Local Government Chronicle
June 2012 - online articles

View all stories from this issue.

£19m pledged for NHS workers to run mutuals

An extra £19 million has been announced to fund doctors, nurses and other health workers who want to take over the running of NHS services in England.
Adult social care budgets cut by £890m

Directors of adult social services have warned they are being forced to make unsustainable cuts in the face of growing demand for care.
An alternative to TIF

The Treasury’s brief show of enthusiasm for Tax Increment Financing appears to have waned, so councils are having to look at new forms of financing growth.
Auditor blasts Wirral's contract policies

Troubled Wirral MBC was at risk of breaking EU procurement rules when a senior officer met a bidder for a highways contract.
Auditor vows to publish City of London's 'private' accounts

A maverick auditor is threatening to publish details concealed for decades of the City of London Corporation’s finances.
Bank ready to step in on large waste PFI projects

The Green Investment Bank’s (GIB) start-up team is poised to help out a number of waste private finance initiative (PFI) projects as major schemes struggle to secure traditional lending.
Battle ahead over pay, warns GMB

Employers have been warned they have another “battle” on their hands over pay following the successful completion of reform talks over local government pensions.
Birmingham and Manchester join forces

Birmingham and Manchester city councils are to collaborate on economic growth issues.
Brighton & Hove chief is City bound

Brighton & Hove City Council’s chief executive is to leave the authority after three years in the post.
Cabinet Office boosts mutuals team

Extra civil servants have been drafted in to join the Cabinet Office’s mutuals team as the government pushes for more employee-owned spin offs from the public sector.
Chiefs say election officers should stay local

Election officers should remain local employees in a decentralised system, council chief executives have said.
Civica launches GIS unit and a new identity for Innogistic

Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services that help organisations to transform the way they work, has revealed a new identity for group company Innogistic with the launch of Civica GIS.
Commissioning board sets out local structure

The NHS Commissioning Board has confirmed the structure and roles of its 27 local area teams, and announced there will be 12 clinical senates to cover England.
Commissioning groups to be larger than former trusts

Three parts of the country will have clinical commissioning groups larger than the primary care trusts they will replace.
Commissioning groups to be ready by April

Andrew Lansley has declared that he expects to see close to 100 per cent of clinical commissioning groups fully authorised by next April.
Community service portals: engagement and enhanced services?

The idea has smouldered in the corridors of Whitehall and the association of local government IT managers (Socitm) without ever catching fire.
Council rejects external public health scrutiny

Herefordshire Council chief executive Chris Bull has said councils’ new public health role should not be performance-managed by an outside body, despite calls from health professionals for tighter regulation of the role.
Council tight-lipped on Manzie status

Mystery surrounds the status of Barking & Dagenham LBC chief executive Stella Manzie.
Councillors banned from commissioning boards

The government is set to impose further requirements on clinical commissioning groups’ governing bodies, LGC’s sister title Health Service Journanl has learned.
Councils condemn homelessness rise

The government has come under fire from councils and housing bodies over a sharp increase in homelessness.
Councils 'could help' with private rent surge

Council housing services will have a vital role in helping young people to access private rented homes, a thinktank has said.
Councils 'excluded' from public health talks

The Local Government Association fears councils have been excluded from government talks about funding for their new public health responsibilities and will not be allocated enough money to fulfil the role, LGC has learned.
Councils to share after Manzie departure

Barking & Dagenham LBC is to temporarily share Thurrock Council’s chief executives Graham Farrant.
Election watchdog voices concern as cuts bite

More than 50 electoral registration officers have had their performance rating downgraded by the Electoral Commission.
Employee spin-outs 'should be mainstream'

The Mutuals Taskforce, the body set up to advise the Cabinet Office on public sector employee spin-outs, has called for a raft of new measures to make mutuals a “mainstream option for public service delivery.”
Fears over vulnerable children duty

Research commissioned by the Department for Education has revealed serious concerns among local authorities that academies will not take their “fair share” of hard-to-place children and will not expand to accommodate rising numbers of pupils.
Free schools 'threaten viability' of good schools

The government’s education reforms are threatening the viability of schools that are successful and meet specific local needs, according to a research project commissioned by the Department for Education.
Fresh delay for recycling judicial review

A crucial judicial review that could determine the future viability of council recycling services faces a second delay.
Funding crisis within a decade, warns LGA

Ministers have been warned that popular council services could be lost forever unless there is a “realistic review” of what local government does and how services are funded.
Funds to improve care 'prop up the system'

Almost half of councils are using additional social care funding from the NHS to plug gaps in access to existing social care services rather than delivering extra services or improving quality, according to a new report.
Gordon and Anderson in honours list

Hertfordshire CC leader Robert Gordon and Liverpool’s first elected mayor Joe Anderson are among local government figures honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Gove: We hope to protect small schools

Education secretary Michael Gove has said he aims to protect small primary schools in his plans to reform school funding, by offering a guaranteed minimum level of funding per school.
Haringey chief to depart

Kevin Crompton has become the latest top-level departure from a London borough after agreeing to stand down at Haringey LBC.
Health improvement funds delayed until 2015

A government scheme to give councils extra payments for improving the health of the population will not begin until 2015-16, the Department of Health has announced.
Kelly in line for Southwark job

Southwark LBC’s acting chief executive has been recommended for the role on a permanent basis.
Kent chief payoff was £420,000

Former Kent CC chief executive Katherine Kerswell received a £420,000 pay off, the council’s accounts show.
Labour selects police candidates

Prominent councillors, former ministers and a former minister’s wife have been selected as Labour’s candidates in the forthcoming elections for police and crime commissioners.
Launching the Localist Manifesto

When NLGN announced its Commission on Next Localism in January 2011 it was difficult to see what ideas and challenges it would throw up upon its completion. Whilst we were all aware of the acute financial challenge the country, and by extension the sector, was facing; there was still a rose tint to the outlook for the nation.
Leaders highlight shared saving issue

Council leaders have highlighted the issue of allocating the savings that accrue from the work of whole place community budgets as an area where government assistance could be needed.
Leaders urged to front inward investment drives

Overseas council leaders have urged their English counterparts to front economic growth campaigns.
Leadership qualities in social enterprises

Which leadership qualities and skill-sets are needed within social enterprises?
Leeds Federated Housing Association to transform tenant services with Civica

Leeds Federated Housing Association has introduced a new IT system that will result in better services for tenants.
LGA demands control over council tax rules

The government must scrap blanket council tax discounts or the poorest will face huge bills.
'Local freedoms' proposed for child protection

The Department for Education has published a slimmed-down set of guidance on child protection, which it says will replace central targets with greater local freedom.
Localise housing benefit, says thinktank

Housing benefit funding should be handed to councils in a bid to reduce the level of payments to private landlords and increase the stock of affordable housing, a thinktank has recommended.
Manchester chief to advise central London

Manchester City Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein has been drafted in to help Westminster City Council, following a bitter row over parking charges.
Merseytravel chair stands down

Merseyside’s integrated transport authority is looking for a new chair after 20 years following a dramatic split in its ruling Labour group.
Ministers challenge council's court victory

The Scottish Government is to try to overturn a judicial review won by a council last week.
Needs assessments must ignore council funds

Councils cannot take their own finances into account when assessing a disabled person’s social care needs, Supreme Court judges have ruled.
New boundaries set for NI councils

Northern Ireland councils have warned that the £6m transition cost of the province’s local government reorganisation cannot be met from their efficiency savings.
New CQC chief executive revealed

Department of Health director general of social care David Behan has been appointed chief executive of the Care Quality Commission.
News round-up 1/6: MPs criticise procurement

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 11/6: Social care cuts 'a false economy'

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 12/6: 'Cash strapped' councils tackle troubled families

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 13/6: Wealthy tenants to pay more, says Shapps

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 14/6: Poorest hit by deficit reduction, says charity

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 15/6: Osborne announces loans for banks

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 18/6: Children's homes under review

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 19/6: Treasury retreats from Dilnot

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 20/6: Fresh call for care progress

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 21/6: Ten more years' austerity

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 22/6: Labour signals immigration shift

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 25/6: Report damns care home standards

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 26/6: Public finances sink deeper into red

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 27/6: PFI replacement plan stalls

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 28/6: Public data publication plan due

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 29/6: Pro-car policies endangering cyclists

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 6/6: Osborne to issue 'growth bonds'

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 7/6: Public health officials tackle legionnaires

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
News round-up 8/6: Care fee reductions 'polarise' industry

Your daily media round up of all the key stories affecting local government
NHS board to have 27 local arms

There are set to be 27 local arms of the NHS Commissioning Board, it has been confirmed.
NHS Lewisham hires social enterprise for child weight management service

The south east London primary care trust has commissioned the service from Mytime Health, a social enterprise that grew out of Bromley Council’s leisure services in 2004.
NHS objects to council CCG 'challenge'

GPs and the NHS Commissioning Board Authority have said they would object to council chief executives using their role in authorising health commissioning groups to push the sharing of services with local authorities.
NHS to develop support bodies beyond assurance period

The NHS Commissioning Board will continue to support and develop commissioning support services (CSSs) after the end of the formal assurance process.
Nicholson shuns localism to keeps grip on NHS cash

NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has told the Local Government Association conference that, despite moves towards localism under the government’s health reforms, he is taking greater central control of the NHS budget than ever before.
Norfolk incinerator put on hold by Pickles

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has waded into the King’s Lynn incinerator row with a dramatic intervention which could ultimately result in the plans being ditched.
Our politicians aren’t perfect – but we don’t need charismatic outsiders

200 years ago John Bellingham stepped in front of prime minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons and shot him through the heart, killing him instantly.
Parsons censured for code breaches

Leicestershire CC leader David Parson (Con) has been handed a “strong censure” after being found guilty of multiple breaches of the council’s code of conduct.
Parsons defiant after censure

Leicestershire CC leader David Parsons has refused to bow to calls for his resignation after receiving a “strong censure” from a council standards committee.
Parties and apathy to dominate police polls

Party politics will be the main factor in November’s police and crime commissioner elections.
Peace breaks out over building standards

Local authorities and builders have reached a deal on the kinds of conditions that should be imposed on new homes.
Pension reforms face further delay

Proposals for how to control future costs of local government pensions are expected to be submitted to ministers in a matter of weeks - but drafting of the government’s pension bill is likely to delay any public announcement of the reform proposals.
Pensions problem halts community trust's expansion

A community trust’s bid to run a number of Sure Start centres in Norfolk has been hit by pension complications.
Pickles tells councils to follow 'tri-borough' example

West London ‘tri-borough’ shared services deal has saved £7.7m in its first year, the councils involved have said.
Plan for social workers to join GP surgeries

Social workers could join GP surgeries under plans being developed by Surrey CC.
Planning gain defended

Ministerial proposals to help developers are undermining local government’s efforts to solve the housing crisis, the Local Government Association has warned.
Police probe for Parsons

Leicestershire Police are investigating alleged financial irregularities involving county council leader David Parsons.
Provider criticised for not co-operating with HWB

The senior civil servant overseeing health and wellbeing boards has criticised intransigent health providers, reporting that one provider not given a place on a board responded by saying it would not “go along with what they decide.”
Public health funding proposals announced

The Department of Health has published recommendations about how its public health budget could be shared between councils based on local needs, but has said the pace of change to this system from one based on PCT spending is likely to be slow.
PwC wins commissioning group contract

Accountancy firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers has won a £3.4m contract to help with the assessment and authorisation of prospective clinical commissioning groups.
Quarter of CQC inspections reveal essential standards not met

Fewer than three out of four of the 14,000 health and social care sites inspected by the Care Quality Commission met all essential standards around quality and safety.
Quick-fire chief ditching eyed

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has said he is considering ways of making it easier for councillors to ditch the position of chief executive.
Red tape challenge threat to fly tipping

Councils could face new barriers to prosecuting fly tippers at a time when illegal dumping could be set to rise, papers being discussed by council leaders have warned.
Right to choice 'would raise expectations'

Government proposals to create a legal “right to choice” in public services would “push users’ expectations up at a time when the sector needs to be managing expectations down,” Solace has warned.
Rise in personal budgets

Councils allocated almost 40% more personal budgets for social care in 2011-12 than the previous year, according to research by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services.
Scrap dealers face legal shake-up

The scrap metal trade faces a radical regulatory shake-up which could see merchants forced to pay a licence fee policed by local authorities.
Serco snaps up Vertex Public Sector

Serco has bought Vertex’s public sector business in a £55.5m deal.
Shapps asked to back housing campaign

An appeal has been made for housing minister Grant Shapps to help councils tackle the “worst housing shortage in a generation” by removing limits on local government borrowing and scrapping new powers for developers.
Social enterprises face losing core contracts

Social enterprises set up by former NHS staff must improve their commercial skills or risk losing their contracts in the next two or three years, a key Department of Health official has told HSJ.
Support services staff to be recruited centrally

The NHS Commissioning Board is to coordinate the recruitment process for commissioning support services (CSS) and appoint chief finance officers for each organisation.
The Troubled Families programme and the local public service system

Local authorities have signed up to the much heralded Troubled Families programme to “turn around the lives of 120,000 troubled families by the end of this Parliament”.
Third of health directors won't join councils

Nearly a third of public health directors do not plan to transfer to local authorities when they become responsible for public health in April 2013, according to new research.
Top tier signs up to help troubled families

All eligible councils have now signed up to the government’s troubled families’ programme.
'Turf wars' warning on Healthwatch groups

The former leader of Oxfordshire CC has warned that local authority scrutiny committees could become embroiled in “turf wars” with the new Healthwatch groups being set up under NHS reforms.
Uncertain future for Somerset learning disability services

Learning disability services in Somerset could be put out to tender or spun off into a social enterprise, board papers reveal.
Warning over DCLG leadership and strategy

The Department for Communities & Local Government needs to address weaknesses in its leadership and capability, a self-assessment has found.
Watchdog says councils tardy on new conduct codes

An ethics watchdog has voiced alarm that nearly half of councils have yet to adopt a new code of conduct just three days before the new standards system takes effect.
What welfare reforms mean to the Sandwell community

Wiping £18bn from the national welfare bill – as the government’s welfare reforms will do – will impact massively on millions of people and their communities.
Whitehall consultations too brief, says NAO

The Department for Work and Pensions gives local authorities the least opportunity to respond to consultations of any Whitehall department, a National Audit Office report has found.
Wirral Partnership Homes enhances services with system from Civica

Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services that help organisations to transform the way they work, has been awarded a five-year contract worth over £300,000 with North West social housing provider, Wirral Partnership Homes.
Wirral senior officers suspended

The acting chief executive and two other senior officers at troubled Wirral MBC have been suspended to allow an investigation into procurement practices to take place.
Youth Contract extension 'tinkering' says LGA

The Local Government Association has criticised the extension of the Youth Contract for leaving in place a confusing plethora of schemes.

Inside Out

Local Government ChronicleJune 2012 - online articles

Job of the week

Jobs

Advertise with us

Subscribe to LGC

About LGC

Visit other EMAP sites

Local Government Chronicle
June 2012 - online articles