£67m of the £136m allocated to local welfare schemes across England remain unspent, despite a record number of families in need failing to receive help… According to an analysis by the Guardian, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act paint a bleak view of the scheme designed to assist poorer families struggling in England. […]

The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has said he will no longer support the fundamental principles of the Conservatives’ academy and free school programme after 2015. Mr Clegg said he disagreed with several of the most important freedoms exercised by head teachers of schools outside council control. He will pledge a new “parental guarantee” in […]

Independent research into the impact of the spare rooms’ subsidy has been ordered by the Government, Nick Clegg has announced. Mr Clegg said the study was needed to find out whether tenants could opt to take a smaller house or flat to avoid a deduction in their benefits. “I have seen lots of widely different […]

The government is making an extra £100m available to England’s 24 enterprise zones in an effort to speed up job creation, following frustration that they have been slow to develop. The cash, on top of nearly £700m of existing public money, will fund projects such as road building and land clearance to unlock areas currently […]

“Monday morning started with calls from worried residents about the traffic diversions caused by the closure of the rail bridge on Lea Lane for 4 months” says County Cllr Bill Winlow.  There was inadequate signage because Railtrack seems to have  used a sub-contractor to do the job, but it was not done properly. LCC has now been […]

One in four children in residential care in England is in a children’s home rated “adequate” or “inadequate”, according to a BBC Panorama investigation. Its investigation asked all 134 councils with children’s services in England about standards in the homes in which they placed children. Of the 87 councils that responded, the programme established that […]

Today’s LGIU Daily News reports that councils in England face a 10% cut in funding from central Government as part of the Spending Review for 2015-16. Sources say that Eric Pickles, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, has accepted in principle that the £21bn budget for local government could be reduced by this amount. Senior […]

According to LGIU Daily News (18/06/13), David Cameron has announced plans for what could be the biggest bilateral trade deal in history between the EU and the US. He announced the start of formal negotiations on a trade deal worth hundreds of billions of pounds, aimed at boosting exports and driving growth. Mr Cameron said […]

   County Cllr Jenny Mein & County Cllr Bill winlow are shown signing the agreement. Readers will recall that on 6th May, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on the newly elected Lancashire County Council, Bill Winlow, expressed the LibDems willingness to work with ANY councillors, Labour or Conservative or any others, in order to create an […]

“Is this about to be Plan B for the government” asks Bill Winlow.  “We clearly need more infrastructure projects to get the economy moving again”. The IMF’s annual report has said that Britain should spend more now to fund investment and steer the economy back to recovery, a call which is unlikely to be heeded […]