Pothole repair funding ‘down more in UK’
A devolved, long-term plan for local road repairs is needed to get investment back up to the levels of other leading countries, the LGA has said.
news
COVID-19 booster programme to start sooner
The Government has announced that the COVID-19 winter booster programme will be moved forward because of concerns around a new variant, BA.2.86.
New homes standards ‘could cost £18m’
Research by the LGA has found councils in England could face an extra £18 million to deal with new housing standards.
Digital switchover scams warning
Criminals are exploiting the analogue-to-digital switchover to scam vulnerable residents who use health care telephony devices into giving out personal information such as bank details.
‘Disappointing’ decision to delay recycling reforms
New rules to ensure producers pay for the cost of recycling their packaging have been deferred from October 2024 to 2025, the Government announced over the summer.
Planning fee delays ‘costing £5 million a week’
Taxpayers will continue to subsidise planning services by almost £5 million a week until the Government finalises measures to increase fees to cover the cost of processing applications, the LGA has warned.
Sports strategy to get extra 3.5m people active
An additional 3.5 million adults and children will be encouraged to improve their health and get more active following the launch of a new government initiative.
Council-maintained schools outperform academies
Schools that stay with their council have continued to outperform those that converted to academies, research commissioned by the LGA has revealed.
High homeless rates among Afghans
More than a fifth (22 per cent) of Afghans who had been living in bridging hotels in England and Wales have presented to councils as homeless, an LGA survey has found.
first survey
The deadline for completing the 2023 first readership survey has been extended to 2 August