What does local government hope to get from the Spending Review?
From a a multi-year funding settlement to fixing the social care crisis, William Eichler explores what local government is hoping to hear on Wednesday.
Commission calls for funding re-set for local government
20/07/2021 Local government needs a ‘funding floor’, set at an agreed percentage of national income, a report on the future of the sector has said. |
Leeds council proposes nearly 200 job cuts
20/11/2020 Leeds City Council has warned that it might have to cut 199 full time posts in order to save £17.6m as it deal with the impact of the pandemic and austerity. |
Think tank calls for new health and social care tax
11/11/2020 A new health and social care tax raising £17bn should be the centrepiece of sweeping tax increases to raise £40bn a year, according to a new report from think-tank the Resolution Foundation. |
Luton forced into unavoidable cuts
17/06/2020 Luton BC’s boss has said the council has done all it can but has no other choice than to cut 365 jobs and frontline services. |
Youth service funding cut by 70% over decade
20/01/2020 A whole generation of young people have been ‘robbed’ of youth centres due to cuts, a union has warned. |
Campaigners call for more support for council-owned farms
16/12/2019 Campaigners have called on the new Government to stop the sale of council-owned county farms and to ‘give them a new purpose’. |
Decade of austerity sees dramatic drop in library spending
06/12/2019 Ten years of cuts to public services has seen a nearly 30% drop in library spending, new research has revealed. |
Party commitments on council funding ‘starkly’ different, think tank says
03/12/2019 Money allocated to local government in the Conservative manifesto would not be enough to meet rising costs over the next parliament, think tank says. |
Think tank calls for ‘devolution parliament’
20/11/2019 Think tank calls for the delivery of a ‘devolution parliament’ in order to address the economic, environmental and democratic challenges facing the UK. |
Shropshire Council warns of £6m overspend
20/11/2019 Shropshire Council has announced a spending freeze until the end of the year after warning that it faced a multi-million pound overspend. |
Half of local government workers worry about redundancy as a result of cuts
14/11/2019 Around 50% of local government workers worry that they could be made redundant by technological innovation or Government cuts, a survey has revealed. |
Caerphilly council agrees 7% council tax hike
14/11/2019 A county council in Wales has agreed a package of savings proposals which include a council tax increase of nearly 7%. |
Food bank use ‘shoots up’ by a quarter in one year
14/11/2019 The number of people using food banks has shot up by nearly a quarter in the last year, according to one of the main providers. |
Supporting evidence-based policymaking
17/10/2019 Andrew Carter explains how new guidance will help councils decide what services should be prioritised in the wake of swinging cuts. |
Treasury 'wasting money' in funding of local government
17/09/2019 The Treasury is wasting money in its funding of local government and needs to have a more place-based focus, according to a report from the respected Institute for Government (IfG) think-tank. |
Welsh ministers call for ‘end of austerity’
30/08/2019 Local government leaders across Wales have joined with ministers to call for an end to austerity. |
£5.2bn council funding gap is 'underestimate', says LGA
22/08/2019 The Local Government Association (LGA) will argue the sector faces a £5.2bn funding gap in 2020/21 despite believing figure is an underestimate. |
Local government cuts forcing children to grow up in poverty, Labour say
15/07/2019 Millions of children are growing up in poverty because of Whitehall cuts to council funding, Labour says after research reveals extent of childhood poverty. |
Next PM has ‘100 days’ to save local government
15/07/2019 A think tank has called on the next Prime Minister to announce a one year emergency local government finance settlement during their first 100 days in office. |
UC payment delays should be no more than a week, MPs say
11/07/2019 Two independent MPs have called for Universal Credit payments to begin within a week of registering for the benefit. |
Austerity creating ‘crisis of childhood’, charity warns
09/07/2019 Funding cuts mean support has been diverted away from early help services into protecting children at immediate risk of harm, council leaders have warned. |
Think tank calls for creation of ‘investment state’
03/07/2019 A think tank has called for an end to austerity and the creation of an ‘investment state’ to help boost economic growth. |
Crisis-hit Northants delivers balanced budget with £4.5m underspend
03/07/2019 Northamptonshire County Council yesterday announced it had delivered a balanced budget for this financial year with an underspend of £4.5m. |
Spending Review should put aside £3bn for children's services say MPs
30/04/2019 The Government needs to release at least £3bn of non-ring-fenced funding to local authorities to save children’s services from the ‘crisis’ they are in, MPs have said. |
Poll reveals ‘rising tide’ of pupil poverty
15/03/2019 A shocking new survey of headteachers has revealed that schools have become an ‘unofficial fourth emergency service’ for poor and vulnerable children. |
Austerity is gutting services ‘vital’ to women’s lives, report reveals
07/03/2019 Austerity has hit women the hardest with funding for women’s refuges, social care and youth and children’s services slashed, a new report has found. |
Spending Review ‘make or break’ for cash-strapped councils
11/02/2019 Local government leaders have warned the Chancellor that the upcoming Spending Review will ‘make or break’ over-stretched council services. |
Nearly £1bn cut from Scottish authorities in past eight years
05/02/2019 Funding cuts are finally beginning to take their toll as Scottish councils can no longer protect services, according to report published today. |
Anderson quits Northern Powerhouse Partnership in frustration
10/12/2018 Former chancellor George Osborne has voiced sympathy with Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson’s decision to quit the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. |
Council's 'core offer' still leaves £33m deficit
05/11/2018 East Sussex CC’s chief executive Becky Shaw has laid out a ‘core offer’ that could risk the council’s ‘ability to meet statutory guidance and deadlines’. |
EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs warning to May if austerity not lifted
17/10/2018 More councils face scaling back services to a minimum statutory offer if May reneges on her promise of ‘better times ahead,’ chief executives have warned. |
Whitehall must spend £19bn annually to end austerity
16/10/2018 Theresa May’s promise to bring an ‘end to austerity’ is incompatible with the chancellor’s aim of balancing the books by the mid-2020s, financial experts say. |
English councils undergoing harshest spending cuts
09/10/2018 English councils have been hit twice as hard by spending cuts compared to their Scottish and Welsh counterparts, according to a study published today. |
Unison calls for windfall tax on PFI corporations
19/02/2018 Trade union Unison has backed a Labour MP’s call for a windfall tax on private companies delivering public services. |
The end of the local government finance conundrum?
09/01/2018 Mark Whitehead examines why Thurrock Council is focusing on 'financial autonomy' in the wake of austerity. |
Council funding cuts restricting access to contraception
03/11/2017 One in three local authorities have reduced or plan to reduce the number of sites delivering contraceptive services in the last two years, FoI request reveals. |
Council staff told to take mandatory unpaid leave
02/11/2017 Northamptonshire County Council has told its staff they must take a day’s mandatory unpaid leave as part of an effort to save £2m a month. |
Council to axe 420 jobs to close budget gap
24/10/2017 Swindon council may have to axe over 400 jobs as it comes under pressure to close a £30m budget gap. |
Don’t ‘abandon’ austerity, free market think tank says
13/07/2017 ‘Abandoning austerity is no solution’, says free-market policy think tank amid calls to lift the public sector pay cap. |
Council ‘divide’ across UK
18/10/2016 Local authorities across the UK are increasingly divided into the ‘haves and the have nots’, according to a new report. |
Whitehall should use Brexit vote to end ‘failed austerity’, union leader urges
13/09/2016 The Government should use Brexit as an opportunity to ‘throw off the shackles of spending cuts’, UNISON general secretary says. |
Give local authorities the wherewithal to drive recovery
25/07/2016 Brakes have been applied to the austerity drive. Tiffany Cloynes, head of public services at Geldards LLP, considers what this means for local government. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
