‘Shelve 75% business rates retention’ – LGA
Ministers should shelve plans to allow local government to keep 75 per cent of business rates income until the Treasury’s business rates review has reported, the LGA has said.
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Formula ‘will see fewer homes built in the north’
An updated government algorithm for setting house-building targets will lead to a stark variation in where new homes are required, without regard to the wider levelling-up agenda, the LGA has warned.
‘No plan’ to deal with unsafe cladding
Just a third (155 out of 455) of high-rise buildings with Grenfell-style flammable cladding have had it replaced, the Public Accounts Committee has warned.
Billions needed to plug council funding gap
Councils will need billions in extra funding to address growing funding gaps, a new independent report finds.
Children’s care referrals fall during lockdown peak
The number of children referred to children’s social care services for support fell by almost a fifth during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, according to LGA analysis.
Cash to help people self-isolate
Councils have been given powers to ensure pubs and restaurants take their customers’ contact details, and will administer new support funding for people on low incomes to help them self-isolate.
Oversubscription risk for secondary school places
New analysis by the LGA has revealed that up to a third of local areas in England risk being oversubscribed for secondary school places within five years, leaving almost 80,000 young people and their families at risk of missing out on a place.
Attacks on firefighters up 66%
Tougher sentences are needed to help tackle a rise in attacks on fire crews, the LGA has said.
Call for sports recovery fund
Leaders from more than 100 sport and physical activity bodies have sent a letter to the Prime Minister requesting an urgent support package for the sector – or risk fuelling physical inactivity and related illnesses for a generation.
‘Ensure care workers get flu jab’
Councils are being urged to make sure their health and social care colleagues get their free flu vaccination this year, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.