Local Government Association
LGA chairman steps down as leader of Central Beds
Local Government Association (LGA) chairman Cllr James Jamieson has announced he will step down as leader of Central Bedfordshire Council.
Councils key to tackling 'anti-vax mob'
Councils must act quickly to knock down the ‘anti-vax mob’ as the Government puts the sector at the heart of its strategy to tackle coronavirus, a senior public health chief has urged.
EXCLUSIVE: Stretched councils rumbled over identical financial returns
Councils have been reminded to regularly update their monthly financial returns to Whitehall after stretched teams were caught submitting the same numbers each time.
Leisure centre collapse warning
Under-pressure leisure centres will go under without further rescue funding on top of the £100m already pledged by the Government, district councils have warned.
Sector braced for more Whitehall interventions
Local government is braced for further Whitehall interventions in the wake of ministers launching reviews of two councils within days of each other.
EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall warning over ransomware threat
Council chief executives have been warned there is an ‘urgent need’ to take steps to mitigate the threat of a ransomware attack on the sector.
Councils bid for vaccine role
Councils have made a bid to play a key role in distributing the new coronavirus vaccine.
Care home occupancy down over Grim Reaper fears
People are reluctant to put their relatives into care homes because they think the ‘Grim Reaper is waiting at the gate,’ a senior councillor has warned.
Top civil servant opens up on asylum challenge
A senior Whitehall official has admitted she has a ‘knot in my stomach most days’ as she grapples with the unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) influx.
NCAS: Experts call for a social care solution
There must be ‘no more procrastination’ on resolving the issues of adult social care that have been exposed by the COVID crisis, experts have warned.
Let’s talk about homes
Homes provide so much more than shelter, says Dr Jonathan Carr-West. He argues that a different sort of conversation is needed that isn’t just about planning or ‘how many houses you build’.
Frustration and anger over national lockdown announcement
West Yorkshire council leaders have said they are ‘frustrated and angry’ about the Government’s timing, handling and communications around its plans for a national lockdown.
Exclusive: Councils 'Struggling' to deliver on food standards
Some councils are ‘struggling to do even the most urgent and priority’ work on food standards, a government watchdog has told chief executives of local authorities in England.
Coronavirus leads to scrapping of three-year Spending Review
Plans to create a three-year settlement for public spending have been abandoned as latest figures show the havoc coronavirus is wreaking on the public finances.
Council housing to return to met
Senior Kirklees MBC councillors have approved plans to transfer the management and maintenance of the borough’s council housing back to the local authority.
LGA board chair hits out at culture secretary
The chair of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) culture, tourism and sport board has claimed culture secretary Oliver Dowden ‘won’t engage with us at all’.
LGA chief says COVID response was hampered by 'disregard' for local government
A future inquiry into the handling of the pandemic will find the ‘relative disregard for local government’ hampered the response, the Local Government Association chief executive has claimed.
Lloyd in cyber-attack warning after Hackney hit
The chief executive of the Local Government Association has warned the consequences of a cyber-attack are ‘greater than ever’ after Hackney LBC was hit.
PSAA questions Redmond recommendation
The sector-led body responsible for most auditor appointments in local government bodies has questioned whether the Redmond reforms can be delivered quickly enough.
EXCLUSIVE: 'Ridiculous constraints' mar high street fund
Councils may be left out of pocket after spending thousands of pounds on safety measures they cannot claim back from an economic recovery fund, it has emerged.
