Addressing regional inequalities
Andrew Borland, Chief Innovation Officer at the Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC), University of Liverpool discusses the importance of levelling up for growth.
Auditors concerned by slow transformation
27/03/2024 Scotland’s Accounts Commission is ‘extremely concerned’ by slow transformation at Moray Council, which faces a £31m deficit despite years of warnings. |
40% of councils face ‘financial failure’
15/01/2024 Two in five councils in England could see their reserves drop to less than 5% of their net revenue expenditure within the next five years, new study finds. |
Welsh councils face £750m shortfall
25/10/2023 Local government finances in Wales are on an ‘unsustainable path’, according to a report from Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre. |
DCN in cuts warning
24/10/2023 Cultural services, community support and parks and green spaces are all at risk of cuts without a boost to the local government finance settlement, respondents to a District Councils’ Network (DCN) survey have warned. |
Council to limit non-essential spending amid s114 threat
28/09/2023 Windsor & Maidenhead BC is to limit all non-essential spending as it raised the risk of a section 114. |
Nine councils in section 114 warning
25/08/2023 Nine councils within the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities (Sigoma) have warned they could issue a section 114 notice by 2025. |
Reserves 'critical' at Middlesbrough
16/08/2023 ‘Critically low’ levels of reserves have left Middlesbrough Council in danger of issuing a section 114 notice. |
BCP Council in bankruptcy warning
14/08/2023 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has warned tough budget decisions are needed if the council is to avoid bankruptcy. |
Council urged to address low reserves
12/06/2023 Senior managers at Eastbourne BC must address the council’s low levels of reserves given current cost pressures within sector, an LGA-led review has warned. |
EXCLUSIVE: ‘It’s time for a new Audit Commission’
12/04/2023 An ex-senior mandarin has today called for a new Audit Commission as The MJ reveals the draft metrics the Government is considering for its new watchdog. |
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. |
One in six councils at risk of running out of money next year
06/10/2022 One in six councils in England could run out of money as early as next year without further budget cuts or additional income, new research has warned today. |
Council reserves grow by £10bn in past year
02/02/2022 The amount held in local authority reserves in England has increased to £29bn this year from £19bn in 2019/20, the latest figures shows. |
LEP 'at risk' over funding uncertainty
08/11/2021 The Marches Local Enterprise Partnership has warned it has reached 'crisis point' after only receiving half the funds promised from the Government so far this year. |
Powys' savings off target
01/11/2021 Powys CC’s savings plans are 22% off target more than halfway through the financial year, senior councillors have been warned. |
Sunak urged to tackle backlogs in public services or face greater costs
19/10/2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak must swiftly invest in public services hit hardest by the pandemic or face much greater costs down the line, a report has warned. |
‘Wholesale improvements’ required at Slough
10/05/2021 External auditors have issued a scathing report on financial management at Slough BC. |
Lambeth to reimburse £27m of water bills
06/05/2021 The decision follows years of legal wrangling over charges collected on behalf of Thames Water. |
Over half of councils face financial failure without spending review funding increase
23/11/2020 Half of English councils will be at risk of financial failure if the spending review just provides a ‘rollover’ of funding levels from this year for 2021/22, new analysis has warned today. |
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Councils facing £2bn budget black hole
18/08/2020 Councils face a budget black hole of £2bn this year due to unfunded coronavirus costs, a new study has found. |
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Eight in ten councils can't meet Covid-19 costs, report warns
24/06/2020 More than eight out of ten upper tier councils in England do not have enough money to cover the extra costs and reduced income caused by coronavirus, a report has warned today. |
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IFS urges government to relax the rules on council finance amid crisis
22/06/2020 Finance experts have called on the Government to temporarily relax rules that prevent councils borrowing to cover day-to-day spending as they deal with the coronavirus crisis. |
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Combined authority 'spending reserves like it's going out of fashion'
17/06/2020 Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s chief executive has expressed doubts about whether his region would be able to cope with a second wave of coronavirus infections. |
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CIPFA resilience index shows just 10% of councils are at financial risk
15/12/2019 The ‘majority of councils’ are not showing signs of major financial stress, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has claimed. |
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Council reserves increase by £2bn over past year
23/08/2019 Local authorities have been commended for ‘managing their finances well’ after new figures reveal that the sector’s reserve fund has increased by £2bn. |
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Reserves are not the answer
13/09/2018 Overall council reserve levels have seen a surprising increase in the past year, but this has not been felt evenly across the sector, says Paul Dossett. |
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Somerset confident it will not follow Northamptonshire into bankruptcy
21/05/2018 Somerset County Council faces 'a very challenging position' and could run out of money within a year unless it takes action, according to a financial review. |
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Crisis-hit county manages to balance its books
09/05/2018 Northamptonshire County Council has balanced the books for 2017/2018 and end the financial year without using all of its reserves. |
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Watchdog warns of 'serious concerns' over Clackmannanshire's finances
25/01/2018 Scotland's smallest mainland council must take ‘decisive action’ to find nearly £30m in savings over the next three years, auditors say. |
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Local government told to boost reserves
13/09/2017 Should councils ignore government pressure to trim down their cash reserves? Sam Clayden investigates. |
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Cash reserves unable to meet cost of voluntary mergers, warns CIPFA
13/04/2017 Councils will be unable to cover the costs of voluntary mergers in Wales using their reserves, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance (CIPFA) has warned. |
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Scottish councils facing financial shortfalls warns watchdog
29/11/2016 Councils in Scotland have managed their finances well but face big challenges ahead, spending watchdogs have warned. |
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Thanet defends financial record despite ‘signicant risks’ from low reserves
18/11/2016 Thanet council defended ‘record of sound financial management’, despite budget report warning the council faces ‘signficant risks’ because of low reserves. |
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County warns its reserves will be gone in two years
27/09/2016 Lancashire County Council is not financially sustainable and would have spent all its reserves by 2018/19, a new report has warned. |
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Councils not using reserves should be ‘exposed’ says union
12/07/2016 Councils should be held accountable for their use of cash reserves and track how money is being utilised, according to trade union Unite. |
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Councils’ spending hits new low
06/07/2016 Councils’ spending in England will fall by 1% in 2016-17 (£0.9bn) according to official figures, raising concerns over the financial resilience of local authorities. |
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Councils to use £1.9bn from reserves to fund services
30/06/2016 Councils are planning to use £1.9bn of their cash reserves in the next financial year, according to official figures. |
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County to invest £10m in road surfacing project
20/05/2016 Suffolk County Council has agreed to use £10m from its reserves to fund three million square metres of new road surfacing. |
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Unison debate notion of ‘no-cuts budgets’
18/02/2016 A local government union has denied backing no-cuts budgets despite its members voting to use reserves and prudential borrowing to plug funding gaps. |
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Local government finance in a ‘mess’ warns survey
18/02/2016 Nearly nine in ten councils will have to increase council tax and start charging for services in a bid to balance the books, according to the results of a new survey. |
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Council chiefs lash out at ‘misleading’ reserves figure
19/11/2015 Reports that councils have more than £22bn in cash reserves have been slammed as ‘hugely misleading’ by council leaders. |
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Reserves already allocated for use by councils, shows survey
01/07/2015 The majority of councils have already earmarked their cash reserves for specific purposes, new research 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.
