Local Government Chronicle
January 2012 - online articles
View all stories from this issue.
-
A new approach to economic development
In these turbulent economic times, it’s easier to cling onto the notion that we can still build and grant fund our way out of recession, rather than work in a very different way. But the world of economic development has changed. -
Age UK warns of £500m social care funding gap
Councils and the government risk losing public trust over their ability to provide care for older people, the Local Government Association has said in response to an Age UK report. -
Armchair auditors set on unions
Spending on trade union representation will have to be revealed under new transparency legislation, the communities secretary has said. -
Auditors tell council to drop 'informal' management style
Pembrokeshire CC has been told to drop its informal style of operation in a special audit report. -
Balancing citizen and state in local communities
Westminster City Council has recently launched a consultation around the future direction and role of the city council; the types of services that it should deliver and what this means for those who live, work or visit the city. -
Beecham slams LGA over voter registration
Former Local Government Association chair Lord Beecham has slammed the organisation for a “gross dereliction of duty” for failing to press for compulsion when individual voter registration is introduced. -
Biggest health and social care link-up mooted
Plans for the biggest joint health and social care provider in England to date are being considered by the Department of Health this week, LGC’s sister title Health Service Journal has learned. -
Biggest health and social care provider given the 'green light'
Plans for the biggest joint provider of health and social care in England have been approved by NHS Midlands and East, LGC’s sister title Health Service Journal has been told. -
'Billions of savings' through behaviour change
Residents’ trust in their local authority has slumped so badly that councils will struggle to realise major savings potentially available from convincing the public to reduce demand for services. -
Bin fines law to be changed
Ministers are proposing changes to the law by which householders can be fined by councils for misuse of their domestic rubbish. -
Bins fund details delayed
Local authorities will have to wait until February to learn how they can tap into a £250m pot to help fund weekly bin collections after ministers pushed back publication of the bid criteria, according to council chiefs. -
Bournemouth to decide Mouchel future
Bournemouth BC is to hold back a £135,000 payment in case troubled contractor Mouchel goes into administration and services have to be taken back in-house. -
Buckinghamshire districts to share
District councils in Buckinghamshire have announced plans to share a management team and chief executive. -
Business urges more economic development powers for councils
Business leaders have challenged local government’s commitment to investment and compared it poorly to civic leadership in the rest of Europe, LGA chair Sir Merrick Cockell has said. -
Censure for councillor who helped to expose fraud
A councillor who helped to expose fraud has escaped with a censure after a standards committee hearing into allegations concerning the same amenity area. -
Chelmsford joins council tax rebels
Chelmsford BC is set to become the second Tory-run council to reject the government’s offer of funding for a council tax freeze. -
Chief to depart in cost cutting measure
Another council has announced its chief executive will stand down as part of cost cutting measures. -
Clark widens ‘city deal’ offer
Cities minister Greg Clark has announced that the government’s ‘city deals’ offer will be expanded to include all English cities. -
Clinical commissioning risking 'suspended animation'
Clinical commissioning is behind schedule in many areas with the transfer of staff from primary care trusts stalled and just over a year remaining before the NHS’s structural overhaul is supposed to be complete. -
Cockell calls for Whitehall shake-up
The LGA has called for a shakeup of Whitehall structures to suit new ways of delivering public services including community budgets and payment by results. -
Council accounts qualified for sixth year running
Shetland Islands Council has had its accounts qualified for the sixth year running in a protracted dispute with the Accounts Commission for Scotland and the country’s charity regulator. -
Council tax freeze 'essential', warns Pickles
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has told councils it is “essential” they sign up to the council tax freeze, saying an increase would be “a kick in the teeth to hard-working, decent taxpayers”. -
DCLG confirms mayoral plans
The Department for Communities & Local Government has confirmed that it will wait until after mayoral referendums have taken place before confirming what powers they will receive. -
DH to allow early transition of public health functions
The Department of Health is considering “arrangements” that will allow councils to take over the management of public health functions before the legal transition of responsibility in 2013. -
DH urges councils to support commissioning
Councils have been encouraged by the Department of Health to push to be the organisations that support GPs and clinicians to commission health services in a reformed NHS. -
District council to fight incinerator
Environment secretary Caroline Spelman will face a legal challenge from a Tory-led district council over her decision to release funding for a controversial incinerator project in Norfolk. -
District seats on health boards rejected
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has rebuffed a call to give district councils a statutory role in health and wellbeing boards. -
Doncaster to vote on scrapping mayor
Doncaster MBC has voted to hold a referendum on whether to scrap its elected mayor. -
Doubts raised over benefits of waste framework
A much-vaunted project to save councils £85m on waste contracts by pooling their collective buying power will not achieve its aims, critics claimed this week, as leading suppliers geared up to submit their bids. -
Dozen to capitalise equal pay costs
Twelve more councils have gained government permission to capitalise the cost of meeting equal pay claims. -
East Cambs joins tax-raising Tory group
Another Conservative authority looks set to increase council tax next year despite the government’s offer to fund a freeze. -
East Herts to consider management options
East Hertfordshire DC could do without its own chief executive following the departure of Anne Freimanis, the leader has said. -
Efficiency in 2011: a round-up
The top 10 key features from 2011. -
Employment law reform welcomed
Many local authority employers will welcome a reduction in the time required to consult staff about redundancies and changes to terms and conditions, the LGA has said. -
Far apart on green belt building
Two Conservative councils are locked in a row over green belt development despite being located more than 100 miles apart. -
Fears over audit fees under new regime
Significant fears remain that the abolition of the Audit Commission could lead to increased audit fees for some councils. -
Freezing council tax and a moral dilemma
Even Edmund Burke, the Whig/Conservative MP and political philosopher, conceded that there were alternative possible views of giving citizens a voice a public policy making process. His classic role dichotomy - representatives as ‘delegates’ of constituents or ‘trustees’ to act with judgement in favour of the common good - is seen by most nowadays as an over-simplification. Not, however, by that latter-day Conservative sage, Eric Pickles, for whom two options is one too many. -
Future Forum: all commissioners should consider shared budget with NHS
Commissioners should be able to override current payment rules and share budgets with local authorities in order to accelerate service integration, according to the NHS Future Forum. -
Government loses feed-in tariff appeal
Councillors have urged the government to reconsider its plans to cut subsidies for solar energy after ministers failed to overturn a High Court verdict. -
GP champion in commissioning warning
Only half of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will be given full permission to take on budgets by April 2013 – creating a two-tier NHS – one of the most senior leaders of the movement has predicted. -
'Grave concerns' over business rate plans
London Councils has called on the government to “urgently rethink” its plans to allow councils to keep some business rate income. -
Hammersmith reviews contracts for tax breaches
Hammersmith & Fulham LBC commissioned an urgent review of its arrangements with consultants amid fears the council could face HMRC enforcement action over tax liabilities. -
Hertfordshire sets out chief executive plans
Hertfordshire CC has confirmed it will not be following the example set by Wiltshire Council and Kent CC and delete the post of chief executive. -
Herts councils finance London Underground extension
Hertfordshire councils are to sink millions of pounds into building a new London Underground line. -
Honours for local government officers and members
The work of three chief executives, 15 council officers and 13 councillors has been recognised in the New Year Honours list. -
Independent members ruled out in standards change
Independent members of standards committees will not be eligible to serve under the new standards regime, according to new legal advice. -
Industry concern over bin fine plans
Proposed changes to the law by which householders can be fined by local authorities for misuse of rubbish could see councils forced to “jump through onerous hoops”, waste experts have warned. -
Instructions issued on public health role
The LGA has added its name to the government’s instruction that directors of public health should report directly to chief executives. -
Integrated care needs 'ambitious' target to succeed, DH told
Ministers will be in a “difficult position” if they ignore advice to set a national target to drive integrated care, the chief executive of the King’s Fund has warned. -
Jobs fear as environmental contractor folds
Environmental services contractor Fountains has gone into administration leaving hundreds of jobs in question, many of them held by former council workers. -
Leading the news: LGC in the media 2012
Reports carried by other media - and events when our experts appear in the press, on TV or radio. -
Leading treasurer slams 'misleading' DCLG
The poisonous relations between councils and the Department for Communities & Local Government look set to continue into 2012, after finance directors took exception to a press release put out by the department on councils’ reserve levels. -
LGA called in after care scandal
Wirral MBC is to ask the Local Government Association to set up an improvement board after a damning report on the treatment of a whistleblower in its adult social care service. -
LGC Media Pack 2012
-
LGC Twitterati
LGC’s social media coverage on Twitter - find out who tweeted LGC news, analysis and opinion -
Liverpool fast-tracks mayoral bid
Liverpool City Council plans to move directly to the elected mayoral model, without going through a referendum. -
Lock wins leg of Leicester legal battle
Former Leicester City Council chief executive Sheila Lock has won a High Court battle to secure a judicial review over the abolition of her post. -
London Councils criticise Boris advice
London mayor Boris Johnson has been rebuffed after calling on the capital’s borough councils to follow his lead and freeze council tax. -
Minister postpones council election
The only council ever to be run by imposed commissioners has had its elections postponed for a year. -
Minister tries to reopen NI reorganisation dispute
The minister responsible for Northern Ireland’s local government has sought to challenge a decision by its ruling executive on how many councils the province should have. -
More cash released for home care
Councils and primary care trusts will be given an extra £150m to fund care for patients at home instead of in hospital, the government has announced. -
More than forty commissioning support services proposed
The 50 primary care trust clusters could set up as many as 41 commissioning support services nationwide, an investigation by LGC’s sister title Health Service Journal has revealed. -
Mouchel deal given go ahead
Bournemouth BC is to go ahead with a second phase of outsourcing to Mouchel following an independent assessment of the firm’s finances. -
MPs sceptical councils can meet demand for flood cash
MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have voiced disbelief over the government’s expectation that councils can find an extra £30m for flood defence work. -
National children’s services post advertised
The LGA is recruiting a senior officer to lead the move to make local government responsible for the performance of children’s services departments. -
News round-up 10/1: Green light for high-speed rail
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 11/1: Treasury to harness council pension funds
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 12/1: Monthly bin collections mooted
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 13/1: Tory councillors to rebel against HS2
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 16/1: Care fee cap of £60k proposed
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 17/1: Expenses drive leads to McDonalds
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 18/1: 'Significant' spending to tackle London gangs
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 19/1: Hunt in broadband cash warning
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 19/1: Unemployment hits 17-year high
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 23/1: Charities pan Burstow comments
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 24/1: Ministers vow welfare reform progress
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 25/1: 'Super Thursday' for mayor/police votes
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 26/1: Rethink on local radio cuts
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 27/1: Survey reveals homes bonus cash spending
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 3/1: More troubled families policies
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 30/1: Pickles attack over benefit cuts
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 31/1: Pension reform 'won't save money'
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 4/1: Northern councils slam funding reform
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 5/1: Cameron backs health-care integration
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 6/1: Call for bigger class sizes
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
News round-up 9/1: Cash-strapped academies bailed out
Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government -
NHS seeks care home stories from nurses and patients to inform practice
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement have announced that it is looking for experiences and stories from nursing staff and the public about changes, improvements and innovative new ways of working within care homes which will inform a new programme of work it is undertaking. -
No 'structural merger' of health and social care, MPs told
There will be no government drive to merge health and social care organisations across the country, health minister Paul Burstow has told MPs. -
Norfolk incinerator gets all clear
Caroline Spelman is to release £91 of withheld private finance credits to fund a controversial incinerator in Norfolk – a move which could prompt a legal challenge. -
Nottinghamshire set to restore committees
Nottinghamshire is set to be the first county council to return the committee system. -
Parliament 'needs local accountable officers' for pooled budgets
Officers accountable to parliament for public spending must be appointed at local levels if community budgets are to work, MPs have been told. -
Pickles hits back at finance bill 'grumblers'
Critics of the government’s reforms to council funding have been dismissed as “grumblers” by ministers. -
Pickles names 150 council tax freezers
Communities secretary Eric Pickles has praised the 150-plus councils who are freezing or cutting council tax next year. -
Public health budget and indicators revealed
Health secretary Andrew Lansley has left huge holes in information issued to councils on the financing of public health and the objectives that must be met. -
Quarterly spending data continues to frustrate
The government’s policy of publishing quarterly updates of councils’ spending is continuing to prove contentious, with the second tranche of figures raising fresh questions over the value of releasing inaccurate data. -
Reducing costs and carbon
Energy efficiency is not only a vital first step in the process of reducing carbon emissions, it is also a successful way for organisations to save money. By investing in energy efficiency technologies, significant savings can be made on public sector organisations’ energy bills. -
Residents want tax rise, says Tory leader
The fifth Conservative council to announce plans to increase council tax has insisted it has the support of residents. -
Salford votes for elected mayor
Residents of Salford have voted to have an elected mayor on a turnout of just 18.1%. -
Second wave of job cuts announced
Further local government job cuts have been announced as councils set their budgets for next year. -
Shapps rules out housing finance changes
The government will not allow councils to use financial innovations to get around rules associated with the new housing finance system, housing minister Grant Shapps has told MPs. -
Shared service operation records large loss
A Somerset shared services operation has registered losses of more than £30m and is delivering procurement savings so slowly that one district is facing extra costs of £61,000 a year. -
Shifting from acute to primary and community care
Two thirds of councils see local government as unengaged in shaping health reforms while almost three quarters believe the sector has had little or no influence over them. These are the depressing results from a national straw poll conducted by Localis for the Kent Health Commission – a new forum which aims to use Government reforms to transform health and social care in the county of Kent. But apathy can’t be allowed to rule. -
Social care savings lag as health gives too little support
MPs have called for the Department of Health to transfer cash to social care “as a matter of urgency” after concluding that councils were struggling to find efficiency savings in their care services. -
Staff asked to agree end of overtime
A London borough’s threat to tear up staff terms and conditions and issue new contracts has led to a split among trade unions. -
Standards regime changes delayed
A delay to the implementation of the new standards regime has been welcomed by local government solicitors. -
Tax freeze damage deliberate, Pickles hints
Eric Pickles has suggested that the one-off nature of next year’s offer of funding in return for a council tax freeze is a deliberate attempt to reduce councils’ tax bases. -
Tory city rejects council tax freeze
A Conservative council has broken rank and is set to reject the government’s offer of funding for a freeze in council tax next year. -
Tory councils to snub bin cash
Communities secretary Eric Pickles’ campaign to re-install weekly bin collections has been dealt a further blow with a group of Tory councils set to snub his offer of cash to fund changes to their collections. -
Unison backs pension deal
Unison members have backed an agreement for reform of local government pensions, it has been announced. -
Unite rejects pension deal
Unite has walked away from an agreement on local government pension reform because it no longer trusts ministers. -
Unite returns to pension talks
Unite is set to return to pension reform talks in time for key decisions on a number of “big ticket” items such as the overall cost of the scheme. -
'Warm words' won't drive integration, ministers warned
One of the leading proponents of integrated care has called for the government to go further than its “warm words” made in response to the NHS Future Forum. -
Well that was a year wasn't it!
The ups and downs of the world economy, the threatened impact of a Eurozone crisis and of course the impact of the changing resources given to public sector. -
Westminster backs down on parking
Outgoing Westminster City Council leader Colin Barrow has scrapped plans to introduce controversial evening parking charges two days after saying that he would stand down. -
Working in social enterprise in 2012
It’s that time of year when certain work-related matters can nag away at your conscience as you contemplate the next party or visitation from family or friends. One of the louder voices in your ear this year is likely to be your provider-side strategy as many councils contemplate moving from a “do-it-all” commissioner and provider to being a better commissioner and looking to others to provide a fresher, contemporary, quality and value for money service.
