Labour would give councils power to ban roulette machines
Councils could get the power to ban high-stakes roulette machines from betting shops if Labour wins the next election, according to the leader Ed Miliband.
Miliband said the machines were "spreading like an epidemic" and causing debt and misery. Fixed odds betting terminals can see people losing up to £300 a minute. Miliband said Labour would change planning and gambling laws to councils could ban them.
Council funding cuts three times higher than estimates
Local authorities will suffer spending cuts of 9.42% in 2014-15, a figure more than three times that of government predictions, according to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa).
Cipfa found the funding reduction in the local government settlement published on Wednesday. The Department for Communities and Local Government had previously said spending power would only fall by an average of 2.9%.
Half of councils plan to build on the green belt, warns the National Trust
The National Trust warned this week that ministers are presiding over an erosion of the green belt. A survey showed that more than half of councils are planning to build on protected land even though other sites are available. Findings revealed that 51% of councils are now "likely" or "very likely" to allocate the land for development.
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