Call for £1bn youth work guarantee
Employment experts have called for a £1 billion ‘youth guarantee’, and urgent investment in education and back-to-work support, as unemployment figures rocket following the coronavirus crisis.
Affordable credit for vulnerable families
magine you’re in a low-earning or non-working household, and have a grand total of £85 in the bank. Imagine your fridge breaks, or the baby outgrows their cot. What happens next?
A local vision for the environment
In 2019, after 10 years of merging back-office operations, Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils became East Suffolk – the newest and largest (by population) non-metropolitan district council.
Rebuilding our lives and communities
As we look ahead to the coming weeks, the Government’s phased approach to exiting lockdown means we can slowly begin to reset and re-build our lives, communities and economies, with many businesses and primary schools set to re-open from 1 June.
Councils need a bigger cake
The Government’s response to the coronavirus crisis will, quite rightly, be judged by the historians and will focus on the human cost of the pandemic.
Support for homeless
As first was going to press, councils were being asked by government to urgently support rough sleepers and vulnerable homeless people into accommodation – even as many councils were continuing to experience issues with placing homeless households in hotels and B&Bs.
Taking care of our mental wellbeing
The coronavirus pandemic – the most challenging health crisis for many decades – is having a profound impact on the mental health of the communities that we represent.
SEND guidance issued after school closures
Children’s Minister Vicky Ford has written to councils and other partners, setting out the Government’s plans to ensure support can continue to be provided to children and young people with SEND following the closure of the UK’s schools.
A collaborative approach to COVID-19
Nobody should underestimate the difficulty and size of the task that has faced the Government in tackling the coronavirus crisis, or doubt that ministers have had the best of intentions in their response.
£1.6bn care boost to free hospital beds
Patients who no longer need urgent hospital treatment will be helped to return home, making at least 30,000 beds available during the coronavirus outbreak, after councils received £1.6 billion in extra funding.