Labour have gained 85 seats in UK councils following yesterday’s local elections in 164 local authorities.
Results already declared give Labour new overall control of  councils in Liverpool, Coventry, Doncaster and Enfield, and show an improvement of 85 seats on previous elections among the 56 seats already declared.
So far, the Conservatives are the single party to have lost most, dropping 26 seats, and losing overall control of four councils. The Liberal Democrats have lost seven seats.
Among the councils still yet to announce their results, Labour are expected to show the most …

Labour has promised to invest in seaside towns beyond 2011 via the Regional Development Agencies if it wins the election.
Yesterday, the party launched its Seaside Manifesto, which promises to  invest in infrastructure such as piers and educational buildings via RDAs beyond 2011, when its current Sea Change investment programme ends. It would also give regional ministers a new duty to promote their seaside towns.
Labour says the Conservatives’ plan to scrap RDAs would threaten key regeneration schemes in towns such as Blackpool (pictured).
The manifesto states that £220m invested  by the North …

The Conservatives would give London mayor Boris Johnson more control over property and development in the capital if David Cameron’s party wins the general election on Thursday.
The Tories have also today confirmed plans to introduce mayors to 12 major UK cities, while giving Johnson responsibility for the £1.1bn budget of the London Homes and Communities Agency.
A spokesperson said: “We think Boris has worked well in London, and we think it would be beneficial to have the same kind of structure elsewhere.”
The pledge builds on an idea suggested by the Conservatives …

The Conservatives would consider listing Bath’s entire city centre if they won power at the general election, shadow arts secretary Ed Vaizey has told Property Week.
Vaizey said the Tories would look at giving Bath “iconic status”, which would prevent development of high-rise or office blocks near historic buildings.
He said the party would test the policy on the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament and large-scale cathedrals first.
The idea is a reaction to Unesco’s threat in 2009 to remove Bath’s world heritage status because of the city’s Western Riverside development.
The …

The Labour Party has published a list of 750 schools it says would miss out on refurbishment if the Conservatives took power.
Schools in 90 local authorities which are negotiating capital funds under the government’s £45bn Building Schools for the Future programme could lose out under the Tories, according to Labour.
A further fifty further councils are on the waiting list for the programme but have not yet begun tendering.
Conservative shadow education minister Nick Gibb has previously warned that schools which haven’t yet reached financial close on projects could be axed by …

The Conservative party has appointed an advisory group of property big-hitters including Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt, Peter Nears, strategic planning director of Peel, and BPF chief Liz Peace.
The group of planning and property bosses, which is also understood to include representatives from the House Builders Federation, the Planning Officers Society, and RICS,  met for the first time on 6 April, after being invited by shadow secretary of state for Communities and Local Government Caroline Spelman.
The panel was appointed to give expert advice on the Conservatives’ promise to devolve …

Half a million public sector jobs are set to be cut by 2015, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has said.
Today, the CIPD published its Election 2010 briefing on the economy and jobs, which says a 10% reduction of the 5.8 million-strong public sector workforce by 2015 was a “reasonable expectation.” Cuts will fall predominantly in back-office functions such as HR, IT, and property according to the CIPD.
It says no political party had fully addressed the need to cut public spending, and that more realistic numbers of job losses …

Public sector workers could take home bonuses for making savings such as property efficiencies, under new plans unveiled by the Conservatives.
On Saturday, the Tories published their Invitation to Public Sector Workers, a manifesto that promises to give 5 million people working in the public sector more power over the services they deliver.
The Conservatives say they want public officers to be able to bid to create co-operative enterprises, which would they could run independently and with more freedom.
They say co-operatives that find efficiencies would be able to pay themselves bonuses out …

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg last night accused Labour and the Conservatives of attempting to save on “paperclips and potplants in Whitehall” with their plans to cut the public deficit.
Speaking on ITV1 in the UK’s first ever leaders’ debate ahead of the General Election on 6 May, Clegg said his party’s £15bn a year plan to cut the £167bn deficit was the only viable savings pledge in any of the parties’ manifestos.
He said the £6bn cuts proposed by the Conservatives, which could include vacating 10% of central government office space …

The Royal Town Planning Institute today urged the next government to “build on the strong foundations” of the existing planning system instead of overhauling it.
Launching the RTPI’s manifesto, policy and practice chair Martin Willey said the existing planning system was world class and it should be expanded on.
This would go against Conservative plans to introduce sweeping reforms to the planning system, such as giving local people more power and abolishing Regional Spatial Strategies and building targets.
“Our town and country planning system is respected around the world for the
way in which …