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The Local Government Association annual conference in Bournemouth witnessed minister Eric Pickles questioning whether it was right to have separate council chief executives and executive leaders doubling up on work.

Chris Haselden, director of human resources at Devon and Cornwall Police, said the freeze on recruitment was necessary to combat the "unprecedented financial pressures now placed on the public sector.” He said: "While the full extent of the financial savings the Government is imposing for future years will not be known until the autumn, we do know that our position for the current financial years requires us to act n

Police and council chiefs have launched a campaign in Southampton to tell people that crime in the city is much lower than what they perceive it to be. Recorded figures show a dramatic 31 per cent fall in violent crime in the city centre at night time.

Senior military officers face a cull under plans to cut costs and make the Ministry of Defence "leaner", Defence Secretary Liam Fox has said. Dr Fox commented that the MoD’s backroom operations would have to shrink to ensure frontline troops got all the equipment and support they needed. He indicated that top brass and civil servant numbers would be reduced to help tackle a £37 billion black hole in the department’s finances.

The Government is bidding to shut down the Audit Commission by 2012/2013 as a cost-cutting measure, as explained by Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles. He said: "I want to see the Commission’s auditing function become independent of Government, competing for future audit business from the public and private sector.

Portsmouth FC have survived a High Court challenge from the taxman that could have resulted in the club facing liquidation. Pompey were docked nine points for becoming the first Premier League club to go into administration and were relegated to the Championship at the end of last season.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is worried about more job cuts in government departments – this time in the Welsh Assembly economy office, which is to shed at least 250 posts. Plans are that the reductions will be mainly by early retirement, voluntary redundancy and transfers to other departments.

Police are warning residents with expensive cars to watch out as a young couple were burgled while they slept and woke to hear their £50,000 car being driven off their driveway. It is one of a series of high performance vehicles recently being stolen from outside homes across Southampton.

The Portsmouth-based firm which trains the Royal Navy’s personnel is facing a vote on strike action over pay. The Prospect trade union said it intends to ballot around 200 of its members working for VT Flagship. The dispute concerns a pay freeze, which was imposed on all employees following record company profits.

The penalties for companies which do not comply with rules on the national minimum wage, enforced by HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs), are severe. As from April 2009, if HMRC finds you have underpaid the national minimum wage it will issue a notice of underpayment. This will show the arrears you must pay to your workers and the penalty you must pay to HMRC. The penalty is 50 per cent of the total underpayment that has occurred from April 6, 2009.

The jobs of thousands of navy workers are under threat because the force is preparing to cut its auxiliary staff, and because of the nation’s deficit. At a meeting in Portsmouth, employees were told the entire Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) could be replaced by private workers and vessels. The RFA flotilla is the supply lifeline of the navy, delivering fuel, food, stores and ammunition to warships.

The Football World Cup 2010 begins this weekend – but firms warned there would be no leniency towards those throwing sickies to watch games. Organisations and companies in Plymouth said it would be "business as usual" during the next month.