Whitehall
Spending Review: UKSPF to reach £1.5bn a year
The value of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will reach around £1.5bn a year on average, chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced.
Spending Review: £2.9bn 'restart programme' to help unemployed
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a three-year £2.9bn ‘restart programme’ to help more than one million people unemployed for more than a year find work.
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.
Councils still hungry for cash despite winter grant scheme
Councils that want to use the new £170m COVID winter grant scheme to stop children going hungry during school holidays may need more cash, the Government has been told.
Government adviser urges councils to prepare for post-lockdown
Councils should be preparing residents now for emerging safely from lockdown, a member of the Government’s scientific advisory group, SAGE, has told a District Councils' Network meeting.
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.
Early days for motion
It was a heartfelt message of thanks to local authorities that went out from Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.
Watchdog mauls asylum system
Councils are being given little or no notice when asylum seekers are moved into their areas, a report has found.
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.
LGA presses to move powers out of London
Moving powers from the capital to the regions is more important than moving civil servants, the chair of the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.
An opportunity to rewrite local-central relations
Now it is time to click refresh on the Johnson Government. But what of local government and the Blue Wall, asks Heather Jameson. 'Where does that leave the PM’s promises of levelling up and devolving down?'
Government stop-gap on SEND deficits
Treasurers have welcomed a second government attempt to deal with spiralling special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) deficits but have stressed it is ‘not sustainable’.
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.
Tier system to be stronger and more consistent
A stricter, more consistent tier system of COVID-19 restrictions in England is being looked at when the country emerges from lockdown.
Preparing reorganisation is a pointless distraction
Only Somerset, North Yorkshire and Cumbria have been asked to submit unitary proposals. Steve Leach and Colin Copus say local authorities should reflect ‘real places, not artificial constructs, with which people have no affinity’.
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.
Classic Matt
Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock took time out of his schedule last week to brief councillors and directors of public health.
Housing algorithm U-turn reports
The proposed targets came under heavy criticism from Tory backbenchers.
Councils bid for vaccine role
Councils have made a bid to play a key role in distributing the new coronavirus vaccine.
Report proposes sweeping tax increases
A new health and social care tax raising £17bn should be the centrepiece of sweeping tax increases to raise £40bn a year, according to a new report from think-tank the Resolution Foundation.
