This briefing looks at the recent release of the Australian Rental Affordability Index (RAI) for 2020. The RAI is an indicator of the price of rents relative to household incomes, and is a free resource available for use by local government.
A look at the findings of England’s education inspectorate (Ofsted) from school visits in September and October 2020 and other reports on parents and children on the return to schools of all children in Autumn 2020.
Cork County Council provide us with an insight into their November of 2020, including their work on supporting businesses through Covid-19, improving wellbeing among communities, environment and sustainability initiatives, and current and upcoming infrastructure projects.
Fire safety is the big issue in this month’s roundup, with the government facing pressure to stop leaseholders in England being landed with hefty bills for removing cladding and other safety measures. The roundup also includes shared ownership, starter homes, housebuilding figures and the recent social housing white paper.
Covid-19 has presented enormous challenges to public services, which have had to respond, adapt and innovate. The House of Lords public service committee has published an analysis of how public services responded to the pandemic, lessons to be learned and key principles for transforming public services for the future.
This briefing looks at the benefits and challenges around fast-tracking active travel and public realm investments in response to government investment and provides examples of some local councils’ responses, particularly into major city centres.
Could the Local Electricity Bill (2020) transform the current electricity regime? The Bill would introduce powers to issue licences to smaller providers of electricity. This would enable local generators of electricity to become local suppliers both to residents and businesses.
In 2016, Canada declared a national opioid crisis due to the dramatic rise in drug-related deaths over the past decade. This briefing will investigate the intertwining nature of drug use and homelessness and compare the situation to that of the UK, before discussing whether the approaches taken in Canada could also be effective in the…
Scottish Government and COSLA published an updated action plan in October titled ‘Ending Homelessness Together’, while a guide from the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group created for Scottish local authorities has also been developed, with support from the Scottish Government. This briefing looks at the plans and recommendations from both.
The last few weeks saw the release of two important reports from the UK and Scottish Governments concerning the decarbonisation agenda and post Covid-19 green recovery respectively; the UK wide ‘Net Zero Decarbonisation Report’ and the Scotland-focussed ‘Green Recovery Inquiry’. This briefing highlights the key themes and policy recommendations for local government.
