Dan Peters
Grenfell council adopts participatory budgeting
The council at the centre of the Grenfell Tower tragedy has used participatory budgeting for the first time as part of a new strategy.
Councils losing £250m a year through business rates avoidance
Councils are losing £250m a year due to businesses avoiding paying their rates, new research has found.
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.
Scottish Government resists business rates devolution plan
Public finance minister Kate Forbes has hit out at opposition proposals to devolve control of business rates to Scottish local authorities.
Boost for Yorkshire leaders committee talks
Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has agreed to talks on the role and functions of a new committee of leaders from across Yorkshire.
Lancashire first to borrow using municipal bonds agency
Local government’s dormant vehicle for lending councils cash was boosted today after announcing details of its first municipal bond with Lancashire CC.
EXCLUSIVE: Government prepares for new rate reliefs
The Government has started to prepare the ground for the introduction of new business rate reliefs after its previous efforts were labelled a ‘shambles’.
'One-fifth of audit contracts should be put back out to tender'
The organisation responsible for appointing auditors should take away up to 20% of current contracts from existing suppliers and put them back out to tender, a top accountancy body has said.
EXCLUSIVE: Government to build on Brexit working
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) wants to capitalise on the way it has worked with the sector over Brexit, The MJ understands.
EXCLUSIVE: Clash over timing of May election counts
Returning officers are on a collision course with police and crime commissioners (PCC) over the timing of counts for the May elections.
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.
Permitted development pressure on Government grows
Pressure is growing on the Government to conclude its review of homes built under controversial permitted development rights and scrap the rules.
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’.
Government: Commissioner no longer needs to oversee Wakefield children's services
The Government has agreed that a commissioner no longer needs to oversee Wakefield Council’s children’s services.
A gap that will prove hard to close
Dan Peters investigates the scale of the funding challenge faced by the 32 councils told by the Government to bring their SEND funding deficit back into balance within three years.
Pension funds pile pressure on Barclays over fossil fuel financing
Four pension funds will pile pressure on Barclays to phase out its financing of fossil fuel companies.
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.
EXCLUSIVE: 100% business rates retention could be back on agenda
Full retention of business rates could shoot back up the agenda as part of a long-awaited Government review, The MJ understands.
Government dismisses same-sex marriage concerns
The Government has dismissed council concerns over registrars potentially refusing to perform same-sex marriages when new legislation comes into force in Northern Ireland next week.
Prevent review goes back to the drawing board
The Home Office has scrapped ‘overly confined’ terms of reference for an independent review of its Prevent strategy amid the threat of a legal challenge.