Breaking down England's fiscal devolution plans
David Phillips of the IFS tells LocalGov why England's regional finance reforms are modest by global comparison and what ministers still need to get right.
£5bn assets ‘up for grabs’ says report
A Birmingham conference next week will look at how councils can make better use of property assets to release up to £5bn in current land holdings.
The event follows the publication in April of a joint report between accountants Deloittes and the Urban Land Institute, which claimed councils were sitting on a massive bank of underused property.
Pressure on authorities to reduce council tax and a looming Comprehensive Spending Review next year could put pressure on councils to undertake a review of land they hold, and property they occupy.
The report, Ten principals for creating value from local government property, could act as ‘a catalyst for regeneration in the local community’, said Andrea Carpenter, managing director of the Urban Land Institute’s Centre for Regeneration and Sustainability.
For Deloitte, co-author of the report, Paul Stephen, said: ‘Requirements for local authorities to prepare annual asset-management plans have started to raise the corporate profile of property.
‘To date, these plans have generally been better at diagnosing liabilities than at identifying funded solutions.’
