Local Government Association
Raynes bags combined authority post
Smith Square’s former head of programmes, Paul Raynes, is to join the team of directors at the new Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
We’re Going to Need a Bigger Boast
We must be grateful in these quiet days of August that many hard-working folk in local government continue to slave away at their desks.
Social housing paper dismissed as 'small step'
The Government’s long-awaited social housing Green Paper has been dismissed as a ‘small step’ towards improvement by the Conservative-led Local Government Association.
Councils resist peer challenge offer
The Local Government Association (LGA) is facing resistance as it struggles to persuade reluctant councils to undergo a corporate peer challenge.
A green paper for change
The delay in providing a strategy for social care and wellbeing is impacting not just the care sector, but other key services around the country. To promote discussion the LGA has produced its own green paper looking beyond social care, as Izzi Seccombe explains.
Peace offerings in wake of reorganisation divisions
Olive branches have been offered up in two areas where relationships have been strained by local government reorganisation.
Officers push for CPO reforms
Council officers are pushing for reforms to the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) regime, claiming caps on land values would speed up the delivery of new housebuilding.
Done for battery?
When your local police and crime commissioner (PCC) contacts you to discuss charges, usually you’d be in a spot of bother.
LGA in Brexit uncertainty warning
The uncertainty surrounding the potential practical implications of Brexit is becoming of increasing concern to councils as March 2019 draws ever closer, a Local Government Association (LGA) report has warned.
Better Care Fund stand-off continues
The stand-off between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Better Care Fund (BCF) officials will continue after Smith Square refused to endorse the latest guidance.
Leadership should be more visible - peers
Gloucestershire CC’s senior political and managerial leadership should be ‘more visibly seen by stakeholders,’ Local Government Association peers have recommended.
Peers suggest senior management restructure
Local Government Association peers have suggested there is an ‘opportunity to rethink’ Shropshire Council’s senior management structure.
Complaints increase while satisfaction drops
Complaints to the ombudsman have increased by 3.5% while Smith Square data has revealed the lowest level of residents’ satisfaction with councils since polling began.
Districts push back against county unitary plans
Districts have pushed back against county council plans for local government reorganisation.
Councils warn of no deal Brexit risks
A no deal Brexit would leave councils struggling with new checks on EU imports and without access to billions of pounds, Smith Square has warned.
MHCLG to consider financial sustainability ahead of Spending Review
Marsham Street will embed its local authority sustainability tool in its preparations for next year’s Spending Review.
Simon Stevens outlines 'opportunity to review' Better Care Fund
The social care green paper and NHS’ 10-year plan provides an ‘opportunity to review’ the Better Care Fund (BCF), NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has suggested.
Zurich questions indemnity mutual
A major local government insurer has welcomed the sector’s plans for a new mutual but questioned the need for the move.
Sunak: Some councils will be unhappy after fair funding
Local government minister Rishi Sunak has said he ‘cannot guarantee’ all councils will be happy after the fair funding review.
Whitehall reassurance on local industrial strategies
Senior civil servants have pledged that local industrial strategies will be rolled out everywhere by 2021, The MJ understands.