Launch of new Buckinghamshire Council
Video conferencing first at council meeting
Gateshead to look at bring housing back in-house
Grenfell taskforce to ‘stand down’
How does the London Borough of Bexley crack cyber security?
Neil Gooding, information security manager, London Borough of Bexley explains how they are cracking the cyber security challenge.
West Yorkshire devolution deal moves to next stage
25/03/2020 The West Yorkshire devolution deal has taken a step forward after receiving backing from Bradford Council and Kirklees Council. |
Councils to enforce business closures during Covid-19
23/03/2020 Local authorities will be responsible for ensuring businesses and other venues are closed to safeguard public health. |
Mayoral governance in Bristol has 'boosted visibility' of leadership
18/03/2020 Mayoral governance in Bristol has boosted the visibility of city leadership but restricted the role of councillors, new research finds. |
Victorian-era electoral laws to be made ‘fit for 21st century’
17/03/2020 The law commissions of England, Wales and Scotland have announced a series of reforms intended to ‘simplify, clarify, and improve electoral law’. |
London council launches ‘Electric Avenue, W9’
17/03/2020 Westminster CC has joined Siemens in order to deliver the UK’s first avenue that has been fully converted to provide lamppost electric vehicle charging points. |
Council chiefs welcome drive to ensure new homes come with gigabit-speed broadband
17/03/2020 Local authority leaders have welcomed an announcement that the Government will legislate to make sure new-build homes come with gigabit-speed broadband. |
Six councils receive over £1m to ‘spearhead’ digital projects
16/03/2020 Six councils across England will receive a share of £1.2m of funding to spearhead innovative digital projects to improve public services, the Government has announced. |
Tory MPs call for more funding for services to prevent rough sleeping
16/03/2020 A group of 10 Conservative MPs have called for a move from a policy of ‘housing first’ to one of ‘prevention first’ that would see more funding go to services aimed at preventing homelessness. |
Shapps announces £90m tech fund to make journeys ‘greener’
16/03/2020 The Government has launched a multi-million pound fund to trial new technology aimed at making journeys ‘easier, smarter and greener’. |
Three councils named ‘democracy pioneers’
12/03/2020 Nineteen ‘democracy pioneers’, including three local authorities, have been awarded £10,000 each for their work to improve people’s understanding and experience of democracy in the UK. |
Budget 2020: 'Record’ £5bn broadband investment for hardest to reach areas
11/03/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today announced in the Budget a ‘record’ £5bn investment to get gigabit-capable broadband into the hardest to reach parts of the UK. |
First electric forecourt in a £1bn network to open this summer
11/03/2020 The first electric charging forecourt in a network of 100 similar sites is set to open this summer with the support of Braintree Council and Essex Council. |
People call for end of public service privatisation
11/03/2020 The majority of the UK population want public services to stay under public ownership, a new poll has revealed. |
Council puts forward plans for ‘digital city’
11/03/2020 Bolton Council is exploring joint venture options to create a ‘super connected digital city’. |
Council secures funding to tackle digital exclusion
11/03/2020 Stockport Council has been awarded £50,000 to extend digital inclusion support to local residents. |
Reorganisation fears overshadow devolution talks
10/03/2020 Concerns over local government reorganisation are marring devolution talks in the north-west. |
Former 'red wall' support devolution to tackle climate change
10/03/2020 Three-quarters of former ‘red wall’ seats believe councils need extra funding and powers to deal with the climate emergency, a new survey has revealed. |
Councils adopt AI solutions to save £195m
09/03/2020 A national survey has revealed that local authorities expect to save over £195m in 2020 by introducing artificial intelligence (AI) technology techniques. |
Government signs £1bn deal to end ‘patchy’ phone coverage
09/03/2020 Ministers and bosses from mobile network operators will meet today to sign a £1bn deal aimed at ending ‘poor and patchy’ rural phone coverage. |
Council chiefs call for ‘stable, devolved’ infrastructure budgets
06/03/2020 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to provide all councils with ‘stable, devolved infrastructure and public transport budgets.’ |
Islington Council launches ‘revolutionary’ energy centre
05/03/2020 Islington Council today launched an energy centre which converts waste heat from the London underground into heating for homes, schools and leisure centres. |
Councils pledge to 'keep it local'
04/03/2020 Eleven councils have pledged to move away from big outsourcing contracts and keep local services in the hands of local community organisations. |
Council first outside London to transform flagging children’s services to ‘outstanding’
03/03/2020 A Midlands council has become the first outside of London to transform children’s services from ‘requires improvement to be good’ to ‘outstanding’. |
Lincolnshire council ‘delighted’ by £3.5m Grimsby investment
02/03/2020 The communities secretary today announced a multi-million pound funding boost for Grimsby town centre while on tour around the north eastern town. |
Government urged to 'think big' to tackle regional inequalities
02/03/2020 A comprehensive review of economic decline and social division has called for a ‘large-scale, comprehensive, long-term and devolved’ plan of action to deliver change. |
City region deal to be signed
25/02/2020 The Stirling and Clackmannanshire city region deal will be signed by council leaders and representatives of the UK and Scottish governments today. |
Cornwall Council announces ‘ground-breaking’ joint leadership role
25/02/2020 Cornwall Council has announced a joint agreement with NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group as part of a new approach to working on social care, health commissioning and public health services. |
Next London mayor must ‘forge’ new template for devolution
24/02/2020 London boroughs have called on the next mayor to ‘reset’ the relationship between central Government and Britain’s cities and counties. |
Tees Valley mayor strikes ‘landmark deal’ on former steelwork land
21/02/2020 A landmark deal has been agreed that will see the 840 acres of land owned by SSI UK transferred to the South Tees Development Corporation. |
Mayor calls for English Barnett Formula
21/02/2020 The Government should create an English version of the Barnett Formula to deliver fair funding outside of London, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said. |
Projects chosen for £35m 5G technology trials
20/02/2020 A virtual Robin Hood will tell visitors about the history of Sherwood Forest under new plans to trial 5G. |
Five cities rated 'A' in fight against climate change
20/02/2020 Five UK cities have been named as leaders in climate change and transparency by CDP. |
Time for planning appeals 'halved' since Rosewell Review
19/02/2020 The time taken to make decisions on planning appeals has halved since the publication of the Rosewel Review a year ago. |
Council gets ‘green light’ to set up trading company
18/02/2020 Plans to set up a new council-run trading company to manage 79 new homes in Kingston have been given the go ahead. |
Councils set out joint vision for £100m transport transformation
18/02/2020 Derby City Council and Nottingham City Council have submitted a bid for over £100m funding to enhance transport links between the two cities. |
Grants offered to improve road safety
14/02/2020 A road safety organisation is offering grants to explore how technology can reduce road offending and improve road safety. |
Report identifies 16 policy levers for promoting inclusive growth
11/02/2020 Inclusive growth requires a ‘sustained campaign for change across multiple fronts,’ according to a new report that identifies 16 policy levers councils can pull. |
Lewisham named London Borough of Culture 2021
11/02/2020 Lewisham is to get the opportunity to showcase its cultural voice after being named London Borough of Culture 2021. |
Freeports ‘will need to justify special status’
10/02/2020 Government plans to open up to 10 'Freeports' in the UK have been met with scepticism, despite claims that they would ‘unlock a new era of jobs and prosperity’. |
Council leadership needs to have oversight of the entire AI system
10/02/2020 Council leaders need to provide ‘proper accountability’ for AI technology and staff cannot take a ‘computer says no’ approach, according to the chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life. |
Councillors look abroad to learn how to ‘deliver a high street renaissance’
07/02/2020 District councils are looking to Belgium for ideas about how to revitalize town centres. |
Council saves £1m by using AI to repair roads
04/02/2020 Blackpool Council has managed to save £1m and filled in more than 5,000 potholes by using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect road damage. |
Borough seeking unitary status sparks spending row
03/02/2020 A row over council spending has broken out between a county council and a borough authority that is seeking unitary status. |
West Midlands towns set up board to unlock £3.6bn of funding
31/01/2020 Newcastle-under-Lyme and Kidsgrove are pushing ahead with ambitious plans to unlock millions of pounds of Government investment designed to give towns a boost. |
Environment Bill to give councils ‘clear framework’ to tackle pollution
30/01/2020 Local authorities will have a clear framework for tackling air pollution with the introduction of the Environment Bill, according to the Government. |
Councils to fast track 'beautiful buildings'
30/01/2020 Councils will be encouraged to speed up the planning process for ‘beautiful buildings’ through a new ‘Fast Track for Beauty’ rule. |
Edinburgh council announces aim to be a ‘million tree city’
29/01/2020 Edinburgh City Council has announced that it is working on an ‘action plan’ aimed at increasing the number of trees in the city to one million. |
Ministers in Leeds to thrash out devo deal
28/01/2020 The West Yorkshire Combined Authority is meeting with ministers today to start thrashing out a devolution deal for the Leeds City Region. |
Brighton considers becoming a ‘car-free’ city
28/01/2020 Brighton & Hove City councillors have agreed to look into the possibility of the city becoming ‘car-free’ by 2023. |
Welsh government announces £90m package to revive ‘struggling’ town centres
27/01/2020 The Welsh government has announced a £90m investment package to revive struggling town centres across the country. |
A new whitepaper – produced by BT - looks set to dispel the myths surrounding ‘future networks’ and achieving a smarter digital future for organisations.
Download a new White Paper on dealing with the new EU General Data Protection Regulation
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Keiron Salt explains how digital solutions, underpinned by a 5G network, can help deliver better healthcare services while reducing the strain on the NHS.
Where are your services on the Smart City journey?
With technology moving into the next era of 5G and AI, The MJ and BT recently conducted a survey into the extent that local authorities are using shared services to develop their Smart Cities and Places. Michael Burton reports
Lessons for digital change from the new unitaries
Some nine months on from the creation of two new unitary councils in Dorset, what have been the lessons learned from establishing a new organisation and implementing change programmes, especially digital change? Chief executives from councils in the South West discussed the issue at a recent round table debate in the New Forest hosted by The MJ and BT.
Retro-fitting councils around the 21st century
The MJ and BT recently conducted a survey of local authority directors to find out how they believe 5G will affect their organisations. The conclusions formed part of the discussion at a round table debate on how the new technology will impact local public services. Martin Ford reports.
Staying ahead of the curve at Cardiff Council
As well as providing services for Cardiff Council's array of offices, PSBA’s network solutions are also used by 51,000 pupils, across 127 schools in the city.
Keeping the Welsh public safe with PSBA’s network
How PSBA’s network services are helping Dyfed-Powys Police to forge cost-effective links with communities and localities.
