News-in-Brief

Telford & Wrekin Council has committed a further £1.5m to its safer communities programme, a council report on building safer communities showed. ‘Building Safer

Powys County Council has reported an improved financial position at month 11 of 202/26, with an overall underspend position of £3.4m now being forecast.

GPS Central has confirmed a further key appointment for its growing private markets team as it progresses to scale its investment capabilities. The pool,

Uncertainty remains over the delivery of promised savings as part of Cheshire East Council’s transformation programme. The authority’s Finance Sub Committee will raise concerns

West Midlands Pension Fund has appointed an independent person, tasked with providing independent insight to the fund's pension committee, in line with the new requirements for the LGPS. The £21bn fund, one of

England’s largest children’s social care placement providers are facing slower growth while “pockets of vulnerability” exist in terms of their financial resilience. A study

School leaders have raised “serious concerns” over the deliverability of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms without urgent additional resource, according to the

Rutland County Council has shelved its plan to acquire a major Jurassic era fossil in the light of wider economic pressures on its capital

BCP Council has decided against a permanent section 151 appointment after an extensive recruitment campaign failed to yield a successful candidate. Matthew Filmer’s secondment

Councils will be able to make use of a £1m expansion of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Common Ground programme,

Kent County Council has submitted a bid of up to £110m to the government’s Structures Fund for two road schemes. Between £40.6m and £46.3m

The government should go further to fix the “broken” children’s social care market in England – with more to be done on preventative spending

Shropshire Council has said its “role and purpose as a council” must change in light of the financial challenge it faces. In the foreword

Islington Council has adopted a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) artificial intelligence (AI) platform. The council has selected TechnologyOne’s ‘ERP AI Plus’ platform to

Jon Illingworth is to join North West Leicestershire District Council as director of resources. He will leave his current position as chief officer –

Further reforms to the government’s Right to Buy scheme will be brought forward, supporting councils to better protect and rebuild depleted social housing stock.

Wiltshire Council is set to create new high needs places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) with £4.08m

Somerset Council is set to deliver its ‘Inspiring Innovation Transformation’ programme with investment funds of £45m, a quarterly update report showed. The programme will

Erewash Borough Council has confirmed the investments it will make after expanding its investment fund to £6.5m in 2026/27. A report to the council’s

South Holland District Council carried out a debt restructuring of its £67.456m of Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing in

North Somerset Council has reported a strengthening of “cost and volume activity” since bringing together its finance and business intelligence functions within the same

Blackpool Council has committed a £1.6m investment into adult social care to improve staffing capacity and drive improvement, an adult social care improvement report

A white paper has set out how councils in Scotland could deliver greater regeneration and place-based approaches to economic development if given more powers

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for social work funding support models to be aligned with nursing, allied health, and teaching to secure

The non-statutory best value notice at Tees Valley Combined Authority will remain in place while the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG)