10 ways councils are making budgets go further
Discover 10 ways councils are stretching budgets further, from digital transformation and energy efficiency to community partnerships and data-driven decision-making.
Autumn Budget Insights: SEND reform needed to break vicious cycle
20/10/2025 Darcey Snape of the IFS warns that without urgent SEND reform, councils face growing deficits and families risk being let down. |
LGA: Costs pushing many to financial brink
17/10/2025 Emergency government bailout agreements for councils are at risk of becoming ‘normalised’ as costs outstrip available resources and push many to the financial brink, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned ahead of the Budget. |
England’s councils face poorest finances since 2010
16/10/2025 Local authorities in England are set to be poorer by the end of this parliament than they were in 2010, according the Institute for Government (IfG). |
Autumn Budget Insights: The local government balancing act
16/10/2025 Jonathan Werran, chief executive of Localis, explores how the Chancellor’s fiscal choices could shape local growth and investment for years to come. |
Labour MPs urge Chancellor to scrap ‘outdated’ council tax system
15/10/2025 Thirteen Labour MPs have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to abolish council tax, arguing that the current system is outdated and unfair. |
Autumn Budget: Rising business rates could cost 150,000 jobs
13/10/2025 Business rates could pose a threat to 60,000 small businesses and 150,000 jobs, data finds. |
Autumn Budget Insights: Can reorganisation and finance move in step?
10/10/2025 The Autumn Budget is a test of whether the Government can align fiscal policy with local government reorganisation (LGR), says Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU. |
IFS calls for council tax reform ahead of Budget
10/10/2025 Finance experts have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to use the upcoming Budget to reform council tax rather than rely on short-term revenue-raising measures. |
Reform council announces 'once-in-a-generation' budget review
06/10/2025 The Reform UK leader of Leicestershire CC has announced a ‘once-in-a-generation' external review of its £616m yearly budget. |
Bracknell Forest Council reveals ‘impossible’ funding gap
25/09/2025 Bracknell Forest Council could expect a budget gap of nearly £20m across the next three years. |
Call for rent convergence to combat housing budget ‘decline’
22/09/2025 London Councils has backed the introduction of a weekly rent convergence rate of at least £3 to help boost the social housing sector. |
Shropshire Council acts to avoid Section 114
05/09/2025 Shropshire Council is expected to declare a ‘financial emergency’ next week as it seeks to avoid effective bankruptcy. |
Report reveals ‘frustration’ over regeneration scheme faults
27/08/2025 A regeneration project in Birkenhead is due to exceed its budget by £12m, with a report outlining its ‘risks and implications’. |
Council warns of ‘most severe’ budget to date
21/08/2025 North Yorkshire Council has revealed it could be encountering its ‘most severe’ budget round yet. |
Reform-led council calls for over £100m in savings
06/08/2025 Lancashire County Council needs to save over £100m to ensure financial stability, officers have cautioned. |
Reforms could push council into ‘S114 territory’, leader warns
28/07/2025 Leader of Surrey County Council has expressed concerns about the Fair Funding reforms and the financial challenges they pose. |
Spring Statement: Chancellor banks on house building adding £6.8bn to economy
26/03/2025 The Spring Statement has highlighted the benefit of housebuilding for improving public finances and focused on defence investment for regional growth. |
Woking approves ‘business as usual’ budget
04/03/2025 Cash-strapped Woking Borough Council has signed off on a budget aimed at ensuring the council ‘operates within its financial means.’ |
Council set to make £8.6m in savings
30/01/2025 Blackpool City Council is set to make £8.6m in savings but emphasises there will be no job losses at the current time. |
'Budgetary pressures' force plea to Government
16/12/2024 Councillors at Labour-led Cheshire East Council have agreed to ask the Government for two more years of exceptional financial support. |
LGA: National Insurance hit could be £1.7bn
05/12/2024 The impact of employer National Insurance Contribution increases on external providers and contractors could be up to £1.13bn, Local Government Association (LGA) analysis has shown. |
Scottish Government pledges to scrap two-child benefit cap
05/12/2024 The Scottish Government has announced plans to scrap Westminster’s ‘pernicious’ two-child cap on benefits. |
Fresh revenue raising powers promised for councils
04/12/2024 The Scottish Budget has pledged to ‘enhance the fiscal empowerment of local government through work on a fiscal framework'. |
NIC hike ‘will be insurmountable’ for some care providers
27/11/2024 A social care leader has warned that the Government’s decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will be ‘catastrophic’ for millions of people who need care. |
Social care providers ‘at risk of collapse’ amid £2.8bn costs rise
22/11/2024 England’s adult social care sector faces extra costs of £2.8bn next year due to changes announced in last month’s Budget, new research has revealed. |
Social care and the alarming impact of the NIC rise
12/11/2024 The Budget leaves the social care sector alarmed about the rise in national insurance contributions, says Rachael Dodgson, chief executive of Dimensions. |
NI rise threatens homelessness services
11/11/2024 The rise in national insurance announced in the Budget could be the ‘nail in the coffin’ for many organisations providing homelessness services, charities say. |
Council facing bankruptcy calls for ‘fairer’ funding
08/11/2024 North Somerset Council, which has warned it is at risk of serving a Section 114 notice, has launched a campaign calling for a ‘fairer’ funding deal. |
Bury Council warns ‘tough decisions’ are needed to find £35m
01/11/2024 Bury Council has warned ‘tough decisions’ will have to be made to close its budget shortfall of £35m. |
IFS: Budget may not prevent councils collapsing
31/10/2024 Councils could still face financial ruin despite a boost to funding in the Budget, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). |
DCN: Reorganisation risks ‘paralysing’ front line services
31/10/2024 Local government reorganisation poses a threat to front line services and represents the ‘opposite of devolution’, district council leaders have warned. |
EXCLUSIVE: Care homes will close as a result of Budget, leader warns
31/10/2024 A leader has warned that care homes will close as a result of the hike in national insurance announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Autumn Budget. |
Budget: Council chiefs call for ‘explicit clarity’ on NI increases
31/10/2024 Council leaders have welcomed the £1.3bn funding boost but called for clarity on protection from increases to employer National Insurance contributions. |
Budget: £22.6bn rise in day-to-day spending for NHS
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £22.6bn rise in the day-to-day health budget, representing 4% average real terms growth. |
Budget: Chancellor targets local growth with transport spend
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced extra transport cash for regional mayors, but departmental spending remains tight. |
Budget: Reorganisation confirmed in high tax, high spend Budget
30/10/2024 Local government reorganisation – and the efficiency savings it will make – were confirmed in Budget documents today. |
Budget: Reeves announces £500m for potholes
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced an extra £500m a year for local roads maintenance from next year and an ‘interim’ settlement for the national network to keep strategic projects moving. |
Budget: Chancellor promises to permanently lower business rates
30/10/2024 The chancellor prioritised delivering permanently lower business rates from 2026-27 in the Budget by lowering multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. |
Budget: Minimum wage and National Insurance rises to hit councils
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed rises to the minimum wage and employers' National Insurance contributions, piling further pressure on council budgets. |
Budget: Cash bonanza not expected for councils
30/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to plough cash into public services in today's Budget – but struggling councils are not expecting a cash bonanza to come their way. |
Council proposes to save £1.6m with digital transformation
29/10/2024 Bradford Council is aiming to save £1.6m by transforming customer services and contact management with voice and robotic process automation. |
How to manage the risk of stairs without spending £000s
28/10/2024 With social care budgets under pressure, AAT has put together a complete equipment management package of out-sourcing services to achieve best value. |
More than £1bn to be invested in ‘crumbling’ schools
28/10/2024 The Government has confirmed that £1.4bn will be allocated in the Budget to rebuild ‘crumbling’ schools. |
Chancellor to slash Right to Buy discount
28/10/2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to dramatically reduce the Right to Buy discount offered to tenants purchasing their council house. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government to launch full reorganisation
28/10/2024 Plans for full local government reorganisation could be mooted as soon as this week's Budget, The MJ understands. |
Autumn Budget: Beacon of hope or empty promises?
25/10/2024 Max Camplin, executive director at Cavendish Consulting, discusses Labour's housing proposals and the potential challenges ahead. |
Autumn Budget: What does local government need to hear?
22/10/2024 Joe Fyans, head of research at Localis, looks at what local government needs to hear from the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement. |
Autumn Budget: Inadequate council funding hits the Government too
22/10/2024 Jeremy Newmark, finance spokesperson for District Councils’ Network (DCN), argues that properly funded councils are essential to ministers hitting their goals. |
Reeves urged to promote prevention spending in Budget
21/10/2024 The chancellor has been urged to use next week’s Autumn Budget to amend fiscal rules to promote spending on prevention. |
Rayner to be handed £1bn for council housing in Budget, reports suggest
21/10/2024 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner will be handed £1bn in next week's Budget as she plans to double council house building, national newspapers have reported. |
Councillors to consider selling Grade II listed power station
16/10/2024 Greenwich Council will today consider proposals to sell off a Grade II listed power station, car parks and toilet blocks to help find nearly £34m of savings. |
Solace: Underfunding councils ‘ultimate false economy’
14/10/2024 Failing to properly fund councils is ‘the ultimate false economy’ because it forces them to make ‘repugnant’ cuts which lead to greater problems in the future. |
Planning departments hit hardest by staff shortages
14/10/2024 Planning departments are facing the worst workforce shortages, with eight out of 10 experiencing recruitment and retention issues, new research has revealed. |
Council faces ‘unprecedented’ £175m budget gap
11/10/2024 Newham council has requested emergency government funding to help close an unprecedented budget gap of £175m. |
Council leaders call for Government approval of hospital plans
10/10/2024 Council leaders have called for Government approval of plans for a new hospital ahead of the Autumn Budget. |
Charities call for £1bn to prevent homelessness surge
10/10/2024 Almost £1bn of funding is due to leave the homelessness sector in April, leaving services facing a funding cliff-edge, a group of charities has warned. |
IFS highlights ‘unresolved’ social care issues
10/10/2024 A major new Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report has highlighted the ‘unresolved’ issues in social care funding and reform. |
LGA: ‘Emergency cash injection’ needed to tackle child abuse
08/10/2024 Local authority leaders have called for emergency support for children’s social care as figures reveal councils investigate 600 child protection cases a day. |
LGA calls for regeneration fund extension
04/10/2024 Council bosses have urged the Government to extend the ‘vital’ UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in the upcoming Autumn Budget. |
'Scant' budget report criticised by peer review
02/10/2024 A finance peer review of East Hertfordshire DC has criticised the lack of information in a budget report. |
Neath Port Talbot Council warns of £23m ‘black hole’
01/10/2024 Neath Port Talbot Council is forecasting a £23m gap in its budget on top of what is predicted to be a ‘seismic economic shock’ after the Tata Steel closure. |
Supported housing ‘on a knife edge’
20/09/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) has urged the Government to boost spending on supported housing and consider a ring-fenced fund in next month’s Budget. |
Council leaders call for sexual health investment
19/09/2024 Local authority leaders have urged the Government to use the upcoming Autumn Budget to invest in sexual and reproductive health services. |
Government told to ‘level’ with councils over funding
16/09/2024 Leicestershire County Council has called on the Government to ‘level with us' on its local government funding plans. |
Autumn Budget: Council chiefs warn against ‘disastrous’ cuts
13/09/2024 Council leaders have urged the Government not to make any further cuts in the Autumn Budget, warning that councils face ‘systemic financial failure’. |
Birmingham commissioners cast doubt on budget
06/09/2024 Commissioners at Birmingham City Council have cast doubt on the authority's ability to balance its budget next year. |
King's Speech: OBR handed beefed-up scrutiny role
17/07/2024 The Government has put fiscal stability in the form of a Budget Responsibility Bill at the heart of the King's Speech. |
The elephant in the budget
12/03/2024 The budget provided support to strengthen growth, but bolder action is required to tackle finances, says Amanda Kelly, local government lead at PA Consulting. |
Right to Buy lobbying fails as temporary boost ended
08/03/2024 The Treasury has confirmed councils will no longer keep 100% of Right to Buy (RTB) receipts after the current financial year despite lobbying by the sector. |
Gove urged to ‘listen’ to Cambridge on housing plans
07/03/2024 Communities need ‘far more detail’ and to have their say on government plans for a major expansion of housing around Cambridge, local leaders have said. |
Budget: Boost for preventative services
06/03/2024 Funding for preventative services has been announced as part of the Spring Budget in an attempt to relieve local government’s demand pressures. |
Budget: West Midlands to get £15m culture funding boost
06/03/2024 West Midlands Combined Authority is to get a £15m boost in funding for culture, heritage and investment projects in the region, the chancellor has announced. |
Budget: What does it mean for local government?
06/03/2024 Jonathan Werran, chief executive, Localis looks at what the Spring budget means for local government. |
Budget: Chancellor launches productivity push
06/03/2024 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled a Budget with little respite for local government but demands for increased public sector productivity. |
Budget: Trailblazer devo deal for North East
06/03/2024 The North East has secured a trailblazer devolution deal that could provide a package of new funding potentially worth more than £100m, chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced in his Budget. |
'Scorched earth' Budget likely to offer little for local government
06/03/2024 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to unveil a ‘scorched earth’ Budget today, slashing National Insurance and leaving little left for public services. |
Councils in crisis: time to stop the cycle of decline
04/03/2024 Claire Ward, partner and local government sector specialist at Anthony Collins, discusses the state of local government finances ahead of the Spring Budget. |
A ‘united local government’ calls for Spring Budget funding boost
04/03/2024 Local government associations across the UK have taken the ‘unprecedented’ step of penning a joint letter to the chancellor with a plea for additional funding. |
Call for ‘emergency action’ over rough sleeping spike
29/02/2024 A homelessness charity has called for ‘emergency action’ over ‘out of control’ levels of rough sleeping in England. |
Chancellor urged to provide funding certainty for urban transport
27/02/2024 Transport authorities have called on the Government to prioritise long-term funding certainty for public transport and active travel in city regions in next week’s Spring Budget. |
Majority on Universal Credit cannot afford enough food
20/02/2024 New research reveals the ‘devastating’ consequences of the inadequate Universal Credit system, according to anti-poverty charity The Trussell Trust. |
Warning over suicide prevention fund end
19/02/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) is urging the Government to extend funding for suicide prevention projects in the Spring Budget. |
Finance chiefs join Household Support Fund plea
14/02/2024 Senior finance officers across London have urged the Government to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) into the 2024-25 financial year. |
Right to Buy must reform, council bosses warn
13/02/2024 The Right to Buy scheme is causing the significant loss of social housing and cannot continue in its current form, the Local Government Association has said today. |
Council leaders call for housing subsidy uplift
07/02/2024 District council leaders have called on the Chancellor to increase the amount local authorities can claim for temporary accommodation. |
Bradford increases request for support by £22m
31/01/2024 Bradford Council has increased its request for financial help from the Government by £22m as it struggles to avoid declaring effective bankruptcy. |
Havering warns of S114 after ‘minuscule’ funding boost
26/01/2024 Havering Council will be forced to declare effective bankruptcy ‘by the end of February’ if the Government fails to provide more funding, leader warns. |
Pupils leaving RAAC schools, heads warn
25/01/2024 Students are increasingly being taken out of schools that are affected by a crumbly form of concrete, headteachers have warned. |
Oxfordshire CC budget proposals ‘£900,000 short’
19/01/2024 Oxfordshire County Council has published proposals to save over £9.8m but is still £900,000 short of what is required for a balanced budget. |
Middlesbrough to ask for more support to avoid S114
12/01/2024 Middlesbrough Council is the latest local authority to consider requesting extra financial support as it tries to avoid having to issue a Section 114. |
Somerset Council warns of ‘heart-breaking’ cuts
08/01/2024 Public toilets, theatres, and leisure services in Somerset are set to be hit by cuts as the unitary authority attempts to bridge a £100m budget gap. |
Cash-strapped Derbyshire council to move from historic HQ
04/01/2024 Derbyshire County Council is planning to move from its headquarters in Matlock to a smaller office in a bid to tackle a £33m overspend. |
Scottish budget ‘missed opportunity’ for reform
03/01/2024 The Scottish budget is a ‘missed opportunity’ for delivering on public service reform, local authority leaders in Scotland have told Holyrood. |
Council tax freeze to cost £156m
02/01/2024 Scottish councils face a real terms cut of up to £156m next year as a result of the council tax freeze, new research has found. |
Scottish councils get £14bn boost
19/12/2023 Local government in Scotland is set to benefit from a £14bn boost but council tax will be frozen despite criticisms of the plan by local authority leaders. |
‘Very difficult year ahead’ for Welsh councils
19/12/2023 Council bosses say local authorities in Wales face a 'considerable' funding gap despite the devolved nation’s planned cuts in other departments to protect local services. |
Council tax freeze costs Scottish Government £300m
15/12/2023 Fully funding local authorities for Scotland’s council tax freeze contributes significantly to the £1.5bn shortfall facing Holyrood, experts have warned. |
COSLA ramps up Budget lobbying
04/12/2023 Well-funded councils are the key to unlocking the potential within Scotland’s communities, town hall leaders have claimed ahead of the country’s budget. |
Autumn Statement: Level 4 devolution unveiled
22/11/2023 More powers will be offered to areas with a level 3 devolution deal, the Government has announced as part of the Autumn Statement. |
Sector unites in plea to chancellor
22/11/2023 The local government sector in England has put out a call to Jeremy Hunt to ‘address the significant financial challenges faced by councils’. |
