The government’s actions to remove ‘unjustifiable barriers’ to people wishing to access their pension fund have been revealed by Harriet Baldwin, economic secretary to the Treasury.

According to a report published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the number of causal care staff employed by councils has fallen by 25 per cent over the past five years.

Lord Heseltine has announced that a new panel will be introduced to examine how the layout of estates can be best used to deliver more quality homes for renting and buying.

The funding model the government intends to use to finance the Right to Buy model strategy has been criticised by the Commons Communities Committee (CCC), which maintains that plans to allow social tenants in England to buy their homes are ‘extremely questionable’.

New powers that will allow local authorities to extend Sunday trading hours in their local area are expected to be introduced this autumn.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark has confirmed a four year finance settlement for local government, which aims to grant councils greater freedom from Whitehall.

The growing financial services sector in Yorkshire is set to be promoted to international investors, in a bid to promote economic growth outside of London.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for councils to take control of utilities in their local are as part of plans to ‘roll back the tide’ of privatisation in the public sector.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that Chancellor George Osborne could be forced to raise taxes or increase cuts to public spending in order to achieve his set targets.

Barking and Dagenham Council has offered 40 of its tenants a payment of £40,000 in place of a Right to Buy discount, granting tenants a chance to purchase a new home on the open market.