Budgets

• Holyrood cuts cost residents over £130 each

  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

  Services will continue to be cut back despite proposed council tax increases, council chiefs warn.

  

• Auditors warn Northamptonshire CC budget could be ‘illegal’

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  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

  Norfolk County Council has outlined plans to save money by delivering services from fewer buildings.