London Councils
£3.7bn coronavirus-hit for London boroughs and counties
The total estimated financial impact of coronavirus on London boroughs and counties is expected to total £3.7bn in 2020/21, an initial analysis of the latest returns to the Government has revealed.
PPE supplies to 'run out within days'
Dwindling supplies of vital life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline care workers will run out within days, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned today.
Cladding remediation work to pick up pace
Vital building safety work to replace unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings that had ‘significantly slowed down’ as a result of the coronavirus pandemic will resume, it has been announced.
Councils ease parking restrictions to help coronavirus fight
Councils across the UK are reducing parking restrictions as part of the fight against coronavirus.
Government 'obsession with ownership' hampers council housebuilding
Calls for the reform of Right to Buy have been reinforced by research claiming social housing pressures are hampering efforts to tackle homelessness.
Right to Buy reform calls grow
Calls intensified this week for the Government to reform its ‘outdated’ Right to Buy (RtB) policy in next week’s Budget.
Extra cash as Government announces rough sleeping review
The Government has announced an extra £236m to help get rough sleepers off the street and will lead an ‘urgent review’ into the causes.
PM should 'get on and deliver devo'
The Prime Minister understands the importance of fiscal devolution, he now needs to get on and deliver it, London’s most prominent councillor has claimed.
Next London mayor must ‘forge’ new template for devolution
London boroughs have called on the next mayor to ‘reset’ the relationship between central Government and Britain’s cities and counties.
EXCLUSIVE: Councils call for say in devo White Paper
Councils are battling to ‘jointly craft’ the devolution White Paper ahead of its publication later this year.
'Low pace' of London pension pooling could increase fees
London’s boroughs could have to pay an extra £20,000 fees for a collective investment vehicle (CIV) to make up for the ‘low pace’ of pooling.
Ministers urged to embrace ambitious devolution agenda
The UK’s biggest cities have urged ministers to embrace an ambitious devolution agenda and not ‘merely level up’ powers across the country.
South-east authorities raise fears of 'grinding to a halt'
Post-election rhetoric of ‘levelling up’ areas of northern England by the Government has caused concern among councillors in the south-east.
Mind your own businesses
Micro businesses in the capital are punching above their weight, and generating over £210 billion in turnover, says Cllr Clare Coghill.
Boroughs in GP estate devolution call
London Councils has called for more devolution to boroughs of decisions on the GP estate.
Sector presses for further action on cladding
Building safety reforms billed as the ‘biggest change for a generation’ do not go far enough to clamp down on potentially dangerous cladding, councils argued this week.
Learning from two different governance systems
With elections looming in 2020, it is a topical moment to think about what we can learn from the combined authority structures and from London's governance system, says John O'Brien. What works best?
Localis hired for fiscal devolution study
The Local Government Association has commissioned research to better understand how greater control of financial and fiscal levers might operate in non-metropolitan areas.
A gap that will prove hard to close
Dan Peters investigates the scale of the funding challenge faced by the 32 councils told by the Government to bring their SEND funding deficit back into balance within three years.
EXCLUSIVE: 100% business rates retention could be back on agenda
Full retention of business rates could shoot back up the agenda as part of a long-awaited Government review, The MJ understands.
