Dan Peters
County poised to reject £15m grant
Senior Leicestershire CC councillors are poised to turn down £15m of Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) cash because the project represents ‘too great a financial risk’.
Virtual meetings have boosted local democracy, survey finds
Nine in 10 councils believe local democracy has improved as a direct result of online council meetings, a survey has found.
Khan: Councils on the frontline of tackling extremism
Local authorities are on the ‘frontline’ of the battle against extremism, an adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.
Croydon told to act on interims
Croydon LBC has been told to move quickly to put a ‘substantive management team in place’ due to its high number of senior interims.
Call for sector to 'resist' MPs' role in Levelling up Fund
A council leader has urged local government to ‘resist’ the role of MPs in the Levelling up Fund.
Keeping children in sight
Last week allegations of ill-treatment at a children’s home in Cardiff were in the spotlight. Dan Peters talks to sector experts about whether the system of inspection is failing.
Government warned of 'soaring summer of homelessness'
The Government will fail to fulfil its manifesto commitment of ending rough sleeping for good by 2024 without a cross-Whitehall strategy for reducing homelessness, it has been warned.
Surrey chief part of four-strong team of Liverpool commissioners
Surrey CC’s chief executive Joanna Killian will be part of the team of independent commissioners who will oversee improvements at Liverpool City Council, local government secretary Robert Jenrick has announced today.
Patel reveals rota replacement scheme for unaccompanied asylum seeking children
A new rota scheme will better distribute responsibility for unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) among councils, home secretary Priti Patel has revealed.
Call for 'urgent review' of quarantine hotels amid outbreaks
Reading Council has called for an ‘urgent review of COVID safety protocols’ at government-run traveller quarantine hotels across the country amid coronavirus outbreaks.
Call for 'radical system change' after children's home claims
A charity chief has called for ‘radical system change’ after whistleblowers claimed youngsters with autism were ‘abused’ and mistreated at a Cardiff children’s home.
Hillier in financial sustainability transparency warning
The chair of an influential government spending watchdog has warned of a lack of transparency around the financial sustainability of councils.
LGA in 'unsustainable' warning after children's services overspend
Derbyshire CC, and Ealing and Croydon LBCs recorded the biggest children’s services overspends in the latest data available, analysis has found.
Strathclyde in divestment threat
Scotland’s largest local government pension fund will drop investments in fossil fuel firms that fail to act on the climate emergency.
Croydon in fresh unaccompanied asylum-seeking children plea
Croydon LBC has urged the Government to make up its historic funding gap in the cost of caring for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC).
Councils in 'mad dash to splash the cash'
Frustrated councils are racing to spend their additional restrictions grant funding after the Government stubbornly refused to offer any flexibility ahead of a looming deadline.
LEP Network: Don't muck around with boundaries
The chair of the organisation representing local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) has warned the Government ‘not to muck around’ with the areas they represent.
Uproar at move towards 'national bin service'
Councils are preparing to fight government plans to create what they fear will be a ‘national bin service’.
Exit payments data made compulsory
The Government has made it compulsory for councils to provide data on exit payments.
Wolverhampton's i9 selected to house MHCLG's Midlands base
Two floors of Wolverhampton’s new i9 office building will be home to the first ministerial department outside of London, it has been announced.
