The Environment Minister has written to Swindon Borough Council over plans to tell residents to stop recycling plastic.

Hillingdon Council has spent more than £1.4 million against plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

The Local Government Association has revealed that social workers are starting new cases for more than 1,000 children each day.
Ahead of the National Children and Adult Services Conference in Manchester next week, council leaders have stressed that children’s services will be pushed to a tipping point without further new money as children’s services departments continue to face a barrage of demand pressures.

A new survey has highlighted a dramatic rise in the number of organisations planning to migrate core IT infrastructure to the cloud.
Examining the state of cloud adoption in the UK, Agilisys’ Harnessing the Cloud report suggests that 2019 will be a watershed year for the public sector as 80 per cent of organisations plan to migrate core IT infrastructure to the cloud in the next 18 months.

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler has announced a £2 million funding boost for councils to tackle irresponsible and rogue landlords.
A small minority of landlords continue to break the law and offer inadequate or unsafe housing – including to young families and others who are vulnerable to exploitation. To combat this, councils will be able to bid for funding to step up enforcement action against irresponsible landlords and to test innovative ways to clamp down on squalid accommodation.

Lincolnshire County Council has allocated £300,000 to develop a model of response for people who have fallen.

Bristol City Council has opened a new consultation to assess constituent’s opinions on options for the level of council tax for next year.
As part of the council’s 2019/2020 budget planning, the authority will be consulting on a number of options ranging from no rise in council tax through to a four per cent increase. The four per cent option would include one per cent reserved to help pay for adult social care through the social care precept.

A leading charity has issued a strong call to action to government regarding a lack of funding for information on air pollution.

A business rates ‘loophole’ which could be costing English councils millions in lost council tax is to be reviewed by ministers.
Second-home owners currently pay council tax on their properties including when the property is available to rent infrequently during the year as properties are valued for business rates when owners declare their property is available to let as ‘holiday accommodation’ for 140 days or more in a year.

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire has set out his vision for tackling social problems linked to declining high streets.