JGP News

Hundreds of councils across the country are to receive large government hand-outs for encouraging local business growth.

A slice of £316 million awaits 328 local English authorities, local government minister Phil Woolas and Treasury minister John Healey announced today (February 27th), as part of the ongoing Local Authority Business Growth Incentive scheme (LABGI). (more…)

Wiltshire County Council’s bid to become a unitary authority has been undermined by a report exposing “fundamental flaws” in the proposals.

Professor Michael Chisholm, a local government expert from Cambridge University, was commissioned by Kennet, West Wiltshire and Salisbury district councils to examine in detail the case for a unitary authority to govern the entire county. (more…)

The vast majority of single tier authorities and county councils in the UK improved their services delivery in 2006, despite more stringent performance testing.

Local government watchdog the Audit Commission announced that 79 per cent of single tier and county councils achieved a two-star rating last year, with none now in the bottom category of the hardest demanding Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) yet. (more…)

Charity directors have submitted a series of requests to the Treasury, seeking budget amendments that could help the third sector make significant tax savings.

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (acevo) and the Charity Finance Directors’ Group (CFDG) delivered the document to the Treasury demanding 15 changes on issues from payroll giving, through gift aid, to VAT structure. (more…)

A petition aimed at saving a psychiatric unit has garnered more than 3,000 signatures.

Holly House in Gloucester was marked for closure because of health cutbacks, the BBC reports. (more…)