Reform UK's turbulent first seven months in local power
After taking control of 10 councils, Reform UK's 'anti-woke' agenda faces the reality of local government in Lancashire. Helen Pidd reports on care home closures and rising complaints.
After taking control of 10 councils, Reform UK's 'anti-woke' agenda faces the reality of local government in Lancashire. Helen Pidd reports on care home closures and rising complaints.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves doubles annual roads cash with a record £7.3 billion to fix potholes. Councils must publish repair data to unlock funding. Read the full details.
UK schools risk a 4.9% real-terms funding cut per pupil if the Department for Education absorbs rising SEND costs, warns the OBR. Discover the implications for mainstream education.
Labour's municipal reforms face an uphill battle against a decade of Conservative cuts that gutted local services. Can councils move beyond crisis management?
English city mayors gain powers to impose a tourist tax on overnight stays. Discover how this will fund local projects and the mixed reaction from leaders.
Local leaders in England can now impose a tourist tax on overnight stays to fund local priorities. Discover how this devolution move will impact cities and tourism.
Cessnock City Council proposes a staggering 39.9% rates increase, costing households over $1,000 annually. Residents fight back with petition as council cites financial crisis.
The AP Fund for Journalism receives over $30 million in donations, enabling a major expansion of its programme providing vital resources to local and state newsrooms across the UK. Discover how this initiative is rebuilding community news.
Deprived towns across northern England and Midlands set for major funding increases as government redirects cash from affluent areas. Discover how this impacts your community.
Families in suburban and shire counties face painful council tax increases as a new 'fairer' funding system redirects central resources to deprived urban areas. Discover the impact.
Facing a financial crisis, 60% of key English councils plan to sell social clubs and sports centres to fund soaring social care costs. Explore the stark choices local authorities are making.
A judge has criticised 'astronomical' costs charged by private care providers after a council agreed to pay almost £300,000 for a teenage boy's placement. Discover the urgent call for government intervention.
A dramatic decline in birth rates has left England with thousands of empty school classrooms, forcing local councils to make difficult decisions about educational provision and taxpayer funding.
Reform-run Lancashire County Council faces fierce backlash over controversial proposals to shut down care homes, aiming to save £4m annually amid growing elderly care crisis.
Exclusive investigation uncovers how obscure production companies received substantial public funding for films that failed to achieve commercial success or critical acclaim, raising serious questions about film funding accountability.
Exclusive investigation reveals English councils' home-to-school transport costs have surged by 24%, leaving vulnerable families and local authorities in financial distress.
Exclusive investigation reveals how local council tax revenues are being redirected to support Labour's economic agenda, with middle-class households bearing the cost of Rachel Reeves' budget assault on wealthier Britons.
Exclusive analysis reveals Labour's potential council tax reforms could hit middle-income families as Rachel Reeves faces Budget balancing act between public services and taxpayer burden.
Exclusive analysis reveals Birmingham City Council's financial collapse might have been prevented as expert questions Labour leadership's decision-making in Britain's second city.
Exclusive: Woking Borough Council faces financial turmoil as £90 million property deal with defence giant BAE Systems falls through, threatening local services and council tax hikes.
Exclusive investigation reveals how the termination of the Household Support Fund is pushing vulnerable families into deeper poverty across Britain, with councils warning of catastrophic consequences.
Soaring transport costs for SEND pupils in England are pushing families to the brink, with councils struggling to cope and parents forced to reduce working hours.
Exclusive: Labour government confronts difficult decision over future of vital crisis fund as councils warn of 'devastating consequences' for vulnerable families.
Shocking new figures expose how local authorities across Britain are spending billions transporting children with special educational needs to school, with costs soaring by nearly £500 million annually.
Birmingham Mayor Andy Street joins forces with Labour's Dan Jarvis in unprecedented cross-party alliance demanding Westminster devolve real power and funding to England's regions.
A bitter financial dispute over sewage treatment costs has erupted between Watertown and Waterbury, Connecticut, threatening local services and revealing deep tensions between the neighbouring communities.
Exclusive investigation reveals how accounting failures and political paralysis pushed Birmingham City Council into the biggest local government financial crisis in UK history, forcing devastating cuts to essential services.
Exclusive: Labour faces internal division in Surrey as two councils consider breaking away amid government pressure to address catastrophic local authority debt. The political earthquake threatens Starmer's authority in traditional Tory heartlands.
The bankrupt Woking Borough Council secures a massive government rescue package as Surrey County Council takes control of key services in a dramatic local government overhaul.
Woking Borough Council faces financial collapse with a staggering £1.9bn deficit, joining a growing list of UK local authorities in crisis. Discover how risky investments and government funding cuts created this perfect storm.