09 July 2019

The clock is ticking on the countdown to publication of the financial settlement for 2020/21, says Michael Burton - but the timetable is 'spectacularly complex'.

03 July 2019

The Treasury's proposals for a cap on exit payments need a radical rethink - and ministers must also rapidly address a shopping list of more important issues for districts, says Ian Miller..

11 June 2019

Local government figures are resisting proposals to standardise recycling across the country.

10 June 2019

The leader and former chief executive of a district council have both received awards in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

05 June 2019

John Fuller is looking forward to seeing if housing minister Kit Malthouse's hints translate into solutions contained in the expected accelerated planning Green Paper.

04 June 2019

Councils will need a cash top up if the political turmoil forces the new Prime Minister to delay plans for a three-year Spending Review, Local Government Association (LGA) chairman Lord Porter has warned.

28 May 2019

Louise Round says that for many in districts over the coming years, the lines - red or otherwise - may not be drawn on a party-political basis.

20 May 2019

District councils have called for full control over the business rates relief that is awarded in their area amid claims that it is ‘unnecessarily generous’.

08 May 2019

Ministers been asked to set out a ‘national default position’ on the distribution of business rates between county and district councils after 75% retention, The MJ has learnt.

07 May 2019

Millions of already produced hard-to-recycle plastic receptacles may be made redundant by the Government’s new waste strategy, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned.

01 May 2019

‘Considerable uncertainty’ around funding from 2020/21 is having a ‘direct negative impact’ on ‘endangered’ district councils.

30 April 2019

Ministers are expected to be called on to intervene in the thorny issue of business rates tier splits after talks ended with no agreement, The MJ understands.

24 April 2019

The Government is consulting on consistency in household and business waste recycling collections. But Paul Shevlin asks if the numbers stack up, in resource and environmental terms.

23 April 2019

Whitehall will push ahead with plans to implement 75% business rates retention in 2020/21 despite calls for a one-year delay, The MJ understands.

09 April 2019

The last two sessions of this year’s District Councils’ Network staff development programme featured teams facing challanges in a calm, collected and very creative way, says Louise Round.

07 March 2019

Director of the District Councils’ Network (DCN), Matthew Hamilton, has been appointed as the new improvement manager at the Local Government Association (LGA).

06 March 2019

Craven DC's Community Champions awards ceremony not only celebrates the work of individual volunteers but it brings people together to uncover more support, says Paul Shevlin.

27 February 2019

As well as re-purposing town centres to create place-based experiences, district councils must also look to the future and the key role of innovation and technology, says Cllr John Fuller.

19 February 2019

The DCN's annual conference recently had more than its fair share of cabinet ministers, says Louise Round - and this is proof districts are punching above their weight on housing and growth.

19 February 2019

The District Councils’ Network (DCN) has called for a one-year delay in the implementation of 75% business rates retention until 2021/22.