Budget | LocalGov

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’.

WMCA trailblazer devolution deal ratified

16/10/2023

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has ratified a ‘deeper devolution deal’ worth an estimated £1.5bn.

Council suspends social media comments to stop ‘abuse’ after facility closures

03/10/2023

North Lanarkshire Council has suspended Twitter users’ ability to comment on its posts and said people’s anger over a decision to close 39 facilities ‘does not entitle them to post abuse’.

Council to shut 39 facilities

02/10/2023

North Lanarkshire Council has decided to close 39 community facilities in response to its financial shortfall.

Council injects £6m into former mining village after failed funding bid

20/09/2023

Durham County Council will spend £6m as part of plans to regenerate the village of Horden, where homes are on the market for just £5,000.

Derbyshire faces £46m overspend

15/09/2023

Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet is set to consider a report that estimates the local authority’s overspend to be over £46m this financial year.

‘Levelling up? my a**e’: HS2 faces new axe threat

15/09/2023

Contractors have reacted furiously to reports that ministers are considering cancelling the second phase of HS2, which is due to take the high speed rail line to Manchester.

Cuts see ‘children’s services run like A&E’, charities warn

14/09/2023

Councils are spending more on crisis intervention in children’s services, a group of leading charities has warned today.

LGA: Section 114s show system is 'broken'

11/09/2023

The Local Government Association (LGA) will cite the number of section 114 notices issued by councils as evidence of a ‘broken’ system.

Suffolk’s essential service funding ‘not sustainable’

06/09/2023

Suffolk County Council has forecast it will spend £22.3m over its budget this year, with the costs of school transport and looking after children in care making up two thirds of the overspend.

Union issues safety warning as Glasgow ‘slashes’ number of CCTV staff

01/09/2023

Glasgow City Council has halved the number of staff it employs to monitor CCTV cameras in order to cut costs.

Guildford halts recruitment after S114 warning

01/09/2023

Guildford Borough Council has stopped hiring until at least October as it attempts to cover a multi-million pound financial shortfall.

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.

Scottish councils reach participatory budgets target

12/07/2023

Scottish councils have achieved a target of spending 1% of their budgets through the participatory budgeting process.

Cash-strapped Thurrock to hike charges

08/06/2023

Beleaguered Thurrock Council is set to increase charges for its services to help deal with its cash crisis.

BREAKING: Woking's 'astonishing' financial crisis risks hitting Government borrowing

02/06/2023

Calamity-struck Woking BC may need to write off up to £1bn after a series of disastrous investments – a debt so big it would impact on Government borrowing.

County council chiefs issue ‘bleak’ finance warning

23/03/2023

County councils need to make £1bn worth of savings in order to cope with ‘unprecedented’ financial pressures, county council chiefs say.

Pension changes could ease recruitment pressure

21/03/2023

Changes to the pension rules could ease the pressure on senior recruitment in local government, sector figures have suggested.

Record £14bn needed to fix pothole-ridden local roads

21/03/2023

A record £14bn is now needed for local authorities to tackle the local roads maintenance backlog, according to the annual ALARM survey.

Mayors welcome devolution plans

16/03/2023

The mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands Combined Authority welcome major devolution plans following the Spring Budget.

Budget’s lack of social care support ‘disappointing’

16/03/2023

Council leaders welcomed the new funding in yesterday's budget but were disappointed by absence of investment in social care, health and children’s services.

Hunt stumps up tens of billions for infrastructure

15/03/2023

The chancellor has announced 'up to' £20bn for carbon capture and storage, alongside a new round of funding for city regions and £1bn for Levelling up.

Budget 2023: Over £60m swimming pool fund confirmed

15/03/2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed a multi-million-pound package to support publicly-owned leisure centres with pools.

Budget 2023: Hunt confirms £200m for 'potholes curse'

15/03/2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed a further £200m in 2023-24 to tackle what he described as ‘the curse of potholes’.

Budget 2023: Hunt sounds the death knell for LEPs

15/03/2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled a Budget which has sounded the death knell for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), but revived the levelling up agenda.

Budget 2023: LEPs to be scrapped

15/03/2023

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are to be effectively abolished within a year, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Budget.

Budget 2023: Hunt confirms investment zone cash

15/03/2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed in the spring budget plans to go ahead with 12 investment zones, each backed by a multi-million-pound injection of cash.

Budget 2023: Hunt to boost mayors' financial autonomy

15/03/2023

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced the Government will ‘boost mayors’ financial autonomy’ in his Budget.

Think tank criticises ‘crisis-cash-repeat’ social care funding

14/03/2023

A think tank has warned that the Government’s short-term approach to funding adult social care will not deliver the level of service expected by the public.

Chancellor to announce investment zones backed by £80m

14/03/2023

Twelve investment zones, each backed by £80m, will be announced tomorrow as part of the effort to boost local growth and level up left behind areas.

Hunt set to restore £200m of local roads cash

13/03/2023

Ministers are set to announce an extra £200m for local road maintenance.

Increase UC childcare cost cap, council chiefs say

13/03/2023

Working parents should be helped with childcare costs by raising the cap on what they can claim back under Universal Credit, local government leaders say.

Councils should become primary provider of childcare, survey finds

06/03/2023

Councils should become the primary provider of state-subsidised childcare designed to get parents back to work and boost productivity, a new survey has found.

Councils benefit from Holyrood windfall

22/02/2023

Scottish authorities are to receive an extra £100m funding in a last-minute addition to Holyrood’s Budget.

Autumn Statement: More mayors announced

17/11/2022

Four new mayoral authorities are in the pipeline with ‘advanced discussions’ under way, the chancellor has announced.

Autumn Statement: Northern Powerhouse Rail to be 'core' only

17/11/2022

The chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed hopes for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) to be completed in full have been dashed.

Holyrood announces £35m of extra funding

03/11/2022

The Scottish government has announced £35m of funding to help tackle budget pressures caused by rising inflation and economic uncertainty.

Abolition of social care levy survives Budget bonfire

17/10/2022

The abolition of the health and care levy is now the only major part of the discredited mini-Budget to survive after new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today junked most of the other tax cuts in a dramatic announcement.

Welsh councils warn of 'serious harm' to budgets

03/10/2022

Welsh local authority leaders have warned the Government that market turmoil is causing ‘serious harm’ to council budgets.

Mini-Budget: Kwarteng's plans to boost economic growth

23/09/2022

New Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has unveiled a mini-Budget aimed at boosting the economy and growing his way out of the country’s financial woes.

Mini-Budget: Universal Credit sanctions tightened

23/09/2022

Tens of thousands of people on Universal Credit face sanctions and reductions if they do not show up at jobcentres, under plans unveiled by the chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.

Mini-Budget: Government in 'early discussions' on Investment Zones

23/09/2022

The Government is in ‘early discussions with nearly 40 places’ including Tees Valley and the West Midlands about creating new Investment Zones offering tax cuts for businesses, the chancellor has confirmed.

London boroughs call for COVID-style level of support

22/09/2022

Local authorities in London have called for a package of financial support that is similar to the one that helped councils through the worst of the pandemic.

Scottish council with £14m budget gap warns of cuts

03/08/2022

West Dunbartonshire Council leader Martin Rooney has warned of impending public service cuts due to the local authority’s £14m budget gap.

Spring Statement: Household support fund to ‘double’ to £1bn

23/03/2022

Local authorities set to benefit from a multi-million-pound boost to the household support fund to support hard-pressed residents, says Chancellor.

Nottingham council to cut 63 jobs in ‘toughest year yet’

09/03/2022

Nottingham City Council is set to cut the equivalent of 63 full-time posts in an effort to close a £28m budget gap.

Scottish councils need extra £1bn to 'survive'

16/11/2021

Councils in Scotland need more than an extra £1bn a year just to survive, a new briefing has warned.

IFS reveals scope of Universal Credit

08/11/2021

Budget changes to Universal Credit mean families with well above-average earnings and even paying 40% rates of tax could be entitled to the benefit, according to an Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report.

Budget 2021: National Highways faces £3.4bn funding cut

27/10/2021

National Highways is facing a major funding cut of some £3.4bn after today’s Budget, with the total for the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS 2) dropping dramatically from the £27.4bn announced last year to £24bn.

Budget 2021: Chancellor unveils Shared Prosperity Fund

27/10/2021

The chancellor Rishi Sunak has revealed the first details of the long-awaited UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).

Budget 2021: Social care 'left out in cold'

27/10/2021

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing accusations he has left social care ‘out in the cold’ following his Autumn Budget speech.

Budget 2021: £24bn multi-year housing settlement

27/10/2021

The chancellor has today announced £11.5bn to build up to 180,000 new affordable homes, calling it the largest cash injection in more than a decade.

Bonanza Budget claims councils have the largest rise in a decade

27/10/2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a Budget and spending review he claimed will deliver the high skill, high wage economy promised at the Conservative Party Conference.

Budget 2021: More money for youth services and 'family hubs'

27/10/2021

A £560m cash injection for youth services and the funding of ‘family hubs’ in England to support children and parents have been confirmed in today’s Budget.

Budget 2021: Business rate reform delayed again

27/10/2021

Business rates reform is set to be delayed again when the chancellor unveils his Budget and spending review, as the Treasury grapples with its mammoth issues around public spending.

Chancellor has ‘little or no scope’ to increase local government funding

12/10/2021

The Chancellor is going to struggle to find money for cash-strapped local authorities despite planning to implement the biggest tax rises in 25 years, think tank says.

Counties in council tax warning

07/10/2021

County leaders have warned council tax bills would have to rise by almost a quarter over three years to get close to eliminating their deficit.

Budget 2021: Failure to fix 'broken' social care system

04/03/2021

The chancellor has faced criticism for failing to address the social care crisis in his Budget yesterday.

Budget 2021: Leeds wins bank as infrastructure cash goes North

03/03/2021

The new National Infrastructure Bank will be based in Leeds, the chancellor revealed alongside other Budget announcements badged under the Government’s ‘leveling up’ agenda.

Budget 2021: Eight new freeport sites named

03/03/2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak closed his Budget speech today with a commitment to eight new 'freeport' sites - international gateways set to enjoy a raft of tax breaks from later this year.

Budget 2021: OBR highlights post-war peak in public spending

03/03/2021

Total public spending is expected to rise by £256bn or 29% in 2020/21, the largest increase on record and the largest percentage rise since just after the oil price shock in 1974/75 according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Budget 2021: Sunak vows to do 'whatever it takes' to help businesses

03/03/2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has vowed to ‘do whatever it takes’ to support businesses as the country looks to a post-coronavirus future.

Budget 2021: Sunak warns of pain to come

03/03/2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a budget to protect ‘livelihood and jobs’ – with a warning of public finance pain to come.

Budget 2021: Furlough scheme extended until autumn

03/03/2021

The chancellor has extended the furlough scheme and announced further funding for apprenticeships in a bid to soften the impact of COVID-19 on jobs.

Budget 2021: Chancellor confirms £4.8bn ‘levelling up fund’

03/03/2021

Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the first round of the £4.8bn Levelling Up Fund will be available to local areas to help tackle regional inequalities.

Budget 2021: Sunak freezes VAT rate to support hospitality and tourism

03/03/2021

Support for hospitality and tourism businesses was underpinned in the Budget by a freezing of the current 5% rate of VAT for another six months until the end of September.

Budget 2021: Stamp duty holiday extended and new mortgage guarantee scheme

03/03/2021

The chancellor has extended the stamp duty holiday and created a new mortgage guarantee scheme for people who can’t afford a big deposit to help boost the housing market in his Budget.

Budget 2021: Universal credit boost extended for six months

03/03/2021

The £20 uplift to Universal Credit has been extended for a further six months, the chancellor has confirmed in his Budget today.

Banning urban pesticide use image

Banning urban pesticide use

RSPB and PAN are working on a letter from local councillors calling on the Government to introduce a national ban on urban pesticide use. Find out more below.
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