City council drops £100 begging fines
Over 55,000 pupils disappear from school records
Council confirms piranha carcasses found in local lake
Councils urged to tackle light pollution
Council elections: A testing time for party alignments
Like it or not, the council elections will be dominated by an issue that has nothing to do with local government, says Mark Whitehead.
Yorkshire council targeted by pro-Assange hackers
17/04/2019 Barnsley Council’s website has been attacked as part of a campaign to free Julian Assange. |
Brexit deadlock reveals need for ‘fairer’ voting system, campaigners say
16/04/2019 Electoral reform campaigners are urging politicians to re-start the conversation about proportional representation ahead of the local elections. |
Teachers are ‘deeply concerned’ about the effects of poverty
15/04/2019 Teachers are ‘deeply concerned’ about the effects of poverty and low income on their pupils, a new survey of education professionals has revealed. |
Unfair evictions to be banned under new proposals
15/04/2019 The Government has outlined plans to abolish short notice and unfair evictions for private renters in England. |
Council ‘significantly’ changing approach to Swansea Bay city deal
12/04/2019 Neath Port Talbot Council has announced that it will be changing its approach to the Swansea Bay city deal after reviews found progress was ‘unduly slow’. |
Thousands of children being taught in illegal schools
12/04/2019 Up to 6,000 children are being educated in illegal schools across England putting their safety and education at risk, a watchdog has warned. |
Housing advisor fired for 'racist' comments
11/04/2019 The Government has sacked its housing advisor Sir Roger Scruton after the conservative philosopher appeared unrepentant about his claims that Hungarian Jews are part of a “Soros empire”. |
Developers encouraged to fund school places
11/04/2019 The Government has published new guidance which sets out how councils can encourage housing developers to fund the school places their developments create. |
Review of school appeals system ‘imperative’, think tank says
11/04/2019 Poorer families and those from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to secure their top choice of school through the appeals and waiting list system than other groups, new research reveals. |
Norfolk council removes bird netting after outcry
10/04/2019 A council in North Norfolk has instructed contractors to remove sections of bird netting after images of a distressed Sandmartin went viral. |
Nearly 13,000 new classrooms needed by 2022 in England
10/04/2019 England will require an additional 12,835 school classrooms by 2021/22 to meet demand, new research has revealed. |
Call for inspection pause in case of Brexit hit
10/04/2019 Council chiefs have urged Whitehall to be ready to ease pressures on the sector for up to six months if Brexit threatens to stretch capacity. |
Council receives funding to preserve 1910 election posters
10/04/2019 Wigan Council has secured funding to protect 141 posters from the 1910 election. |
New guidance for enforcement officers faced with rogue landlords
09/04/2019 The housing minister has announced that two new guidance documents are now available to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords. |
Crematoria to reflect needs of ‘different cultures and faiths’
09/04/2019 The Government has announced a package of reforms aimed at making crematoria reflect the needs of a multicultural society. |
Westminster inaction prompts pavement parking inquiry
08/04/2019 The Transport Select Committee has launched an inquiry into pavement parking. |
Mayor cancels Hillsborough commemoration event over Duckenfield trial
05/04/2019 The planned commemoration to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster has been cancelled following the hung jury verdict of match commander David Duckenfield. |
MSPs to investigate the causes of empty homes in Scotland
05/04/2019 An investigation into empty homes in Scotland and how they can be brought back into use is to be conducted by MSPs. |
Council fined for leak of its gang database
05/04/2019 The London Borough of Newham has been fined £145,000 by the data watchdog for revealing personal information on more than 200 people who were on a police database. |
Peers recommend tax incentives for seaside landlords
04/04/2019 Landlords have welcomed a proposal by peers that they should be given tax incentives to improve their properties in seaside towns. |
Manhole cover theft to cost Doncaster taxpayer over £50,000
03/04/2019 Doncaster Council has to pay out thousands of pounds to replace stolen manhole covers after a sustained period of theft. |
Child benefit value at ‘record low’
03/04/2019 The value of child benefit has fallen to a record low, a think tank says 40 years after the benefit was established. |
Two arrested in Blackpool slavery investigation
03/04/2019 An investigation into modern slavery and human trafficking supported by Blackpool Council has resulted in two arrests. |
Whitehall publishes consultation on home school register
02/04/2019 Local authority leaders have welcomed proposals from the Government to launch a new register of all children not attending mainstream schools. |
Whitehall announces preparations for EU elections
02/04/2019 The Government has written to the Electoral Commission confirming that it will help local authorities prepare for possible European elections in May. |
Brum improvement team issues final damning judgement and walks away
02/04/2019 Birmingham City Council’s intervention team has issued a final, damning report on the crisis-hit council and walked away – despite admitting its job is not complete. |
School children in referral units doubles within a decade
01/04/2019 The number of primary school children in Pupil Referral Units has more than doubled since 2011. according to the Labour Party. |
Domestic abuse services ‘struggling’ due to budget cuts
01/04/2019 Nearly 60% of women accessing domestic abuse support services have children and one in 15 are pregnant, according to a new report. |
Councils to be part of ‘multi-agency initiative’ against knife crime
01/04/2019 Local authorities will be among the bodies involved in a multi-agency initiative against knife crime launched by home secretary Sajid Javid. |
Charter trustees have ‘had their day’, says local council body
29/03/2019 The body representing local councils has urged the Government to abolish charter trustees by the end of the next parliament. |
‘Suspend’ costly Right to Buy scheme, housing body says
29/03/2019 Right to Buy is ‘reducing’ the number of affordable homes available at a time when homelessness is on the rise, warns Chartered Institute of Housing. |
Councils play ‘unique role’ in school place creation, LGA says
29/03/2019 Local authorities should be recognised for their role in creating school places and should be given more powers to continue this task, council chiefs say. |
Half of British babies born in rented accommodation
29/03/2019 More babies are being born to parents living in insecure private sector rented accommodation, new research shows. |
Councils support nearly 400,000 ‘troubled’ families
29/03/2019 The Government's programme to help families with serious challenges is making good progress, according to communities secretary James Brokenshire. |
Government is ‘failing’ to combat child poverty, campaigners say
28/03/2019 Campaigners have warned that the economy is not ‘working for everyone’ as the latest statistics show that child poverty in working families is on the rise. |
Councils failing to use powers for rent repayment orders, landords warns
28/03/2019 Councils are failing to use new powers to force bad landlords to pay back rent, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) have warned. |
DWP failing to tackle unemployment among disabled people, auditors find
28/03/2019 The Department for Work and Pensions has limited evidence of what is effective when it comes to supporting disabled people to work, auditors have warned. |
Councils must finalise air quality plans or face legal action, lawyers say
27/03/2019 Environmental campaigners have written to 38 local authorities warning them to finalise their air quality plans or face legal action. |
Councils urge Government to fund sprinkler installations
27/03/2019 Local authorities have called on the Government to fund the installation of sprinklers in high-rise buildings two years after the Grenfell tragedy. |
Council consults on £20m school investment
27/03/2019 Wiltshire County Council has launched a consultation on how to invest at least £20m in special school education. |
Funding for five new garden towns
26/03/2019 Five new garden towns will receive a share of £3.7m to provide up to 64,000 new homes. |
A lack of police training ‘hinders’ slavery convictions, charity says
26/03/2019 The response of the police to modern slavery victims ‘hinders’ the prosecution of traffickers and exploiters, a charity has claimed. |
Figures show no evidence of 'large-scale electoral fraud'
25/03/2019 Campaigners have warned the case for voter ID is getting ‘weaker by the day’ after new figures show there were only eight allegations of personation fraud last year. |
Councils should do more to cut emissions outside of schools, charity says
25/03/2019 Sustainable transport campaigners have called on local authorities to close the streets outside of schools during the school run to cut dangerous emissions. |
Councils 'struggling to cope' with Homelessness Reduction Act
25/03/2019 A year after the Government took radical steps to reduce homelessness councils are warning they lack the resources to cope with a rising tide of people needing somewhere to live. |
Lambeth survivors of abuse receive £7.7m compensation
25/03/2019 More than 1,000 applications for compensation have been made during the first year of a council scheme which was set up to compensate victims of abuse. |
A million homes could be built on brownfield land
25/03/2019 More than a million new homes could be built on brownfield land, according to new research by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). |
Welsh council to withdraw from school improvement body
22/03/2019 Neath Port Talbot Council has announced that it intends to pull out of the ERW due to ‘major concerns’ over the school body’s governance and financing. |
Review finds lack of due diligence over council's commercial workspace project
21/03/2019 King’s Lynn & West Norfolk BC should ‘build on the lessons learned’ from the construction of a state-of-the-art commercial workspace, the council’s chief executive has said. |
'Postocde lottery' for landlord licences is revealed
21/03/2019 The most expensive landlord licencing schemes cost 21 times more than the cheapest ones, new research has revealed. |
The March issue of Local Government News explores alternative funding channels that are available to councils beyond the Public Works Loan Board, what hurdles merging councils face in coming together, and how local government is handling GDPR.
This issue also has a special highways and street lighting section exploring how councils can use lighting to embark on their smart city journey and using IoT technology to weather the storm.
