The funding model the government intends to use to finance the Right to Buy model strategy has been criticised by the Commons Communities Committee (CCC), which maintains that plans to allow social tenants in England to buy their homes are ‘extremely questionable’.

New powers that will allow local authorities to extend Sunday trading hours in their local area are expected to be introduced this autumn.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark has confirmed a four year finance settlement for local government, which aims to grant councils greater freedom from Whitehall.

The growing financial services sector in Yorkshire is set to be promoted to international investors, in a bid to promote economic growth outside of London.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for councils to take control of utilities in their local are as part of plans to ‘roll back the tide’ of privatisation in the public sector.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that Chancellor George Osborne could be forced to raise taxes or increase cuts to public spending in order to achieve his set targets.

Barking and Dagenham Council has offered 40 of its tenants a payment of £40,000 in place of a Right to Buy discount, granting tenants a chance to purchase a new home on the open market.

According to a study commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), a number of families could be priced out of their council accommodation and will be unable to afford alternative housing in the same area.

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced plans to overhaul the UK’s prison systems, including the construction of six new ‘reform prisons’.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has claimed that the £700 million which is entitled to care services through the Better Care Fund should be released immediately, as opposed to in instalments over the next four years.