Spending review 2020 kicks off
Securing the long-term sustainability of local services must be the top priority of the Government’s 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, the LGA has said.
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‘Keep planning local’
As first was going to press, a policy paper was expected from the Government setting out its proposals to radically overhaul the planning system.
Local lockdown powers introduced
New powers have been announced for councils to close specific premises, cancel events and close public spaces, to help tackle coronavirus outbreaks.
Council investments ‘pose risk’
Some councils have exposed themselves to commercial investments that risk cuts in local services and a big bill for local taxpayers, according to the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee.
‘No care workers on health visa’
Social care workers will not be able to use the new health and care visa to enter the UK via the Government’s points-based immigration system, which is to be introduced next year.
EU money ‘going unspent’
More than £730 million in vital EU cash – which could help local communities bounce back from COVID-19 – risks going unspent and being sent back to Brussels if the funding is not allocated by the Government before the end of the year, the LGA has warned.
Leisure facilities ‘could disappear’
With the Government’s obesity strategy expected as first went to press, the LGA has warned that significant losses of income have left many leisure centres on the brink of financial collapse.
‘Councils should be more diverse’
Under-representation of ethnic minority communities is “perpetuating racial inequality and disadvantage” in the UK, according to a report by University of Manchester academics.
Time for fiscal devolution?
Local government across the western world has been able to react to the COVID-19 crisis with greater powers and autonomy than councils in the UK, according to a new report from the think-tank Localis, commissioned by the LGA.
PPE supply warning amid second wave concerns
Urgent clarity over the governance and distribution of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) is needed in the event of a second wave of coronavirus, MPs have found.