16 September 2020

The pandemic has proved again that bigger Government is not always better, says John Fuller. 'We have to celebrate the differences across our towns and cities, connecting and firing up engines of growth that have so far missed out from devolution'.

16 September 2020

Local government calls for the income guarantee scheme to cover lost sales, fees and charges from the start of lockdown was knocked back by ministers, The MJ understands.

15 September 2020

The Government runs the risk of ‘levelling up everywhere at rock bottom’ as uncertainty continues to reign over funding for the regions months after Brexit.

15 September 2020

New government housing targets will lead to a north-south divide in England, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.

01 September 2020

Proposals for county unitary councils would be 122 times larger than the average council in Germany, a new report by the District Councils’ Network (DCN) warns today.

21 August 2020

The Government has extended the ban on evictions of renters for a further month following lobbying by councils.

21 August 2020

The local government sector is braced for a deluge of homelessness following the end of the evictions ban.

18 August 2020

Existing small unitaries could be at risk in the looming reorganisation shake-up after the Government failed to offer assurances about their future.

06 August 2020

Councils will face sanctions unless they draw-up local plans within 30 months under government proposals to overhaul the planning system.

03 August 2020

Councils have warned they will be ‘sidelined’ by new planning regulations to be unveiled this week.

28 July 2020

Cllr John Fuller says the pace of innovation in solving final mile problems has shown that 'local governance is much more than the analysis of numbers and spreadsheets - locality is key.

28 July 2020

The leader of Hertfordshire CC has conceded he would accept a directly-elected mayor as the figurehead for a county unitary in order to secure reorganisation.

24 July 2020

Local government unitary reorganisation will slash the number of councillors and deter many from standing for election, a report for the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned.

07 July 2020

District and shire county councils would all face abolition if the Government’s formula for the devolution White Paper is implemented, says Ian Miller. And let’s hope Whitehall doesn’t think town and parish councils will need 'parenting', he adds.

06 July 2020

Help for families struggling to put food on the table will be delayed due to ‘needless extra red tape in distributing funding,’ district councils have warned after ministers handed counties control of a £63m fund to support the most vulnerable families.

30 June 2020

The Local Government Association (LGA) has shied away from calls for it to launch a ‘fight back’ against reorganisation though senior members criticised any top-down approach.

23 June 2020

Former local government minister Phil Woolas has backed a social impact fund that promises to house 2,000 rough sleepers by the end of 2020.

23 June 2020

The County Councils’ Network (CCN) has launched a fresh offensive to rip up the local government map as the country emerges from the shadow of coronavirus.

09 June 2020

District councils have called on the Government to bail out cash-strapped leisure centres as they face permanent closure because of lack of income due to the coronavirus shutdown.

29 May 2020

Local authorities will be ready to welcome shoppers back to the high street if retail is allowed to reopen the week after next, the chairman of the District Councils’ Network has said.