Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has announced £32 million of additional funding to regenerate deprived housing estates.

Over 40 leading businesses, universities and business networks have pledged support to boost the economy of the Northern Powerhouse.
Making the announcement at a ’partnership’ conference in Liverpool, Northern Powerhouse Minister, Andrew Percy launched a new dedicated Northern Powerhouse website to share the latest news, views and opportunities for established businesses and new investors.

Sadiq Khan has announced that £875 million will be invested in action to improve the quality of the Capital’s air through to 2021/22.
Ahead of the publication of the draft Transport for London (TfL) Business Plan, the Mayor of London has confirmed that the amount of money committed to tackling the Capital’s air quality crisis will be more than doubled over the next five years.

Newcastle City Council has announced management arrangement changes that will contribute £500,000 to meeting its budget shortfall.
Following a 26 per cent reduction in management posts over the last few years, the council’s Constitutional Committee has approved changes which will see the organisation restructured to be based on three principle directorates serving People, Place and Resources.

The government is using ‘complicated’ commissioning processes to secure vital public services, threatening small charities.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has claimed that high rental housing costs mean an estimated 3.8 million workers are in poverty.

A new report has highlighted the role that employment plays in improving the self-worth of people with drug and alcohol addictions.
Commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, the report recommends further exploration into ways people addicted to drugs and alcohol can be helped to find work, and improved joined-up working between work and health services.
Carried out by Professor Dame Carol Black, the report also looks at the role of employers in helping secure good employment opportunities for people who have struggled with addiction.

The government is set to move around 5,700 full time civil and public servants from offices in Whitehall to east London.
The new Government Hub at Canary Wharf, which will be completed by the end of 2018, supports the modernisation of the Civil Service outlined by the new Workplace Plan on 12 July.

Bus operator First West Yorkshire has pledged £71 million to provide a fleet of 284 low-emission buses to the city of Leeds by 2020.
Leeds City Council said the move would improve air quality in the city by reducing nitrogen oxides and dioxides emissions by 87 per cent.
According to council figures, approximately one in three of households in the city are without a car, meaning that about 250,000 daily bus trips are made in the city.

Vulnerable older people should be offered befriending programmes or exercise classes to prevent loneliness, experts have said.