James Goudie KC will no longer conduct an independent review into social media posts made by an officer at the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales after concerns were voiced about the barrister's ties to the Labour party.

The chief executive of CIPFA, Rob Whiteman, has said Government plans for Oflog will leave the new body with a "limited scope" and has suggested the regulator would be better placed as system leader for local government audit.

Cambridgeshire County Council must release the names of individuals in a public-facing role, including councillors and officials, who submitted consultation responses on behalf of stakeholder groups, despite a promise in the consultation document that said the local authority would not publish any personal details unless specifically indicated, the First Tier Tribunal has ruled.

The Chief Executive of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Sharon Kemp, has been selected as the third commissioner to be appointed to Nottingham City Council.

A large-scale landlord in Kent, Fergus Wilson, has been found in contempt of court after breaching a final injunction order that sought to stop him from harassing staff at Ashford Borough Council.

Liverpool City Council must reveal the identities of two councillors who have received a court summons over council tax arrears, a decision notice from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has concluded.

Audit firm Grant Thornton must pay a £40,000 penalty after the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) found failures in its audit of an unnamed local authority’s pension fund.

The Government has launched a consultation on the Locally-led Urban Development Corporation (LUDC) model.

An email sent by Wiltshire Council's chief executive to union members ahead of a vote on industrial action was unlawful as it sought to deter members from voting in favour of a strike, an Employment Tribunal has found.

The Government has this week (8 April) launched a consultation on clarifying the law to encourage organisations to apologise to those who have been wronged.

The terms of an independent investigation into a £72m pension deal struck by Plymouth City Council that was "not in line with normal accounting practice" have been revealed.

Police are investigating an incident involving "verbal threats" made at an Arun District Council planning committee meeting last month.

The High Court has rejected a challenge to a council tax bill argued on the basis that since the claimant had not consented to be taxed the council could not collect it.

The Welsh Government has failed to ensure that local authorities are carrying out their legal duties with respect to the provision of accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has said.

The Government has rejected Thurrock Council's request that it conduct a public inquiry into the local authority's financial collapse.

Ofsted has announced that it will publish inspection reports for local authority schools including those assessed to be ‘inadequate’ in the run up to the local elections in England.

The chair of the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has described the backlog in local government audit as "unacceptably high" and warned that the Government cannot say when or how the situation will improve.

The Labour Party has vowed to reform the planning system by reintroducing mandatary local housing targets, recruiting hundreds of new planning officers, and giving mayors new planning powers.

Government proposals to tackle the backlog in local authority audit “will be hard for local authorities to deal with” but must be supported as “the best opportunity for resolving the situation”, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), Amerdeep Somal, has outlined a number of minimum steps needed in order to improve access to its service.

Councils should be subject to a legal duty to take climate action, requiring a lead councillor for climate and ring-fenced funding for climate action, a climate action group has said.

The Government has said it plans to return to multi-year settlements in the next Parliament "when circumstances allow", has no plan to re-evaluate council tax bands, and will not reset the business rates retention system before 2025-26.

Lord Morse is stepping down as interim Chair of the Office for Local Government (Oflog) for unexpected health reasons.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has appointed Matthew Cumberbatch as its Director of Legal and Governance and Monitoring Officer.

South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council's former leader Iain Malcolm bullied and undermined the council's monitoring officer and its Corporate Director, Business and Resources (s151 officer) in breach of the council's Code of Conduct, an external investigator has said.

Local government is struggling to manage social cohesion threats involving misinformation, conspiracy theories, and intimidation from extremist groups, according to an independent review by Dame Sara Khan DBE on social cohesion and resilience.

The independent Committee on Standards in Public Life is to carry out a review looking at accountability within public bodies and the importance of acting on early warning signs.

The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) has issued a publication intended to support members of council audit committees, and members of council scrutiny committees, to understand the key elements of risk management, and the questions that can be asked of other members and officers at the council to bring challenge and support to risk management practice.

Castle Point Borough Council was entitled not to confirm or deny whether it held information requested by a former leader via the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the First Tier Tribunal has concluded.

MPs have expressed concern about the increased costs and burdens for councils running elections as a result of upcoming changes to voting rules and regulations set out in the Elections Act 2022.