Liverpool City Council’s ‘ethical housing company’ has set out a £50 million budget to deliver the first phase of a 10,000 build programme.

Leeds City Council has announced that deckles bike company ofo will launch a fleet of 1,000 bikes in the city centre in May.

What has been deemed an ‘historic error’ by the government has seen local councils overpaid a total of £36 million more than they were entitled to.
The error, which relates to the business rates pilot scheme and impacts 27 councils and the Greater London Authority, was discovered after civil servants began to work through the necessary calculations to prepare for the extension of the business rates pilots programme.
Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid has said the councils will not have to pay the money back in light of the ‘extraordinary circumstances’.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has approved the creation of a new district council covering the Somerset region.
Under the merge, Taunton Deane Borough and West Somerset councils, who have been working in partnership since 2013, will continue implementing new ways of working to streamline and modernise what they do, delivering £2.6 million in savings. The new council initiative will increase the savings to £3.1 million annually.

Extra fire safety checks on Cardiff Council's high-rise blocks of flats have revealed that some cladding systems do not meet current standards.

Five new Regional Adoption Agencies have been granted £3.4 million as part of the government’s ambition to create a world-leading adoption system.
Regional Adoption Agencies were created to replace the previous system of council adoption, to bring together groups of local councils to work together on adoption and help widen the pool of potential adoptive families and help match children awaiting adoption with the most suitable family as quickly as possible. At present, 141 councils have joined a live or developing regional agency.

The CCS has confirmed that a third iteration of Digital Outcomes and Specialists will open for supplier applications later this year.

The Select Committee on the Natural Environment and Rural Communities has urged for a radical change in how the countryside is looked after.

Aberdeen City Council has taken delivery of the world’s first hydrogen road sweeper to join one of the largest hydrogen fleets in Europe.
The converted DAF truck, provided by ULEMCo, will help the council make emission savings of approximately 30 per cent through its ability to run on both diesel and hydrogen fuel. The council has said that the hybrid vehicle will use hydrogen for around a third of its use.