Ministers are determined to stick to the local government reorganisation timeline and let local authorities “get on” with their other priorities, local government minister Alison McGovern has...
County councils have claimed that local government reorganisation plans pose a “significant risk” to essential services, and are more costly, less stable and less effective than the current system.
Ministers should boost devolution plans to give local authorities beyond the metro bubble more powers as top-down control from Whitehall “may stifle genuine regional autonomy”, a think-tank has...
Devolution and the shift to empower regions is paving the way for a greater focus on prevention as a way to transform public services, according to the Re:State think-tank.
The re-elected leader of Hampshire County Council has said that it is to pursue a judicial review of the local government reorganisation outcome after confirming its new administration and cabinet...
The newly elected Reform UK leader of Essex County Council has initiated legal proceedings against the government over the county’s local government reorganisation decision.
Councils preparing for local government reorganisation must bring their people with them during the transformation so they can start delivering from day one with renewed purpose and confidence,...
The first wave of local government reorganisation decisions has divided opinion, after many of the new councils fell below the government’s previously stated 500,000 population threshold criteria.
Regional leaders will have more control over how national tax money is spent, in a move to permanently transfer “power and resources” to a local level set out by the chancellor.
England will remain one of the most centralised large democracies even if the government’s devolution plans are successfully delivered, unless the government develops a clear strategy for the next 25...
Plans to reform local government by replacing the current two-tier system with new single-tier unitary councils took a further step forward yesterday after the government launched consultations on...
Journalist Christian Doherty looks at how the latest deal, part of England’s new wave of local government reorganisations, was achieved and what the two new unitary authorities will mean for Surrey.
Jeffrey Matsu, chief economist at CIPFA, discusses what research has shown about Birmingham and Osaka, England and Japan’s second cities. Good practice in local governance and funding...
As England embarks on its most ambitious programme of local government reorganisation since the 1970s, international experience offers valuable insights into both the opportunities and challenges...
Debt-ridden Woking Borough Council is to receive an initial bailout of £500m as the government gave the go-ahead to proposals to create two new unitary authorities in Surrey.
County councils have warned that thousands of vulnerable people could face a triple whammy of diminished services once the authorities are split into multiple smaller unitaries.
Government plans for local government reorganisation have been described as a “blatant power grab” which would fail to address the financial challenges facing the sector.
The government would have “no strong case” to deny local areas the power to introduce a tourism tax as part of its sweeping plans for English devolution, according to a leading think-tank.
The leaders of Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council have put their names to a letter urging Whitehall to work on a devolution agreement that would see the introduction of a...
Multi-year, cross-departmental funding commitments will be a critical part of new place-based approaches if the over-centralisation and culture clashes of the past are to be avoided, a think-tank has...
