Councils in England and Wales issued 4,376 Community Protection Notices (CPNs) over the course of a year, resulting in ‘severe injustices’.

Local government funding squeeze is taking its toll on libraries with total expenditure on council-run libraries fell by £66 million.

South Lakeland District Council is planning to lend £6 million to housing associations in the region to address the shortage of rental homes.
The creation of a loan fund, which is soon to be considered by the council’c cabinet, is the result of a study into the need for more creative approaches to delivering affordable housing. If agreed, an initial £6 million would be allocated to the loan fund from existing and projected housing resources.

Manchester City Council is set to approve the installation of sprinklers in the 36 council-owned high rise properties.

Six Kent district councils recorded an increase in food waste recycling during the first half of 2017.

A new report has argued that the amount of brownfield land available will not be enough to meet the current housing need.
Brownfield: The housing crisis solved?, produced by the Gracechurch Group, argues that councils do not need to release greenfield land to meet housing need. The report finds that brownfield land has the potential for 200,000 homes, but not enough to meet the reported five-year demand for housing which is estimated to be approximately 275,000, nor the ten-year target of 550,000 homes.

Newcastle City Council has signed a contract with leading transport company Colas Ltd to keep the city moving during winter weather.
The council argues that is is ‘not financially or physically possible for local authorities to grit every road within their boundaries’. With grit prioritised and spread on major routes, equalling approximately 32 per cent of the road network in Newcastle, a new fleet of gritters will spread grit along nine principal gritting routes, and snow will be cleared along six routes in the event of significant snow fall.

90 per cent of councils are now part of a programme that will create 44,000 new jobs and release land for 25,000 new homes.

Leicestershire County Council has revealed its latest budget proposals with a four-year plan to save £54 million by 2022.
The council has announced the details of how to save £36 million of this, including a review of ‘early help’ and prevention services, as well as reducing adult social care costs and generating more income.

The Local Government Association has warned that councils in England will see core central government funding cut in half over the next two years.