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.
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’. |
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. |
