This briefing looks at the challenges and opportunities ahead for local sports and leisure services, considering the latest Active Lives data and research and recommendations by APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) to safeguard services for the future.
This briefing looks at NSW’s Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) recently released the Synthetic Turf Study In Public Open Space report which applies a wide lens, looking at the potential social environmental and economic impacts, benefits and limitations of synthetic turf.
With COP26 just around the corner and levelling up dominating the UK Government’s policy agenda, today, the Chancellor gave his Budget statement outlining the government’s spending plans. The highlights for local government are summarised below and include the increase to local government grant funding, a reduction in the Universal Credit taper and the reform of…
Ireland’s advisory council on climate change has set out some challenging targets for carbon reduction. We outline the scale of the challenge and the role of local government in achieving these goals.
This briefing deals with the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) 2021 Green Budget, which the IFS normally publishes shortly before the Government’s annual Budget; this year’s Green Budget was published on 12 October, a little more than two weeks before this year’s Spending Review and autumn Budget on 27 October.
The economic future of regional Australia is closely tied to how Australia plans for and mitigates climate change and many economists argue that the transition to a low-carbon economy is actually a golden economic opportunity for regional communities. This briefing explores some of these opportunities.
This swift read summarises the main findings in the recent Audit Scotland report Tracking the impact of Covid-19 on Scotland’s public finances and the likely challenges to be faced by the Scottish Government through this winter and beyond.
Waiting lists are the ‘big issue’ in this month’s housing and planning roundup with the Local Government Association warning that the number of households waiting for social housing could almost double next year to 2.1 million. There is also news about homelessness, evictions, housebuilding and zero-carbon homes.
The UK Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been heavily criticised by MPs. A joint report by two Commons select committees shows that, despite the success in vaccines, the government failed over test and trace, social care and lockdowns – and was largely unprepared for a pandemic on this scale.
Brisbane City Council recently committed to creating a dementia-friendly Brisbane as a strategic element of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics – but what does this mean? This briefing explores what it means to be ‘dementia-friendly’ and what local governments can do to support people living with dementia in their communities.
