Abolishing 201 local councils in England and giving the rest London-style powers could benefit the economy by £31 billion over five years.

Lancashire County Council has awarded a contract to Chargemaster to install 150 charging points for people who own electric vehicles.
The contract follows a successful bid for £14.8 million from the Department for Transport’s Highway Maintenance Challenge Fund to invest in new technology, with some of the budget set aside to make it easier for drivers with electric car to find somewhere to charge their batteries.

A new deal between Whitehall and local leaders could add hundreds of billions of pounds to the national economy each year, Lord Adonis has said.

A plan mapping out the policies and principles for future development across Bristol has been endorsed by city councillors.
The final draft of the West of England Joint Spatial Plan has been approved by Full Council.
It will be published for public comment and then submitted to the Secretary of State for adoption soon.

Manchester City Council has granted permission to transform a former residential care home in Chorlton into a homelessness prevention centre.
The Longford Centre, which has 38 beds, will be available to provide emergency temporary accommodation to prevent people from becoming homeless and to provide support services to help them move on to independent accommodation and employment.

Newcastle City Council has announced plans to transform the city centre into a world-renowned shopping and leisure destination.
The council’s cabinet is set to approve a £3 million package of improvements to start the transformation programme.
This will lead to a more attractive cleaner, healthier and safer city centre to meet the needs of residents and visitors to Newcastle.
Northumberland Street and its side streets will be cleaned up, and will become clutter-free with more accessible spaces.

The First Secretary of State has announced that the government will publish a green paper on care and support for older people by summer 2018.
The paper will set out plans for how the government proposes to improve care and support for older people and tackle the challenge of an ageing population.