Looking to the future
The vaccination programme is preventing thousands of deaths, as councils support the safe lifting of pandemic-related restrictions.
Social care ‘needs reform’ to support children
Children’s social care is under significant strain with more families being investigated, higher numbers of children in care and spiralling costs as money is increasingly spent on crisis intervention, an independent report has found.
1.1m planned homes ‘still to be built’
New analysis by the LGA has revealed that more than 1.1 million homes granted planning permission in the last decade are yet to be built.
Ofsted review into sexual abuse in schools
Ofsted has launched a review into school safeguarding policies to support victims of sexual abuse and the establishment of a dedicated helpline.
Sexual harassment ‘normalised’ in schools
An Ofsted review has found that sexual harassment, including online sexual abuse, has become ‘normalised’ for children and young people in schools.
Variants mean roadmap remains under review
As first was going to press, the Government was still planning to end the remaining legal limits on social contact in England from 21 June but had warned no decision would be made until the week before, given concerns over new variants.
Number of homeless households falls
The number of homeless households in England went down 9.2 per cent between October and December last year, compared with the same period in 2019.
Addressing barriers to being a councillor
Support is available from the LGA and its political groups to encourage more diversity among candidates in local elections.
Flexi-apprenticeships and skills announcements
Applications have opened to pilot new Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) in eight local ‘trailblazer’ areas.