VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Former Thurrock CFO issued with five-year ban
09/05/2025 In a historic first, the Financial Reporting Council has banned the former chief financial officer of Thurrock Council from working as a local government CFO. |
Ombudsman calls for more powers
22/11/2024 The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has called for it to be granted further powers to close ‘accountability gaps'. |
Watchdog should investigate Teesworks freeport, MPs say
26/04/2024 MPs have recommended that the National Audit Office (NAO) should investigate the finances of the controversial Teesworks regeneration project. |
Oflog should be handed audit oversight, MPs told
16/04/2024 Oflog should be handed oversight of England’s broken audit regime – a role earmarked for the Financial Reporting Council - accounting experts have told MPs. |
Councils should get traffic light grading, say accountants
04/04/2024 Oflog should grade councils using a traffic-light-style ranking system, chartered accountants have suggested. |
Finance watchdog launches Thurrock investigation
03/01/2024 The Financial Reporting Council has launched an investigation into the conduct of an unnamed accountant at Thurrock before it declared effective bankruptcy. |
Councils' readiness to adopt new accounting standards questioned
17/10/2023 Doubts have been raised over the readiness of local authorities to adopt international accounting standards. |
Auditors should push ahead with accounts sign off, says NAO head
06/06/2023 ‘Unpalatable but necessary options’ should be considered to clear the local audit backlog, the head of the National Audit Office suggested yesterday. |
Scottish council leaders and police strengthen collaboration
18/04/2023 Local authority leaders in Scotland have agreed four key priority areas to strengthen collaboration between local government and policing. |
Croydon pushes ahead with drive to hold former leaders to account
23/03/2023 Croydon LBC has announced ‘unprecedented action’ to hold ex-senior leaders to account for ‘misconduct, wrongdoing and failures in governance’. |
Cause of local authority audit delays ‘multi-faceted’
07/03/2023 Stakeholders in the local audit system must continue efforts to secure timely publication of audited accounts which are delayed for many reasons, says report. |
Levelling up committee launches local audit inquiry
03/03/2023 An inquiry into financial audit in local authorities has been launched to ensure councils are financially sustainable and remain accountable to residents. |
Investigator says 'heads must roll' after Croydon collapse
24/02/2023 An independent report into the reasons for the financial collapse of Croydon LBC that has finally been officially published has said ‘heads must roll’. |
Council benefits teams struggling, auditors warn
14/02/2023 People are waiting longer for housing benefit claims while Scotland’s councils face soaring workloads, fewer staff and high absence levels, auditors warn. |
Councils urged to draw on crisis management skills
24/05/2022 Scotland’s councils should draw on their COVID-19 experiences when handling the new challenges posed by service backlogs and rising inflation, watchdog says. |
DLUHC 'almost wilfully blind' to state of local government finances warn MPs
31/01/2022 A ‘chronic’ lack of funding for council services amid soaring demand means many communities face a ‘long slog’ out of the COVID-19 pandemic, MPs warned today. |
Local government auditing close to 'breaking point'
14/07/2021 The timeliness and quality of auditing local government spending is undermining accountability and effective spending decisions, a watchdog has warned today. |
Business cases - A necessary evil?
25/05/2021 Karen Smith argues why business cases should be embraced and explores how local authorities can make the process straightforward so they can focus upon the positive changes they are aiming for. |
Rapid review warns of 'serious failures' at Croydon Council
02/02/2021 A rapid review has uncovered 'significant failings in the leadership and management' at Croydon Council. |
IfG: Extend outsourcing reforms to councils
04/03/2020 Government reforms of outsourcing to avoid another Carillion collapse must be extended to local government where commercial skills lag behind Whitehall, a report from the Institute for Government (IfG) think-tank has said. |
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More than 200 local councils fail to publish audited accounts on time
05/02/2020 A third of town and community councils in Wales failed to publish their audited accounts on time, a report has warned today. |
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Council overspends £100k due to ‘poor financial management’
17/10/2019 A town council has been forced to withdraw most the money from its reserves to cover an overspend of £100,000, auditors have revealed. |
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Watchdog warns Public Service Boards must change to realise full potential
08/10/2019 Public Service Boards (PSBs) are not being used to their full potential or scrutinised properly, a new report has found today. |
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Council chiefs defend record of transparency in maintained schools
17/07/2019 Local authority leaders have hit back at a Government suggestion that academies are more transparent and accountable than council schools. |
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Lack of elections in Northamptonshire: An attack on local democracy?
10/05/2019 With a suggestion that local government reorganisation in Northamptonshire may not take place now until 2021, why were there no local elections in the county last week? Mark Whitehead investigates. |
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Watchdog calls for ‘fundamental change’ in Scottish councils
21/03/2019 Scottish councils need to change in order to address the growing gap between demand and resources, a local authority watchdog has warned. |
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Local authority business provision ‘lacks transparency’, MSPs say
20/02/2019 Scottish MSPs have criticised a local authority provision that helps businesses grow for lacking ‘transparency, accountability and alignment’. |
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Brokenshire in shared prosperity fund threat
15/11/2018 Communities secretary James Brokenshire has threatened to withhold the shared prosperity fund (SPF) from areas that fail to remove local enterprise partnership (LEP) overlaps. |
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Council threw £40m 'down the drain' in flawed Stadium investment
18/07/2018 An independent review has criticised Newham Council for investing £40m into the London Stadium, warning the decision was ‘flawed’. |
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Report scathing on public sector accountability
23/04/2018 Britain’s system of public sector accountability is failing to keep up with the realities of modern government, a think-tank has warned. |
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Ombudsman warns councils not to outsource responsibility
14/03/2018 Councils have been urged by the local government ombudsman to keep a ‘robust oversight’ of external contractors to ensure accountability is not lost. |
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Report demands new accountability powers for local government
26/02/2018 Academics have demanded a raft of tools to enable local government to hold to account the ‘chaotic network’ of agencies involved in providing public services. |
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Welsh councils must improve financial management, auditors say
26/01/2018 Local authorities in Wales need to improve the governance and financial management arrangements they have in place, Auditor concludes. |
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Welsh councils face accounting ‘challenges’ warns auditor
09/03/2017 Local government bodies in Wales ‘face challenges’ to improve and produce their accounts to meet statutory deadlines, auditor says. |
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Councils accused of ‘bending the rules’ on balance sheets
17/02/2017 Councils are trying to hide the dire state of their finances by 'bending the rules' on their balance sheets, finance chief Rob Whiteman has claimed. |
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Deadline is looming for local government auditor appointments
06/02/2017 Stephen Sellers explains the three main routes that local government can take when appointing an auditor and provides guidance on what authorities must do to comply with the regulations. |
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Welsh community councils receiving ‘worrying’ amount of qualified audit opinions
31/01/2017 Too many Welsh community councils are receiving ‘avoidable’ qualified audit opinions, auditors say. |
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LEPs must be more transparent, says pressure group
20/12/2016 There should be more transparency in how taxpayers’ money is spent by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), pressure group urges. |
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MPs call for clarity over ‘high-risk’ devolution strategy
19/12/2016 The Government has failed to clearly define its objectives for devolution in England and must improve transparency about where taxpayers money is going, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) says. |
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Taxpayers denied full access to information on public spending
27/09/2016 The taxpayer is being prevented from fully scrutinising the way public funds are spent, anti-corruption group warns. |
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MPs warn devolution deals 'lack transparency'
01/07/2016 The government’s approach to devolution, including timetabling, accountability and transparency, have come under fire today in a new report from MPs. |
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Government looks to 'streamline' lending to local authorities
12/05/2016 The Government has pledged to modernise lending to local authorities, and has begun consultation on transferring the powers of the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) to the Treasury. |
