A High Court judge has ruled that a legal challenge against Plymouth City Council’s controversial redevelopment plans, which saw the local authority fell more than a hundred trees, is academic.

There has been a "worrying lack of transparency" in the approach to awarding Levelling Up funding, and some councils missed out after rules were changed for the funding "as it went along", the Public Accounts Committee has said.

The Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen, has set up a cross-authority working group including statutory officers from all five constituent authorities of the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) to consider and agree an action plan for implementation of the recommendations contained in the recent independent review of the Teesworks Joint Venture.

An internal investigation carried out by Torbay Council following the controversial removal of 40 palm trees from the Italian Gardens in Torquay has found that the works proceeded “without any formal governance and definition”.

Leading planning barrister Lord Charles Banner KC from Keating Chambers has been asked to lead a Government review into planning and delivery of national infrastructure projects.

Fenland District Council has voted to seek legal advice on a judicial review challenge to a decision by the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's to allow an incinerator to be built at Wisbech.

Essex County Council's Audit, Governance and Standards Committee will scrutinise a series of controversial contracts totalling £500,000 awarded to a freelance marketer to run a social media campaign.

Durham Council has ruled out pursuing a judicial review over the Government’s approach to awarding levelling up funding after estimating the cost of litigation would exceed £100,000.

An independent investigation is set to take place into Guildford Borough Council’s housing maintenance service after a report identifying “a number of serious areas of concern that require further investigation”, the council has said.

Professional bodies and lawyers have warned construction projects may be disrupted because too few building control inspectors will meet the 6 April deadline to re-register under a new Government approval scheme.

The London Borough of Croydon was due this week to agree to close its ill-fated housebuilding operation Brick By Brick (BBB), losses on which have contributed to its financial crisis.

Delivery of Government programmes is hampered by lack of co-ordination across Whitehall with departments operating in silos, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has found.

The Restoration & Renewal Delivery Authority, which is responsible for restoration work at the Palace of Westminster, has appointed law firm Sharpe Pritchard as its strategic legal services partner on a £4.25m contract.

The head of the Government's public spending watchdog has said Government could save "tens of billions" by improving productivity.

Peterborough City Council and Serco have agreed to end a contract under which the company provided business support, customer services and shared transactional services such as revenue and benefits.

The South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's reasoning for awarding an £11.6 million grant to a developer could be "significantly improved and articulated more clearly", the Competition and Markets Authority’s Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has said.

The Court of Appeal has rejected a campaign group’s judicial review challenge of the Government’s approval of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has issued guidance for local authorities and towns on the establishment of the new breed of ‘Town Boards’ and development of their ‘Long-Term Plan’.

Durham County Council has called on the Government to repay the £1.2m costs of its five failed levelling up bids after claiming the rules were changed without its knowledge.

The s.151 officer for Cheshire East Council has warned that the financial impact of cancellation of the northern portion of High Speed 2 (HS2) has put the local authority at risk of issuing a section 114 notice.

Beleaguered Birmingham City Council faces the loss of a £2.7bn highways maintenance PFI contract after the Government stepped in to block its support funding.

Chesterfield Borough Council is contemplating legal action over what it has said is the unsatisfactory outcome of an adjudication.

Council projects funded by the Government's levelling up programme are behind where the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) expected them to be, and it appears unlikely councils will complete the projects by their deadlines, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has lost a challenge to the London Borough of Haringey’s grant of planning permission to developer Landlease for a large scheme near its stadium.

The Ministry of Justice has awarded a £4m contract to international law firm Hogan Lovells for litigation legal services related to collapsed construction firm Carillion.

Peterborough City Council has put a local hotel project into administration in a move it said was intended to safeguard a £15m loan it has made to developer.

The elected Mayor of West Yorkshire has agreed to return £50m to the five local authorities in the region.

BCP Council is to close its regeneration company Future Places after a report from council leader Vikki Slade said a changed economic environment meant its operating model no longer worked.

Carmarthenshire County Council has failed in a bid to secure a stay of execution of a £3.3m adjudication.

Warwickshire County Council is set to drop its bid to join the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) after concluding it would be impossible to hold a public consultation in time for the Government to make orders before WMCA’s next mayoral election in May 2024.