Local government
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Ealing council, FGM and funding for the Acton African Well Woman CentreLetters: Despite the severe financial pressures local authorities are facing, the council is making no reduction in the dedicated FGM community awareness service
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Councils 'at breaking point' due to budget cuts and rising social care billsMillions of residents face council tax rises, as thinktank finds just 6% of local authorities expect to not have to increase rates
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Steve Bell on Theresa May, Surrey council and social care – cartoonJeremy Corbyn produced text messages at PMQs that he claimed showed ministers were prepared to offer a sweetheart deal to Surrey council to avoid a local referendum on raising taxes to fund social care
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Power to the regions: why more devolution makes senseTransferring powers to cities and regions will give Theresa May’s government a welcome opportunity to focus on Brexit
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'Stand up for the working classes': Ukip targets Labour in Stoke byelectionFormer and current party leaders Farage and Nuttall are undaunted by protesters as they tell supporters Labour has been ‘hijacked by Islington intellectuals’
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Solutions to the housing crisis are needed nowLetters: Tenants need an emergency housing bill which places an immediate freeze on rent increases prior to introducing rent controls
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Housing association agrees to buy back homes on 'substandard' developmentOrchard Village in east London, which was built with £31m of public money, plagued by issues of poor building quality
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Jack Thorne's Junkyard: how I turned an adventure playground into a musicalJunk playgrounds had sheer drops, death-defying rope swings and were always being set on fire. The playwright explains why he has written a show about these chaotic spaces and the kids who built them
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Modern realities make caring for our aging parents impossibleLetters: It is not lack of love for our parents which has led to this situation, but an economy and a society much changed since the 1950s
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PM to reaffirm green belt pledge despite plans to ramp up housebuildingMinister tries to allay fears within Tory party that May is to roll back on manifesto promise with housing crisis white paper
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Ministers move to ‘shift blame for funding cuts to local councils’Labour says shift of spending power from Commons to local government is an attempt to make councils ‘take ownership’ of unpopular cuts
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My job is to put a positive spin on council cuts – it's soul destroyingI can’t face watching I, Daniel Blake because every day I feel complicit in a system that denigrates vulnerable people
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Pamela Blake obituaryOther lives: Labour councillor and magistrate with lifelong interest in public service
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London must remain open to the worldThe capital should have its own migration system to help it to help Britain survive leaving the EU
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Councils may cut social care provision due to underfunding, LGA saysAssociation says some of its 370 councils are struggling to meet legal requirement so badly they could face high court challenge
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Seeking a fairer way to fund local governmentLetters: More bands and a revaluation merely redistributes the council tax burden with, in all likelihood, there being more winners than losers
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Manchester residents hit back at 'demeaning' anti-homeless spikesLocals use pillows and cushions to cover metal spikes installed outside Grade II-listed building to deter rough sleepers
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Government is guilty of dereliction of duty on social care fundingThe direct consequences for vulnerable people of political inaction must not, and cannot, be ignored
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Milton Keynes – a model for the worldLetters: It is the only urban area in England to have a complete coverage of local (parish, community and town) councils – 30
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Devolve power to London as a blueprint for other major UK cities – report‘What is good for London is good for the country,’ says mayor Sadiq Khan as he endorses London Finance Commission report calling for greater tax-raising powers and freedom from Whitehall interference
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Council admits racially discriminating against two boys over Prevent toy gun referralEducation authority agrees to pay damages after school calls police over fears two brothers could be at risk of radicalisation
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The Guardian view on local government: put up or shut upEditorial: It is impossible to have decent public services on the cheap. So how should councils raise the cash?
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Is Surrey council taking a stand, or letting the Tories off the hook?Letters: David Hodge’s stance makes him an accessory to his party’s cuts, rather than a rebel against them
public servant: my letter to the public Park managers like me are a dying breed. No wonder our parks are in crisis