The Court of Appeal’s upholding of a High Court judgment which quashed the decision by the Home Secretary to transfer the powers of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to the Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is a salutary reminder of the need to fully comply with consultation requirements, writes Matt Marsh. Read more
External auditors have told Teignbridge District Council for the second year running that it needs to improve relationships between its members and officers.
Audit Wales has unveiled plans to improve the timeliness of its performance audit work at NHS and local government bodies and to restore the auditing of accounts of the 800 public bodies across Wales to pre-pandemic timescales over the next few years.
A decision by the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) in 2022 to strike out proceedings concerning a freedom of information (FOI) request submitted to Northumberland County Council involved an error in a point of law and should be remitted for a rehearing, an Upper Tribunal judge has decided.
More than a quarter of the public (26%) wish to have more of a say in how decisions are taken in their local areas, a survey from the LGiU has suggested.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has issued updated statutory guidance on overview and scrutiny, to “take account of deeper devolution and the creation of combined county authorities through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023”.
A borough council was forced to apply to the High Court for judicial review after discovering that the versions of two proposed neighbourhood plans it published ahead of referendums were materially incorrect, it has emerged.
The guidelines for productivity plans, which the Government asked councils to produce when it announced the Local Government Finance Settlement, have been revealed.
An investigation by Newport City Council has found that all 14 of its town and community councils are failing to publish a compliant Register of Interests (RoI) on their websites.
An investigation into £500,000 worth of payments made by Essex County Council for social media campaigns has been unable to find what the selection process was like for awarding the work or whether there was a competitive process involved.
The Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) has voiced support for LLG, CIPFA and SOLACE's proposed Code of Practice on Good Governance for Statutory Officers and has called for the monitoring officer role to be renamed in legislation 'Chief Governance Officer'.
The Economic Activity of Public Bodies Bill gives “significant concerns about the effects the current drafting will have on the operation of the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS)”, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned.
The Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, Clive Betts MP, has written to the Government about its lack of response to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's Triennial Review, which was published more than two years ago.
Sophie Alexander provides a critical analysis of the likely impact of the Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Act 2023 on local authorities and their companies.
An appellant has successfully overturned his conviction of a single count under the Malicious Communications Act 1988 over an email he sent to his town councillor. Chantel Gaber and Dominic Thomas analyse the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
James Goudie KC will no longer conduct an independent review into social media posts made by an officer at the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales after concerns were voiced about the barrister's ties to the Labour party.
The chief executive of CIPFA, Rob Whiteman, has said Government plans for Oflog will leave the new body with a "limited scope" and has suggested the regulator would be better placed as system leader for local government audit.
Cambridgeshire County Council must release the names of individuals in a public-facing role, including councillors and officials, who submitted consultation responses on behalf of stakeholder groups, despite a promise in the consultation document that said the local authority would not publish any personal details unless specifically indicated, the First Tier Tribunal has ruled.
The Chief Executive of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Sharon Kemp, has been selected as the third commissioner to be appointed to Nottingham City Council.
A large-scale landlord in Kent, Fergus Wilson, has been found in contempt of court after breaching a final injunction order that sought to stop him from harassing staff at Ashford Borough Council.
Liverpool City Council must reveal the identities of two councillors who have received a court summons over council tax arrears, a decision notice from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has concluded.
Audit firm Grant Thornton must pay a £40,000 penalty after the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) found failures in its audit of an unnamed local authority’s pension fund.
An email sent by Wiltshire Council's chief executive to union members ahead of a vote on industrial action was unlawful as it sought to deter members from voting in favour of a strike, an Employment Tribunal has found.
The Government has this week (8 April) launched a consultation on clarifying the law to encourage organisations to apologise to those who have been wronged.
The terms of an independent investigation into a £72m pension deal struck by Plymouth City Council that was "not in line with normal accounting practice" have been revealed.
The High Court has rejected a challenge to a council tax bill argued on the basis that since the claimant had not consented to be taxed the council could not collect it.
The Welsh Government has failed to ensure that local authorities are carrying out their legal duties with respect to the provision of accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has said.
Ofsted has announced that it will publish inspection reports for local authority schools including those assessed to be ‘inadequate’ in the run up to the local elections in England.
The chair of the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has described the backlog in local government audit as "unacceptably high" and warned that the Government cannot say when or how the situation will improve.
The Labour Party has vowed to reform the planning system by reintroducing mandatary local housing targets, recruiting hundreds of new planning officers, and giving mayors new planning powers.
Government proposals to tackle the backlog in local authority audit “will be hard for local authorities to deal with” but must be supported as “the best opportunity for resolving the situation”, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), Amerdeep Somal, has outlined a number of minimum steps needed in order to improve access to its service.
Councils should be subject to a legal duty to take climate action, requiring a lead councillor for climate and ring-fenced funding for climate action, a climate action group has said.
The Government has said it plans to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament "when circumstances allow", has no plan to re-evaluate council tax bands, and will not reset the business rates retention system before 2025-26.
South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council's former leader Iain Malcolm bullied and undermined the council's monitoring officer and its Corporate Director, Business and Resources (s151 officer) in breach of the council's Code of Conduct, an external investigator has said.
Local government is struggling to manage social cohesion threats involving misinformation, conspiracy theories, and intimidation from extremist groups, according to an independent review by Dame Sara Khan DBE on social cohesion and resilience.
The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life is to carry out a review looking at accountability within public bodies and the importance of acting on early warning signs.
The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) has issued a publication intended to support members of council audit committees, and members of council scrutiny committees, to understand the key elements of risk management, and the questions that can be asked of other members and officers at the council to bring challenge and support to risk management practice.
Castle Point Borough Council was entitled not to confirm or deny whether it held information requested by a former leader via the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the First Tier Tribunal has concluded.
MPs have expressed concern about the increased costs and burdens for councils running elections as a result of upcoming changes to voting rules and regulations set out in the Elections Act 2022.
The Levelling up and Regeneration Act 2023 and the 2023 Autumn Statement set out various changes for devolution. Tiffany Cloynes looks at the Government’s proposals, including the creation of Combined County Authorities (CCAs), and highlights the importance of scrutiny in ensuring effective governance.
William Upton KC takes a look at recent local plan action by the Ministers and the Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
On 29 June the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (the ‘Act’) received Royal Assent. Juli Lau and Shyann Sheehy look at the key provisions.
In the final episode in our three-part series looking into local government governance, Partners Amardeep Gill and Scott Dorling conclude their conversation with Professor Catherine Staite, Professor of Public Management at the University of Birmingham, by discussing the changes that need to happen in order to better protect the sector from future failures.
In the second episode in our series exploring local government governance, Partners Amardeep Gill and Scott Dorling continue their conversation with Professor Catherine Staite, Professor of Public Management at the University of Birmingham.
In our new Governance Podcast series, Partners Amardeep Gill and Scott Dorling will be speaking to Professor Catherine Staite, Professor of Public Management at the University of Birmingham, where they will be examining what good governance looks like for local authorities and the lessons that can be learnt.
Adam Carey looks at the difficulties a monitoring officer may experience following the issuance of a section 114 notice, and how they can navigate the process.
So much attention is on the finances - balancing the budget, section 114 Notices, diminishing reserves, more for less - it is constant and a real problem for Local Government, writes Lisa Kirkman.
Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund is to be launched in November 2023. Jonathan Branton and Alexander Rose look at the lessons learned so far and provide tips on how to secure a grant.