Transparency on developer contributions is welcome

This is a return to the agenda of Eric Pickles. It should help show the community benefits of new housing.

Scandal of the council-owned empty garages continues

Our survey identified 15,875 of them. Many of these could be redeveloped to provide new homes.

The local election results in London will provide a mixed picture

Pundits are expecting a drubbing for the Conservatives in the capital. But some boroughs will buck the trend. I predict unpredictability.

Councils are losing the battle against the sale of illicit cigarettes

Criminal gangs are supplying counterfeit tobacco on a huge scale with a resulting impact on smokers’ health.

Effective scrutiny in local government means breaking the power of patronage

It is not merely money that is wasted. It is spending which diminishes the amount of scrutiny that might otherwise occur.

Councils named and shamed for delaying Business Rates relief

Small firms have had to struggle due to bureaucratic inertia by some councils. At least the culprits have been identified.

Councils should privatise debt collection

A less bureaucratic approach will ease hardship and bring more money in. But the Government also needs to ensure equal rules apply for all that are owed money.

Poor value for money of councils’ public health spending exposed

Liverpool City Council has spent an average of £7,222 for each person who lost weight. Kensington and Chelsea has spent £9,957 for each person who drinks less alcohol.

Council anti-smoking campaigns are an expensive failure

In Hammersmith and Fulham, for example, the cost works out at £55,571 for each smoker who quit.

Stephen Greenhalgh: To win in the capital we must fight on local issues and select council candidates on merit

Ruth Davidson’s call for a London Manifesto misses the point that the boroughs have different needs.

Council spending on replacement lifts is out of control

The huge variation in costs does suggest that some councils, including mine, are likely to be paying over the odds.

Our local tri-borough arrangement is to end next year

Hammersmith and Fulham Council have scuppered an arrangement which saved money for it – as well as Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.

Harry Fairhead: From Windsor to Weymouth – a list of Council Tax heroes and villains

A 58 per cent rise in the tax over the last two decades should serve as a warning against further hikes.

Will deselections driven by Momentum allow the “Loony Left” to return to our town halls?

Moderate Labour councillors are generally proving craven about the threat that they face.

Stephen Greenhalgh: How to win in local government

What we did in Hammersmith and Fulham.