Providing sanctuary for refugees
Neil Merrick finds out what councils across the country are doing to welcome and resettle Syrian refugees.
Grenfell inquiry: Better communication between councils and fire services needed
30/10/2019 ‘Far better direct communication’ between local authorities and fire and rescue services is needed, an official inquiry has urged. |
Core Cities' £28bn Shared Prosperity Fund warning
26/09/2019 The proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) must be worth at least £28bn over seven years if the UK is to deliver its devolved policy objectives, a leading sector body has warned. |
Named person scheme dropped
20/09/2019 A mandatory named person scheme for every child in Scotland – underpinned by law – will not now happen, deputy first minister John Swinney has announced. |
DfE drive to check council readiness for Brexit
19/09/2019 The Department for Education (DfE) is attempting to gain a better understanding of school sector and council readiness just weeks before the Government’s Brexit deadline. |
Government warned resilience forums could be stretched
04/09/2019 Local resilience forums (LRFs) would be stretched if Brexit forced them into 24/7 operations over an extended period, the Government has been warned in a report leaked to The MJ. |
New rules to increase housing deal transparency
02/09/2019 Councils will be legally required to publish deals with housing developers after new rules were introduced. |
£5.2bn council funding gap is 'underestimate', says LGA
22/08/2019 The Local Government Association (LGA) will argue the sector faces a £5.2bn funding gap in 2020/21 despite believing figure is an underestimate. |
Crime-fighting funds in scarce supply - survey
21/08/2019 Three out of four UK council chief executives and leaders do not have access to enough funding to tackle rising levels of violent youth crime, a survey has found. |
Councils face more funding uncertainty
14/08/2019 ‘Indicative numbers’ for the amount councils will receive in 2020/21 will not be published before next month’s Spending Review, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has admitted after it missed a self-imposed deadline. |
New management model with no chief approved
25/07/2019 Redcar and Cleveland BC hopes to save about £220,000 per year after scrapping its chief executive role as part of a new management model. |
EXCLUSIVE: Victory on variation
26/06/2019 The Treasury’s view of children’s services has been dealt a further blow after research linked 70% of spend variation to factors outside councils’ control. |
Council to appeal 'town hall Pravdas' ruling
14/06/2019 Waltham Forest LBC will appeal after a judge backed Government attempts to stop it publishing a council newspaper every two weeks. |
Call for leader to quit after 'repeated failures'
05/06/2019 Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has called for Northamptonshire CC leader, Matt Golby, to quit after ‘repeated failures’ in the council’s children’s services. |
NAO to wade into fair funding review
05/06/2019 The National Audit Office (NAO) is gearing up to scrutinise the Government’s divisive fair funding review, The MJ can reveal. |
Government pays £15m to councils after business rate 'error'
03/06/2019 The Government may have to pay out up to £15m to councils after it made yet another error in its business rate pilot administration. |
'Slow progress' two years after inadequate judgement
24/05/2019 Gloucestershire CC is making ‘slow progress’ in improving its services for its children and young people two years after it was judged inadequate, Ofsted has found. |
Council tax system needs 'fundamental reform'
16/05/2019 The council tax system is ‘highly regressive and unsustainable,’ and needs ‘fundamental reform,’ progressive think-tank IPPR has argued. |
Delay to Northamptonshire reorganisation welcomed
14/05/2019 Council leaders have welcomed the year-long delay to plans to create two new unitaries in Northamptonshire. |
Security fears after candidate addresses published
02/05/2019 Security concerns have been raised after a loophole forced councils to publish the home addresses of candidates standing in the EU elections. |
Hopes for legislative backing behind new code
24/04/2019 An overhaul of financial management in councils could be enshrined in law, according to a consultation that stakeholders must respond to within days to influence. |
This issue of Local Government News explores how councils can tackle modern slavery and trafficking in their supply chains, finds out more about Cambridge's first cohousing scheme and the launch of a new project to build a shared service pattern library for local government.
This issue also contains a special focus on children's services and how councils are protecting children following local safeguarding children boards being abolished.
