A report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has highlighted that the government’s pledge to revolutionise the process of probation is far from complete.

The Bank of England has told the government that the Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is no longer needed.
The scheme, which allows lenders to offer loans to people offering a deposit as low as five per cent thanks to government support, is set to be closed at the end of the year following a decline in usage.
In a Financial Policy Committee (FPC) review of the Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, it was revealed that the scheme accounted for only three per cent of total mortgage lending in the first quarter of the year compared to six per cent in 2014.

Warwickshire County Council has announced a set of options it will consider to achieve savings of around £67 million by 2020.
Reductions in Government grants, inflation and demographic pressures mean the council must identify savings amounting to around £67 million by 2020. Council services had already been hit hard by the last round of cuts to government grants, which saw the need to save £92 million by 2018.

January will see Hull become the UK’s City of Culture for 2017, with officials describing the title as the ‘beginning of a cultural renaissance’.
Following a successful bid, that also included Leicester, Dundee and Swansea Bay, it is hoped that the events to celebrate the title will ‘improve the lives and opportunities of everyone who lives, works, visits and invests here [Hull]’.

More than 300 writers have urged Culture Secretary Karen Bradley to ‘set a new course' for libraries 'after years of decline’.

A new report has said that devolution plans should be re-assessed to ensure financially disadvantaged areas aren’t set even further back.
An interim report from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) Inclusive Growth Commission has suggested that the vote to leave the EU demonstrates increasing economic inequality and dissatisfaction with the status quo in large parts of the country.

Newly released figures have shown that more than 312,000 households have now benefited from government-backed home ownership schemes.
Included in this figure is over 56,000 households who have purchased a home through the government’s revitalised Right to Buy scheme since 2012. This has been boosted by new figures showing over 3,350 households bought under the Right to Buy scheme in the three months to June, a 21 per cent increase from the same time last year.

A public consultation has found that transport is a top priority for the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Hundreds of nursery schools could close if the government presses ahead with plans to offer 30 hours a week of free childcare, the NAHT has warned.
In 2017, free care for three-and four-year-olds is set to rise from 15 to 30 hours a week in term-time, with ministers saying the extra funding will provide stability for nursery schools.
Carrying out analysis with Early Education, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has said that pre-schools will not cope financially after a planned two-year package of taxpayer support ends.

A new £40 million entrepreneur fund backed by the British Business Bank has been announced by Small Business Minister Margot James.
The new Enterprise Capital Fund is supported with £26 million from the government-owned British Business Bank, and will offer a total investment capacity of £40 million designed to specifically help rapid growth businesses scale up.
Making the announcement in Manchester during the Scale-Up Institute’s regional economic growth programme, James explained how Active Private Equity will run the fund.