Local authorities can collectively borrow £1.5bn to plug budget gaps caused by underfundingA record 30 English local authorities have been granted effective “bailouts” enabling them to borrow money to avoid...
Read MoreResolution Foundation report says failure to reform has ‘slowly recreated the issues that undid the poll tax’Britain’s poorest households are paying an increasing share of their income on council tax, according...
Read MoreLabour’s ‘devolution revolution’ aims to simplify local authorities but will force some to combine with others in severe financial distressPeople in areas neighbouring bankrupt councils in England risk seeing...
Read MoreGerald Cooney, former leader of Tameside council, says he warned regional officials about Trigger Me Timbers groupLabour was warned more than a year ago about a “vile” WhatsApp group involving two of the...
Read MoreGerald Cooney, former leader of Tameside council, says he warned regional officials about Trigger Me Timbers groupLabour was warned more than a year ago about a “vile” WhatsApp group involving two of the...
Read MoreLegalise Loos initiative intended to halt slump in number of conveniences in town centres, parks and other locationsIt will involve spending more than a penny, but it’s a call that is likely to be viewed sympathetically by...
Read MoreDeputy PM acknowledged there wasn’t ‘a consensus’ over future of tower block after her decision to dismantle itAngela Rayner has defended her handling of a meeting with bereaved families and survivors of the...
Read MoreRising demand and ballooning council deficits have left a threadbare service – and children and parents in crisisSuccessful complaints about councils’ special educational needs and disability (Send)...
Read MoreExclusive: Local authority in Surrey declared itself effectively bankrupt in 2023 after series of risky investmentsTwo former senior figures at bankrupt Woking council are to be investigated by the UK’s accounting watchdog...
Read MoreMiddlewick Ranges near Colchester is considered to be of national importance for its nightingales and acid grasslandA council is proposing to remove the second best place for nightingales in the UK from its local plan for 1,000...
Read MoreCritics say firm uses ‘playbook’ of questionable arguments to get its way in appeals against planning refusalsMcDonald’s has thwarted attempts to stop it opening new outlets by stressing that it sells salad,...
Read MoreTimetable for Angela Rayner’s devolution plans shows many new authorities may not be ready until 2027 or laterSome councillors in England could stay in their role for more than an extra year after Angela Rayner halted...
Read More
Kyiv ‘must be at the heart of negotiations’ says
Ukraine’s lithium deposits are among biggest in Europe and
The pontiff is in hospital for a complex lung
Emmanuel Macron says attack is ‘without any doubt act
Prosecutors in England and Wales are failing to obtain
Ceasefire in jeopardy as Israel waits for meeting of
Five-year-old platform intended to make drivers’ lives easier will
Hamas says six captives expected to be freed from
In speech at Arc conference, podcaster argues ‘identity politics
Ex-children’s commissioner welcomes crackdown on use of children for