Planning
Progressive planning frontiers
The origins of the English planning system can be traced to an increased awareness of the role of the built environment in public health outcomes which came to the fore in the 1870s, following decades of cholera epidemics in cities and London’s Great Stink.
Autumn Statement: not what it says on the tin
Kate Ogden says it seems likely either taxes will have to rise further, borrowing will have to rise, or the range and quality of public services provided will have to fall.
Autumn Statement: Councils to be able to recover planning costs
Councils will be able to recover the costs of business planning applications in return for being required to meet faster timelines, Chancellor says.
Councils set out Autumn Statement priorities
The Government is facing calls to provide emergency funding for children’s social care in this week’s Autumn Statement.
Watchdog proposes planning reforms
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has drawn up proposed reforms to the planning system.
Ensuring a plan comes together
A genuine working partnership between central and local government is vital to the success of local planning, as Justin ‘Hannibal’ Griggs explains.
The next level begins
Last month saw the Levelling Up Act receive Royal Assent, but what will that actually mean for local authorities? Martin Ford takes a look.
King's Speech: Councils to be empowered to tackle rogue landlords
The Government pledged to bolster councils’ powers to take on rogue landlords in the King’s Speech today.
Public services in 'dire state’
No public services are performing better than before the pandemic and satisfaction with councils has dropped, a report has found.
Oflog moves to expand remit
The new Office for Local Government (Oflog) watchdog has proposed to widen its scope to five new service areas.
Levelling up Bill to become law
Royal Assent is scheduled to take place later today, when the Bill will officially become an Act of Parliament.
Tory backbenchers pile pressure on Government
The Government has withstood pressure from its own MPs to allow councils to hold remote meetings.
EXCLUSIVE: Home Office accused of misleading council over asylum plans
The Home Office faces accusations in the High Court it misled a council over controversial plans for an asylum centre at a former military base.
Listen to the local
Party conferences are long on rhetoric but leave local government with more questions than answers, argues Sir Bob Neill.
Government blocks remote meetings
A levelling up Bill amendment that would have enabled virtual council meetings has been stripped out by the Government.
Old wine in new bottles
The names on the doors may change, but regional policy will remain a priority for the next Government, says Michael Burton.
Required: some real radicalism
Dr Simon Kaye reflects on the recent round of political party conferences and argues that a coherent vision for the present – or future – of local authorities in England is still missing.
A new trading platform for nutrient offsetting
A number of districts in Norfolk have formed a unique partnership to address the potentially catastrophic impediment to growth posed by nutrient neutrality issues. Phil Courtier explains.
Giving power away: Labour needs to turn rhetoric into reality
Labour needs to articulate a more concrete vision for how they would go further and faster on devolution – particularly on how local government will feed into the wider mission framework for government, says Ross Mudie.
A Bill to drive innovation and local accountability
With the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill going through its final parliamentary stages, Tiffany Cloynes and Rebecca Gilbert look at some of the changes it would bring in.
