Bradford has been awarded an extra £5 million as it begins its year as UK City of Culture.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has published the finding from its latest survey of 11 metre plus building in the social housing sector.
Of the 17,516 relevant buildings reported, 99.2 per cent had had fire risk assessments undertaken and 11.5 per cent (2,009) were reported as having a life critical fire safety defect relating to the external wall system.
Landlords reported that work is complete on 7.2 per cent (144) of affected buildings (this includes those still awaiting building control sign off).

Councils are to get new powers to deliver thousands of new homes across the country.
New planning changes have been announced to drive new investment for town centres and economic growth for local authorities.
Local councils will be empowered to buy cheaper land through the use of Compulsory Purchase Orders.

Councils are to receive £1.6 billion in funding to repair roads and fix potholes.
The funding marks an increase of nearly 50 per cent on local road maintenance compared to last year and should be enough to fix over 7 million extra potholes in 2025 to 2026.
Recent figures from the RAC show that drivers face an average of 6 potholes per mile in England and Wales. The cost of pothole damage to vehicles is around £500 on average.

As part of the government’s Plan for Change, councils are set to receive £69 billion, an increase of 3.5 per cent from 2024-25. Part of this package is a new emergency £600 million Recovery Grant, which will support councils most in need and make sure every penny of public spending is felt by working people.

The Scottish spending plans are to be scrutinised by Parliament, following the publication of the Scottish Budget Bill today.

The government has announced nearly £1 billion of new funding for councils next year to tackle and prevent homelessness.
It is hoped that more people will be prevented from becoming homeless with the largest-ever investment in homelessness prevention services.
More resources will be available for workers on the frontline who provide essential services to get rough sleepers off the street and into secure housing as well as seeing more homeless families out of temporary accommodation.

The government has introduced new legislation aimed at improving buses and boost local control of services moved a step closer today.
The Bus Services Bill is designed to put buses back at the heart of communities and enhance connections to work and vital appointments to improve living standards.

The government has relaunched the Net Zero Council, bringing together broader range of voices to deepen the partnership between government, the private sector, civil society and local authorities, with the goal of accelerating net zero across the economy.
The council will serve as the primary stakeholder forum supporting the delivery of the accelerating to net zero pillar of the mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.