CLG Select Committee
Peers call for council tax reform
A cross-party chorus of peers has called for reform of the council tax system and new bands to be introduced.
MPs call for urgent finance reforms
Councils should be given more flexibility to raise their own taxes and social care funding urgently needs to be reformed, MPs have said.
Voter ID 'colossal waste of money,' says Labour
Proposals to introduce voter ID are a ‘colossal waste of money,’ Labour has argued.
LGA removes criticised fire safety guidance from website
The Local Government Association (LGA) finally removed fire safety guidance hosted on its website that had been heavily criticised after the Grenfell Tower blaze.
EXCLUSIVE: Pressure mounts on Jenrick over audit
Whitehall officials are putting communities secretary Robert Jenrick under pressure to change course after he failed to implement a key recommendation of the Redmond Review, The MJ understands.
MPs to investigate S114s amid Croydon collapse
MPs have launched an investigation into the financial predicament of councils in the aftermath of Croydon LBC’s Section 114 notice.
Tory mayor claims Whitehall blocking devolution
One of the biggest challenges to devolution comes from civil servants, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, James Palmer, has claimed.
Frustration bubbles over wait for Brexit bonanza
The Government runs the risk of ‘levelling up everywhere at rock bottom’ as uncertainty continues to reign over funding for the regions months after Brexit.
Government could buy up fire risk buildings
The Government has not ruled out compulsorily purchasing buildings with serious fire safety defects if the pace of remediation remains too slow.
‘Handful’ of councils at risk of Section 114 notices
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has concerns over a ‘handful’ of councils’ finances, MPs have heard.
Jenrick ‘regrets’ Desmond encounter
Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has expressed regret at meeting and exchanging text messages with party donor Richard Desmond before granting planning permission for the Westferry Printworks development.
MPs refuse to back down on Westferry
MPs have refused to accept the Prime Minister’s attempts to close down questions over Robert Jenrick’s decision on the Westferry Printworks planning application.
Biggs: Westferry revelations have 'blown apart' confidence in planning system
The latest revelations about the controversial Westferry Printworks application have ‘blown apart’ confidence in the planning system under local government secretary Robert Jenrick, Tower Hamlets LBC’s mayor, John Biggs, has said.
Government's national approach criticised by top auditor
A top auditor has heavily criticised the Government’s ‘national approach’ to the coronavirus response.
Councils call for clarity on local lockdowns
Councils this week called for clarity on the legal powers they will have if they are forced to implement local coronavirus lockdowns.
MPs call for government to 'pick up the pace' on cladding
The existence of 2,000 high-risk homes with dangerous cladding three years after the Grenfell Tower fire is ‘deeply shocking,’ MPs on the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee have said.
In the dark over local lockdowns
Local areas remain in the dark about whether they will be handed any additional powers to impose coronavirus lockdowns.
Betts calls for clarity on local outbreak control plans
Councils need more clarity on the role they will play in devising local outbreak control plans, the chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has said.
EXCLUSIVE: Local areas left in the dark by government
Central government excluded local partners from key intelligence and failed to share enough information, hampering the response to coronavirus, an interim operational review leaked to The MJ has found.
Jenrick: Government will not pick up the bill for everything
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has warned the sector that the Government will not pick up the bill for every coronavirus-related cost to councils.
