Giving electors a voice
In the latest batch of by-elections, the Greens continued to make gains, one each from Labour and Conservative, but lost a seat of their own.
Challenging ourselves on SEND
Providing seamless support that promotes good outcomes is complex and challenging.
Councils ‘want power to hold hybrid meetings’
The recruitment and retention of councillors will be hampered if councils are not allowed to hold hybrid meetings, the LGA has warned.
Bus pass scheme costing councils £452 million
Councils had to spend £452 million last year to support the Government’s national concessionary bus fares scheme, LGA analysis shows.
Councils warn of skills shortages
Local skills shortages could last longer just as demand increases and dedicated European funding ends, the LGA has warned.
Nursery closures threaten free childcare
Nearly nine in 10 councils fear that nursery closures will undermine capacity ahead of the extension of the 30-hours free childcare scheme, research for the LGA shows.
‘Ban single-use vapes’ – LGA
Single-use vapes should be banned on environmental and health grounds, councils and the LGA have said for the first time.
Call for ‘step change’ in council housebuilding
Every area in England should be handed a new local housing deal by 2025 that combines funding from multiple national housing programmes into a single pot to spark a “generational step change” in council housebuilding.
Four-day working week ‘on trial’
Councils should be free to pilot innovative solutions to local challenges, the LGA has said, in response to ministerial demands for a council to abandon its trial of a four-day working week.