Untie The Ropes
Local democracy bill gets royal assent
The Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill receives royal assent
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Key Tory policy gets first airing
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Ministers table mutual insurance amendment
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NLGN urges Tory clarity over funding
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Councils plan LAML Supreme Court bid
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LGA wants details of projects on hold
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Appeal could force service outsourcing
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Legal doubts hit council's bank plans
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Denham sceptical over wellbeing need
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Denham to discuss wellbeing crisis
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David Cameron reinforces LGC campaign
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Senior figures demand wellbeing action
Constitutional Reform News
Minister gives go ahead to council cull plan
Edwin Poots says plans to whittle down Northern Ireland councils to just 11 should go ahead
Scrutiny has to be properly funded
LGC calls for ministers to recognise that significant increases in resources are needed for councils’ scrutiny functions
Stoke outlines plans for member cull
Stoke-on-Trent City Council unveils plans to cut its councillor headcount by four
LGA wants details of projects on hold
The Local Government Association calls for evidence from councils with innovative projects stuck in the starting blocks
Regional strategies consultation launched
Proposals on how regions should prepare new style Regional Strategies and new local authority Leaders Boards are published for consultation
Expenses in the news
Essex leader faces expenses probe
Essex CC leader Lord Hanningfield’s expenses are being investigated by the police, according to reports
David Cameron urges spending transparency
David Cameron calls on councils to publish complete details of their expenditure to herald a new era of transparency
Minister moves - after just 10 days
Sarah McCarthy-Fry leaves the Department for Communities & Local Government after just 10 days in the post
Shahid Malik to be investigated again
Communities minister Shahid Malik is to have his expenses claims investigated for a second time
Blears regrets timing of resignation
Hazel Blears confesses to regret over the timing of her resignation on the eve of local and European elections
Analysis & Opinion
Rapid action is needed, innovation is the answer
Confronting huge budget reductions, councils face the ever-difficult task of fusing the need to be creative with zealous cost-consciousness
Public money will soon run out
The BBC’s portrayal of a hollowed-out Detroit offers a chilling vision of the future for some parts of the UK
The good, the bad, the indifferent?
Any attempt at clawing back chief execs’ severance pay would simply result in most of these talented officers refusing to work within the sector, and their experience and skills would be lost
You need to carry your staff with you
The public sector is facing a huge amount of financial pressure and challenges and, to meet them, we need to do things quite differently and change our organisations radically.
People are the key
Change you can believe in worked as a slogan for Barack Obama. It captured a sense of aspiration for a better and different future.
Cinderella issue must stay top of the agenda
It is particularly unfortunate that people in the poorer income groups are disproportionately likely to both need and fail to make preparations for social care
