Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
Concerns over reorganisation delay impact on devolution
09/09/2026 MPs have raised concerns around the impact that a delay to local government reorganisation (LGR) announced this week will have on the Government’s devolution agenda. |
Healey: Fiscal devolution needed for successful cities
08/09/2026 Fiscal devolution is needed to ‘transfer power and resources from Whitehall to our regions’, chancellor John Healey has insisted. |
Evict parents of anti-social children, think-tank suggests
02/09/2026 Social housing tenants who are parents of anti-social children should be evicted from their homes, former Conservative leader's think-tank proposes. |
Dudley Council looking to reduce SEND ‘cost pressures’ amid £15.4m overspend
13/08/2026 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is looking to cut the cost of supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) after recording a £15.4m overspend. |
West of England mayor allocates £500k to help buildings stay cool
13/08/2026 West of England mayor Helen Godwin is offering grants worth up to £15k to help care homes and community groups improve their energy efficiency and help people stay cool amid heatwaves. |
Action needed to avert reorganisation’s threat to councils’ links with charities, report warns
13/08/2026 Action is needed by councils undergoing local government reorganisation (LGR) to ensure the changes do not hinder partnerships with their local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. |
North Devon Council to stage ‘special meeting’ amid maternity unit closure concerns
13/08/2026 North Devon Council is to stage a ‘special meeting’ next week amid concerns around the temporary closure ‘with little notice’ of the area’s maternity unit. |
Half of LGA meetings shrouded in secrecy
11/08/2026 The Local Government Association (LGA) has insisted it is looking to ‘maximise transparency’ despite not making agendas publicly available for almost half of its meetings. |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA redundancies down to just six
06/08/2026 The Local Government Association (LGA) is now proposing axing just six full time equivalent (FTE) posts, it has emerged. |
Mayors warned over partnership working
03/08/2026 Mayoral strategic authorities need to improve their partnership working with investors to ensure they are brought into opportunities earlier, report warns. |
Directors warning over proposed powers for child protection authority
16/07/2026 Stronger powers expected for the Government's child protection authority (CPA) need to be ‘proportionate' and focus on improving outcomes, ADCS says. |
Initiative to tackle profiteering in child placements expanded
13/07/2026 Over 100 councils will take part in the Government's expanded regional children's care initiative, which ministers hope will help tackle profiteering. |
Former councillor rages at lack of accountability for Brum failures
16/06/2026 Officers and commissioners at Birmingham CC should be held to account for their ‘failures' at the under-intervention local authority, says former councillor. |
Farage announces social housing foreigner ban
16/06/2026 Foreign nationals would be banned from social housing under a Reform UK government, party leader Nigel Farage has said. |
Councils question financial sustainability and timescales of SEND reforms
05/06/2026 Councils have raised a raft of concerns around the Government’s plans to overhaul the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. |
Council fines firms over £200k after removing 2,500 dumped e-bikes from its streets
04/06/2026 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has collected more than £210,000 in fines from rental firms after removing over 2,500 dumped e-bikes from its streets. |
Green Party names leader of newly formed LGA group
04/06/2026 The Green Party has named Emily O’Brien as leader of its newly formed Local Government Association group. |
Reform UK council wants ‘to axe climate emergency’
03/06/2026 Reform UK-led Suffolk County Council has announced plans to scrap the local authority’s climate emergency declaration and overhaul its environmental spending. |
Council to buy 26 homes to protect tenants at risk of eviction
03/06/2026 Fife Council is working with the Scottish Government to fund the purchase of 26 homes where tenants in its area are at risk of losing their homes. |
Regeneration body to launch in Greater Cambridge to ‘unlock stalled and derelict land’
03/06/2026 The Government has created a development corporation for Greater Cambridge to boost regeneration, housebuilding, infrastructure and economic growth in the area. |
