resistance. |
Current climate making it ‘impossible’ for councils to carry on
15/11/2023 Soaring demand, rising pay bills and inflationary costs are making it ‘virtually impossible’ to keep councils going, a senior chief executive has said. |
Job cuts 'inevitable' at Brum
14/11/2023 Birmingham City Council is poised to reveal a worse-than-expected financial position as it embarks on a savings drive and ‘inevitable’ job cuts, The MJ has learned. |
Sunak appoints new local government minister
14/11/2023 Simon Hoare was appointed Minister for Local Government amid Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle yesterday. |
New health and social care secretary announced
13/11/2023 Victoria Atkins has been appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care amid Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle. |
Housing minister among casualties of Sunak reshuffle
13/11/2023 The UK will have its 16th housing minister in 12 years after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s sweeping reshuffle affected the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. |
Land value tax could redistribute billions
09/11/2023 A plan to reform business rates could lead to billions of pounds being redistributed from high land value areas to other parts of the country. |
Brum commissioners warn council will need further help to agree lawful budget
09/11/2023 Commissioners at Birmingham City Council have warned it will struggle to agree a lawful budget next year without further help. |
Emergency summit held amid temporary accommodation warnings
31/10/2023 More than 150 councils this week attended an emergency summit as the cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities increases rapidly. |
Council websites referred to equality watchdogs
30/10/2023 Some 56 local government websites have been referred to equality watchdogs in the last year. |
Home Office 'failing to engage' councils
26/10/2023 The Home Office is ‘failing to engage meaningfully with local authorities’ on asylum, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report published today. |
EXCLUSIVE: Home Office accused of misleading council over asylum plans
24/10/2023 The Home Office faces accusations in the High Court it misled a council over controversial plans for an asylum centre at a former military base. |
Child abuse inquiry chair criticises Government response
23/10/2023 The chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has warned ministers’ response to her recommendations has been ‘weak’. |
Croydon improvement panel details exit strategy
17/10/2023 Croydon LBC’s Government-appointed improvement panel has outlined a timetable for withdrawing from the authority amid ‘strong progress’ in fixing its finances. |
Councils 'vital' to social prescribing success
09/10/2023 Children’s charity Barnardo’s has said local authorities are ‘vital’ to the success of social prescribing as it called for a national strategy. |
LGA claims ‘so much more could have been done’ in pandemic
04/10/2023 Councils were held back from effectively tackling the challenges of the pandemic by central Government, it has been claimed. |
EXCLUSIVE: Council warning over asylum communication
03/10/2023 ‘Limited’ Home Office communication over asylum – including poor data sharing - continues to stymie efforts to resolve accommodation problems, councils warn. |
Council to limit non-essential spending amid s114 threat
28/09/2023 Windsor & Maidenhead BC is to limit all non-essential spending as it raised the risk of a section 114. |
Screeching U-turn on waste proposals
21/09/2023 The Government has claimed it is scrapping its ‘top-down approach’ on recycling while still ensuring ‘all homes in England recycle the same materials’. |
Bentley insists level two devolution 'best option' for county
21/09/2023 Essex CC’s Conservative leader Kevin Bentley has insisted that a level two devolution deal is the ‘best option’ for the county. |
Cash injection for Kent as councils drag feet on National Transfer Scheme
18/09/2023 Government has given Kent £10m for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children amid concerns other councils have been slow to support the National Transfer Scheme. |
Spelthorne in local plan stand-off with ministers
18/09/2023 Spelthorne BC has stepped back from withdrawing its local plan after the housing minister ordered councillors to avoid the move. |
Brum braced for Government intervention
12/09/2023 Birmingham City Council is braced for a wide-ranging Government intervention to help rescue the authority’s bleak finances, and improve political and officer leadership. |
'Clarity' promised on waste reforms
12/09/2023 More certainty on the Government’s waste reform programme has been promised after mandarins were taken to task over delays. |
Union vows to oppose controversial crackdown
12/09/2023 Local government’s largest trade union has warned any attempt to impose a controversial crackdown will be met with strong opposition. |
EXCLUSIVE: Housing pressures may push councils into effective bankruptcy
04/09/2023 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. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government rejects sector's Oflog concerns
04/09/2023 The Government has rejected council concerns about key Oflog metrics that have been labelled ‘misleading and meaningless’. |
Early intervention drive amid social housing repossessions
25/08/2023 Councils with some of the highest relative rates of social landlord repossessions have described their early intervention efforts after new data was published. |
Nine councils in section 114 warning
25/08/2023 Nine councils within the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (Sigoma) have warned they could issue a section 114 notice by 2025. |
Fresh calls to raise local housing allowance
23/08/2023 Calls have been made for ministers to increase local housing allowance (LHA) after research revealed 85% of English councils are facing a rise in homelessness. |
Local government funding system has 'broken down'
15/08/2023 The funding system for local government has ‘broken down’ and what councils currently receive from Whitehall and council tax barely reflects need, a think-tank has warned. |
Health backing for police withdrawal delay
08/08/2023 Senior healthcare figures have backed councils’ demand to delay police withdrawal from non-urgent mental health callouts. |
Fresh LGA drive to influence MPs over skills
07/08/2023 The Local Government Association has proposed to establish a skills and employment working group as it seeks to influence MPs ahead of the election. |
Government rejects unitaries' devo bid for Solent
27/07/2023 Ministers have rejected a devolution bid by three south coast unitaries after the trio turned down the chance to join neighbouring Hampshire’s offer. |
Warning Birmingham equal pay bill could rise further
26/07/2023 Birmingham City Council’s mammoth equal pay bill could rise further if it fails to meet a tight deadline to fix the issue. |
Nutrient neutrality row goes to No10
24/07/2023 Council leaders have used a Downing Street summit to urge No10 to break the deadlock in a dispute over nutrient neutrality. |
First asylum barge arrives
18/07/2023 A controversial barge for 500 asylum seekers today arrived at its mooring off the Dorset coast. |
Haldane: Levelling up a 'mixed bag'
17/07/2023 Most people have yet to see the fruits of levelling up, according to a key Government adviser. |
Dismay at 'top-down diktat' approach to asylum
11/07/2023 Councils and MPs this week expressed dismay at the Home Office’s ‘top-down diktat’ plan to double asylum seeker numbers at many hotels. |
Downing Street to wade into nutrient neutrality row
10/07/2023 No10 is expected to wade into the row between councils and conservation agency Natural England, The MJ understands. |
Pandemic planning 'insufficient,' says public health chief
06/07/2023 The Government’s lack of planning and top-down approach hindered directors of public health during the pandemic, the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has heard. |
Tributes to 'rare gem' Lord Kerslake
03/07/2023 Figures across local and national government have paid tribute to ‘champion of local democracy’ Lord Bob Kerslake. |
Hancock: Whitehall oversight of care was terrible
27/06/2023 Whitehall oversight of adult social care before Covid-19 was ‘terrible’ and officials had no understanding of whether councils could cope, Matt Hancock admits. |
'No progress' on devolution to London
21/06/2023 The capital appears to have ‘taken a step backwards’ on devolution, a former chair of London Councils has said. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.