Small Scale, Big Potential: Town and parish councils and devolution
Parish and town councils could play a central role in making devolution work for communities.
Government confirms 80 new Youth Hubs
26/03/2026 Government has announced 80 new Youth Hub locations, as part of a drive to tackle the nearly one million young people currently neither earning nor learning. |
Council workers offered 3.3% pay rise
25/03/2026 Local government workers have been offered a pay increase of 3.30% from 1 April 2026 in what has been described as a ‘full and final one-year pay offer’. |
Care-experienced young people face greater barriers to work, research finds
23/03/2026 Nearly 30% more care-experienced young people aged 19 to 21 are not in employment, education or training, versus their non-care-experienced peers, data has found. |
Making AI work for women: A leadership opportunity for local government
12/03/2026 Artificial intelligence (AI) is arriving in local government bringing challenges and opportunities, which will transform the workplace and affect women in particular, says Anna Triponel, human rights expert and the founder of Human Level. |
LGA slammed for failing to take its own advice
11/02/2026 Local Government Association has been accused of failing to take its own advice on employee relations in the aftermath of disastrous restructure consultation. |
Redcar and Cleveland BC pledges to become an Endometriosis Friendly Employer
20/01/2026 Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has joined the Endometriosis Friendly Employer scheme. |
Council staff demand pay rise amid rising pressures
01/12/2025 Unions representing council workers have today submitted their joint pay claim for 2026–27, calling for a wage rise of at least £3,000. |
Staff shortages ‘blighting’ children’s education, union warns
28/11/2025 Staffing shortages in UK schools are putting children’s education – and safety – at risk, warns the union UNISON. |
Budget: Councils to be impacted by minimum wage and threshold freeze
26/11/2025 Councils, along with other employers, will be impacted by the chancellor's decision to increase the minimum wage and freeze national insurance tax thresholds. |
Employer-led vanguards to tackle workplace ill-health
06/11/2025 Employer-led vanguards including mayoral combined authorities will drive forward Government plans to get people with ill-health and disabilities back to work. |
Banking barriers removed for those at risk of homelessness
05/11/2025 People without fixed addresses are to receive support in opening bank accounts. |
Council called out for failing to pay minimum wage
20/10/2025 Coventry City Council has been named among nearly 500 employers found to have underpaid staff the National Minimum Wage, according to the Government. |
Birmingham and unions finalise landmark equal pay deal
14/10/2025 Birmingham City Council and trade unions have reached a final agreement to settle historic equal pay claims. |
Care sector to benefit from £500m fair pay initiative
30/09/2025 The UK Government has announced a £500m investment to establish the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for adult care workers in England. |
Premier League boosts Youth Hubs scheme
24/09/2025 Premier League club charities are to help provide young people with wellbeing, work and skills support. |
Work scheme for people with health conditions launches in West England
11/08/2025 A programme to help people with health conditions back into the workplace has been launched in the West of England. |
Watchdog urges councils to improve staff support
07/08/2025 Councils in Scotland have been urged by the Accounts Commission to improve staff support amid a raft of challenges impacting their wellbeing. |
Reform UK council leader raises social care visa alarm
14/07/2025 The leader of Reform UK-controlled Kent County Council has urged the Government to rethink its plans to reduce health and social care visas to the UK. |
Councils under intervention could be exempted from fire and rehire ban
09/07/2025 Councils under intervention could be exempt from a legal ban on so-called fire and rehire practices after the latest amendment to the Employment Rights Bill. |
Councils urged to ‘contextualise’ employment support
01/07/2025 Employment support funding must address regional inequalities that perpetuate ‘worklessness’, think tank says. |
Is immigration making the UK an ‘island of strangers’?
28/05/2025 LocalGov editor William Eichler spoke to Belong CEO Kelly Fowler to discuss immigration, social cohesion, and whether the UK was an ‘island of strangers’. |
Think tank calls for early intervention for children’s mental health issues
19/05/2025 Children with mental health issues are facing long-term health conditions and employment barriers, says new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). |
What the changes to overseas recruitment mean for the care sector
15/05/2025 Melanie Weatherley MBE, co-chair of the Care Association Alliance, responds to the Government’s decision to end the recruitment of care workers from overseas. |
Women face ‘stark underrepresentation’ in manual roles
07/05/2025 Women still face low employment rates in manual or maintenance roles in local government despite a number of councils making positive changes. |
Government launches support network to help local veterans
06/05/2025 Local authority leaders have welcomed a new system designed to make it easier for veterans to access care and support but cautioned against the duplication of services. |
Union hits back after Farage’s ‘alternative careers’ comment
03/05/2025 A public sector union has criticised Reform UK leader Nigel Farage after he said council workers should seek ‘alternative careers’. |
Report finds fall in provision of long-term care
28/02/2025 Councils provided long-term care to fewer people last year than they did a decade ago, according to a new report. |
Nursery fees set to jump 10%
11/02/2025 The rise in employers' national insurance will force most nurseries to increase their fees by 10%, a new survey has revealed. |
National Insurance compensation allocations 'sensible'
05/02/2025 The Government's approach to distributing compensation to councils for higher National Insurance Contribution bills has been described as ‘sensible' by a think-tank. |
The cost of local authority trading companies
30/01/2025 Trading companies provide a model to deliver services under tight financial circumstances, says UNISON’s Paul Bell. But at what cost? |
Union warns of risk of ‘two-tier workforce’
20/01/2025 Council trading companies have created a two-tier workforce as their employees are paid less and receive inferior pensions than town hall staff, UNISON says. |
Union slams council’s ‘fire and rehire’ plans
05/12/2024 The GMB union has criticised Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council over its plans to ‘fire and rehire’ 500 workers. |
Summer riots linked to ‘torn social fabric’
03/12/2024 The majority of towns that saw rioting over the summer after the stabbing attack in Southport have a ‘torn social fabric’, a charitable trust has said. |
NIC hike ‘will be insurmountable’ for some care providers
27/11/2024 A social care leader has warned that the Government’s decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be ‘catastrophic’ for millions of people who need care. |
Kendall: Local government to join up work opportunities
26/11/2024 Mayors and councils will be given powers to join up services locally to tackle worklessness, the work and pensions secretary will announce today. |
Warrington bans ‘non-essential’ travel to avoid S114
13/11/2024 Warrington Council has announced a ban on all 'non-essential' travel and recruitment as it tries to avoid bankruptcy. |
Social care and the alarming impact of the NIC rise
12/11/2024 The Budget leaves the social care sector alarmed about the rise in national insurance contributions, says Rachael Dodgson, chief executive of Dimensions. |
Migrant care workers face ‘persistent breaches of employment rights’
12/11/2024 Migrants working in adult social care have reported facing unsustainable working hours, ‘demoralising’ financial insecurity, and persistent employment rights breaches. |
NI rise threatens homelessness services
11/11/2024 The rise in national insurance announced in the Budget could be the ‘nail in the coffin’ for many organisations providing homelessness services, charities say. |
Think-tank calls for £6bn devolution to tackle economic inactivity
02/09/2024 A think-tank has argued that the Government should transfer £6bn to local government in a bid to tackle economic inactivity. |
Council staff face ‘hardship’ as they wait months for pensions
02/09/2024 Former council workers in the West Midlands are waiting months to receive their pensions after retiring, creating ‘huge hardship issues’, trade unions and a council have warned. |
Councillors asked to sign off redundancy plans
24/07/2024 Proposals to save £12m a year by axing hundreds of job posts will be considered by councillors in Hertfordshire next week. |
Union slams council’s ‘outrageous’ fire and rehire plan
16/07/2024 Worcestershire County Council is planning to fire and rehire more than 140 employees, despite Labour pledging to ban the practice. |
Shropshire could cut 540 job posts
09/07/2024 Shropshire Council could cut 540 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts in a bid to cut costs by becoming a smaller organisation. |
Warwickshire staff miss 15,000 days due to poor mental health
21/06/2024 Poor mental health was the biggest reason for sickness absence at Warwickshire County Council last year, a report has revealed. |
Levelling up progress ‘glacial’, think tank says
19/06/2024 Progress on levelling up in England has been ‘glacial’ and – according to some metrics – inequality has got worse, a new analysis by the IFS has revealed. |
‘Existential crisis’ for councils as £6bn funding gap revealed
06/06/2024 A new Local Government White Paper has uncovered a £6.2bn funding gap facing councils in England over the next two years. |
Nearly 85,000 childcare places needed, MPs warn
29/05/2024 Around 84,500 more childcare places and 40,000 extra staff are required by September 2025 if the Government is to deliver on its childcare support plans. |
Council employees offered 5.8% pay rise
16/05/2024 Council employees have been offered a pay increase of at least £1,290, which equates to a 5.8% rise for the lowest paid. |
Ministers propose disability benefits overhaul amid ‘spiralling’ costs
30/04/2024 Plans to overhaul the disability benefits system and ‘deliver better value for the taxpayer’ have been laid out by the Government. |
Years-old study into Carer’s Allowance to be published
25/04/2024 Research into how unpaid carers are impacted when they are forced to repay benefit overpayments will be published ‘shortly’, a minister has pledged. |
10,000 council staff on long-term sick leave
25/04/2024 Nearly 10,000 staff members working in councils across England are currently on long-term sick leave, freedom of information requests have revealed. |
Trade union law ‘nullifies’ right to strike, court rules
18/04/2024 UNISON has welcomed a landmark Supreme Court ruling that found UK trade union law ‘encourages and legitimises unfair and unreasonable conduct’ by employers. |
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. |
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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’. |
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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. |
