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Gavin Callaghan Lab News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Public service and humour - local government remembers Prince Philip | Local Government Chronicle (LGC)

He wrote, simply: “Deeply saddened to see this announcement”. It was the first of hundreds of messages from councils, leaders, mayors and chief executives that expressed sadness at the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing, and gratitude for his many years of public service. Leading figures from other royal boroughs marked the news. Dan Thorpe (Lab), leader of Greenwich RBC, paid tribute to help the duke had given after a devastating fire, tweeting: “Prince Philip was deeply connected to our borough & we give thanks for all he helped to achieve, particularly the restoration of The Cutty Sark. #greenwich”. And Ian Thomas, the chief executive of Kingston upon Thames RBC, marked the duke’s death by retweeting the royal family’s announcement, adding “RIP”.

New powerhouse unitary in South Essex proposed | Local Government Chronicle (LGC)

New ‘powerhouse’ unitary in South Essex proposed A Labour district council and Conservative unitary authority in South Essex are pursuing early plans to form a new unitary authority, with proposals to channel infrastructure development through a wider South Essex joint committee also being developed. Basildon BC and Thurrock Council are poised to sign a memorandum of understanding for local government reorganisation which could pave the way to them forming a new 360,000-strong unitary council. The plans run contrary to Essex CC’s vision of carving up the historic Essex county of 12 districts and two unitaries into between two and four new unitaries, although during discussions last year between the districts and the county, nothing was ruled out. Essex’s proposals are understood to have been put on the shelf while councils focus on tackling the pandemic and until the devolution and local recovery white paper is published later this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Council Tax Tracker uncovers reluctance to make maximum rise

EXCLUSIVE: Council Tax Tracker uncovers reluctance to make maximum rise A significant proportion of councils are likely to opt against imposing the maximum possible council tax rise on residents this year, LGC research suggests, despite the government’s expectations they should do so. The first results of LGC’s 2021 Council Tax Tracker found almost half (47%) were not currently proposing a maximum increase. While the majority of these were stopping just short of the maximum increases allowed without holding a referendum – 4.99% for upper tier councils and whichever is the greater of 1.99% or £5 for districts – three councils in LGC’s sample, Hartlepool, Basildon and Spelthorne BCs, were planning to completely freeze council tax for 2021-22.

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