Dan Peters
Mental health top reason for staff absences
Mental health has been the top reason local government employees have taken time off work over the last 20 months.
Chief and leader at odds over government intervention request
Tensions between Thanet DC’s chief executive and leader have erupted into the open after the latter asked the Government to intervene in the council.
ADASS warning over settled status
Many older and vulnerable European nationals living in the UK may still not have applied for settled status, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care (ADASS) fears.
Stalemate over audit timeliness
The organisation responsible for appointing local government auditors has admitted it can do little to improve the timeliness of opinions.
Districts hit back at think tank planning proposals
District councils have hit back at a think-tank’s call for the Government to transfer planning powers up to a ‘new, strategic geography’.
Councils could lose COVID cash over lack of data
English councils have been warned future funding to help reduce the spread of coronavirus could be at risk unless they provide accurate data on spending.
The deal decision
The MJ rounds up the current state of play on devolution in England. Dan Peters reports.
Village hall to be used to house homeless
A village hall will be converted into homes for the homeless in a scheme that is thought to be a first in the UK.
Pickles praises mayors during pandemic
Former local government secretary Eric Pickles has admitted he was a ‘late convert’ to the idea of metro mayors.
Coventry to take legal action over asylum
A council has been forced to take legal action over the Government’s use of hotels for asylum seekers despite previously pledging to offer refugees sanctuary.
Wait continues for resettlement scheme details
Key details of the new resettlement scheme for arriving Afghan refugees have still not been confirmed by the Government as ministers plead for council help.
Government withholds core funding from LEPs
The Government is withholding the full year of core funding from local enterprise partnerships (LEP) as it strongly signals the organisations are facing major change.
MHCLG housebuilding survey met with scepticism
A government survey designed to find out ‘any remaining barriers that may be stifling’ councils’ housebuilding plans has been met with scepticism by council chiefs.
Breckland goes it alone in wake of strategic partnership end
Breckland DC has failed to convince another Norfolk district to join it in a new strategic partnership after its deal with South Holland DC ended.
Districts call for government intervention over supported housing
Three out of five district councils fear they do not have enough good quality supported housing for the next five years, a new survey has found.
Dissecting dysfunction
Could anything have been done by the sector or the Government to draw Croydon back from downfall? Dan Peters speaks to leader Cllr Hamida Ali and chief executive Katherine Kerswell.
EXCLUSIVE: Government rejects university hall quarantine idea
The Government has dismissed calls from the nine regional chief executives to allow international students from red-list countries (RLC) to quarantine in university halls.
MHCLG defends choice of Croydon improvement panel
The Government has defended choosing an all-white improvement panel for a council where more than half the population is black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME).
£3bn gap looms for councils
Councils in England, Wales and Scotland are grappling with huge budget deficits totalling more than £3bn for the next financial year, according to research published by trade union Unison today.
County areas chase devo dream
County areas are lining up to strike one of the first tranche of devolution deals.
