New investigation from me for @Prospect_UK about the rising number of nonagenarians in temporary accommodation. The eldest person I found in temporary accommodation was 97. I went and spoke to 94-year-old Katya:

The Government has published guidance for proposals for unitarisation:

@robwmedia The image doesn't suggest they are. Leicester and Leicestershire are in the 'discussions ongoing' category. Here's the link:

The Government has published an explainer which puts into perspective its decision to pause nine local elections. Between 2019 and 2022, Conservative administrations legislated to postpone 17 local elections:

The Government has written to England's authorities in two-tier areas and invited them to submit proposals for reorganisation:

The Integrated Settlements for Greater Manchester and West Midlands were finalised last week - which provides some indication of the funding streams in scope for Liverpool City Region, the North East, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire in 2026-27:

Sorry deleted this because of spelling mistake @BexBitchley

The number of elections postponed by 12 months is small. And there is precedent in North Yorkshire, Somerset, Cumbria and Buckinghamshire. The Government agreed to nine requests: Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, Thurrock, Isle of Wight and Surrey.

Cheshire and Warrington, Norfolk and Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex and Brighton, Cumbria and Hampshire and the Solent are the first six to join the Devolution Priority Programme. With the exception of Lancashire, the North of England will have strategic authorities by May 2026.

The Conservatives approved Exceptional Financial Support for a record 19 authorities in 2024-25. Ahead of 2025-26, Labour has approved similar support for six authorities - Birmingham, Somerset, Trafford, Bradford, Newham and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Fact of the day: According to the Office for National Statistics, since 1999 the local government workforce has fallen by 27 per cent from 2.7 million to 2 million. The central government workforce has increased by 72 per cent from 2.3 million to 4 million.

@HuwSpencer @TPIProductivity You can read the article here, as part of #NationalProductivityWeek:

Bristol City Council, run by the Green Party, has proposed a four-weekly waste collection service. The public aren't impressed, according to YouGov:

The percentage of people living in a household where housing costs represent more than 40 per cent of their disposable income. From Politico:

RT @TPIProductivity: England’s mayors are starting to take on more responsibility for the economic performance of their sub-regions at a ti…

However, as strategic authorities mature and as the competencies, confidence and number of mayors increases, it's clear that they can play a central role in attracting more international investment - as the Harrington Review acknowledged.