Call for evidence boost in local economic policy
Schools face losing over £1bn, think tank warns
Council parking income set to top £2bn
Lib Dems pledge to scrap business rates
Navigating the great LGPS investment reset
Tom Pilcher, director in Redington's Investment Consulting team, looks at the Government’s ambitions for the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
Council tax total set to exceed £57bn
19/02/2024 The total amount raised from council tax is now expected to exceed £57.4bn by 2028, more than double the 2009 figure of £25.3bn, new analysis reveals. |
Councils set to receive £500m boost
24/01/2024 The Government is expected to announce an extra £500m in funding as part of the 2024-25 local government finance settlement. |
Over 8m families receive cost-of-living support
25/04/2023 Over eight million low-income families are set to receive £301 cost-of-living payment from today. |
Khan announces £875k to tackle extremism
12/04/2023 Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced an £875,000 investment to support community projects tackling extremism across the capital. |
West Midlands Combined Authority sets out £1.1bn budget
13/02/2023 The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has set out a £1.1bn budget which it says includes major investments to cut carbon while delivering growth. |
London CIV backs Shell legal battle
10/02/2023 A lawsuit against energy giant Shell’s directors has been backed by a key local government pensions organisation. |
Lancashire County Council is set to pass its first £1bn budget
10/02/2023 Members have been told that the current financial outlook was ‘generally positive thanks to careful management’. |
Public sector pension funds call for ‘Say on Climate’ vote
09/02/2023 Public sector pension funds have written to all FTSE listed companies requesting that they give shareholders a vote on plans for reducing emissions. |
London councils collaborating to avoid ‘bidding wars’
09/02/2023 The capital's councils are collaborating more than ever to avoid the costs of expensive agency staff for children’s social care, according to London Councils. |
Treasury tightens grip over DLUHC spending
08/02/2023 New capital projects by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will now have to be approved by the Treasury. |
Eurovision Song Contest host owes council over £7m
08/02/2023 ACC Liverpool Group, the company that runs the host venue for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, owes the city council £7.1m. |
Holyrood accused of ‘massive contradiction’ over cuts
08/02/2023 Scottish council leaders have accused the Edinburgh government of cutting their funding while at the same time forcing them to provide extra services. |
Eastleigh finance review to start
07/02/2023 The Government has commissioned a review of Eastleigh BC’s finances to start this week after concerns over its debt levels. |
Tax referendum threshold raised for three councils
06/02/2023 Thurrock, Croydon and Slough will be allowed to increase council tax beyond the referendum limits imposed on others, the Government has confirmed. |
Councils ‘in the dark’ about public health funding
06/02/2023 Vital frontline services, such as drug and alcohol treatment, are at risk of being cut unless Government announces public health funding for next year. |
'Progress falls short' at Nottingham
02/02/2023 Nottingham City Council has been too slow in turning around its finances, according to the team charged with overseeing its recovery. |
Council brands £500,000 vandalism bill ‘disappointing’
02/02/2023 A repair bill to deal with vandalism at public buildings totalling nearly £500,000 has been branded as ‘disappointing’ by Aberdeen City Council. |
Unions call for ‘inflation-busting’ 12.7% pay rise
01/02/2023 Three public sector unions have submitted a pay claim that calls for an above inflation 12.7% pay rise for council employees and school staff. |
Khan condemns system of ‘begging’ for levelling up cash
31/01/2023 London mayor Sadiq Khan has accused the Government of forcing councils to waste money bidding for cash as part of the ‘levelling up’ policy. |
Nearly 70% rise in households struggling with costs
30/01/2023 A think tank has renewed calls for the Government to help people struggling with rising housing costs. |
Thurrock Council requests over £182m to stabilise services
30/01/2023 Trouble-torn Thurrock Council has requested £182.5m in Government support over the next year to shore up its services. |
Council chiefs admit local audit 'in crisis'
25/01/2023 Levelling Up officials must work closely with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and town halls to improve local audit delivery, spending watchdogs warn. |
Council calls for housing benefits funding review
20/01/2023 Councillors at Telford and Wrekin Council have called for an urgent review of the Government’s funding provision for housing benefits. |
Cash-strapped council seeks to sell number plate to popstar
19/01/2023 East Renfrewshire Council hopes to sell a rare number plate to the global pop superstar Harry Styles in an attempt to reduce its £30m budget gap. |
Ministers pressed over refugee funding cuts
17/01/2023 MPs have questioned the rationale behind Government cuts to funding for refugees. |
Holyrood accused of ‘confusing’ council funding claims
16/01/2023 Local authority leaders in Scotland have accused the Scottish government of ‘confusing’ the public over local government spending and called for ‘clarity’. |
Local government spending up fifth year running
13/01/2023 Total spending by local authorities in England has continued to rise steadily over the last five years according to the latest statistics. |
Scotland's councils face toughest spending choices in years, says watchdog
12/01/2023 Scottish councils face their most difficult spending choices in years, according to the official watchdog. |
Council finances 'sustainable', MPs told
12/01/2023 No more councils are expected to issue any warnings that they cannot balance their books in the next few weeks, MPs have heard. |
MPs urge HMRC to up game
10/01/2023 HMRC is failing to collect billions of pounds of tax it is owed each year that could have helped further fund local public services, MPs have warned. |
DLUHC: No more section 114 notices expected
10/01/2023 Whitehall officials are not expecting councils to issue further section 114 notices in the coming weeks, crediting the sector’s ‘positive’ settlement. |
Domestic abuse fund gets £18m boost
10/01/2023 Up to £18m per year over two years is set to go towards the next phase of the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Intervention Fund, the Home Office has announced. |
Household Support Fund should be permanent, council chiefs say
09/01/2023 The Government should make the Household Support Fund it has provided to councils permanent to help with the cost-of-living crisis, council leaders say. |
Councils spend millions on levelling up bids, new figures show
06/01/2023 Councils in England have spent at least £27 million producing bids for levelling up funding, according to new research. |
Thurrock plans job vacancies savings
05/01/2023 Thurrock Council is planning to save money by not filling some job vacancies |
Brown to ask Government to bypass referendum limit
05/01/2023 The chief executive of troubled Slough Council is preparing to ask the Government for permission to increase council tax above the 5% legal limit. |
Councils to receive share of £654m homelessness fund
23/12/2022 Local authorities are set to receive their share of a £654m funding package aimed at tackling homelessness over the next two years. |
Solar farms assets sale look set to benefit debt-hit council
22/12/2022 A debt-ridden council is likely to recover a significant part of the hundreds of millions of pounds it provided to an insolvent solar farms business. |
Nottingham bids to close £11m budget gap
21/12/2022 Nottingham City Council has introduced spending controls as the authority attempts to rein in an overspend of more than £11m. |
Reserves grow to £31bn, resilience index reveals
21/12/2022 The 2022 edition of CIPFA’s Resilience Index reveals that councils’ reserves have grown to £31bn, up from £29bn in 2020/21. |
South Hams council to double council tax on second homes
21/12/2022 Second home owners in the South Hams area of Devon will soon have to pay double the council tax amount for the area. |
District concern in wake of finance settlement
20/12/2022 Concern over funding for districts has been voiced following the announcement of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2023-24. |
Section 114 notice issued for Thurrock
20/12/2022 Thurrock Council’s interim director of finance, Jonathan Wilson, has issued a section 114 notice as the authority faces a £470m in-year funding gap. |
Adoption saved councils £3.6bn, study shows
16/12/2022 At least £3.6bn in value was generated for councils across England, Wales and Scotland in 2021 when over 3,300 children were adopted, research reveals. |
Bradford Council faces £58m extra costs
15/12/2022 A combination of inflation and rises in the national living wage means that Bradford Council is facing an extra £58m of costs next year. |
London losing out on levelling up funding, says Mayor
15/12/2022 London is losing out on hundreds of millions of pounds of levelling up funding despite having some of the most deprived areas in the country, Mayor Khan says. |
Leicestershire County Council to cut 250 jobs
15/12/2022 Leicestershire County Council has warned that it will have to cut around 250 posts over the next four years if it is to balance its budget. |
‘Difficult decisions’ ahead despite £400m settlement boost
14/12/2022 Councils in Wales have warned ‘difficult decisions’ on spending remain despite receiving an 8% increase in funding from the Welsh government. |
Districts push for council tax flexibility
12/12/2022 Districts are pushing the Government to allow them to increase council tax by more than 3% or £5 without a referendum. |
Gove unveils 'blueprint' for council spending
12/12/2022 All councils will see a 3% increase in spending for the next financial year, a central government ‘blueprint’ for spending has revealed. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.
