Councils

MoD tells 700 residents near Olympic site they will be safer with missiles on top of their east London building.

A London council is criticised after contacting housing associations in other parts of the country to see if they will take private tenants whose high rents are not covered by housing benefit.

As streamlined planning advice is unveiled, Labour says the move will lead to planning chaos while environmentalists warn of a building "free-for-all".

More than four out of five local authorities are freezing council tax bills in April - but many people will still pay more because of charges levied by other bodies.

Union leaders are threatening industrial action, after local authorities said 1.6 million council workers are to be hit by a pay freeze for the third year in a row.

The government has overturned three of the seven amendments to its welfare bill proposed by the House of Lords last week. Further votes, including one on a benefits cap, are due later today.

As the government warns that local authorities have "a moral duty" to freeze council tax, Channel 4 New hears from the housing minister and a Conservative council leader who disagrees with him.

Labour accuses the government of a "stealth tax" on the elderly and disabled, as new figures reveal a stark rise in the cost of social care services and major disparities in costs across the country.

The Local Government Association releases a list of the most unusual freedom of information requests - but is the cost of freedom too high?