Can Reform grow up?
After scandals and infighting, Nigel Farage’s party faces its first big test on 1 May, at England’s local elections.
ByLocal government
Local government in the United Kingdom manages services for people and businesses in local areas. Some of these services are schools, housing, social care, business support and registrar services. Local councils are a common type of local authority. Local public elected councillors sit on these councils and are responsible for working with local people and businesses to provide these services. Find all our latest news, comment and analysis on local government here.
How Birmingham became Britain’s scapegoat
After a bin strike that has run for weeks, rubbish and rats are consuming Birmingham. Have we forgotten our second…
By
Labour’s gamble with local government
There is no proof that abolishing councils will work.
By
Angela Rayner, Grand Designs and the British housing nightmare
Britain’s best housing programme shows the knot of planning laws the Housing Secretary must unravel.
By
The reluctant politician
A year ago, our writer stood for local election – and won by a landslide. But there was a catch:…
By
Ryan Jude: “We should enable more people to become councillors”
Westminster City Council's cabinet member for climate on being a young councillor, temporary accommodation and funding local government.
By
Bankrupt councils are a disaster for Keir Starmer
Labour relies on strong local services to deliver its national missions.
By
Andrew Dilnot: “Social care is an insurance problem”
The former warden of Nuffield College, Oxford on the fate of his proposed reforms and an ageing population.
By
The man who fixes broken councils
The council fixer Max Caller on England’s local government crisis.
By
Fifty years on the campaign trail
What I’ve learned from five decades of reporting on British elections.
By
The council debt crisis is of the government’s own making
The abolition of the Audit Commission, and the squeeze on local authority budgets, has doubled the sector's liabilities.
By
Exclusive polling: councillors give their verdict on 14 years of Tory rule
As voters head to the polling booths today, 280 English councillors report that the local government sector is in crisis.
By
Revealed: the £80bn hole in council finances
A new analysis suggests 23 local authorities are on the brink of insolvency.
By
Community ownership matters
Extending cooperative models of ownership for core community assets can open the path to true decentralisation.
By
How to save local government without breaking the bank
Local pension pots, business rates, council tax and fiscal devolution – four smart fixes to get councils out of crisis.
By
Two thirds of councils are on course to miss climate targets
New polling also reveals that more than half of English councils won’t bid for net zero funding because it’s too…
By
Bust Britain
As more councils go bankrupt, the nation’s public realm is dying. How did it come to this?
By
An insider’s view of Nottingham City Council
A member of the effectively bankrupt local authority on life after a Section 114 notice.
By
Waste collection and library services are at risk of severe cutbacks
Ahead of the Budget next week, local authorities have warned Chancellor Jeremy Hunt of extreme cost pressures.
By
We need a ten-year plan for local government
After years of underfunding, councils need a coherent strategy for recovery, reset and renewal.
By