Local authorities get creative to meet shortfall in school places
Councils are borrowing tens of millions of pounds and opening schools in former police stations to cope with rising demand on school places, research by the Local Government Association (LGA) has shown.
Figures revealed that a third of councils will not have enough secondary school places to meet demand over the next five years and need more money. The LGA warned that the £2.35bn given was to provide places up to 2017 was not enough.
MPs' report shows too many councils fail to deliver high-quality procurement
The Communities and Local Government committee released a report on local government procurement. It found that there was still work to be done, with Clive Betts MP recommending "a significant change in effort".
Betts said the LGA, with the support of the Department for Communities and Local Government, should create a taskforce – pulling in private and public sector expertise – to help improve council procurement.
Spending watchdog warns about impact of care cuts
The NHS and families are being put under "unsustainable pressure" to plug the gap created by huge cuts to care for elderly and disabled people, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
The spending watchdog found that, despite pledges from government to protect social care, services had suffered and spending on help for older people in England fell by 12% in just two years.
The NAO said many councils had cut the amount of care provided by tightening eligibility rules.
Birmingham council tells other local authorities 'we're not the solution to your housing problems'
Birmingham city council has sent a message to other authorities seeking to rehouse people on waiting lists that the council cannot solve their housing problems.
The authority issued a statement after Oxford city council told people in urgent housing need to look for alternative accommodation in Birmingham and Cardiff.
"We will not turn our back on vulnerable people, but the simple message for Oxford or any other council looking to relocate people in Birmingham is this: We're not the solution to your problem," the council said in a statement.
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