VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
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.
International recruitment of care workers to end
12/05/2025 The Government is set to end the recruitment of care workers from overseas to bring down the migration figures, but critics call the move a ‘crushing blow’. |
Streeting: Care staff to be trained in ‘cutting-edge’ tech
09/04/2025 Social care workers will be trained to use the latest ‘cutting-edge technology’ to help improve the social care system, Wes Streeting has said. |
Matrix Workforce Management Solutions Appoints Andrew Curry as Client Engagement Director for Health and Social Care
09/04/2025 Matrix, a leader in Workforce Management Solutions, has announced the appointment of Andrew Curry as Client Engagement Director for Health and Social Care. |
London’s high streets get £21m regeneration boost
28/02/2025 London’s high streets are to benefit from £21m additional funding this year aimed at regenerating the capital’s high streets. |
Fife Council reaches £46m ‘turning point’
25/02/2025 Fife Council has reached a ‘turning point’ and will now have to save £46m, according to a new report by the Accounts Commission. |
Matrix Workforce Management Solutions Increases Scope on the G-Cloud 14 Framework
24/01/2025 Matrix is proud to announce increased scope on the G-Cloud 14 framework, further cementing their position as a leading provider of workforce solutions to the public sector. |
Frustration mounts over lack of care workforce strategy
06/12/2024 Frustration in the sector is growing as the Government fails to produce a workforce strategy for social care. |
Kendall: Local government to join up work opportunities
26/11/2024 Mayors and councils will be given powers to join up services locally to tackle worklessness, the work and pensions secretary will announce today. |
Somerset could cut 450 jobs
28/10/2024 Somerset Council has announced that there will be compulsory redundancies across its workforce, with 450 posts at risk. |
West Northants asks staff to consider redundancy
21/10/2024 West Northamptonshire Council has asked staff to consider voluntary redundancy, flexible retirement and reduced working hours in a bid to cut costs. |
Solace: Underfunding councils ‘ultimate false economy’
14/10/2024 Failing to properly fund councils is ‘the ultimate false economy’ because it forces them to make ‘repugnant’ cuts which lead to greater problems in the future. |
Planning departments hit hardest by staff shortages
14/10/2024 Planning departments are facing the worst workforce shortages, with eight out of 10 experiencing recruitment and retention issues, new research has revealed. |
Why social care isn’t just a discharge service
10/10/2024 Sean Harriss, Senior Advisor at PPL, talks about how viewing social care as a ‘hospital discharge service’ means the value of social care isn’t realised. |
International recruitment boosts social care workforce
10/10/2024 The adult social care workforce has grown thanks to carers from abroad, but sector still faces domestic recruitment and retention challenges, study reveals. |
Scottish councils face critical workforce gaps
05/09/2024 Local authorities in Scotland are facing critical workforce gaps in multiple areas, in particular in social care and social work, a new report has found. |
Quarter of councils not ready for childcare expansion
27/08/2024 A quarter of councils lack confidence in their ability to expand Government-funded childcare support in September, Local Government Association reveals. |
Labour reaffirms commitment to National Care Service
07/08/2024 Care minister Stephen Kinnock has reaffirmed Labour's commitment to a National Care Service. |
Care sector needs 540,000 workers by 2040
18/07/2024 The care sector will need 540,000 additional social care posts by 2040 to cope with the aging population, care workforce body Skills for Care estimates. |
Four-day working win
16/07/2024 Cllr Bridget Smith, leader of South Cambs DC, reflects on the results of the council’s four-day week trial and calls on Labour to back the shorter week. |
Councils stuck in social care and hospital ‘doom loop’
16/07/2024 Over-stretched councils are struggling to meet the increasingly complex social care needs of people being discharged from hospital, a new survey has revealed. |
South Cambs’ four-day week trial shows ‘positive’ results
08/07/2024 A report into South Cambridgeshire DC’s controversial four-day week trial found the majority of key performance indicators had improved or remained the same. |
School staff strike over new pay structure
27/06/2024 Teaching assistants at a school in East Yorkshire have walked out amid a dispute with the council over pay and conditions. |
Councils’ confidence for childcare roll-out ‘worryingly low’
27/06/2024 Local authorities in England have raised concerns that they will be unable to meet demand in the next phase of the expansion of free childcare. |
NextGov: Planning under the next government
19/06/2024 Mike Kiely, chair of the Planning Officers Society, calls on the next government to build a more efficient and effective planning system. |
Union announces strike over working conditions
19/06/2024 Refuse workers in the London borough of Redbridge will strike next month over a ‘deterioration’ of working conditions. |
EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall warning over 'heightened' care provider failure risk
06/06/2024 The risk of adult social care provider failure is ‘currently heightened due to additional pressures in the market,’ a Whitehall document has warned. |
Council chiefs call for 10-year sexual health strategy
04/06/2024 Council leaders have called on the next Government to launch a 10-year sexual health strategy after new figures reveal rise in sexually transmitted infections. |
Nearly 85,000 childcare places needed, MPs warn
29/05/2024 Around 84,500 more childcare places and 40,000 extra staff are required by September 2025 if the Government is to deliver on its childcare support plans. |
Nearly 30,000 elderly people die waiting for social care
20/05/2024 Almost 30,000 elderly people died last year before ever receiving the social care for which they were waiting, a new analysis has revealed. |
Third of councils fear being unable to meet Care Act duties
14/05/2024 Only around two thirds of local authorities are confident they will be able to meet all their legal duties under the Care Act next year, council chiefs warn. |
Fresh Best Value Notice for South Cambs over four-day week
08/05/2024 The Government has issued a new Best Value Notice to South Cambridgeshire DC due to ‘ongoing concerns’ about the authority’s four-day working week. |
New £64m WorkWell pilot programme announced
08/05/2024 The Government has announced a new £64m pilot programme called WorkWell to assist individuals with long-term health issues rejoin the workforce. |
Oxford’s workforce issues a ‘significant risk’
10/04/2024 High staff turnover and difficulty recruiting at Oxford City Council could affect staff morale, wellbeing and absence and ultimately impact service delivery, a report has found. |
Dorset Council sets up recruitment firm
10/04/2024 Dorset Council has launched a recruitment company to help fill temporary roles. |
Mental illness costs England £300bn a year
27/03/2024 The cost of mental ill health in England was £300bn in 2022, according to new research. |
Unions call for 10% wage hike
04/03/2024 A 10% wage rise is the ‘only way to maintain the staff levels necessary to deliver services’, Unison, Unite and GMB say. |
Productivity plans: more than just reducing expenditure
20/02/2024 Owen Garling, the Knowledge Transfer Facilitator at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, explains how the public sector can boost its productivity levels. |
Putting personal assistants at the heart of care
19/02/2024 Ben Weatherall, co-founder and director of Curam, discusses the skills deficit in the social care system and what to do about it. |
Flexible-work denied to third of women in public sector
15/02/2024 Three in ten (30%) women working in the public sector have had requests to work flexibly denied, new research from Unison has revealed. |
Rayner floats three-year pay deal
14/02/2024 An incoming Labour Government could throw its weight behind a longer-term pay deal for the sector to avoid the embarrassment of strikes, well-placed sources have suggested. |
Welsh government announces £25m for councils
07/02/2024 The Welsh government has announced an additional £25m to support cash-strapped local authorities in 2024-25. |
Migrant care worker family ban ‘reckless’, union says
31/01/2024 The Government’s decision to ban migrant care workers from bringing family over to join them in England could ‘spell disaster for social care’, union warns. |
Councils raise alarm over free childcare offer
25/01/2024 Ahead of the roll-out of the expansion to free early education entitlements, councils have warned there may not be enough childcare places to meet demand. |
Care providers closing due to ‘perilous’ environment
16/01/2024 Social care services are facing a situation that is ‘more perilous than ever’ with 43% of providers closing services or handing back contracts, study reveals. |
Social care career reforms ‘only scratch the surface’
10/01/2024 The Government today announced new measures to improve the career prospects of social care staff but concerns remain that this ‘may only scratch the surface’. |
Half of workers unsure their council can avoid bankruptcy
08/01/2024 Around 50% of local government workers are ‘unsure’ or ‘unconfident’ that their organisation is financially sustainable, a new study has revealed. |
Gov’s migration plans threaten ‘recruitment crisis’
13/12/2023 Hundreds of thousands of non-UK nationals working in London’s health and social care sector are likely to be hit by the Government’s new migration policies, Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned. |
Wraparound childcare: what do parents want?
29/11/2023 Ellen Broomé, managing director of Coram Family and Childcare, shares what must be done to make sure families can access the provision they need. |
Million more public transport commuters needed, think-tank says
29/11/2023 The largest cities in Britain should aim to boost the number of public transport commuters by nearly one million to reduce congestion and pollution, a think-tank has said. |
Councils need help to tackle care staff exploitation, union says
28/11/2023 The Government must drop plans to cap overseas care staff and act to stop the exploitation of those already working in the UK, the trade union Unison has said. |
Government behind on scaled-back care reforms
10/11/2023 The Government is behind even on its revised plans to overhaul adult social care, a National Audit Office (NAO) report has found. |
Four-day week trial continues despite DLUHC guidance
31/10/2023 South Cambridgeshire will continue its four-day week trial after new government guidance said councils employing the practice should ‘cease immediately’. |
Reports of exploitation in care sector surge
23/10/2023 There has been a dramatic rise in the number of workers in the care sector contacting a national helpline for victims of modern slavery, charity reveals. |
Council chiefs call for workforce plan after ‘unfair care’ warning
20/10/2023 Council leaders have repeated their call for a dedicated social care workforce plan in response to a CQC warning that councils are struggling to meet demand. |
Almost 400,000 carers leave workforce
12/10/2023 A new report offers an insight into the care sector’s struggle to retain staff after almost 400,000 carers left their jobs in a year. |
Campaign to recruit carers launched
10/10/2023 A campaign to recruit adult social care workers has been launched as part of the effort to tackle the social care workforce crisis. |
Children’s services hindered by ‘systemic challenges’
09/10/2023 Children’s services are doing ‘inspiring work’ but find themselves held back by ‘wider, systemic challenges’, a council chiefs say. |
Care workers in Wales feel undervalued, poll reveals
05/10/2023 Social care workers in Wales feel undervalued by the public and underpaid for the work they do, a new survey has revealed. |
Council to shut 39 facilities
02/10/2023 North Lanarkshire Council has decided to close 39 community facilities in response to its financial shortfall. |
Social care should be top of manifestos, forum says
28/09/2023 Adult social care reform should be prioritised on the agendas of all political parties, the National Care Forum (NCF) has said. |
South Cambs denies tampering with 4-day week trial report
28/09/2023 South Cambridgeshire DC has hit back at accusations that they tampered with a report to present an optimistic picture of the controversial four-day week trial. |
Unite and council reach deal to end waste strike
27/09/2023 Waste service workers and street cleaners return to work today after negotiations between Tower Hamlets Council and the trade union Unite put an end to industrial action. |
Over £8bn needed to stop care ‘deteriorating’
25/09/2023 Sustainable planning for the care sector must replace short-term cash injections, the Health Foundation said as it published projected costs for adult social care. |
Brighton settles 10-year equal pay issue
20/09/2023 Brighton and Hove City Council will adjust bank holiday pay for more than 800 staff in response to calls from Unison. |
Providers set out ‘pragmatic’ social care plan
19/09/2023 A plan for adult social care with recommendations for the next Government has been put forward by Care England. |
Council expands four-day week trial after fresh call to end it
14/09/2023 A 12-month four-day week trial at South Cambridgeshire District Council will expand next week, despite local government minister Lee Rowley again calling on the council to end it. |
Staff warn of general election disruption over voter ID
13/09/2023 Faced with the rollout of voter ID, electoral administrators have said they are not convinced they can deliver a general election before January 2025. |
Why the four-day week could solve the workforce crisis
12/09/2023 Local councils are struggling with job recruitment and retention. Melanie Pope, 4 Day Week Campaign, argues a four-day working week could be the answer. |
Watchdog uncovers ‘weaknesses’ in councils’ workforce plans
12/09/2023 Weaknesses in Welsh councils’ workforce strategies could hamper their ability to deliver in the long term, Audit Wales has found. |
‘Cinderella’ care sector staff facing poverty
29/08/2023 Most care workers are earning less than the real Living Wage and left ‘struggling to survive’, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned today. |
School staff at 10 Scottish councils to strike
18/08/2023 Local authority employees in schools and early years provisions across Scotland will strike for two days next month, GMB Scotland has announced. |
Social care workforce survey launched
14/08/2023 Staff working in the adult social care sector are being asked to share their experiences in a new Government survey. |
Councils slammed over '47-year negligence' after Uber court case
02/08/2023 A union representing private hire drivers has claimed victory in a court case that has clarified the legal status of ride-hailing services and their drivers. |
Sheffield council staff dismissed or resigned over fraud, report says
28/07/2023 Staff at Sheffield City Council have lost their jobs or resigned following the discovery of fraudulent activity, according to a report. |
Government confirms £600m social care fund
28/07/2023 A health think tank has welcomed confirmation of £600m to boost the social care winter workforce but warn it may not fix the problem ‘after years of neglect.’ |
LGPS staff voice workforce concerns
28/07/2023 Nearly a quarter of local government pension scheme (LGPS) employees feel they do not have the right staff in place, a new survey has revealed. |
Workforce concerns raised in social care survey
25/07/2023 Workforce concerns in children's social care have been brought to light in a new poll, in which 20% of council social workers said they planned to leave. |
