Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
Trial dates fixed for Liverpool City Council corruption case
28/04/2025 Trial dates have been fixed for two senior officers charged as part of an investigation into Liverpool City Council corruption. |
Welsh councils in need of net zero funding
22/04/2025 Local authority leaders in Wales have called for more funding to help deliver net zero commitments. |
Council to stop using X
20/02/2025 Southampton City Council has announced it will no longer post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in a decision it said was ‘fundamentally about values’. |
Three Tameside councillors ‘step away’ over WhatsApp scandal
11/02/2025 Three councillors will ‘step away’ from their roles at Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council after they were caught up in a scandal over a leaked WhatsApp chat. |
Phillipson open to Government funding local grooming inquiries
08/01/2025 Ministers have promised the Government will ‘take whatever steps necessary to keep children safe' when asked if Whitehall would fund local inquiries into grooming gangs. |
20 councillors in Nottinghamshire quit Labour
03/01/2025 Some 20 members of Broxtowe Borough Council, including the leader, have left the Labour Party in protest against Keir Starmer’s leadership. |
LGA overhaul mooted after 'big conversation'
12/12/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) could be overhauled as part of efforts to increase its influence, The MJ understands. |
DLUHC team wipeout in Labour landslide
05/07/2024 The Conservative Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) team has faced a near wipe out in Labour’s election landslide. |
Labour plan to reduce delayed discharges
20/06/2024 Labour is reportedly planning to buy thousands of beds in care homes in an effort to reduce the problem of delayed discharges in hospitals. |
Sir Keir: We need to review voter ID rules
19/06/2024 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has suggested his party would review the policy of mandatory voter ID if elected to govern. |
Greens to push for council tax revaluation
14/06/2024 Elected Greens will push for a re-evaluation of council tax bands to ‘reflect big changes in value’ since the 1990s, the party has pledged in its manifesto. |
Labour manifesto pledges Right to Buy curbs
13/06/2024 Labour has opened the door to reining in Right to Buy in its manifesto, published today. |
Conservatives pledge business rates retention expansion
11/06/2024 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to create business rates retention zones as he launched the Conservatives’ General Election manifesto today. |
Lib Dem bid to fix care and end council funding crisis
10/06/2024 The Lib Dems have pledged multi-year settlements and a cross-party solution for social care to help end councils’ current funding crisis in their manifesto today. |
Judge: Kent cannot wriggle out of asylum duties
05/06/2024 Kent CC has been told by a judge it cannot wriggle out of its duties to ‘accommodate and look after’ all unaccompanied asylum seeking (UAS) children. |
EXCLUSIVE: LGA starts to shift on standards
04/06/2024 Senior Local Government Association (LGA) figures expect the organisation’s reluctance to beefing up the standards regime to shift after the General Election. |
Rayner accusation after police drop probe
29/05/2024 Shadow communities secretary Angela Rayner has hit out at the Conservatives’ ‘desperate tactics’ after police said they would take no further action following an investigation. |
Reeves: No return to austerity
29/05/2024 Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said there will be no return to austerity under a Labour Government. |
National service threat to Shared Prosperity Fund
28/05/2024 Conservative proposals to create a national service scheme could spell the end of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). |
EXCLUSIVE: Councils given 100,000 asylum housing target
21/05/2024 Councils have been told to identify an extra 100,000 bedspaces for asylum seekers amid Home Office expectations of a surge in arrivals, The MJ can reveal. |
Flood councils in urgent £11m cash call
21/05/2024 Councils managing flood risks have urgently called for £11m cash to plug a ‘widening gap’ in Internal Drainage Board (IDB) funding. |
Fresh local government cuts warning
14/05/2024 Government commitments mean cuts will be made to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities without a higher overall spending envelope. |
Mandatory reporting exemptions a 'fudge'
13/05/2024 Ministers’ decision to exempt instances of child abuse from a new reporting law means they have dodged the mandatory duty demanded by a national inquiry. |
Re-elected Burnham calls for Right to Buy suspension powers
07/05/2024 Greater Manchester’s re-elected mayor has called for powers to suspend Right to Buy on new homes under plans to build 10,000 houses across the region. |
Political battle over National Care Service
25/04/2024 Competing visions of the future of social care have been set out by Labour and the Conservatives as they prepare for a General Election. |
Gove open to giving mayors Whitehall voice
23/04/2024 Local government secretary Michael Gove has not ruled out a ‘formal structure’ for mayors to work more closely with central government. |
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. |
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. |
Clark: Tories and Labour unwilling to address SEND crisis
15/04/2024 Labour and the Conservatives have been accused of an ‘unwillingness’ to confront the crisis in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services. |
Rayner to be investigated by police after electoral law accusations
15/04/2024 Police have launched an investigation into whether Labour’s shadow local government secretary Angela Rayner broke electoral law a decade ago after allegations. |
Five million could be disenfranchised by voter ID, polling finds
11/04/2024 Five million voters could be disenfranchised by the Government’s new voter ID rules at the General Election, first-of-its-kind polling has suggested. |
'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. |
Parties draw battlelines for local elections
28/03/2024 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has given a speech in Dudley today following campaign launches by the Conservatives and Lib Dems. |
'Grave concerns' over phone switchover
22/03/2024 UK mayors have expressed ‘grave concerns’ about the impact on vulnerable people of the planned phase out of the analogue phone system. |
Call for reintroduction of housing targets
22/03/2024 A cross-party coalition representing 27 mid-sized regional British cities has called for the next Government to reintroduce local housebuilding targets. |
Leader bullied two senior officers, report finds
15/03/2024 A council leader’s behaviour towards two senior officers amounted to bullying, a report into a code of conduct complaint has found. |
Four-day week council decision 'disappointing and arrogant'
14/03/2024 South Cambridgeshire DC’s decision to continue with its four-day week is ‘disappointing and arrogant,’ local government minister Simon Hoare has said. |
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. |
Two-year Sandwell intervention to end
07/03/2024 Local government minister Simon Hoare has today confirmed that Whitehall’s two-year intervention at Sandwell Council will end. |
Budget: Trailblazer devo deal for North East
06/03/2024 The North East has secured a trailblazer devolution deal that could provide a package of new funding potentially worth more than £100m, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in his Budget. |
Lending rates could spike after audit reset, LGA warns
01/03/2024 Proposals to reset the local audit system and clear the backlog of accounts could drive up the lending rates offered to the sector, councils have warned. |
Home Office 'chaos' leaves thousands of illegal arrivals in 'perma-backlog'
27/02/2024 The Government’s struggling asylum policy has heaped significant demand on cities’ housing services, experts have warned. |
Further planning reforms on way, says Gove
12/02/2024 Empty shops could be quickly converted into homes and developers given fresh incentives to build on brownfield sites under ministers’ latest plans to expedite housebuilding. |
Wales could drive agenda on council tax, report argues
12/02/2024 Wales could have a chance to deal with unfairness in the council tax system and drive the agenda for other nations and regions to follow, says think-tank. |
Local government figures made peers
12/02/2024 Local government has been recognised in the latest round of peerages, with two senior figures heading to the House of Lords. |
Core Cities in Household Support Fund warning
01/02/2024 Failing to extend the Household Support Fund will be ‘catastrophic for many people in our poorest communities,’ Core Cities has warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. |
DLUHC claims four-day week council saw spike in agency staff
30/01/2024 South Cambridgeshire DC’s controversial four-day week trial is under fresh scrutiny after data revealed a spike in agency work and opponents challenged costs. |
MPs criticise ‘glacial’ progress of levelling up projects
16/01/2024 Mandarins from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities faced the Public Accounts Committee. |
Welsh minister backs tax reforms
03/01/2024 One of the candidates to become first minister of Wales has backed reform of council tax. |
LGA poised to shift position on Right to Buy
06/12/2023 Smith Square is poised to amend its position on Right to Buy, The MJ has learned. |
Norfolk devolution schedule delayed
04/12/2023 Norfolk’s level 3 devolution deal is set to be pushed back to 2025. |
Councils welcome PWLB rate extension
27/11/2023 Councils have welcomed Jeremy Hunt’s decision to extend preferential Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) expenditure. |
EXCLUSIVE: Oflog pushes ahead with early warning system
16/11/2023 Senior Oflog officials are pressing ahead with their plans to create an early warning system for councils in trouble despite continuing LGA resistance. |
Councils brace as Supreme Court outlaws Rwanda asylum plan
15/11/2023 The Supreme Court has ruled the UK’s controversial proposal to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful – a decision likely to impact local government. |
Housing minister among casualties of Sunak reshuffle
13/11/2023 The UK will have its 16th housing minister in 12 years after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s sweeping reshuffle affected the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. |
Local government plays a vital role in the work of House of Lords committees
08/11/2023 Baroness Kate Parminter, chair of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, argues that the local government voice is crucial for committees to understand how government policy is impacting communities. |
DLUHC blasted over levelling up failure
08/11/2023 The levelling up department has been blasted for failing to deliver its remit by a senior sector figure. |
Emergency summit held amid temporary accommodation warnings
31/10/2023 More than 150 councils this week attended an emergency summit as the cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities increases rapidly. |
Labour regeneration plans will fail 'without radical action'
31/10/2023 An incoming Labour government’s regeneration plans will fail without radical action to devolve financial decision-making, researchers have warned. |
Levelling up Bill to become law
26/10/2023 Royal Assent is scheduled to take place later today, when the Bill will officially become an Act of Parliament. |
EXCLUSIVE: Home Office accused of misleading council over asylum plans
24/10/2023 The Home Office faces accusations in the High Court it misled a council over controversial plans for an asylum centre at a former military base. |
Child abuse inquiry chair criticises Government response
23/10/2023 The chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has warned ministers’ response to her recommendations has been ‘weak’. |
Chiefs' new professional development framework launched
17/10/2023 The first version of a new professional development framework to keep local government chief executives ‘ahead of the game’ has been launched. |
Guildford leader survives confidence vote
11/10/2023 Guildford BC’s leader has survived a vote of no confidence over the authority’s finances. |
Labour to tackle 'antiquated planning system'
09/10/2023 Labour has pledged to overhaul the planning system in a bid to ease the progress of infrastructure projects. |
Gove attacks four-day week 'nonsense' in conference speech
03/10/2023 Local government secretary Michael Gove delivered a speech to the Conservative Party Conference light on new policies and laden with election slogans. |
Screeching U-turn on waste proposals
21/09/2023 The Government has claimed it is scrapping its ‘top-down approach’ on recycling while still ensuring ‘all homes in England recycle the same materials’. |
Bentley insists level two devolution 'best option' for county
21/09/2023 Essex CC’s Conservative leader Kevin Bentley has insisted that a level two devolution deal is the ‘best option’ for the county. |
Government fails to block levelling up Bill amendments
19/09/2023 The Government suffered a flurry of last-minute defeats as the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill completed its journey through the House of Lords. |
Government defeated over planning fees
15/09/2023 Councils would be able to vary fees for planning applications under amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. |
Lords block plans to scrap nutrient neutrality rules
14/09/2023 The Government’s attempt to scrap nutrient neutrality rules has been defeated in the House of Lords. |
Mandatory housing targets rejected
07/09/2023 An amendment to the levelling up Bill for mandatory housebuilding targets has been rejected by the House of Lords. |
Lords inflict defeats on levelling up Bill
05/09/2023 The Government faces a race against time to get its flagship levelling up Bill into law after peers inflicted a string of defeats. |
EXCLUSIVE: Housing pressures may push councils into effective bankruptcy
04/09/2023 Rising housing pressures will force some councils to effectively declare bankruptcy, a local authority chief executive with more than 40 years of experience in the sector has warned. |
Rayner takes levelling up role as Starmer shuffles his pack
04/09/2023 Labour leader Keir Starmer has appointed his deputy Angela Rayner as the party’s new shadow levelling up secretary. |
South East Councils to consider devolution of vehicle excise duty
01/09/2023 The devolution of vehicle excise duty (VED) will be among the options expected to be considered by a London Finance Commission-style investigation. |
Gove to ease nutrient neutrality requirements
29/08/2023 Ministers have announced they will ease divisive development rules on water pollution blamed for low housebuilding rates in rural areas. |
Fresh calls to raise local housing allowance
23/08/2023 Calls have been made for ministers to increase local housing allowance (LHA) after research revealed 85% of English councils are facing a rise in homelessness. |
Tories call for tax cuts to boost housing
23/08/2023 A group of Conservative MPs has called for tax cuts for areas where new housing is built. |
Boycott Bill faces Scottish opposition
16/08/2023 The UK Government’s planned ban on council boycotts is facing opposition from Holyrood. |
‘Mass exodus’ claims at North Lincolnshire
14/08/2023 North Lincolnshire Council is facing a ‘mass exodus’ of senior staff, opposition members have claimed. |
Rowley insists Oflog will not take over audit
14/08/2023 A minister has been forced to clarify that Oflog is not attempting to replace the council audit system. |
Fresh LGA drive to influence MPs over skills
07/08/2023 The Local Government Association has proposed to establish a skills and employment working group as it seeks to influence MPs ahead of the election. |
Nutrient neutrality row goes to No10
24/07/2023 Council leaders have used a Downing Street summit to urge No10 to break the deadlock in a dispute over nutrient neutrality. |
Exploitation warning after Illegal Migration Bill becomes law
20/07/2023 Unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) could be in danger of being exploited after the Illegal Migration Act created an incentive for them to run away. |
First asylum barge arrives
18/07/2023 A controversial barge for 500 asylum seekers today arrived at its mooring off the Dorset coast. |
Overton rejects breakaway Green group idea
10/07/2023 The re-elected leader of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) independents has rejected the idea of a breakaway Green group. |
Tory MPs oppose boycotts ban
04/07/2023 Government moves to ban councils from imposing their own boycotts has faced opposition from Conservative benches. |
Hancock: Whitehall oversight of care was terrible
27/06/2023 Whitehall oversight of adult social care before Covid-19 was ‘terrible’ and officials had no understanding of whether councils could cope, Matt Hancock admits. |
'No progress' on devolution to London
21/06/2023 The capital appears to have ‘taken a step backwards’ on devolution, a former chair of London Councils has said. |
Sheffield apologises 'unreservedly' for trees dispute
21/06/2023 Sheffield City Council has apologised ‘unreservedly’ after a report found the authority mishandled a dispute over the felling of thousands of healthy trees. |
Councils call for more radical thinking on short-term lets
20/06/2023 Whitehall proposals to regulate short-term holiday lets fail to deliver what is needed to tackle housing shortages and ministers should think ‘more radically,’ councils have said. |
Progress on devolution 'too slow' - LGA vice-president
16/06/2023 A Local Government Association vice-president has expressed ‘serious concerns about the Government’s increasing desire to centralise local service delivery across England out of Whitehall’. |
Poor pandemic planning criticised
13/06/2023 Public health directors have criticised the Government’s Covid-19 preparedness – warning Whitehall must utilise council expertise to avoid repeat. |
Questions over council land purchase proposals
30/05/2023 Labour's proposed legislation would allow councils to buy land at agricultural values using compulsory purchase orders. |
Gove approves Teesworks probe
25/05/2023 Local government secretary Michael Gove has given the green light for a probe into Teesworks corruption claims. |
Ministers promise CSA compensation scheme
23/05/2023 Ministers have promised a compensation scheme for survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) including those abused in council care. |
New leader for Brum after Labour ousts Ward
22/05/2023 The national Labour Party has selected Cllr John Cotton as the new leader of Birmingham City Council Labour group after its intervention last week. |
Court case looms after election blunder
16/05/2023 A councillor who gained the most votes at a recent election faces a court case for her seat after a blunder led officials to announce the wrong winner. |
