Cambridgeshire's new modular neighbourhood gets the green light
Winners announced for Hearts For The Arts Awards 2020
Councils urged to take urgent action to tackle puppy farming
Councils warn moves to license hand car washes must be fully funded
Green energy - the linchpin of EV success
Thomas Newby explains why green energy is the linchpin of electric vehicles success for local government.
Khan announces over £55m of funding to tackle causes of crime
13/02/2020 Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today announced that £55.5m of new funding will be available for tackling the underlying causes of violent crime in the capital. |
Councillor found guilty of two counts of fraud
13/02/2020 A Greenwich councillor who applied for social housing despite owning three properties has been found guilty of fraud. |
Council chiefs welcome appointment of Ofcom as ‘online harms regulator’
13/02/2020 Local authority leaders have welcomed the announcement that the telecoms and broadcasting regulator will be responsible for regulating online platforms. |
Council criticises proposed Holocaust memorial on environmental grounds
12/02/2020 Plans for a Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament contravenes planning rules on size, design and location, city council says. |
Government to ban unregulated children's homes
12/02/2020 Children aged under 16 will no longer be placed in unregulated accommodation under proposals announced by the Government. |
Council chiefs call for ‘urgent’ consultation on post-Brexit trade checks
11/02/2020 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to ensure that port authorities have the resources and capacities needed to carry out checks on EU goods. |
Ministers announce £5bn cycle and bus fund
11/02/2020 PM pledges £5bn, five-year bus and cycling fund to support simpler fares, thousands of buses, higher service frequencies, and 250 miles of cycle paths. |
Council stops Bristol Airport expansion
11/02/2020 North Somerset Council has rejected a planning application to expand Bristol Airport due to concerns over its impact on the environment. |
Walkers urged to find 'missing' paths before 2026 deadline
11/02/2020 There are around 10,000 miles of historic paths missing from the map in England and Wales, according to a walking charity. |
Councils urge retailers to become 'no knife shops'
10/02/2020 Councils are urging retailers not to sell knives in an effort to tackle the knife crime epidemic. |
Welfare overhaul driven ‘at least’ 69 people to suicide, auditors say
10/02/2020 Auditors have warned that the number of suicides relating to welfare reforms may exceed the 69 that the Government has investigated to date. |
Urban councils call for fiscal devolution to end ‘Whitehall hand-outs’
10/02/2020 Urban authorities have joined forces to urge the Government to devolve power to cities in order to support them in ‘levelling up’ growth across the country. |
Government fails to 'break the grip of poverty'
07/02/2020 Poverty has risen for children and pensioners in the past five years despite efforts to ‘level up’ Britain, new research has revealed. |
Council chiefs cautious about plans to offer 30% discount on new homes
07/02/2020 Local authorities have urged the Government to ensure that the proposed First Homes scheme does not come at the expense of providing ‘affordable’ homes for rent. |
Councils slam Grenfell's witnesses' immunity request
07/02/2020 Councils would be unlikely to use products from any company that fails to cooperate fully with the Grenfell Tower inquiry, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
New 60-day 'breathing space period' for those in problem debt
06/02/2020 People in problem debt, including those that owe money to local authorities, are to get two months ‘breathing space’ under Government plans. |
Council ‘disappointed’ by decision to grant traveller camp planning permission
06/02/2020 East Herts Council has said that it is ‘extremely disappointed’ by the decision of a planning inspector to grant permission for travellers to remain on land where they set up an unauthorised camp. |
Bristol declares ‘ecological emergency’
05/02/2020 Bristol has become the first major city to declare an ecological emergency in response to what it describes as escalating threats to wildlife and ecosystems. |
End housing allowance freeze to help 100,000 people, council chiefs say
05/02/2020 More than 100,000 people would be protected from financial hardship if Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were lifted to cover the cost of renting, local authority leaders say. |
Combined authority re-defines ‘affordable housing’
04/02/2020 The West Midlands has become the first region to re-define ‘affordable housing’. |
Birmingham City Council considers ‘overhaul’ of rubbish collection service
04/02/2020 Birmingham residents could see their bins collected every two to three weeks as part of a package of measures designed to overhaul the city’s waste management service. |
Work alone cannot eliminate poverty, think tank says
04/02/2020 Policy makers need to focus on further interventions to reduce poverty, think tank says as a new report warns that work alone cannot eliminate poverty. |
Calls for urgent reform of Local Housing Allowance rates
03/02/2020 Changes to Local Housing Allowance rates will fail to protect people from homelessness, the Scottish housing minister has warned. |
Repairs begin on Brislington flood defence scheme
03/02/2020 A £2m scheme to protect more than 100 properties in Bristol from flooding has begun. |
Help end ‘scandalous’ dumping of child car seats, LGA tells manufacturers
03/02/2020 Local authority leaders have called on manufacturers to take back child car seats once they have reached the end of their life to prevent them being sent to landfill. |
Council demands end to ‘age-based pay discrimination’
31/01/2020 Gateshead Council has announced that it will be lobbying the Government to end age-based pay discrimination. |
Building society pilots ‘contactless’ donation scheme to tackle homelessness
31/01/2020 A branch of the building society Nationwide has introduced a novel new way to donate to a homelessness charity – ‘contactless posters’. |
Only a month left to enter Street Design Awards 2020
30/01/2020 There is now only a month left to enter the Street Design Awards 2020, which celebrate best practice and innovation across the UK. |
Charity cancels evangelical event over preacher’s ‘repulsive views’
30/01/2020 A charity which manages venues in Sheffield has cancelled an event by an evangelical preacher after LGBT+ groups warned that he promoted homophobic views. |
Council signs agreement with 10 housing associations
27/01/2020 Lambeth Council has signed a joint agreement with all 10 housing associations operating in the borough to transform housing services. |
New £25m fund launched for ‘preventative approach’ to crime
27/01/2020 The Home Office is launching a new multi-million pound scheme which will see more street lights and gated alleyways rolled out across the country in order to tackle crime. |
New guidelines are failing to boost number of homes, research finds
24/01/2020 Measures designed to boost housebuilding by councils have actually had the opposite effect, according to planning consultants’ Lichfields. |
Households living in overcrowded private rentals ‘doubles’ in decade
24/01/2020 The number of households living in overcrowded private rentals has doubled over the last 10 years, a housing charity has found. |
Welsh village home of the UK’s ‘best high street’
24/01/2020 Treorchy High Street in the Rhondda Valley has been crowned the UK’s best in this year’s Great British High Street Awards. |
Council made ‘serious unsubstantiated’ allegations about asylum seeker
23/01/2020 An investigation has found Sandwell Council made ‘serious and unsubstantiated’ allegations about a vulnerable woman seeking asylum. |
Council clamps down on idling drivers by removing coach parking spots
23/01/2020 Westminster City Council is removing prime parking spots for coaches after drivers ignored previous warnings to turn off their engines while parked. |
Universal Credit causing 'debt and destitution' charity warns
23/01/2020 Universal Credit is driving vulnerable people to use loan sharks, a debt charity has warned today. |
NLGN study highlights concerns over air quality
22/01/2020 Unitaries are much less likely than Metropolitan councils and London boroughs to consider taking action on air quality as ‘extremely or very important’, the latest quarterly NLGN leadership index survey has found. |
Short-term lets are ‘growing out of control’ in London
22/01/2020 London Councils has warned that one in every 50 homes in the capital are now being let on a short-term basis, depriving people of permanent accommodation. |
Sector presses for further action on cladding
21/01/2020 Building safety reforms billed as the ‘biggest change for a generation’ do not go far enough to clamp down on potentially dangerous cladding, councils argued this week. |
Universal Credit creating ‘a complex mix of winners and losers’
21/01/2020 The impact Universal Credit is having on different parts of the country is being ‘ignored’ a think tank has warned today. |
Council abandons joint housing plan after inspectors question its ‘soundness’
20/01/2020 A third west of England council has voted to withdraw from a joint regional plan for housing and growth. |
Council chiefs call for help with £700m gap in bus fare scheme
20/01/2020 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to help them support bus routes as the distance local buses travel drops to lowest level since mid-1980s. |
Councils warned to cover foster carers’ school transport costs
17/01/2020 Councils have been reminded by the local government ombudsman that they should be providing financial support to foster parents to pay for school transport. |
Think tank warns red tape is ‘strangling’ the high street
17/01/2020 National planning guidelines and local plans are failing to revitalise the high street, a new report by a think tank has warned. |
Councils secure funding to tackle criminal landlords
17/01/2020 Councils across England are to share more than £4m to target criminal landlords and letting agents. |
Medway caves after Ombudsman rap
16/01/2020 Medway Council has finally accepted the recommendations in a Local Government Ombudsman public interest report after a two-year stand-off. |
Former housing minister warns of ‘a new generation of slum housing’
16/01/2020 A former housing minister has warned that national planning policy needs ‘a radical rethink’ in order to promote the wellbeing of communities. |
Council chiefs call for devolution of skills funding
16/01/2020 Six million people in England risk being without a job or in work they are over-qualified for by 2030, council chiefs have warned. |
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. |
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.
