Watch: Lessons from Brighton & Hove City Council in scaling AI
Brighton & Hove's Chris Wales talks to LocalGov about moving AI from pilot to production – and what other councils can learn from the journey.
Rayner orders review of local government reorganisation
07/09/2026 The Government has launched a review of its reorganisation programme, withdrawing decisions on four areas and pausing a further sixteen, it has announced. |
Sir James replaced by Lam in shadow Cabinet reshuffle
01/09/2026 Shadow Home Office minister and assistant whip Katie Lam has been appointed shadow housing, communities and local government secretary. |
Legal threat to Burnham asylum plan
17/08/2026 Reform UK and the Conservatives could launch legal challenges to prevent PM Andy Burnham from spreading asylum accommodation more evenly across the country. |
Council tax harmonisation warning
13/08/2026 Local authorities heading towards reorganisation face a lose-lose scenario on how to harmonise varying council tax bills, a finance director has warned. |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA reduces funding gap but £8m deficit looms
11/08/2026 The Local Government Association (LGA) has reduced its funding gap by £16m but still faces a forecasted deficit of about £8m over the next four years, it has emerged. |
EXCLUSIVE: Council denies senior officer suspensions amid chief executive exit row
06/08/2026 Two senior Derby City Council officers are ‘currently out of the office’ after a row over two fact finding exercises into the former chief executive, The MJ understands. |
EXCLUSIVE: Asylum legal downgrade sparks concern
05/08/2026 Migration partnerships have raised concerns about the impact of a Home Office decision to downgrade its legal duty to provide support to asylum seekers. |
Shadow council delays permanent boss appointment
04/08/2026 West Surrey's shadow authority has pushed back its recruitment of a permanent chief executive. |
EXCLUSIVE: Councils suffering from asylum data blackout
31/07/2026 A Government review of asylum accommodation data-sharing arrangements remains ongoing five months after Whitehall officials said they were ‘trying’ to restore council access to information, The MJ has learnt. |
Whitehall devolution resistance 'over for good'
24/07/2026 Whitehall resistance to devolution is ‘over for good', PM Andy Burnham has insisted ahead of his first meeting at the newly-created No 10 North in Manchester. |
EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall exploring adding teeth to standards regime
21/07/2026 Whitehall officials are attempting to add teeth to the standards regime despite the lack of a primary legislation vehicle to bring reform, The MJ understands. |
Oldham Labour offers olive branch to break impasse
20/07/2026 Oldham Council's Labour group has offered ‘greater collaboration' with other parties after the authority's third attempt at electing a leader failed. |
Employers defend pay stance
14/07/2026 Employers have denied they are playing parts of the sector off against each other by offering different pay settlements to different groups of council staff. |
Minister in Pride in Place funding threat
13/07/2026 Devolution minister Nesil Caliskan has threatened to pause Pride in Place funding if accountable bodies delay or obstruct decisions on how to spend the cash. |
'Fiscal devolution to be more likely with Burnham as PM'
24/06/2026 Fiscal devolution will ‘likely become more important' with Andy Burnham as Prime Minister, experts have predicted. |
Thames Valley devo deal thrown into doubt
23/06/2026 A deal to create a Thames Valley foundation strategic authority has seemingly collapsed at the 11th hour. |
Cantle: Time to take cohesion much more seriously
16/06/2026 The author of a landmark report into disturbances in English towns in 2001 has said it is ‘time to take cohesion much more seriously'. |
40% of West Surrey revenue budget to be absorbed by servicing debt
11/06/2026 Some 40% of one of the new Surrey unitaries' net revenue budget will be absorbed by servicing debt, it has emerged. |
EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs lobby Government over severance payment threshold
11/06/2026 Council chiefs have been lobbying the Government to relax the requirements around severance payments when they publish guidance on reorganisation staffing. |
MPs scold Home Office over lack of council involvement in asylum
05/06/2026 Local authorities still lack a ‘meaningful say’ in asylum accommodation decisions, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned. |
