Taunton Deane councillors have voted in favour of a proposal to merge with Somerset Council.

The Home Affairs Committee has warned the government that there could be a spike in UK migration ahead of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Following a weekend of major disruption for cross-Channel travellers, the government has been urged to invest more in road infrastructure in Dover.
Cllr Paul Watkins, leader of Dover District Council, has warned that Whitehall must do more in improving ‘Britain’s major gateway with Europe’. He argued that investment must be driven through smart technologies to ‘provide real-time information on cross-Channel services’.

16 of Scotland’s 32 councils have signed up to the Scottish Household Recycling Charter, aiming to create a more consistent approach to recycling.

The Tax Payers Alliance (TPA) is urging the government to abolish the ‘unfair’ stamp duty, as it is preventing people buying their own home.
In a report, the group state that the three per cent stamp duty that additional homes surcharge will help prospective buyers, but is unfair to tenants in rented accommodation.
Their report, ‘Taxing tenants: how taxes on landlords end up hitting tenants’, also argues that the restriction of finance cost relief for individual landlords will also advantage prospective buyers at the expense of tenants.

Thirteen winners will receive a share of the government’s £30 million low emission bus fund to add 326 new buses to their fleets.
Bus operators and local authorities across England have been awarded a share of the funding to buy low emission buses - including electric, hybrid, hydrogen and biomethane buses - and install chargepoints and other infrastructure.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for councils to be given extra powers to reject betting shop applications.

Reform Scotland has called for councils to be given a greater role in Scottish policing, in order to increase local accountability.

The government has passed a new law which means all local authorities must ensure that staff dealing with the public can speak fluent English.

Trade union Unison has launched a petition to debate the proposal to pool local government pension funds in order to invest in infrastructure.