The leaders of churches in the Black Country are calling on local people to make sure they vote in May’s local elections. Black Country Churches Engaged, which wants people to see voting as a responsibility as well as a right, has also issued a list of questions it wants voters to think about. 

A joint initiative by Liverpool City Council and the local Primary Care Trust will see every secondary school in the city getting 10,000 pounds to improve school food and the dining rooms in which it is served. The payments are part of a two million pound campaign to promote better health and tackle the rise of obesity in school children.
The council and the PCT hope giving the money to schools will encourage more children to have school meals by making the food more nutritious and tasty. 

This report from Communities and Local Government seeks to promote the practice of ‘benchmarking’ across local government. By comparing the costs of standard business processes such as handling a council tax payment or a planning application, across a number of councils, it is possible to identify potential areas for making efficiency savings.