Conservative council leaders warn that county councils cannot afford a £308 million rise in care home costs if the ‘dementia tax’ goes ahead.

Councils have reduced the amount they spent on women’s refuges by 24 per cent since 2010, an investigation has revealed.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that thousands of women and children have been turned away from domestic violence refuges in six month due to budget cuts.
Over three quarters of councils in England have reduced the amount they spend on women’s refuges since 2010, freedom of information requests have revealed. Simultaneously, the number of domestic cases registered by councils has risen dramatically.

Oxford City Council’s Streetscene team won a best service award at the recent Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE) awards.
The team won Best Service Team of the year in the Street Cleansing and Streetscene category.
The awards aim to recognise excellence in local government front line services across the UK.

New guidance to ensure local authorities intervene earlier to help prevent families and individuals becoming homeless has been published.

Oxford City Council has announced plans to tackle poor housing conditions in the private rented sector.
The council will use new government powers where landlords and property agents are marketing homes that fall below legal minimum standards.
Oxford City Council already has a licensing and inspection system for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), but this does not cover the majority of homes that are privately rented.

A project designed to give local organisations and communities more responsibility over the management of local watercourses has entered a new phase.

Liverpool City Council’s Landlord Licensing team has closed down three bedsits which were a serious fire risk for tenants.
Officers found that a property above commercial premises in Lodge Lane, Toxeth, had been poorly converted into eight bedsits, all of which were unlicensed.

New proposals to make streets safer for children and encourage more people to get active in three areas of Newcastle city have been unveiled.
Streets for People, run by Newcastle City Council, is a £3 million programme which hopes to encourage people to make more local journeys by foot or on bike by re-designing local streets.
The council worked with residents from Desmond, Heaton and Ouseburn and Denham and Arthurs’s Hill to identify problems in their areas which prevent them from travelling on foot or bike.

Lancashire County Council is investing more than £6 million to improve its residential care homes for older people.
The funding will see improvements to all 17 county council-run homes.
The scheme will help modernise the buildings, improve safety systems, install new facilities and redecorate the homes to ensure they provide a better environment for people with conditions such as dementia.
The investment is made up of £1.7 million which had previously been earmarked for care home improvements, plus an additional £4.9 million from the capital budget.