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.
Bexley withdraws capitalisation request
13/10/2021 The council said ‘sound financial planning’ meant it would not need the extra funds to balance its books. |
Local services will face £8bn funding blackhole by 2024, councils warn
01/10/2021 Council tax will have to rise by more than a quarter in the next three years to cover the shortfall in funding for local services, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned today. |
Eight in 10 councils forced to overspend on children’s social care
03/06/2021 More than eight in 10 councils were forced to overspend on children's social care budgets last year due to soaring demand, new research has shown. |
‘Wholesale improvements’ required at Slough
10/05/2021 External auditors have issued a scathing report on financial management at Slough BC. |
Welsh councils face £178m funding gap next year
19/04/2021 Welsh local authorities will face a funding gap of £178m next year due to post-pandemic pressures, a new report has found. |
Scale of council deficits due to pandemic is revealed
14/04/2021 Councils are facing a budget deficit of nearly £1.2bn by the end of the financial year due to the impact of COVID-19, research has revealed. |
Croydon issues second Section 114 notice
02/12/2020 The council still faces a shortfall of £66m, 21 days after its first notice was issued. |
Croydon publishes financial renewal plans
24/11/2020 Croydon LBC has warned that it may have to stop some services and reduce the number of staff it employs in order to live ‘within its means’ over the next three years. |
County councils warn of insolvency risk without frontline cuts
12/11/2020 Only a fifth of England's largest councils are confident they can deliver a balanced budget next year without dramatic reduction to services, a new survey has revealed. |
Thousands of council jobs at risk due to funding shortfall, union warns
07/07/2020 Tens of thousands of council jobs could be lost unless the Government addresses the current funding shortfall, Unison has warned. |
Councils will need £6bn to balance budgets this year, says LGA
29/05/2020 Councils will need another £6bn to cover the costs and lost income caused by the coronavirus crisis, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Participatory budgeting
21/05/2020 Evgeny Barkov explains what participatory budgeting means and how it can reveal what citizens need. |
Blackpool Council announces 75 job losses
31/01/2020 Blackpool Council has announced that its new budget proposals will result in 75 job losses as it seeks to close a £5m budget gap. |
Council warns of 78 job cuts
07/01/2020 Stoke-on-Trent City Council has outlined plans to cut 78 jobs as part of plans to save £9.2m by 2021. |
Scottish council chiefs warn budgets at ‘breaking point’
06/01/2020 Local authority leaders in Scotland have today warned Holyrood that council budgets are at ‘breaking point’. |
South Yorkshire devolution deadlock broken
25/03/2019 The years-long devolution stalemate in south Yorkshire has finally been resolved. |
Spending review: Councils braced for further austerity
01/03/2019 Councils are under financial pressure as never before and will need all the optimism they can muster to deal with it, says Mark Whitehead. |
Holyrood passes £42.5bn budget but warns of Brexit recession
22/02/2019 Holyrood has approved the 2019-20 budget which will see billions invested into public services — but warned Brexit could push Scotland into recession. |
Tax reforms and £90m secured in Scottish budget deal
31/01/2019 A £90m windfall for local authorities and moves to reform council tax have been pledged by the Scottish Government. |
Crime prevention budgets ‘slashed’ under Tories
21/01/2019 Crime prevention budgets have been cut by more than a half since 2010, an analysis from Labour has revealed. |
Councils warn of impact of public health funding cuts
21/12/2018 Councils have reacted angrily to ‘short-sighted’ cuts to public health funding next year by the Government. |
Pressure on Scottish councils ‘shows no signs of easing’
29/11/2018 Scottish councils are managing in the face of cuts and rising demands on services but they ‘face a difficult time ahead’, a financial watchdog has warned. |
MHCLG ‘not expecting another Northamptonshire situation’
26/11/2018 Local government finances are sustainable and the collapse of another authority is not expected, the ministry’s top civil servant has insisted. |
Shropshire Council staff told to work from home ‘one day a month’
09/11/2018 Staff at Shropshire Council have been told they must work from home one day a month as the authority struggles to get a grip on its finances. |
Calls to increase council funding in Scotland by 2.5%
05/11/2018 Councils in Scotland are pressing for a 2.5% increase in local government funding, saying they have no options left to save money. |
Former Northants leader admits ‘mistakes’ over PFI deal
04/10/2018 Former leader of Northamptonshire County Council has admitted mistakes were made in a PFI deal which has meant up to £2m a year being paid for empty care beds. |
Surrey’s A team starts its plan B
04/10/2018 Counties across the country are grappling with tighter budgets. Heather Jameson talks to Surrey CC's Joanna Killian about the authority's financial woes. |
Cash-strapped county faces £94m funding gap
18/09/2018 Surrey CC faces a funding gap of £94m by March 2021 unless it takes drastic action to change its finances, a report by accountancy experts has warned. |
Unitary council stops all non-urgent spending in face of £2.8m overspend
16/08/2018 Torbay Council has been forced to announce an ‘immediate moratorium’ on all non-urgent expenditure. |
Warning that more councils could cut services to bare minimum
07/08/2018 An increasing number of councils could be forced to cut services to the legal minimum, financial experts have warned. |
Council warns services will be cut to legal minimum
06/08/2018 East Sussex CC has warned it may not even be able to provide basic statutory services in less than three years unless the government provides extra help. |
What future for our parks?
02/07/2018 A survey has revealed 85% of councils expect to cut budgets for parks in the next five years. Mark Whitehead finds out what impact this will have on council-owned green spaces. |
Councils slash £15m from parks budgets
21/06/2018 Parks and green spaces are falling into ‘disrepair’ because of budget cuts, freedom of information requests reveal. |
Cuts putting ‘impossible squeeze’ on care services
01/06/2018 Continuing budget cuts are putting ' an impossible squeeze' on councils' ability to provide care services, local government leaders have warned. |
Holyrood cuts cost residents over £130 each
04/04/2018 Local government spending in Scotland has been cut by over £130 per head over the last five years, new research reveals. |
Council tax increases not enough to stop cuts to services, warn town hall chiefs
26/02/2018 Services will continue to be cut back despite proposed council tax increases, council chiefs warn. |
Auditors warn Northamptonshire CC budget could be ‘illegal’
21/02/2018 Auditors have warned cash-strapped Northamptonshire County Council that its proposed budget could be breaking the law. |
Northamptonshire County Council agrees to sell new £53m headquarters
14/02/2018 Cash-strapped Northamptonshire County Council has agreed a raft of cuts in an attempt to find £111m in savings by 2021. |
Road maintenance spending at ‘lowest level’ in a decade
19/01/2018 Newly released Government figures show that road maintenance spending by councils is at the lowest level it has been in 10 years. |
Council tax has risen by 57% in past 20 years, research shows
15/01/2018 Local authorities have been urged to curb council tax increases after new research found rates have risen by 57% over the past 20 years. |
Budget 2017: Devolution and housing key planks in speech
22/11/2017 Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Budget has seen the chancellor unveil a raft of new devolution deals, measures to boost housing and changes to resolve issues with controversial Universal Credit. |
Welsh local government bearing ‘heaviest burden of austerity’, councillors warn
11/10/2017 Local government is still bearing the ‘heaviest burden of austerity’, council leaders say in response to the Welsh government’s draft local government settlement. |
Austerity ‘devastating’ communities, Welsh local government leaders say
04/10/2017 Austerity is having a 'devastating' effect on communities and services, Welsh local government leaders have warned. |
Council to save money by closing ‘little-used’ buildings
03/10/2017 Norfolk County Council has outlined plans to save money by delivering services from fewer buildings. |
Nine out of ten councils have maintained services in past year
14/09/2017 Nine out of ten councils said they have maintained service quality in the last year, but only one in six councils think this will continue over the next five years, new research has found. |
Councils should have right to more cash in wake of DUP deal, finds survey
10/07/2017 Local authorities should have the right to ask for more funding in their own region following the government’s £1bn DUP deal, a new survey has revealed. |
Councils best placed to set school budgets, council chiefs tell Whitehall
29/06/2017 Council chiefs have called on the Government to allow councils and schools to retain an element of flexibility over how schools funding is distributed. |
Bristol Council unveils new austerity proposals
14/06/2017 Bristol City Council has unveiled plans to save £4.7m by closing libraries and street toilets, cutting school patrols and making changes to services for people with disabilities. |
Watchdog warns Welsh councils at risk from 'over-ambitious' targets
14/06/2017 Most councils in Wales have improved their medium-term financial plans and their ability to forecast the savings they need to make, according to financial watchdogs. |
Tory manifesto proposals could see school budgets cut, think tank says
26/05/2017 School spending plans outlined in the Conservative Party manifesto could see school budgets cut by 7%, financial experts say. |
Liverpool feeling council cuts harder than other big cities, says survey
02/05/2017 Liverpudlians are more likely to be aware of local council cuts than residents in three other major cities, a new survey has revealed. |
Scottish councils slash spending by 11%
28/02/2017 Scottish councils have slashed their spending by 11% over five years, new figures have shown. |
Scotland’s Budget ‘simply’ reduced local gov cut, councils say
24/02/2017 Scottish councils have criticised new Budget as ‘simply a reduction’ in the local government cuts that were already planned. |
Scottish councils warn of crisis despite £160m 'climb down'
03/02/2017 Council leaders have warned of a funding crisis despite a last-minute announcement to hand back £160m to local authorities. |
Scotland’s finance minister should quit over ‘budget of doom’
02/02/2017 Scottish councils have told Holyrood the finance chief should quit if MSPs reject what they describe as his ‘budget of doom’. |
Councils facing £5.8bn funding gap by 2020 warn town hall chiefs
27/01/2017 The financial settlement will leave two-thirds of councils millions of pounds worse off in 2017/18 - with 201 districts pushed towards ‘financial tipping point’ - council leaders have warned today. |
Manchester City Council announces £30m of cuts
04/01/2017 Manchester City Council has announced cuts of £30m over the next three years despite last Autumn’s warning they would have a budget shortfall of between £40m and £75m. |
Welsh councils get 'robust' financial settlement
21/12/2016 Welsh councils have been given a ‘good' financial settlement, according to local government secretary Mark Drakeford. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2016
16/12/2016 See our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2016, with council pensions, the impact of Brexit and election fiascos dominating the headlines. |
Scottish councils warn of threat to jobs and services
12/12/2016 Further cuts in government funding on the same scale as last year would have a 'disastrous' effect on services, Scottish council leaders have warned. |
Scottish council considers cutting workforce
12/12/2016 The Highland Council is this week considering a plan to cut its workforce to cope with spending cuts, with a final decision to be made in February. |
Brighton announces cuts to save £24m
02/12/2016 Brighton and Hove has revealed plans to cut 140 jobs and raise council tax by nearly 4% in an attempt to save £24m. |
Scottish councils facing financial shortfalls warns watchdog
29/11/2016 Councils in Scotland have managed their finances well but face big challenges ahead, spending watchdogs have warned. |
Reading BC to sign off further £10.5m in cuts
28/11/2016 Reading BC is set to sign off another £10.5m in efficiency savings as the local authority aims to fill a £42m funding gap. |
Birmingham Council to face 'mammoth' task of balancing £49m overspend
09/11/2016 A £49m budget overspend by Birmingham City Council will mean balancing the books next year will be a ‘mammoth’ task, its improvement panel have warned. |
Hundreds of jobs at risk as councils publish budget plans
12/10/2016 Councils have warned that hundreds of additional jobs are at risk, as they publish plans to save millions over the next four years. |
Aberdeen City Council first in Scotland to secure credit rating
10/10/2016 Aberdeen has become the first council in Scotland to be given an official credit rating, allowing it to access new funding mechanisms. |
Derbyshire under spends budget, despite cuts
27/07/2016 The leader of Derbyshire CC has warned of further cuts in the future, despite a planned underspend of more than £32m this year. |
Councils’ spending hits new low
06/07/2016 Councils’ spending in England will fall by 1% in 2016-17 (£0.9bn) according to official figures, raising concerns over the financial resilience of local authorities. |
More schools using pupil premium to plug budget holes
17/06/2016 New research has shown a growing number of schools are using funding for disadvantaged pupils to offset budget cuts elsewhere. |
Council spending being squeezed by debt payments
15/06/2016 The cost of paying off historic debts is putting pressure on council’s ‘dwindling’ revenue resources, the National Audit Office has warned today. |
Bristol cuts because of ‘crippling burden’ of austerity, warns mayor
10/06/2016 Bristol City Council must find £44m in savings by next year, in order to address a £60m budget gap, mayor says. |
Budget cuts wiping out public toilets
31/05/2016 Nearly two thousand council-run public toilets have closed in the last decade, leaving many areas with no facilities at all, a new investigation has revealed. |
Labour blasts 'disgraceful' cuts to deprived councils
26/04/2016 Labour has accused the Government of making the smallest budget cuts to councils in the constituencies of key cabinet members. |
Research warns of 'grim' outlook for council spending
26/04/2016 Councils may be unable to fund services such as parks, highways and refuse collections by the end of the decade, under concerns unveiled in a new report. |
Councils defend 'difficult' service spending cuts
04/04/2016 Spending on services such as pest control and public toilets has been cut by as much as 40% by councils since 2010, according to new research. |
Councils issue warning over closure of local pharmacies
14/03/2016 A £170m reduction in NHS funding could force hundreds of community pharmacies to close down, according to warnings from town hall chiefs. |
Glasgow to lose 1,500 council jobs because of ‘double whammy’ in cuts
11/03/2016 Glasgow City Council will be radically reducing their workforce over the next financial year in an attempt to close a multi-million pound spending gap. |
All Scottish councils accept funding deal
10/02/2016 Council leaders in Scotland have ‘reluctantly’ accepted the £350m funding cut from the Scottish Government. |
Frontline services threatened by ‘radical shake-up’ in council funding
01/02/2016 Funding changes will push councils to breaking point and place existence of local services under threat, the Local Government Association (LGA) is warning. |
Cuts are 'not realistic' and show 'misunderstanding' among ministers, council tells PM
21/01/2016 Political leaders from all sides at East Sussex Council have joined forces to issue a plea to David Cameron over latest cuts, warning they are unrealistic and betray a lack of understanding about local government. |
Isle of Wight Council warns cuts are pushing it to the brink
20/01/2016 Isle of Wight Council has warned the Government it may not ‘be viable in the very near future’ if planned budget cuts go ahead. |
County cuts could signal end of services, say council leaders
19/01/2016 County council leaders have urged the Government to either postpone cutbacks or provide emergency transitional funding – or else risk the end of non-statutory services. |
North Yorkshire to criticise Government over ‘unfair’ funding settlement
12/01/2016 North Yorkshire County Council is to make urgent representations to the Government about what they claim is an unfair local authority funding settlement. |
Four-year finance deal for local government
18/12/2015 Councils have been given a four-year funding settlement to give them financial certainty up to 2020. |
Councils handed more power over homelessness budgets
18/12/2015 Councils have been handed more control of homelessness budgets after the Government devolved funding for managing temporary accommodation. |
‘Catastrophic’ budget will cost 15,000 council jobs
17/12/2015 Council leaders in Scotland have warned that funding cuts of £350m – announced in yesterday’s budget – will lead to 15,000 job cuts and significant service reductions. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2015
16/12/2015 See our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2015, with jobs cuts, Pickles squeezing cash from councils and that infamous bake sale dominating the headlines. |
Welsh Government’s local authority settlement 'as good as it gets in the current climate'
10/12/2015 The Welsh Government’s local authority settlement represents a slowing down of the cuts faced by local councils and is 'as good as it gets in the current climate', according to the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA). |
Birmingham Council could cut 1,200 jobs
10/12/2015 Birmingham City Council has warned 1,200 jobs will be lost as it tries to find savings of £250m over the next four years. |
Councils at risk from service failure warns report
07/12/2015 A small number of councils are at risk of financial or service failure, according to a new report from accountancy firm Grant Thornton. |
Nearly 200 jobs at risk at Nottinghamshire County Council
02/12/2015 More than 180 jobs are at risk as a result of saving at least £62m over the next three years, Nottinghamshire County Council has warned. |
Newcastle Council warns of job and service cuts
02/12/2015 Vital services such as social care will have to be cut and 250 jobs axed to make savings, Newcastle City Council has announced. |
Councils announce ‘heartbreaking’ job cuts
27/11/2015 Two councils have warned of job and service cuts, following the spending review earlier this week. |
Labour hits out at 'intolerable' local government cuts
19/11/2015 The Government has been accused of 'closing their eyes' to the damage caused by funding cuts, by Labour local government leaders. |
Portsmouth warns of 100 job cuts
18/11/2015 Residents of Portsmouth have backed a rise in council tax to help protect services as part proposals which will also see 100 job cuts at the council. |
County to cut hundreds of jobs in plans to save £65m
17/11/2015 Lancashire County Council’s plans to save £65m in the next two years will result in the loss of 367 jobs. |
David Cameron involved in row with local council over cuts
12/11/2015 Prime minister David Cameron has come under fire after complaining about cuts to frontline services by his Conservative-run local council. |
County announces freeze on non-essential spending
11/11/2015 A spending freeze on all non-essential services until the end of the financial year has been announced by Buckinghamshire County Council. |
Councils cutting 11,766 jobs warns union
10/11/2015 Councils have announced plans to cut nearly 12,000 jobs to meet 2016/17 budget plans, according to new research from GMB. |
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.
