Infrastructure
Infrastructure services unit sale completes
M Group Services has completed the acquisition of Skanska UK’s infrastructure services operation.
Trio drop out of flagship fund
Three local authorities have now dropped out of the Government’s flagship Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), it has emerged.
The UK Investment Bank: an opportunity for collaboration?
Sean Hanson of Local Partnerships says The UK Infrastructure Bank provides the opportunity to look further ahead, 'allowing the sector to work with the Bank to develop capability and capacity and help develop a real collaborative approach'.
Tight timescales force grant rejection
A new garden village featuring more than 2,000 homes has been thrown into doubt after Rutland CC turned down £29.4m it had bid for successfully.
Seizing the opportunity
Local authorities are setting their own devolution agenda, showing there’s no need to wait for the White Paper to push ahead, argue Jonathan House and Ben Pykett of PwC.
Future Forum North: A clear vision is key to the future success of towns and cities
A clear vision for local places will be key to the success of high streets and city centres as they look to the future beyond the pandemic, say public realm experts.
Future Forum North: Collaboration key to levelling up
City council chief executives made a united call for a collaborative approach to levelling up at The MJ's Future Forum North today.
Levelling up risks becoming less than the sum of its parts
There is always political appetite for short-term infrastructure projects, but we need transparency and transformational change to level up, says Zoe Billingham.
BUDGET 2021: Leeds named as site of new infrastructure bank
The new national infrastructure bank will be based in Leeds, chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed alongside other announcements badged under the Government’s levelling up agenda.
The chancellor must go beyond warm words
Director of IPPR North Sarah Longlands poses three core questions for chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of this week's Budget, including: 'Who does he want to 'level up'?
Put climate change at the heart of building back, say MPs
Climate change needs to be at the heart of the government’s plans to build back the economy after COVID-19, MPs have declared.
Back to the future for Big Bang of the North
A new study on levelling up the North sounds like a return to urban development corporations, says Michael Burton.
Think-tank launches levelling up Big Bang theory
The Government should launch a Northern Big Bang to ‘unleash a torrent of investment into the Northern economy’ says a report from a Conservative think-tank.
Turning housing numbers into communities
The pandemic has shown that collaboration between county and district councils yields results, and they must also be capable of coming together to create the step change we need in how we turn housing numbers into communities, says Joanna Killian.
White van man on... HS2
We start 2021 to the crashing of shutters pulled down on shops forever, pubs boarded up, their beer poured down the khazi, high streets a barren wasteland of tumbleweed, the country bankrupt and yet as we scratch around for the last cabbages on the shelves now all the grub’s stuck at Calais, you can be sure of one thing – HS2’s barrelling ahead.
Jenrick announces delayed £830m high street investment
The Government has finally announced the 72 areas that will benefit from millions of pounds of funding as part of the effort to help high streets recover from the impact of the pandemic.
A good port in a storm?
Rishi Sunak says freeports will cut red tape and taxes for UK businesses. But are they the right cure for economically ailing places? Ann McGauran reports.
Guiding freeport proposals in the Thames Estuary
Kate Willard and Perry Glading outline the Thames Estuary Growth Board’s guiding principles for freeport proposals, based on six key areas.
A mixed bag for councils
While Sir Bob Neill says there was much in the Spending Review to applaud, ‘what’s ultimately needed is a complete repair job of local government finance’.
Live Local Plan Monitor provides an up-to-date snapshot
Carter Jonas’ Live Local Plan Monitor is 'a unique web-based resource which provides comprehensive information on adopted plans, emerging plans, consultations and councils’ housing supply' says Peter Canavan.
