Policy
Outsourcers change coronavirus policy
Outsourcer Amey has U-turned to give full pay to workers off sick with coronavirus or those self-isolating during the current health emergency.
Tourist attraction firm expected to miss next council loan deadline
The company behind Brighton’s 450-foot tall seafront attraction is expected to miss its next loan payment to Brighton & Hove City Council.
Make payments to suppliers quickly, councils told
The Government has told the public sector to make payments to suppliers quickly to maintain cash flow and protect jobs amid the coronavirus crisis.
Budget 2020: New West Yorkshire mayor announced
A new directly-elected West Yorkshire mayor has been announced with the Government signing a new £1.8bn devolution deal amid plans to ‘level up’ the UK economy.
Union estimates 500,000 post-Brexit care staffing gap
The UK could face a social care staffing gap of almost 500,000 workers due to the Government’s new immigration policy, the union representing care workers has warned.
Right to Buy reform calls grow
Calls intensified this week for the Government to reform its ‘outdated’ Right to Buy (RtB) policy in next week’s Budget.
Contract changes prompt strike threat
Unison members in Tower Hamlets LBC are to strike in protest at contract changes the union claims are being forced on workers.
EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs network to double in size
The network of nine chief executives who represented their regions in the run-up to Brexit will be expanded, The MJ has learnt.
Social care 'tipping point in nine years'
Failings by councils and government mean the crisis in social care and specialist housing for older people will reach a tipping point in nine years, law firm Irwin Mitchell has warned.
Finance settlement pulled for new terror law
Tomorrow’s local government finance settlement has been pulled to make way for emergency legislation to end the automatic early release of terrorists.
Chief executive criticised by cross-party working group
One of Norfolk’s longest serving chief executives should have had a stronger hold over a project to build an innovation centre, a cross-party working group has found.
Ministers must heed local productivity gaps
Ministerial efforts to reduce the regional productivity gap must recognise the imbalances at local level within regions, government advisers have warned.
Pension partnership in asset manager threat
The £30bn Brunel Pension Partnership has launched a combative new climate policy that threatens to exclude asset managers if they fail to raise their game.
LEPs start to buckle after overlap threat
Local enterprise partnerships (LEP) are finally succumbing to a threat by ministers to withhold funding from them if they refuse to remove overlapping boundaries.
Medway caves after Ombudsman rap
Medway Council has finally accepted the recommendations in a Local Government Ombudsman public interest report after a two-year stand-off.
Localis hired for fiscal devolution study
The Local Government Association has commissioned research to better understand how greater control of financial and fiscal levers might operate in non-metropolitan areas.
COSLA: Invest in councils before it is too late
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has launched a campaign to persuade finance secretary Derek Mackay to invest in councils ‘before it is too late’.
Doubts over March local industrial strategy deadline
The Government’s public commitment that all areas will have a local industrial strategy (LIS) agreed by March has been thrown into doubt.
Council loses legal challenge to ombudsman
A legal challenge to a critical report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has been lost by Rochdale MBC.
Call for Johnson to 'urgently fix' homelessness policy
The number of people who were newly-assessed as homeless or at risk of becoming homeless between April and June rose by 11% compared to last year to 68,000 people, new figures have revealed.
