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6 Jun 19
Councils’ increasing reliance on business rates is a “20th century solution”, the housing, communities and local government committee has been told.
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6 Jun 19
A landmark ruling has left local authorities open to legal action for failure to protect vulnerable children against abuse or neglect.
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3 Jun 19
Local authorities are likely to miss recycling targets set out in the government’s waste disposal strategy, say academics.
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29 May 19
Funding shortfalls have meant increasing numbers of children with special educational needs are attending schools outside their council area, according to figures obtained by The Observer.
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22 May 19
English councils could be forced to make draconian cuts to local services if Westminster does not pump extra cash into local government to avoid a £51.8bn black hole over the next six years.
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14 May 19
Councils are having to restructure services in the face of the most “intense cuts without parallel in modern times”, MPs have heard.
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13 May 19
London council budgets have fallen by 17% over the past eight years, think-tank analysis has found.
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13 May 19
Councils will now have a legal duty to protect victims of domestic abuse, the prime minister has announced.
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10 May 19
Human trafficking rates are exploding, yet many public sector bodies know little about the Modern Slavery Act and the responsibilities it places on them. Dominic Brady reports.
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7 May 19
Cuts to council youth services has lead to a knife crime “epidemic”, cross-party MPs have warned.
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1 May 19
Drone usage should come with “clear safeguards” as councils look to make greater use of the technology, a civil liberties group has warned.
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9 Apr 19
Council leaders have defended council executive pay after a campaign group’s research found the average local authority in the UK had six employees on salaries above £100,000 in 2017-18.
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8 Apr 19
The largest growing area of fraud being detected or prevented by councils is business rates fraud, yet this represents only a fraction of the total, says CIPFA’s Marc McAuley.
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29 Mar 19
English councils are failing to use statutory powers to penalise rogue landlords in the private rented sector, a trade body has found.
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21 Mar 19
Councils could benefit from £19.3bn extra a year if they were able to collect a local income tax, economists have estimated.
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5 Mar 19
Residents in England face council tax increases of 4.5% in the coming year – the second highest increase in a decade, according to CIPFA analysis.
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4 Mar 19
Central government has gone some way towards supporting the building of social rented homes but it needs to do much more, says Chartered Institute of Housing policy advisor John Perry.
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22 Feb 19
An umbrella group has called for the government to delay its plans to increase business rate retention for English councils from 50% to 75%.
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21 Feb 19
Local authority spending on unaccompanied asylum seeker children has doubled over the four years, analysis of government figures has revealed.
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19 Feb 19
Local authorities will be key to facilitating prison reforms by providing housing for ex-offenders, the justice secretary has said.
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1 Feb 19
Scottish councils are to be given the power to levy a local tourist tax as part of “the most significant empowerment of local authorities since devolution” under a budget deal struck by the Scottish...
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31 Jan 19
Local authorities must be given powers to suspend councillors, says an independent advisory committee after finding “clear evidence” of misconduct.
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30 Jan 19
Preparing for Brexit without a definitive deal is “near impossible” for councils despite extra funding, CIPFA has warned.
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16 Jan 19
The Scottish finance secretary has defended his planned settlement for local government while stressing he is “open minded” to giving councils greater fiscal autonomy.
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14 Jan 19
The government has been accused of shunting its responsibility for tackling air pollution onto cash-strapped councils.