Councillors
Officer-councillor tensions affecting outcomes, review finds
‘Clear and obvious tensions’ between Teignbridge DC’s executive and senior leadership team are ‘inhibiting progress and damaging the council’s reputation,’ a review has warned.
Government 'may have underestimated' mandatory reporting impact
The Home Office may have underestimated the additional number of child sexual abuse (CSA) cases when mandatory reporting is introduced, experts have warned.
Councillors back Greater Lincolnshire devolution deal
Proposals for a mayoral devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire have been approved by the three upper-tier councils.
'Housing emergency' council calls for Whitehall action
A council that recently declared a housing emergency has written to six Whitehall departments, urging them to ‘take decisive action’ because the situation is deteriorating.
BCP breaks the glass ceiling
Writing for International Women’s Day, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council’s leader Cllr Vikki Slade says it’s time to celebrate progress on female representation within the local authority.
Scottish Budget 'not good' for communities
Next year’s Scottish Budget is ‘not good’ for communities, council leaders have said.
Nine nice people
Diary is sure there are a lot of nice councillors at East Devon DC.
Being rude about politicians is a national pastime
Blair Mcpherson says public sector managers need to recognise the many hats with competing priorities that must be worn by local councillors.
Officer-member relations ‘fractured’ at Wrexham
Issues in Wrexham CBC’s planning service mean it is hindered in fulfilling its role, an audit has found.
Red flags come out for housing
Baroness Sharon Taylor says tackling the housing crisis needs a commitment to work on long term solutions, to get the right number and tenure of homes built as quickly as possible.
Security costs exemption for election spend limits
Local government minister Simon Hoare this week confirmed key security costs for local elections will not count against agreed party and candidates’ spending limits.
Meeting endless
Plymouth City Council wants to speed up public meetings after complaints that recent gatherings were too long and could destroy public interest in local democracy.
LGA calls for powers to withhold councillors' address
Monitoring officers should be allowed to withhold councillors’ home addresses from public registers to help tackle rising levels of abuse and hate, Smith Square has said.
Wrexham members avoid development plan ‘jail threat’
Councillors in Wrexham have avoided the threat of jail by approving a development plan – but some claimed that the legal warning made a mockery of local democracy.
Councillor-officer relations coming under pressure
Relations between councillors and officers are being tested by the increasing financial pressures faced by local authorities, a new report has found.
Balancing pressure and passion
There's a great need to get more people choosing a career in local government. But for those in the recruitment process it’s easy to forget why they got into the sector in the first place. Steve Guest gives his insights on the topic.
Future Forum North: Monitoring officers need ‘seat at top table’
More work is needed to bolster the role of the monitoring officer in councils, the MJ Future Forum North has heard.
Norfolk devolution scheduled delayed
Norfolk’s level 3 devolution deal is set to be pushed back to 2025.
Meetings are a riot in LA
If Jackie Weaver thought Handforth meetings could get a bit tetchy, spare a thought for the good folk at Fontana Council in California.
Cleverly comes under immediate asylum pressure
New home secretary James Cleverly has come under immediate pressure to ditch his predecessor’s controversial asylum centre in his constituency.