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Exclusives

Explore a selection of exclusive reports from national and regional newspapers, and trade magazines

HR Magazine •

JLR cuts hundreds of UK jobs: Lessons in handling voluntary redundancies - HR Magazine

Jaguar Land Rover’s plan to axe up to 500 management jobs in the UK should remind employers about their duties surrounding voluntary redundancies, HR commentators have said.

Leaders of the British luxury car manufacturer announced that about 1.5% of its staff in the UK would be affected by job cuts as part of a voluntary redundancy round for managers, Sky News reported yesterday (17 July).
Press Gazette •

Google 'handling stolen goods' with Youtube theft of paywalled news articles

Youtube channels are using AI to steal words and photographs from paywalled news content and reproduce articles wholesale without the consent of publishers.

The practice has been highlighted by freelance journalist Rob McGibbon after a first-person account of his estrangement from his late father written for the Daily Mail was lifted wholesale and reproduced by the Youtube Channel: “The World News.” Youtube is part of Google, which made at least £20bn in UK advertising revenue last year.
Birmingham Dispatch •

Rachel is a victim of domestic violence. Why won’t West Midlands Police help her?

Funny and full of affection was how Rachel* first described her new romance. She met her new partner, Steve*, in 2005 at work and a year later began a relationship. She says he was an inveterate teller of jokes. “He was so funny and so quick off the mark,” she said. “I was happy to have met him”.

They married in 2007. Rachel was pregnant with their first son, and believed they had developed a strong bond. Within a year of the marriage, however, the relationship deteriorated. “He started drinking heavily and had become increasingly aggressive and abusive,” she said. “This was behaviour he had never previously exhibited with me.”
Big Issue •

Solving the housing crisis with £50,000, eco-friendly tiny homes

Tiny homes may be the next fix for the UK’s housing crisis – and university students from across the country are joining forces to bring them to a town and city near you.

Homefolk, a youth-led social enterprise, was first set up in 2021 to find a sustainable solution to the housing crisis. Over 30 students from the University of Sheffield, the University of Glasgow and Queen Mary University of London will begin work to create affordable and sustainable ‘tiny home villages’ in urban areas.
Big Issue •

Just 5% of private rentals in London are affordable to low-income earners

London is home to an estimated 2.7 million private renters – around 30% of the capital’s population. More than 400,000 private renters in London – approximately one in seven – rely on LHA to cover their housing costs.

The loss of privately rented homes makes it harder for boroughs to prevent and relieve homelessness, including through using such properties as temporary accommodation.
Birmingham Live •

Patrick Harley facing calls to quit as Dudley council leader after scandals

Labour’s opposition leader for Dudley council, Qadar Zada, has called on Patrick Harley, the leader of council, to resign over several scandals in the Black Country borough.

Councillor Zada spoke to the (LDRS) today after Dudley council made a self-referral to the regulator for social housing as council officers discovered there are no complete record of safety checks within the borough's housing stock - estimated to be 21,500.
Birmingham Live •

Liam Byrne MP refuses to apologise for using taxpayers' money for mayor campaign

A Birmingham MP refused to apologise three times during his inaugural lecture for using taxpayers' money to help fund a failed mayoral campaign.

In a video filmed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Liam Byrne MP, who represents Birmingham Hodge Hill, was asked three times to apologise to taxpayers' for the misuse of public money.

It comes after a parliamentary investigation upheld a complaint against Mr Byrne for using expenses on his failed bid to become West Midlands mayor.
Birmingham Live •

£40 million spent on 'failing' IT system at Birmingham city council

An ambitious IT and HR system used by Birmingham city council has cost the taxpayer £40 million and has been overrun by years of delays, technical difficulties, and rising costs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has learned.

A contract between the council and Oracle - the world's leading database management company specialising in cloud-based systems - was set to go live in April 2022 to help the council streamline payments across its public services.
Birmingham Live •

Leaked report says Dudley council 'lost' £400,000 on French conference

Dudley council is found to have overspent its budget and could have lost as much as £400,000 of taxpayers' money to attend a global property conference in France, according to a leaked document seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) .

The 97-page document bundle titled: 'Review of arrangements for DMBC MIPM delegation 2019-23' suggests the council had calculated an initial budget of £85,000 for senior officers - including the chief executive, Kevin O'Keefe, and the leader of council Patrick Harley - to attend MIPM
Birmingham Live •

Public apology for assault of blogger made by Sandwell councillor

A Labour councillor has apologised for his conduct after a committee found him to have brought Sandwell council into disrepute following an assault on a blogger.

But the victim of the assault - a citizen journalist - interrupted the apology and later said he would be making a further complaint.

Councillor Steve Melia, who represents with Yew Tree, made the four minute apology last night (January 31) as the last item to be discussed during Sandwell council's full council meeting.
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