Bob Neill MP

Opposition to reforms in the planning laws is driven by the left and represents groups "picking a fight with the Government", according to a minister. Planning minister Bob Neil has accused the opposition of a "smear campaign" against him in an interview with the Telegraph.

Coalition revelations on the number of council ‘non-jobs’ has been slammed by the Local Government Association, who have told PoliticsHome the Government has manipulated its figures.

"These distorted figures fail to acknowledge that the three million employed in local government includes teachers, police forces, and all of their civilian staff. The actual number employed by town halls is less than half that, at 1.4 million,” a spokesman said.

"This slapdash analysis fails to acknowledge the huge savings that these members of staff bring to the work of their councils, ensuring that hardworking people get value for the taxes they pay."

Around 180,000 more people are employed by local authorities now than there were in 1997 after an "explosion" in "crazy non-jobs", the Government has claimed.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: “These figures reveal the explosion in town hall jobs and bureaucracy under Labour and reinforce the need for some councils to start cutting out middle management."

Local Government Minister Bob Neill has hit out at councils over the build-up of rubbish during December, saying people might "wonder if their council views the rubbish collection as just a favour, not a right". Some areas have not seen a collection in four weeks.

Local government minister Bob Neill has said he is "disappointed" that councils around the UK did not have better plans to deal with the build-up of rubbish over the Christmas period. Mr Neill's comments come in the wake of revelations that some councils left rubbish for as long as four weeks before it was collected.

A scheme to allow fire and rescue workers to respond more quickly to emergencies has been scrapped, despite the government having spent over £230 million on the project. Fire minister Bob Neill confirmed a deal had been reached with the contractor to terminate the contract.

The Fire Brigade Union has called off tonight's Bonfire Night strike in London. General secretary Matt Wrack said there had been progress in talks with London Fire Brigade over changes to firefighters' shift patterns, with staff no longer at risk of the sack for not agreeing to the measures.

The Fire Brigade Union has called off tomorrow evening's strike in London. General secretary Matt Wrack said there had been progress in talks with London Fire Brigade over changes to firefighters' shift patterns, with staff no longer at risk of the sack for not agreeing to the measures, while fire minister Bob Neill said he was "glad sense has prevailed" in the dispute. Mr Wrack told Newsnight his union had never intended to endanger the public and had been told by Boris Johnson that contingency plans were in place.