Test and trace needs to be local
Local councils should be given the funding, real-time data and personnel to help reach all those who have been in contact with people testing positive for coronavirus, the LGA says.
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LGA: Action needed to save ‘lost generation’
Today’s young people face becoming a “lost generation” unless the Government develops a COBRA-style response to boost skills and job opportunities, the LGA has warned.
School exams delayed
Most GCSES, AS and A levels will be held three weeks later next year to help address the disruption caused by the pandemic, the Department for Education has announced.
Surge in lockdown recycling collection
The amount of household recycling collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has soared by as much as 100 per cent in some council areas, with eight in 10 seeing an increase, hiking up costs to keep services running.
New space standards for permitted development
The Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP has announced that new homes delivered through permitted development rights will now be required to meet space standards.
Social care winter plan
Social care in England needs an extra £7 billion a year as an urgent “starting point” to avoid potential collapse of the market, MPs have said.
Funding for new domestic abuse duties
Councils are to receive £6 million in government funding to help prepare for the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill, which from April 2021 will place a duty on councils to support victims of domestic abuse.
‘Shelve 75% business rates retention’ – LGA
Ministers should shelve plans to allow local government to keep 75 per cent of business rates income until the Treasury’s business rates review has reported, the LGA has said.
Formula ‘will see fewer homes built in the north’
An updated government algorithm for setting house-building targets will lead to a stark variation in where new homes are required, without regard to the wider levelling-up agenda, the LGA has warned.
‘No plan’ to deal with unsafe cladding
Just a third (155 out of 455) of high-rise buildings with Grenfell-style flammable cladding have had it replaced, the Public Accounts Committee has warned.