Coronavirus
Finance directors told to get cash to firms quickly
Whitehall officials have suggested that English council finance directors redeploy resources and take on temporary staff to ensure businesses receive promised government grants quickly.
Coronavirus fraud warning
Finance experts have warned coronavirus could bring an increased risk of fraud.
Keeping care going in a pandemic
We must use the adult social care sector’s magnificent response to the coronavirus pandemic as categorical evidence as to how our future should be modelled and funded, says Dr Carol Tozer.
Without a place-focused economic response, pre-coronavirus inequalities will become even more entrenched
In places that were often struggling prior to COVID-19 such as Barnsley or Stoke just 20% of people could work from home, writes Andrew Carter; the virus will have a bigger and longer-term impact in areas where the economy has now ground to a halt.
We need to be ready to cope with the next shock
When the opportunity to reflect comes, Ian Miller feels the conclusion may be reached that the UK was not well prepared for COVID-19.
Care sector unprepared for coronavirus ‘struggle’
Emergency measures have not gone far enough to ready the social care sector for the impact of coronavirus, experts have warned.
Riverside are supporting the most vulnerable in our communities
Social housing providers Riverside are working to ensure the 9,000 people they support have access to the help they need deal to with the additional risks they face from COVID-19, says Eleanor Watts.
End of week rough sleeping deadline
Councils have been asked to support rough sleepers into accommodation by the end of the week amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The MJ - your free ebook
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we appreciate you may not be in the office to pick up your copy of The MJ. We want to do all we can to support you at this time, so you can find The MJ as an enhanced ebook here every Thursday, completely free, for the duration of the crisis.
LGA cancels annual conference in coronavirus crisis
The Local Government Association (LGA) annual conference has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, it has been announced.
Ombudsman suspends cases
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has suspended all cases that require input from councils and care providers.
‘Social care needs you’, retired care workers told
Council chiefs urge retired care workers to return to work in order to boost an over-stretched social care workforce in the face of the ongoing pandemic.
We will do everything we can to save lives
The national COVID-19 emergency is seeing the very best of our councils and our workforces and we have a ‘unique and vital role to play’, says Martin Swales.
The work of local government has become ‘even more urgent’
The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting ‘the very best of councils and our workforces’, according to president of Solace UK Martin Swales.
Children's charities issue warning over emergency laws
Eleven groups have warned of the impact of coronavirus disruption on vulnerable sections of society.
Coronavirus forces developers to down tools
Infrastructure and development projects are beginning to stall as construction firms cease work in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Solace chief takes crisis pay cut
Former Solace president Jo Miller has taken a 10% pay cut as her council launched a range of measures to support local people and businesses amid the coronavirus crisis.
SEND support legal requirements relaxed
The Government has used emergency powers to relax requirements for councils supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Staying afloat while rocking the boat
Katy Oglethorpe says the context may have ‘shifted unimaginably’ in the fortnight since hundreds gathered in London’s Guildhall united by a commitment to community power – ‘but its value has been exposed as even more pressing today’.
Now is not the time for Westminster to tighten its centralising grip
Reducing the spread of the virus requires Westminster to loosen the reins of power and to trust decision-makers in local and combined authorities to know what is right for their communities, argues Sarah Longlands.