Child protection reforms get £18m boost
New council licensing system to combat ‘cosmetic cowboys’
Remove barriers to gym access, councils told
Council fails to review support for disabled children
Building Healthier Communities: The Case for Investing in Public Health
Explore how targeted, community-based public health strategies can improve lives, reduce NHS pressure, and deliver cost savings for local authorities.
Government denies delay to ICB cluster launch
05/08/2025 The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has denied plans to launch Integrated Care Board (ICB) clusters have been delayed. |
Call for £400m sports fund to be channelled through councils
05/08/2025 Council leaders have called for the £400m announced in the Spending Review for grassroots sports to be targeted toward leisure centres and swimming pools. |
Councils deliver ‘inconsistent’ support for young carers, charity reveals
04/08/2025 Twenty one percent of councils lack provision for young carers during school holidays, research finds. |
ICBs and councils replace vital services following NRS Healthcare collapse
04/08/2025 ICBs and councils have announced new partnerships to replace vital services previously provided by NRS Healthcare after it went to liquidation last week. |
Councils support ‘game-changer’ gonorrhoea vaccination rollout
04/08/2025 Councils across England are partnering with the NHS to deliver a world-first public health initiative—the rollout of a gonorrhoea vaccination programme. |
‘Risk to life’ warning as healthcare equipment maker faces collapse
31/07/2025 Council leaders have warned of a ‘a devastating impact’ and ‘risk to life’ with a healthcare equipment maker on the brink of collapse. |
City of London cuts both carbon and transport emissions
28/07/2025 The City of London reduced its carbon emissions by 74% between 2005 and 2023, reveals Government data. |
Sunderland invests over £700,000 to support people with learning disabilities
25/07/2025 Sunderland City Council is to allocate £724,000 to help people with learning difficulties or autism carry out adaptions to their homes when they are discharged from hospital. |
Ombudsman raises concerns over councils’ handling of complaints involving children
25/07/2025 Concerns have been raised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman over the way councils handle complaints of cases involving children. |
Councils hail 24% rise in attempts to quit smoking
25/07/2025 The number of people attempting to quit smoking using council commissioned Stop Smoking Services has grown by almost a quarter, according to NHSE data. |
Council secures £1m investment to support vulnerable children
18/07/2025 Havering Council has secured a £1m investment to support vulnerable children. |
Care workers living in poverty, charity warns
18/07/2025 Care home staff are more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to the average worker, a health charity has revealed. |
Councillors hold minute’s silence for girl killed by tree
14/07/2025 Councillors in Southend-on-Sea held a minute’s silence in memory of a seven-year-old girl who was killed by a falling tree. |
Measles death prompts call to improve vaccine uptake
14/07/2025 There is an urgent need to address falling immunisation rates to protect children against measles, local authority leaders have said. |
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. |
EHCPs ‘under threat’, campaigners warn
07/07/2025 Campaigners are urging the Government not to cut education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Council leaves abuse survivor homeless
04/07/2025 The London Borough of Waltham Forest has apologised after a survivor of domestic abuse was left street homeless for five weeks. |
LGA calls for new coalition to fix health and care system
01/07/2025 Local authority leaders have called for a new ‘national-local coalition’ that puts prevention at the centre of a modern health and care system. |
Care workers face violence ‘day in day out’, GMB says
30/06/2025 More than half of care workers suffer violence at work including being bitten, headbutted and chocked, a survey has revealed. |
EHCPs jump up 11% in a year
27/06/2025 The number of children on Education, Health and Care Plans has increased by 11% in a year, official statistics have revealed. |
Call for proactive social care to support pensioners
27/06/2025 Researchers have recommended proactive social care to support pensioners’ ‘right[s] to live and age well’. |
Scrap council tax for terminally ill people, charity says
24/06/2025 An end-of-life charity has called on councils across England to scrap council tax for people living with a terminal illness. |
Number of family hubs down by a third
24/06/2025 The number of family hubs and children’s centres in England has reduced by more than a third since 2009, freedom of information (FOI) requests have revealed. |
Council chiefs welcome home cervical cancer screening kits
24/06/2025 Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s announcement that self-sampling kits used to check for cervical cancer will soon be available. |
Scale not key to social care disaggregation
23/06/2025 Adult social care disaggregation should not focus on scale, according to research published today. |
Council places boy in unregistered children’s home
19/06/2025 A High Court judge has condemned the Isle of Wight Council’s ‘inadequate’ placement of a boy in a £500,000 children’s home. |
Social care commission shelves cross-party talks
17/06/2025 Leader of the Government’s social care review of social care, Baroness Casey, has shelved plans for cross-party talks, it has been reported. |
Council seeks advice after Botox hospitalisations
16/06/2025 Fourteen people who received cosmetic injections in County Durham and Darlington were recently admitted to hospital following ‘adverse reactions’. |
Spending Review: Silence on SEND reform
11/06/2025 Councils will have to wait until the autumn for details of reforms to services for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). |
Council chiefs call for boost to occupational therapist workforce
09/06/2025 Council leaders have called on the Government to invest in occupational therapists (OTs) to improve health, care, and prevention strategy outcomes. |
‘Urgent’ call for sustainable homecare funding
06/06/2025 New research reveals local authorities are ‘consistently failing to fund homecare’, with 27% of contracts falling below minimum wage. |
'Burning platform' warning on early years' services
05/06/2025 Early years’ services are on a ‘burning platform’ with UK outcomes among the ‘worst in the civilized world’, a leader has warned. |
Council told to apologise for mishandling of school transport
05/06/2025 Derby City Council has been told to apologise to three families for mishandling their school transport applications. |
Call for 10-year sexual health strategy
03/06/2025 The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for a 10-year sexual health strategy as services face unprecedented pressure. |
Abuse audit delayed
03/06/2025 A nationwide audit of child abuse has been delayed, safeguarding minister Jess Phillips has confirmed. |
School meals posing ‘worrying’ health risks, charity warns
29/05/2025 Schools must do more to support children’s long-term health by reducing the quantity of processed meat served at mealtimes, charity says. |
Children face ‘catastrophic’ care waiting times
22/05/2025 Hundreds of thousands of children are being left waiting for vital community care services, children’s health care professionals warn. |
Care coalition calls for significant social care funding in Spending Review
22/05/2025 A coalition of stakeholders has called for significant investment in social care in the Spending Review on 11 June. |
Public health officials ‘disappointed’ by junk food ad ban delay
22/05/2025 Local authority directors of public health have voiced their disappointment in response to the Government’s decision to delay the ban on junk food advertising. |
Auditors call for action on delays to children’s care cases
21/05/2025 The proportion of children subject to care proceedings who have had to wait over a year to have their cases resolved has increased, report finds. |
Sure Start financial benefits could double costs, finds IFS
21/05/2025 The financial benefits of the Sure Start early years programme could be twice as high as its costs, according to new analysis. |
NHS and local government partner on gonorrhoea vaccine
21/05/2025 The NHS and local government have partnered on the roll-out of a world-first vaccine programme to prevent gonorrhoea. |
Rise in drug-related deaths reveals ‘stark’ inequalities
20/05/2025 A recent study by the Health Foundation reveals a drastic increase in the number of drug-related deaths in the UK and striking geographical inequalities. |
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). |
Health organisations call for smacking ban
16/05/2025 An open letter signed by 13 leading health organisations has been sent to Government demanding that the ‘reasonable’ defense of physically punishing children is abolished. |
EXCLUSIVE: Family decision making model keeps children out of care
15/05/2025 A new charity report highlights how an evidence-based model of family-led decision making can help keep children out of care. |
International recruitment of care workers to end
12/05/2025 The Government is set to end the recruitment of care workers from overseas to bring down the migration figures, but critics call the move a ‘crushing blow’. |
Blueprint document sets out changes to ICB functions
08/05/2025 A blueprint document has set out changes to integrated care board (ICB) functions with a number being transferred to neighbourhood providers and NHS regions. |
NHS backlog not driven by surge in benefit claims
02/05/2025 The increase in NHS waiting lists is unlikely to be connected to the recent surge in health-related benefits claims, according to the IFS. |
Casey Commission: 2036 deadline for social care reform ‘too late’
02/05/2025 The terms of reference for the Casey Commission’s review of adult social care have been published, but critics remain concerned care is 'back of the queue’. |
