LGA calls for action to boost council budgets in 2017/18
LGA calls on Westminster to adjust the final Local Government Finance Settlement and prevent a £5.8bn funding gap.
Pothole compensation costs causing a stir
Pothole policies have been criticised following compensation figure announcement – but what can councils do about it?
70% of councils doubt Westminster’s commitment to ‘JAMs’
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Statement made several references to ‘families who are ‘just about managing’, but there are doubts about the government’s commitment to helping them.
Benefit cap expected to affect 88,000 households
How are councils expected to help those worse affected?
English councils set for rise in tourism revenue
Brexit continues to raise economic concerns for English councils, but there are positives to find.
UK Government to lift ban on new grammar schools
On 8 September 2016, the government’s announced plans to remove a ban on establishing selective grammar schools. Since then, five English councils have revealed proposals for new or extended grammar institutions. Theannouncement has drawn criticism from education experts and politicians, but is there a case for new secondary level schools to be opened?
Councils call for power to fine disruptive diggers
The Local Government Association (LGA) has called on the government to extend council powers to deal with disruption caused by utility roadworks. Will the LGA’s proposal help local authorities manage rising traffic levels and poor road conditions?
53 English councils cannot resettle Syrian refugees
In September 2015, then-Prime Minister David Cameron pledged Britain would take in 20,000 Syrian refugees. So far, UK councils have promised to resettle 8,146 refugees, but a July 2016 survey in the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) reveals 53 of 148 English local authorities surveyed cannot afford the cost. Is such a commitment financially viable for UK councils after government austerity cuts?