Future of four-day week in limbo
21/02/2024 South Cambridgeshire councillors have been advised to continue the authority’s four-day week trial until the Government offers more detail on plans to ‘disincentivise’ the practice. |
Keep carers in work to save £6bn, Government urged
19/02/2024 The UK economy will lose billions this year because of unpaid carers who are unable to work, a think-tank has warned. |
Scotland’s public services ‘crumbling’
19/02/2024 Scots have observed worsening poverty and public services are failing to address social problem, according to a new report. |
Nine million adults lack essential skills
03/01/2024 Nine million adults lack essential skills with skill level disparities within local areas far exceeding those between local and combined authorities. |
Middlesbrough proposes job cuts as it warns of ‘tough choices’
14/12/2023 Middlesbrough Council has proposed axing 75 full-time equivalent posts and cutting social care costs as it scrambles to set a balanced budget for next year. |
Local authority leaders criticise minimum service levels
11/12/2023 'Unfair’ and ‘undemocratic’ minimum service levels will lead to ‘more frequent and longer strikes’, according to mayors and council leaders from across UK. |
Leeds councillors to discuss axing 750 employees
06/12/2023 Senior councillors in Leeds are set to discuss plans to reduce staffing levels by 750 by the end of the 2024/25 financial year. |
South Cambs issued Best Value notice over four-day week
03/11/2023 The Government has issued a non-statutory Best Value notice to South Cambridgeshire District Council ‘following concerns about its trial of a four-day working week’. |
Barriers to support impacting carers’ mental health
02/11/2023 Unpaid carers are not receiving adequate support from statutory services and their mental health is suffering as a result, Carers UK has found. |
DLUHC advises councils on four-day week
26/10/2023 The Government has issued guidance for English councils on four-day weeks and said it is exploring other measures ‘to ensure the sector is clear’ that the practice should not be pursued. |
Public support more focus on poor health causes
02/10/2023 The Government should invest more in public health to address the roots of poor health, according to a poll for the charity Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH). |
Care sector ‘stifling’ the economy, report says
18/09/2023 Properly funded social care would power growth and unlock jobs, according to a report published today. |
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. |
Employment support services provide support ‘in name only’
06/09/2023 Jobseekers and employers are being failed by Jobcentre employment services, which display a lack of care and support, think tank says. |
LGA: ‘Radical shift’ towards local employment support needed
25/07/2023 Council leaders have called for a ‘radical shift’ from centralised employment support after a consultation emphasised the benefits of 'local involvement'. |
MPs call for devolution of employment support
19/07/2023 The delivery of support aimed at helping people into employment should be devolved to groups of local authorities, MPs have said. |
Union warns of ‘significant rise’ in social care exploitation
10/07/2023 Unison has warned of a ‘significant rise’ in the number of migrant workers who are being exploited in the social care sector. |
Barnsley launches new initiative to boost employment
04/07/2023 Barnsley Council and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority have launched a new initiative to support thousands of residents into employment. |
NHS leaders call for social care workforce plan
03/07/2023 NHS leaders have written to the Prime Minister calling for a social care workforce plan to boost recruitment and retention in the social care sector. |
Boosting the wellbeing of public sector employees
06/06/2023 Sick days are damaging public sector productivity. Alun Baker, GoodShape, looks at how to boost employee wellbeing. |
Council chiefs welcome £165m skills fund
25/05/2023 Local authority leaders have welcomed the launch of a £165m skills fund but say councils should be given more powers to help people into employment. |
Empowering cities could bring £420m economic boost
23/03/2023 Bringing together employment and skills services in urban areas could result in a £420m boost to the national economy, according to local government leaders. |
Post-COVID work scheme saw ‘missed opportunities’
22/03/2023 Prospects for people getting back into work after pandemic would have been much better if councils had been able to take the lead, council leaders claim. |
New civil service ‘hub’ in York to deliver 2,600 jobs
03/03/2023 A new civil service ‘hub’ is set to open by 2027 in York, bringing up to 2,600 new jobs to the city, the Government has announced. |
Lowest paid council employees offered 9.42% pay bump
23/02/2023 Council employees have been offered what the Local Government Association describes as a ‘full and final’ pay increase of at least £1,925 from 1 April 2023. |
Council concerned by loss of 1,300 jobs at Ford premises
15/02/2023 Basildon Council has said the local authority will continue to work with Ford after the automobile manufacturer announced plans to cut over a thousand jobs. |
County chiefs call for powers to solve rural workforce crisis
06/02/2023 Council leaders have called for powers to tackle labour squeeze as a new analysis reveals that hundreds of thousands of people have left the rural workforce. |
Labour proposes more employment powers for councils
04/01/2023 Local authorities would be given more power in an overhaul of the jobs market and training under plans being looked at by the Labour Party. |
DWP urged to devolve employment support to councils
02/12/2022 Local authority leaders have called for all employment support to be devolved to councils rather than contracted out to large providers. |
Council leaders call for reversal of adult education cuts
11/11/2022 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to use next week’s Autumn Statement to reverse proposed cuts to community learning courses. |
Benefit cuts leave council welfare schemes ‘over-burdened’
28/10/2022 Cuts to benefits have left local authority-administered discretionary welfare support funds ‘over-burdened’, think tank warns. |
Council launches taskforce to plan factory’s future
28/09/2022 Newcastle City Council has launched a taskforce with Nestlé UK to plan for the future of a confectionery factory which is set to close near the end of 2023. |
Council to trial four-day week
05/09/2022 A council in South Cambridgeshire is planning to begin a three-month trial of a four-day week in order to attract new staff. |
Devolve powers to tackle jobs crisis, council chiefs say
17/05/2022 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to devolve more powers to councils to free them up to tackle the growing job crisis at the local level. |
Chancellor urged to use £20bn windfall to support struggling households
11/05/2022 The Chancellor should use some of the reported £20bn fiscal windfall to provide emergency support to squeezed households, report says. |
Welsh government invests £8m in employment services
14/04/2022 Welsh government is investing £8m in employment services that help people recovering from physical, mental ill-health and substance misuse remain in work. |
Government’s youth employment scheme branded ‘chaotic’
25/02/2022 Government scheme for helping young people into employment has been ‘chaotic’ and has failed to support as many people as first predicted, PAC says. |
Council chiefs call for devolution of skills powers
30/11/2021 Local authority leaders are urging MPs to support measures that would see councils have more say in the delivery of skills development at the local level. |
Over 100,000 young people start jobs through Kickstart Scheme
16/11/2021 Over 100,000 young people across the country have now started jobs through the Kickstart Scheme, the Government today announced. |
Business rates system 'discourages shift to net zero'
31/08/2021 Small firms have written to the Government warning that the business rates system is a disincentive to invest in net zero and employee wellbeing measures. |
Labour market recovery uneven, think tank warns
12/08/2021 Tourism-reliant areas have seen job numbers pick up over the summer, but the jobs recovery is uneven and has a long way to go, according to a new anaylsis. |
Bristol council commits to £30,000 plus salaries for inner-city households
11/08/2021 Bristol council have announced a new target to support at least one person from each inner-city household to to secure a salary of over £30,000 by 2030. |
Javid launches £75m autism strategy
21/07/2021 The Government today launched a new multi-million pound strategy to help improve the lives of people with autism. |
Report calls for thousands of new green jobs in areas worst hit by pandemic
05/05/2021 More than 16,000 new green jobs could be created in areas with the greatest employment challenges with Government investment and raised ambition, according to new research by a think tank. |
Councils urged to combine employment support into homelessness services
21/09/2020 Personalised support from councils could help twice as many people stay in employment, a new paper has argued. |
New scheme to support self-isolating workers does not go ‘far enough’, Burnham says
27/08/2020 Mayor Andy Burnham has criticised the Government’s announcement of a new payment for people who are self-isolating, arguing it ‘goes nowhere near far enough’. |
Council chiefs call for devolution of skills investment
17/06/2020 Local authority leaders have said they will work with the Government to develop post-Covid economic recovery plans as figures reveal a fall in employment. |
Inquiry into housing tenure and unemployment launched
09/03/2020 A new parliamentary inquiry launched today to tackle the employment and earnings gap that exists between working age social housing tenants and other tenures. |
Minimum ‘basic’ income trial reports mixed results
26/02/2020 A pilot scheme assessing the impact of a minimum ‘basic’ income on poverty and inequality improves well-being but financial insecurities remain. |
Blackpool Council showcases the true value and results of DFN Project SEARCH
04/02/2020 Cllr Simon Blackburn, leader of Blackpool Council, outlines the impact that implementing DFN Project SEARCH’s innovative training programme has had on the council and wider community. |
Work alone cannot eliminate poverty, think tank says
04/02/2020 Policy makers need to focus on further interventions to reduce poverty, think tank says as a new report warns that work alone cannot eliminate poverty. |
DWP say ‘record’ levels of disabled peopled helped into work
08/08/2019 Over 36,000 disabled people were supported into work last year, a figure the Department for Work and Pensions says is a ‘record’. |
Widening the property talent pool
17/06/2019 William Eichler finds out a new programme is encouraging young people to have a career in the property and regeneration sector. |
Two councils given funding to help women back to work
13/06/2019 Seven successful projects to be given funding to help support women and carers back return to work have been named. |
London parents 'locked out' of work due to rising childcare costs
06/06/2019 Nearly two in three local authorities in London do not have enough childcare to meet the demand from parents of school-age children, new research has revealed. |
Council chiefs call for action on 'youth jobs gap'
24/04/2019 Local authority leaders have renewed calls for an integrated employment and skills service following a report highlighting a 'youth jobs gap'. |
Southern cities provide more jobs for low-skilled workers than in the North
07/03/2019 Employment opportunities are greater for low-skilled workers in southern English cities than those in the North or Midlands, a think tank has discovered. |
Three areas pilot schemes to get care leavers into work or education
29/01/2019 Three areas have been chosen to pilot schemes to help care leavers access education and employment. |
Disability employment gap ‘narrows’
15/01/2019 Disabled people have accounted for about a third of the increase in employment in the UK over the last decade, think tank finds. |
One in four ‘sandwich carers’ suffer mental health problems
15/01/2019 Over a quarter of ‘sandwich carers’ report symptoms of mental ill-health and are struggling financially, according to the latest statistics. |
Supported housing system ‘isn’t working’, charity warns
05/12/2018 People living in supported housing are being discouraged from finding work because of fears they will not be able to afford their rent, report reveals. |
Care sector faces staff shortage of 400,000 over next decade
26/11/2018 The struggling adult social care sector is facing a growing workforce crisis due to chronic low pay and endemic job insecurity, a new report has revealed. |
Council reduces workforce by 138 to balance budget
26/11/2018 Over 130 Bath and North East Somerset Council workers have been made redundant at a cost to the council of £4.75m. |
Council plans ‘random’ drug tests for employees
25/07/2018 Walsall Council employees may soon be subject to ‘random’ drug testing after drugs paraphernalia was discovered. |
£4m fund launched to help people with disabilities in work
17/07/2018 The Department for Work and Pensions has launched a new ‘challenge fund’ to help more people with mental health or musculoskeletal conditions to stay in work. |
Fire services must ‘diversify’ their workforces, council chiefs say
13/03/2018 Councils have called for recruitment of more women and people from minority backgrounds to ensure fire and rescue services are fit for twenty-first century. |
£135m employment support programme launched
01/03/2018 London boroughs today launched a new multi-million pound employment programme which will provide tailored support to help people find work. |
Projects launched to support care leavers
28/02/2018 Three new projects to help care leavers into education, employment or training has been launched by the Government. |
Public sector workers responsible for ‘a third' of all unpaid overtime
23/02/2018 Public sector employees are responsible for more than a third of all unpaid overtime despite only making up a quarter of the workforce. |
Government’s ‘pre-occupation’ with housing costs business
04/12/2017 The Government’s focus on new homes is leading to increased pressure on the availability of employment land and premises, businesses say. |
35,000 more households in work due to benefit cap, Whitehall claims
03/11/2017 The number of households moving into employment because of a limit on their state benefits is continuing to rise, according to the Government. |
Public sector employment fallen to 70 year low, figures reveal
18/09/2017 Figures showing public sector employment as a share of the labour market has fallen to a seventy-year low have been branded a 'catastrophe' by the GMB union. |
The six challenges facing local councils over next 20 years
12/07/2017 An ageing population, fragmented families and housing affordability are among the challenges the local government sector will face over the next two decades, report says. |
Councils warn twelve million people will be caught in skills gap by 2024
05/07/2017 Councils have called for new powers to deliver skills and employment services, after new research shows twelve million people will be without a job or in work they are over-qualified for by 2024. |
Employment helps tackle addiction, report reveals
06/12/2016 Employment plays an ‘important role’ in improving the self-worth of people with drug and alcohol addictions, report finds. |
Bus service improvements can create thousands of jobs
24/10/2016 A 10% improvement in bus services would lead to almost 10,000 more people in work in the poorest areas of England, report reveals. |
Unions protest new terms and conditions
03/03/2016 Unions are lobbying local government employers today in response to what they describe as ‘underhand’ attempts to change terms and conditions for employees. |
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.