LocalGov elections: Being vigilant ahead of the local elections
Ahead of the local elections next month, Owen Prendeville, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), offers tips for protecting against cyber attacks.
Fresh call for Right to Buy restrictions
23/04/2024 Housing experts today called for fresh restrictions on the controversial Right to Buy policy – including a ban on applying it to new builds. |
Scots government 'unlikely' to create equal pay body
19/04/2024 Scottish Government ministers are unlikely to establish a national equal pay unit, despite calls from the trade union that led to strikes over the issue. |
Councils hit with new productivity demands
19/04/2024 Ministers demand councils improve productivity in the same week as the Government publishes a report revealing Whitehall makes the sector less efficient. |
Struggles continue for scandal-hit council contractor
16/04/2024 A council contractor previously at the centre of a residential care abuse scandal has continued to struggle since it closed the sites. |
Oflog should be handed audit oversight, MPs told
16/04/2024 Oflog should be handed oversight of England’s broken audit regime – a role earmarked for the Financial Reporting Council - accounting experts have told MPs. |
Third council in biometrics warning
12/04/2024 A third council has warned it faces potential fallout from new entry checks at UK borders earmarked for October. |
Homes England urged to strengthen relations with local government
09/04/2024 An independent review of Homes England has urged officials to 'build closer relationships' with councils. |
Council chiefs receive cyber espionage warnings
04/04/2024 Council chiefs have been warned their email accounts, phones and computers will ‘almost certainly’ be targets for ‘cyber espionage’ before elections. |
'Business as usual' for Lancashire councillors despite resignations
02/04/2024 Councillors in Lancashire have insisted it will be ‘business as usual’ despite 20 resignations in protest at the leadership of the national Labour party. |
Auditors concerned by slow transformation
27/03/2024 Scotland’s Accounts Commission is ‘extremely concerned’ by slow transformation at Moray Council, which faces a £31m deficit despite years of warnings. |
Proposed law could ease housing emergencies
27/03/2024 Scottish councils may be required to assess the condition of private rented accommodation under a proposed law. |
Elections on cyber alert
26/03/2024 Ministers have warned this year’s local and national elections are 'not business as usual’ – as councils prepare to tackle threats to voting security. |
Ministers stand firm on tax bands
26/03/2024 MPs told there are ‘no plans’ to revalue council tax bands due to the cost and disproportionate impact on lower-income households and pensioners. |
Aslyum centre site could host prison
25/03/2024 Braintree DC has warned it faces intervention from a second Government department when the Home Office ends its use of a former airfield as an asylum centre. |
Hopes for regen scheme revived after Home Office scales back asylum plan
20/03/2024 A £300m council-led regeneration scheme threatened when Whitehall commandeered the site for asylum accommodation could now go ahead. |
Officer-councillor tensions affecting outcomes, review finds
20/03/2024 Tensions between Teignbridge DC’s executive and senior leadership team are ‘inhibiting progress and damaging the council’s reputation,’ review warns. |
LGA warning over XL Bully dogs ban
19/03/2024 Councils face a double whammy of soaring costs and declining police support as they try to enforce a ban on XL Bully dogs. |
Limited exemptions for empty homes powers
11/03/2024 Councils will face only a limited number of exemptions from new powers allowing them to levy higher taxes on empty homes, ministers have confirmed. |
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. |
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. |
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.
