Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announced a cap on the amount councils can charge people who have bought their homes under Right-to-Buy for repairs and improvements, after he accused some...
The powers of Scotland’s local spending watchdog, the Accounts Commission, should be reviewed to take account of councils’ increasing use of arms-length external organisations (Aleos), the commission...
The government has been urged to ban councils from commissioning 15-minute care visits after a Freedom of Information request found their use was increasing, despite concerns that necessary support...
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has launched a council-led commission looking at how to localise public services and reform town hall funding in Scotland.
Transport ministers have urged councils in England to stop using painted yellow lines to restrict parking and instead use signs to tell motorists where they can and cannot leave their cars.
Cuts to Housing Benefit as a result of the government’s welfare cap could leave councils in London with a £25m bill to provide extra support to homeless people, a report has warned today.
The chair of the Local Government Association has warned that Chancellor George Osborne’s plan to achieve a surplus in the public finances by the end of the next Parliament could be ‘very bad’ for...
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called for Chancellor George Osborne to lift the ‘baleful effects’ of stamp duty on the capital by localising control over property taxes.
Local government secretary Eric Pickles has said he will consider reforming the way councils treat residents who have bought their council house leases under the Right To Buy, noting that some people...
The government will only agree growth deals with Local Enterprise Partnerships if ministers are confident that the funding and powers devolved will be exercised robustly, cities minister Greg Clark...
Public service mutual spin-outs appear to offer staff a greater say in the way their organisation runs, which in turn increases motivation. But not everyone is persuaded
Erick Pickles has upstaged Iain Duncan Smith when it comes to pushing through radical benefit reforms. Peter Kenway explains how Council Tax Support, not Universal Credit, became the big welfare...
Councils could face a slew of employment claims unless ministers back down over plans to scrap the protection against dismissal given to chief finance officers, a senior lawyer has warned.
Councils should be banned from using closed-circuit television, such as so-called ‘spy cars’, for parking enforcement, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said today.
All of the New Homes Bonus funding intended to encourage councils to approve housebuilding should be given to Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure construction of new properties is coordinated...
Labour leader Ed Miliband has said he is ‘fearful’ about the impact government cuts are having on councils, but warned the party will not able to provide ‘easy answers’ on reversing reductions.
The coalition's infrastructure plan is said to be the biggest programme of public works since the Victorian era. The only issue is getting it off the drawing board, says Mark Hellowell
The rural broadband programme was mishandled by civil servants through a ‘wildly inaccurate’ business case, which had seen BT contribute less than expected and local authorities far more, the Public...
More than half of Welsh local authorities have difficulty in accurately measuring their performance due to partial or inaccurate information about services, Wales’ auditor general has said
Some councils appear to be taking advantage of what they see as a loophole in the legislation regarding the Housing Revenue Account. But such attempts are not only morally wrong, they are legally...
Public accounting and audit reforms will be required if moves to devolve more responsibility for public services to councils are to be successful, shadow local government secretary Hilary Benn has...
Labour has launched an inquiry on local public service reform and is seeking ideas on how existing provision can be restructured to better meet the needs of local areas.
Ed Miliband has committed the next Labour government to cutting business rates in order to boost the small firms that he said were vital to the future of the economy.
