Councils warned to cover foster carers’ school transport costs
Think tank warns red tape is ‘strangling’ the high street
Medway caves after Ombudsman rap
Former housing minister warns of ‘a new generation of slum housing’
Lost in translation: sustainability down the construction supply chain
Luke Deamer, Erica Russell and Jacquetta Lee explore sustainability down the construction supply chain.
Council approves £1m transit traveller site
16/01/2020 Wolverhampton Council has approved plans for a new transit site for the traveller and gypsy community. |
New advice urges councils to ‘not shy away’ from adoption
16/01/2020 The Government has urged local authorities to prioritise adoption and ensure adoptive parents are not wrongly turned away. |
Rutland approves its first ever McDonald’s
15/01/2020 Rutland will no longer be the only county in England not to have a McDonald’s, after councillors approved plans for new restaurant on the outskirts of Oakham. |
Pothole breakdowns fall as Beast impact fades
15/01/2020 The RAC attended significantly fewer breakdowns for pothole-related faults in 2019 than the previous year, despite a surge in the last quarter. |
Two million private renters made ill by housing worries, poll reveals
15/01/2020 Worries over private renting is causing millions of people to become physically ill or sick, a new survey has revealed. |
Government failing to ‘learn lesson’ of Carillion collapse
15/01/2020 The union Unite has accused the Government of failing ‘to learn the lessons’ from the collapse of the outsourcing giant Carillion. |
Over 1,000 ancient woodlands at risk from ‘built development’, charity says
15/01/2020 The number of ancient woods under threat in the UK from built development has topped the thousand mark for the first time in two decades, charity warns. |
Child sexual exploitation cases in Greater Manchester ‘reopened’
14/01/2020 Victims of child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester are having their cases newly investigated as a result of a review commissioned by the Mayor of Greater Manchester. |
Local housing allowance ‘freeze’ ended
14/01/2020 The Government has announced that it will end the four-year freeze on the local housing allowance (LHA) which charities blame for a rise in homelessness. |
DWP ‘condemns’ 2,000 terminally ill people to die without benefits, charity says
13/01/2020 A charity has accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of condemning 2,000 people in six months to die without benefits. |
District councils warn of ‘fly-tipping farm-aggedon'
13/01/2020 Councils have warned that fly-tippers are increasingly targeting rural areas after new figures show a surge in incidents where rubbish is being dumped on farm land. |
Liverpool criticises 'short-sighted' rejection of its landlord licensing scheme
13/01/2020 The Government has been branded ‘short-sighted’ after it refused Liverpool’s application to continue its landlord licensing scheme. |
Council chiefs call for permitted development right to be ‘scrapped’
13/01/2020 Local authority leaders have warned that communities are potentially losing out on thousands of affordable homes due to office conversions which bypass local planning offices. |
Lack of joint working in the fight against ‘county lines’ puts children at risk
10/01/2020 Local authorities don’t always tell the police when they move ‘at risk’ children into their areas, a new report has warned. |
Housing benefit errors pushing families into homelessness, ombudsman warns
09/01/2020 Families are facing the prospect of becoming homeless due to the way some councils are handling housing benefit appeals, the ombudsman has warned today. |
Council ‘vows’ to defend local plan
09/01/2020 Sevenoaks District Council has vowed not to withdraw its draft local plan despite continued pressure from the planning inspector who they accuse of ‘ignoring evidence’. |
Whitehall issues new armed forces ID card
09/01/2020 A new ID card for armed forces veterans has started to be issued to service leavers, according to the Government. |
Only one in 10 support ‘new towns’, study finds
08/01/2020 Just 10% of the UK population believes that the construction of new towns is the best way to tackle the UK housing crisis, according to a new report. |
Manchester to implement Martyn’s Law
08/01/2020 Manchester City Council is set to Martyn’s Law to improve security at all public venues. |
‘Stuck’ schools need more tailored support, inspectors say
08/01/2020 Hundreds of schools in England are ‘stuck’ in a cycle of low performance and need more tailored support to improve, a new Ofsted report has found. |
Lack of housing benefit forcing families to give up food to pay rent, charity warns
07/01/2020 Families are being forced to give up food shopping in order to pay their rent, a charity has warned today. |
Cash boost for breakfast clubs
06/01/2020 The Government has announced an investment of nearly £12m to deliver free meals and summer holiday activities for children in disadvantaged areas. |
HS2 based on false prospectus, Berkeley claims
06/01/2020 HS2 will cost at least £107bn to complete and its business case is based on unrealistic claims about how many trains could run on the new line, according to the former deputy chair of the Government’s review into the scheme. |
Council aims to make York city centre ‘car free’
02/01/2020 York city centre could become a ‘car free’ zone as part of a council effort to make the city carbon neutral by 2030. |
Homeowner fined over £60,00 for ‘wilful damage’ to a protected tree
24/12/2019 A homeowner who damaged a 90-year-old tree so much that it had to be felled has been fined over £60,000 by magistrates. |
Welfare reform drives ‘sofa surfing’, council chiefs warn
23/12/2019 Council leaders have called on the Government to adapt welfare reforms as research finds changes to the benefits system have been a driver of ‘sofa surfing’. |
Council advises residents to ‘clean up safely’ after flash floods
20/12/2019 Cornwall Council has urged residents affected by the flash flooding in the last 24 hours to clean up safely and keep evidence of flood damage. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘bogus' Christmas taxi drivers
20/12/2019 Local authority leaders have warned revellers of the dangers of unlicensed rogue drivers around Christmas time. |
'Ambitious programme of domestic reform' promised in Queen's Speech
19/12/2019 The second Queen’s Speech in almost as many months has promised an ‘ambitious programme of domestic reform’. |
Council chiefs call for welfare reform to tackle homelessness
19/12/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the new Government to adapt welfare reforms so that they protect families at risk of becoming homeless. |
Rogue west London landlord fined over £400,000
18/12/2019 A landlord in west London has been ordered to pay £430,000 for illegally renting out her property to 15 tenants. |
Around 280,000 people will be homeless this Christmas, charity warns
18/12/2019 A new study has revealed that 280,000 people are recorded as homeless in England – an increase of 23,000 since 2016. |
Khan urges Londoners to support rough sleepers this winter
17/12/2019 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called on residents of the capital to support his winter rough sleeping campaign ahead of Christmas. |
PM told to ‘reset the dial for local government’
16/12/2019 Local government professionals have written to the new Prime Minister urging him to provide councils with ‘immediate’ financial certainty for next year. |
Council criticised for ‘Trans Inclusion Toolkit'
16/12/2019 Oxfordshire County Council has defended its guidance to schools looking to support young people who feel they are not the gender they were assigned at birth. |
Reform ‘unrepresentative’ electoral system, campaigners say
13/12/2019 Voters have been 'disenfranchised on a mass scale’ by the First-Past-The-Post electoral system, campaigners say. |
Council apologises after tweet prompts ‘voter suppression’ accusation
13/12/2019 A Scottish council has apologised for what it described as a ‘lack of clarity’ after it told voters they required ID to vote. |
Hundreds of Cardiff students 'unable to vote'
13/12/2019 Around 200 students in Cardiff were left unable to vote yesterday after failing to register correctly. |
Devolution revolution expected after Johnson wins
13/12/2019 Local government was this morning expecting a devolution revolution after Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a sweeping election win. |
Wakefield council ‘overcharging’ cabbies, court rules
12/12/2019 A court has ruled that Wakefield council were overcharging local taxi drivers for a licence to trade in what could prove to be a landmark case. |
Rogue landlord fined for ‘endangering lives’
11/12/2019 A landlord in Birmingham has been successfully prosecuted and ordered to pay close to £20,000 for breaching housing regulations. |
Millions more to be affected by flooding as Greenland's ice melt faster than expected
11/12/2019 More than 40 million people than expected will be affected by coastal flooding by 2100 a new study has revealed. |
Software glitch means some people wrongly told they can vote
11/12/2019 Councils have been urgently checking their electoral registers after being told to install a last-minute software release. |
Power failure closes down council's headquarters
11/12/2019 A power failure has forced Dundee Council to close its headquarters for a second day. |
‘Vast majority’ of council vehicles run on diesel despite pollution concerns
11/12/2019 Over 90% of vehicles operated by local authorities run on diesel despite council efforts to tackle air pollution, new research has revealed. |
London councils lack strategies and budget to rollout 5G, research finds
10/12/2019 Most London councils do not have a strategy in place to rollout 5G networks, a new investigation has revealed. |
Cycling key to stopping plastic polluting the ocean, charity says
10/12/2019 A charity has called on the next Government to invest more into the promotion of cycling and walking as part of the effort to prevent plastic polluting the ocean. |
Court rules adoption service ‘discriminated against’ couple
09/12/2019 A court has awarded a couple £120,000 in damages after their local adoption service turned them away because of their Indian heritage. |
New leader appointed for WLGA
09/12/2019 The leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, cllr Andrew Morgan, has been elected as the new leader of the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). |
Council chiefs warn of ‘fake toys’ danger
09/12/2019 Local authority leaders have warned people to be careful of counterfeit toys and suspect online sellers in the run up to Christmas following recent seizures of harmful products. |
This issue of Public Property examines how public sector organisations can unlock the hidden value in their land, and why a new approach to construction could help boost the outcomes of the Government’s One Public Estate programme.
The December issue also considers why learnings from ancient cities could provide the key to promoting wellbeing in the modern built environment. It also contains a case study on how the London Borough of Westminster has provided high quality care for the elderly alongside a block of luxury apartments.
