The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea was not told of the major incident at Grenfell Tower for more than an hour after emergency services declared it, and confusion over the roles of the council and its tenant management organisation (TMO) meant neither responded effectively.

The Counsel General for Wales has launched a consultation on proposed steps to make Welsh law more accessible through “classification, consolidation and codification”.

The blurring of the lines between challenging a view that one disagrees with and simply attacking a person for their view is one that is becoming increasingly prevalent – and such attacks are undermining and diminishing the role of the monitoring officer and lawyer in local government, the President of Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) has warned.

The Electoral Commission has called on the Government to review the policy and legislation for recall petitions “to identify changes that would improve the experience for electors and the administration of future petitions”.

A parish council near Manchester is in limbo after all its councillors resigned this week (7 October), blaming their decision on abusive phone calls and hate mail.

The Electoral Commission has issued a fresh call for electoral law to be updated, after issuing a report on the May 2019 European Parliamentary elections and local elections.

The Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) and Localis are undertaking research aimed at enhancing councils’ understanding of how they can diagnose and reduce the risk of failure in corporate governance, and what success factors can point the way to greater strength in this area.

The Welsh Government has launched a review of the arrangements for dealing with alleged misconduct of senior officers within local government in Wales.

Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) has published guidance, EU Exit Statutory Instruments with Local Government Impacts, that is designed to set out the broad range of governance documents which underpin local authorities, and which may be affected by secondary legislation brought in by the government.

The leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council has resigned and referred himself to an Ombudsman.

A petition calling for a referendum on changing Sheffield City Council’s governance arrangements has reached the required number of signatures of 5% of the electorate, the local authority has confirmed.

The chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, Lord Evans of Weardale, has written an open letter to all public office holders on the importance of upholding public standards and implementing the Nolan Principles.

An English Devolution Bill is among the pieces of legislation that the Local Government Association has called on the Government to include in the forthcoming Queen’s Speech.

Electoral legislation – some of it one hundred years old – is becoming “ever less compatible with modern expectations and ways of working”, a report by the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) has said.

Sir Tony Redmond has issued a call for views as part of his independent review of the quality and effectiveness of the audit and financial reporting of local authorities in England.

Paul Feild examines the challenge to the Localism Act 2011 presented by the Committee for Standards in Public Life’s 2019 Review of Local Government ethical standards.

Swindon Council has welcomed a High Court ruling that overturned an election result which saw the wrong person elected as a councillor, it has been reported.

False claims for Single Person Discount cost local authorities nearly £16m a year in 1017/18 and is the third most prevalent type of fraudulent activity carried out by British adults, research by not-for-profit fraud prevention service Cifas has found.

Local Government Lawyer looks at the reaction to the Spending Round announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer this week.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will see a 2.7% real terms increase to its resource budget from 2019-20 to 2020-21, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced in the Spending Round 2019.

An independent investigator has cleared officers and councillors at Wokingham Borough Council of maladministration or unprofessional conduct in a long-running planning enforcement case.

Flintshire County Council has tightened its standards code after councillors expressed concern about abusive language and gestures used during meetings.

Kettering Borough Council, which is set to be abolished in April 2021 when two unitary authorities are established in Northamptonshire, is consulting on whether a town council should be set up for the town of Kettering.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has launched a public consultation on its proposed update of the Code of Audit Practice ahead of it coming into effect in April 2020.

Activists in Sheffield have used provisions of the Localism Act 2011 to require the city council to hold a referendum on ending the cabinet system and reverting to committees.

Councils may be unable to meet their legal duties unless the Government resolves their funding and gives them assurance on their financial future in the next spending review.

A borough council is to appoint an independent investigator to examine the procedure followed when an additional duties allowance of £15,000 per annum was awarded to its chief executive.

The Court of Appeal has refused to grant Hackney and Waltham Forest Councils permission to appeal a High Court ruling dismissing the two London boroughs’ challenge to government directions restricting the frequency with which they can publish their free local newssheets.

The Minister for Housing and Local Government in Wales, Julie James, has sacked an adviser appointed last month to give members at Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council with politically non-aligned advice and support on effective governance, after it was announced that she would be standing as a candidate for the Brexit Party at the next general election.

Redditch Borough Council has admitted it faces “tough decisions” after auditor Grant Thornton took the unusual step of issuing a section 24 notice warning that the council may be unable to set a balanced budget.