Digital Transformation, AI and Local Government: The Case for Workforce Upskilling
The new LocalGov and Multiverse report explores how workforce upskilling is driving smarter, more efficient, and inclusive local government transformation.
Wales rolls out 150 cameras in fly-tipping crackdown
19/02/2026 The Welsh Government is stepping up efforts to tackle fly-tipping with new funding for surveillance cameras and a review of penalty levels. |
Gloucestershire CC supports nature recovery with new local strategy
18/02/2026 Gloucestershire County Council has produced a strategy to promote nature recovery and enhance biodiversity across the region. |
West Midlands Mayor urges climate action to protect economy
17/02/2026 Climate inaction could cost the West Midlands almost £3bn by the 2050s, the mayor has warned. |
Lincolnshire CC seeks to revise ‘unachievable’ net zero goals
16/02/2026 Lincolnshire County Council is considering removing its 2050 carbon neutral target. |
Council to consider scheme to prevent residents leaving bins on streets
13/02/2026 Tewkesbury Borough Council could begin to fine residents for leaving empty wheelie bins on the pavement. |
Investigation launched into illegal waste dump
12/02/2026 An illegal waste site containing roughly 30,000 tonnes of rubbish is being investigated in Knowsley. |
Government announces £1bn for community energy projects
10/02/2026 The Government has announced a new programme of investment to support the development of community energy projects across the country. |
Waste plant explosions prompt warning from environmental association
09/02/2026 Explosions of nitrous oxide canisters are causing energy-from-waste power plants to close for repairs, a trade association has cautioned. |
Council defers gas wellsite decision upon Government request
29/01/2026 North Yorkshire Council has postponed a decision on a planning application for a gas wellsite scheme. |
TPOs: The missing piece in insurers’ climate logic
27/01/2026 Sarah Dodd, a local government lawyer specialising in tree law, highlights the missing piece in insurers’ approach when it comes to TPOs and felling trees. |
LGA: Councils best place to decarbonise housing
21/01/2026 Local authorities are best placed to lead the effort to decarbonise the country’s housing stock, the LGA says in response to the Warm Homes Plan announcement. |
DCN: Surge in river maintenance costs can be ‘devastating’ for councils
14/01/2026 The District Councils’ Network has warned that councils are facing a rise in river maintenance spending due to the Environment Agency cutting back its work. |
Bradford Council wins international recognition for nature reserve
09/01/2026 A nature reserve managed by Bradford Council has been highlighted in a ‘seven wonders of the world’ list for 2026. |
Shropshire canal incident sees residents rescued by firefighters
22/12/2025 Shropshire Council has reported a ‘major incident’ following the collapse of a local canal bank. |
Councils adopt long-term coastal erosion strategy
22/12/2025 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council and New Forest District Council have formally adopted a strategy for tackling coastal erosion. |
City’s clean air zone generates £180m in less than two years, say academics
17/12/2025 Bradford Council’s clean air zone initiative has generated an estimated £180.8m in benefits to the city since it was launched just under two years ago. |
EXCLUSIVE: Ministers threatened with food waste refusal
10/12/2025 Council leaders have warned ministers some local authorities will refuse to collect food waste. |
West Midlands mayor unveils nature recovery strategy
27/11/2025 A new plan to protect and enhance green spaces, waterways and wildlife across the West Midlands has been published by Mayor Richard Parker. |
Call for stricter enforcement to combat ‘roadside litter epidemic’
24/11/2025 The AA has called for greater council powers to address roadside littering as research reveals an escalation of the issue across the UK. |
Bristol announces trial for green events scene
17/11/2025 Bristol is to benefit from a clean power generator to support the sustainability of large-scale events. |
Ministers accused of 'scapegoating' nature
17/11/2025 Ministers have been accused of ‘scapegoating' nature as they attempt to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament. |
Councils urged to unite in the fight against fly-tipping
10/11/2025 Fly-tipping is a persistent blight on communities. Speaking to LocalGov, Dr Anna Scott, Keep Britain Tidy, urges councils to unite against waste crime. |
Councils sound alarm as fly-tipping soars
10/11/2025 Keep Britain Tidy is calling for urgent action to tackle a surge in fly-tipping, as new research shows the majority of councils see issue as a growing problem. |
Call for stricter enforcement around megafarm applications
06/11/2025 An advocacy group has urged councils to deny permission for livestock facilities that provide incomplete climate information. |
Metro mayors urged to discourage city car trips
04/11/2025 A think tank has recommended that metro mayors encourage a shift from cars to public transport by making car use less attractive for journeys to city centres. |
MP calls for new mayors to take legal action on climate
28/10/2025 Green MP Siân Berry has proposed a new statutory duty on mayors created under the English Devolution Bill, urging them to take action on climate change. |
Council reveals ‘substantial tightening’ of air quality target
28/10/2025 Oxford City Council has announced plans to establish a new air quality target. |
London’s ULEZ cuts pollution, but challenges remain
23/10/2025 A new study shows that London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has delivered a significant drop in roadside nitrogen dioxide (NO2). |
Edinburgh to miss 2030 net zero target
22/10/2025 Edinburgh City Council will not meet its ambition to be net zero by 2030, according to a report discussed by councillors yesterday. |
Council pension funds pile pressure on firms over climate
20/10/2025 Firms have been put under renewed pressure by the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) to allow shareholders a vote over their climate transition plans. |
Cornwall Council rethinks climate goals
10/10/2025 Cornwall Council is considering pushing its net zero target back until 2045. |
EXCLUSIVE: Councils warn of 'devastating' axing of net zero fund
07/10/2025 Councils have warned of the ‘devastating' impact after the Government failed to commit further investment in a fund viewed as key to net zero plans. |
CoastCraft: Minecraft launches climate change game
06/10/2025 Cornwall Council and partners have launched an interactive learning tool to teach young people about climate change and coastal erosion. |
Government announces £10m sewage repair scheme
03/10/2025 Communities are to receive more than £10m funded by water company fines to support local cleanup projects. |
Consensus emerges over statutory climate change duty
03/10/2025 A ‘clear consensus' has emerged among councils for the sector to be subject to a statutory climate change duty, Local Government Association (LGA) has said. |
Green bus shelters rolled out to boost biodiversity
02/10/2025 Three ‘insect friendly’ bus shelters have been introduced across West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire. |
Kent CC votes to scrap climate emergency declaration
19/09/2025 Reform UK-led Kent County Council has voted to rescind its climate emergency declaration despite criticisms it is ‘ignoring scientific evidence’. |
Allotment pressures see councils shrink plot sizes
15/09/2025 Over three quarters of councils have limited the size of allotment plots, the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) has found. |
Greater Manchester launches North’s first nature recovery strategy
04/09/2025 Greater Manchester has launched the first Local Nature Recovery Strategy in the North, aiming to reverse decades of wildlife decline and improve green spaces. |
Resident fined over £100k for felling ancient tree
26/08/2025 A resident has been fined over £100,000 for illegally cutting down an ancient tree protected by a preservation order. |
Extreme heat threatens thousands of care home residents
12/08/2025 Nearly 10,000 care homes are in parts of England facing extreme levels of heat, increasing the chances of heat-related deaths, campaigners have warned. |
Mayor of London triggers air pollution alert
12/08/2025 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has issued an air pollution alert as temperatures threaten to rise above 30C, creating dangerously high ozone levels. |
‘Local landmark’ tree to be preserved in Battersea
11/08/2025 Wandsworth Council has called for the protection of a ‘landmark’ grapefruit tree in Battersea. |
Not zero: Core cities admit they will fail to hit ambitious climate targets
08/08/2025 Core cities have called for billions of pounds of investment to transition to net zero after admitting they will fail to hit their ambitious targets. |
Bristol council misses net zero target
31/07/2025 Bristol City Council is set to fall short of its goal to be a net zero council by the end of this financial year. |
AI-enabled CCTV to fight fly tipping
31/07/2025 AI-enabled CCTV cameras are to be introduced by East Riding of Yorkshire Council to help reduce fly tipping. |
Cities ranked by new ‘smell score’
30/07/2025 Reading is the nicest smelling city in the UK while Leeds has been identified as the smelliest, according to a ‘smell score’ scale. |
Pesticide use persists despite health concerns
30/07/2025 Over half of councils in the UK continue to use pesticides in public spaces, such as parks and playgrounds, despite environmental and health concerns. |
Packaging levy to raise £1.1bn for waste services
28/07/2025 A new levy on packaging is set to raise over £1bn of extra funding for council waste services in England, according to Defra. |
Wiltshire Council votes to retain carbon targets
25/07/2025 Wiltshire Council has rejected a motion to ditch the local authority’s carbon reduction targets. |
Private allotment site receives council approval
24/07/2025 North Somerset Council has provided planning permission for a private allotment site in Abbots Leigh. |
Council forgoes lake ownership following algae issues
21/07/2025 A council has handed over its lease on a lake after ‘toxic blue-green algae’ is found in the water. |
Council warned against gas well project proposals
07/07/2025 Environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) has urged North Yorkshire Council to oppose a gas well planning application. |
Judge set to consider campsite dispute
19/06/2025 Wadhurst Parish Council is undertaking legal proceedings to protect an ecological site from ‘inappropriate developments’. |
Data centre development project sparks local strife
10/06/2025 Havering Council’s proposal to develop a data centre on green belt land has been met with resistance from residents and local Reform party representatives. |
Council prepares greening strategy for cabinet meeting
10/06/2025 Gloucester City Council’s Urban Greening Strategy will be considered by cabinet members this week. |
Council launches goat-based ground maintenance scheme
05/06/2025 A local authority in Pembrokeshire is introducing goats to help manage overgrowth in the town churchyard. |
Stockpiling vapes could ‘cost lives’, says the LGA
30/05/2025 Stockpiling single-use vapes ahead of the ban could cause severe health and fire hazards, council chiefs warn. |
Government proposes easing environmental protections to boost housing
28/05/2025 The Government has announced a raft of reforms aimed at easing planning regulations and environmental protections to support smaller housebuilders in England. |
High Court rules Lambeth LTN ‘unlawful’
12/05/2025 Lambeth Council's controversial low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) scheme has been ruled ‘unlawful’ by the High Court. |
Call for kerbside collections amidst battery-fire crisis
28/04/2025 Universal kerbside collections for waste batteries and electricals across the UK could save £6bn by boosting recycling and tackling the battery fire 'epidemic'. |
Carbon tax could cost councils billions, LGA warns
25/04/2025 A scheme aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the burning of waste could place ‘billions of pounds’ of unavoidable costs on local authorities, LGA warns. |
Councils could be forbidden from using destructive pesticides in parks
25/04/2025 MPs will today debate a proposal that could see the use of 'toxic' weedkillers by councils banned. |
Blackpool to invest £30m in coastline defences
17/04/2025 Blackpool Council has announced a £30m investment to construct new coastline defences to prevent erosion. |
6,000 EV chargers to be rolled out in Brighton
07/04/2025 More than 6,000 electric vehicle chargers are set to be rolled out across Brighton and Hove in what is said to be the largest project of its kind in the UK. |
Luton Airport expansion gets the green light
04/04/2025 The Government has signed off on the expansion of Luton Airport despite concerns about the environmental impact and a predicted increase in noise pollution. |
Council switches off street lights in energy-saving pilot
03/04/2025 East Riding of Yorkshire Council has alerted drivers that they will be switching off street lights along two main roads as part of an energy-saving pilot. |
Council clears tonnes of ‘nurdles’ after North Sea crash
02/04/2025 Teams from East Lindsey DC have cleaned up over 12 tonnes of plastic pellets from Lincolnshire’s beaches following a crash between two ships in the North Sea. |
Envirobed® CD534: The benchmark for bedding mortars since 2005
24/03/2025 Since its introduction in 2005, Envirobed® CD534 high performance bedding mortar has established itself as the gold standard of manhole reinstatements. |
Peterborough requires £8.8bn to reach net zero
17/03/2025 An investment of £8.8bn is required if Peterborough City Council is to achieve its net zero carbon emissions target by 2040, according to a council document. |
New animation raises air quality awareness
17/03/2025 BCP Council is raising awareness of the dangers of air pollution among children across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole using the power of animation. |
London’s Ulez delivers ‘substantial’ air quality improvements
07/03/2025 London's ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) has led to ‘substantial improvements’ in air quality across the capital, new research reveals. |
Councils urged to take action on nature recovery
05/03/2025 As few as one in 10 councils have a plan for nature recovery despite the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, Woodland Trust says. |
Wealth fund backs social housing retrofit loans
03/03/2025 The National Wealth Fund (NWF) has announced plans to guarantee £250m of loans to housing associations to support the retrofitting of social housing. |
Defra records record 1.15m fly-tipping incidents
27/02/2025 Local authorities in England were forced to deal with a record 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents in 2023/24 – a 6% increase on the previous year. |
Brighton ditches electric buses for diesel
20/02/2025 Brighton and Hove City Council, which has pledged that the region will be carbon neutral by 20230, has ditched electric buses in favour of diesel power. |
‘Britain’s wonkiest road’ set to reopen
18/02/2025 A Wiltshire road that was labelled Britain’s wonkiest after it was broken up in a landslip should reopen this spring, the local authority has said. |
Developers leave 1.4 million homes unbuilt
14/02/2025 Councils have given planning permission for more than 1.4 million homes since 2007 that have not been built, research has found. |
Baroness Warsi calls for penalty points for fly-tippers
10/02/2025 Baroness Warsi, former chairwoman of the Conservative Party, has proposed introducing penalty points on driving licences for individuals caught fly-tipping. |
Digital waste tracking postponed one year
07/02/2025 The implementation of digital waste tracking is to be delayed until April 2026 due to the ‘complexities of the project’, according to the Government. |
Housing plan on MoD site scrapped due to acid grasslands
07/02/2025 Colchester City Council is set to remove a former Ministry of Defence firing range from its development plans due to the site's ‘environmental value.’ |
Flood defence funding boost ‘tip of the iceberg’
05/02/2025 Defra's decision to top up funding for flood defences by £250m raises spending in this area to record levels but is still just ‘tip of the iceberg’, MPs say. |
Who’s leading the way on waste reduction and food climate action?
30/01/2025 Annie Pickering, operations director at Climate Emergency UK, looks at which councils are leading the way when it comes to helping residents reduce waste. |
Vent-Axia's Embodied Carbon Calculations for Commercial Heat Recovery Aid Building Design
29/01/2025 To help with the design of low and zero-carbon buildings, ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia has completed its embodied carbon calculations on its products. |
Litter found in 90% of places in England
29/01/2025 A decade-long study by an environmental charity has exposed the extent of England's litter 'crisis', with more than 90% of surveyed sites found to contain rubbish. |
Peterborough’s ‘net zero’ plan cuts emissions by 78%
27/01/2025 Councillors in Peterborough have approved a ‘roadmap to net zero’ with measures that would only reduce emissions by 78%. |
Mayor of London urged to tackle ‘mounting sewage crisis’
22/01/2025 Campaigners have urged the Mayor of London to take action to tackle the ‘mounting sewage crisis’ in the capital. |
Electric buggy pilot launched in London borough
21/01/2025 A pilot scheme allowing residents to hire electric buggies has been launched in the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in an effort to combat traffic congestion. |
Bus cuts led to a billion more miles by car in 2023
07/01/2025 Cuts to bus provision in England led to an estimated 1.1 billion extra miles driven by cars and taxis in 2023 alone, according to new research. |
Westminster seeks to ban estate agent boards
07/01/2025 Westminster City Council is seeking to crack down on ‘outdated and unsightly’ estate agent boards outside properties across the borough. |
Wrexham saves £32,000 with smart water sensors
06/01/2025 Sensors that detect how much water flowerbeds need have saved Wrexham County Borough Council £32,000 over seven months, according to a report. |
Councils issue just four fines for illegal wood burning
20/12/2024 English councils received more than 5,600 complaints in a year about smoke in smoke control areas but issued just four fines, new data has revealed. |
Campaigners warn of ‘vapocalypse’
16/12/2024 The number of vape products being thrown out or recycled incorrectly every week has risen from five million last year to an estimated 8.2 million. |
Council gives away 30,000 trees in a day
02/12/2024 Leicestershire County Council gave away 30,400 trees in a day last week as part of plans to boost planting. |
Simpler Recycling: Households to be issued with four bins
29/11/2024 Local authorities are set to issue households with up to four bins as a default to separate their waste and recycling. |
Councils get £47m for new homes stalled by nutrient neutrality rules
07/11/2024 Seven areas in England will benefit from a share of £45m to ‘unblock’ new housing developments that have been stalled by rules on nutrient neutrality. |
Lincolnshire residents warned not to disturb seals
07/11/2024 North East Lincolnshire Council has urged residents not to approach seals on the beach over the coming weeks. |
Unlocking supply chain potential to deliver net zero
29/10/2024 Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Westminster City Council, discusses how councils can reach sustainability goals through collaboration with supply chains. |
Oil firm continues production despite Supreme Court ruling
28/10/2024 Surrey County Council is considering enforcement action against an oil company that is operating two wells in the county, despite a Supreme Court ruling. |
Recycling Week: The disposable vapes challenge
15/10/2024 Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, looks at the recycling challenge the surge in disposable vapes poses for local authorities. |
