Former Transport Secretary, Lord Andrew Adonis, is to spearhead a probe of the £300million tri-borough councils in west London which could influence thinking on other shared services models across the UK. Lord Adonis will chair the Critical Friends Board alongside Professor Tony Travers, London School of Economics local government specialist, and Deb Lincoln, Senior Vice President at Warner Bros. 

Office buildings are increasingly being converted into residential space in the south of the UK finds the latest RICS UK Commercial Market Survey for Q2 2014. The Nationwide availability of commercial  property declined at fastest rate since series began in 1998 and the lack of stock is pushing investors away from prime location and into ‘B’ grade commercial investments. Report here

Planned infrastructure investment in the UK has now increased to £383 billion up to 2020 and beyond. The government’s National Infrastructure Pipeline 2014 has increased from more than £375 billion when it was last updated in December. More here