Councils are to be encouraged to reinstate weekly bin collections with the lure of financial incentives, it was reported over the weekend.
There is always something of a pendulum effect in local politics as those in government at Westminster lose seats locally but the recent local election results show it is swinging in a most unusual fashion. Come the morning after the night before, the two halves of the coalition both woke up with sore heads, but for very different reasons.
A fresh dispute is emerging over the way business rates should be distributed among councils ahead of the shake-up of the local government finance system.
Eight business groups in English urban areas are to trial the governments plan to allow businesses to lead the local planning process.
Londons South Bank and Trafford Park in Manchester are among eight areas that will act as pilots for new business-led neighbourhood plans, the government will announce this week.
Opposition ministers have made fresh criticisms of provisions in the Localism Bill after it started its report stage in the House of Commons.
Waste management and street cleaning are not the most glamorous of political issues. But, as every councillor knows, that doesn’t stop them carrying serious political weight since, for many local residents and businesses, they are the most visible council-provided service they receive.
Councils’ assurance that they can safeguard their key services has improved significantly in recent months, LGC’s latest confidence survey has found.
Council chiefs are pinning their hopes on Baroness Hanhams ministerial group to revive the community budgets programme, after its slow progress sparked strong criticism from a senior council figure last week
Council chiefs are pinning their hopes on Baroness Hanhams ministerial group to revive the community budgets programme, after its slow progress sparked strong criticism from a senior council figure last week.