Local Government - openDemocracy

Domestic violence victims being made homeless or forced to live with abusers

In some cases, survivors have been sexually or physically assaulted after councils failed to house them

By Andrew Kersley

/ 12 Sep 2023

Domestic violence victims being made homeless or forced to live with abusers

‘We’ve been told nothing’, say families on Essex estate built using RAAC

Exclusive: Council housing tenants on a Basildon estate built using RAAC say no one has ever flagged it as an issue

By Camille Corcoran and Ruby Lott-Lavigna

/ 8 Sep 2023

‘We’ve been told nothing’, say families on Essex estate built using RAAC

Revealed: Only 16 rogue landlords are banned from renting out properties

Cash-strapped councils are reluctant to take landlords to court due to legal costs, a lawyer told openDemocracy

By Ruby Lott-Lavigna

/ 22 Aug 2023

Revealed: Only 16 rogue landlords are banned from renting out properties

UK’s extreme weather support for rough sleepers labelled ‘inadequate’

Exclusive: A new report has warned homelessness services in the UK are not prepared for the climate crisis

By Ruby Lott-Lavigna

/ 29 Mar 2023

UK’s extreme weather support for rough sleepers labelled ‘inadequate’

Grassroots group priced out of once-derelict building it rescued in 2011

To the people who use it, Marsh House is a vital resource. But with public funds scarce, its future is now in doubt

By Anita Mureithi

/ 26 Oct 2022

Grassroots group priced out of once-derelict building it rescued in 2011

This should be the social care election – why is it being treated as anything but?

Some 30,000 died of COVID in England’s care homes. Yet with few understanding councils and the care system, social care falls off the 6 May agenda

By Caroline Molloy

/ 5 May 2021

This should be the social care election – why is it being treated as anything but?

Putting the ‘public’ back into public services

Amsterdam is one city among many where economic democracy on a municipal level is taking off.

By Satoko Kishimoto and Roos van Os

/ 5 Dec 2019

Putting the ‘public’ back into public services

How 300 council seats have been won before any votes are cast

Our broken system means large parts of England have had "democracy cancelled", with hundreds of thousands of voters denied real choice in this May’s elections.

By Darren Hughes

/ 18 Apr 2019

How 300 council seats have been won before any votes are cast

What now for Localism?

So the Tories have been returned with an overall majority to govern us for another five years. What does this mean for local democracy?

By Laird Ryan

/ 20 May 2015