Budgets and efficiency | LocalGov

Cheshire East says it has ‘no choice’ but to reduce bin collections

28/11/2024

Cheshire East Council plans to move to three-weekly residual waste collections in a bid to cut costs by £1m, despite local opposition.

North Tyneside to cut 200 jobs

20/11/2024

North Tyneside Council has announced plans to cut 200 jobs as it grapples to balance its books.

Worcestershire set for £12.5m overspend

14/11/2024

Worcestershire County Council must act to avoid a projected overspend of £12.5m this year, a report has warned.

English councils face £9.3bn deficit by 2026-27

25/10/2024

New analysis has uncovered a £9.3bn funding shortfall facing councils in England by 2026-27.

West Northants asks staff to consider redundancy

21/10/2024

West Northamptonshire Council has asked staff to consider voluntary redundancy, flexible retirement and reduced working hours in a bid to cut costs.

One in four councils likely to request exceptional financial support

21/10/2024

One in four English councils believe they will have to apply for exceptional financial support (EFS) in the next two years without additional funding, research has revealed.

Welsh councils face £559m budget gap

10/10/2024

Councils across Wales face ‘extraordinary’ budget pressures totalling an estimated £559m next year, according to the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).

Birmingham day centres set for axe

10/10/2024

Councillors in Birmingham have been advised to approve the closure of four day centres for disabled adults.

Councils face £54bn funding deficit

02/10/2024

England’s local authorities face a funding shortfall of £54bn over the next five years, new research has revealed.

Norfolk faces £45m budget gap

01/10/2024

Norfolk County Council is planning millions of pounds of cuts it does ‘not want to make’ in the face of a £44.75m deficit in its budget for next year.

Swindon aims to sell assets for £21m

18/09/2024

Swindon Borough Council has agreed to sell commercial properties it owns in the hope of generating £21m.

Lambeth warns of ‘drastic savings’ without help

18/09/2024

Lambeth Council has called for urgent help in the Government’s Budget next month, at a time it said ‘could not be more critical’ for local authorities.

New waste tax could cost councils billions

17/09/2024

A proposed tax on the carbon emitted from burning waste could cost councils billions over the next decade, according to new analysis.

Several London councils ‘edging closer towards effective bankruptcy’

12/09/2024

Boroughs in the capital are set to overspend by more than £600m this year as housing and homelessness pressures ‘wreak havoc’ on their finances, according to London Councils.

‘People will be angry’: Council must find £11m to avoid S114

11/09/2024

North Somerset must take ‘radical’ action to avoid issuing a Section 114 notice, the authority has said in a stark warning.

Derbyshire could charge parents for children in care

09/09/2024

Derbyshire County Council is considering charging parents whose children are taken into care as it faces ‘unprecedented’ financial difficulty.

Wirral set to spend extra £1m on struggling SEND

05/09/2024

Wirral Council will consider spending an extra £1.1m on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision after it was ordered by the Government to improve.

Public libraries in ‘crisis’ amid cuts

03/09/2024

More than 180 council-run libraries in the UK have either closed or been handed to volunteer groups since 2016, analysis by the BBC has revealed.

Waverley to consult on ‘voluntary council tax’

30/08/2024

Waverley Borough Council is set to consider asking some residents to pay a ‘voluntary council tax’ to fund discretionary services.

Sheffield faces £34m overspend

27/08/2024

Sheffield City Council is set to overspend by £34.3m this year amid ‘significant’ financial challenges, a report has revealed.

Council to close tip amid £7m improvement costs

23/08/2024

Kirklees Council is set to close a household waste recycling centre (HWRC) to cut costs after discovering that work needed on the site would cost £7m.

Cash-strapped council axes top member roles

22/08/2024

Somerset Council, which has declared a ‘financial emergency’, is cutting several senior member roles to save £36,000.

Cheshire East sets out plan to tackle £100m deficit

16/08/2024

Plans to address a £100m budget gap over four years will be considered by Cheshire East councillors next week.

Eastbourne warns of ‘extensive’ service cuts

14/08/2024

Eastbourne Borough Council has warned that rising costs of homelessness services have left it facing ‘extensive’ cuts to services.

Newham raises alarm over ‘spiralling’ homelessness costs

06/08/2024

Newham Council has warned it may need government assistance due to the ‘spiralling’ costs of supporting homeless people.

Landmark report finds SEND system ‘broken’

25/07/2024

Major reforms introduced a decade ago have failed to improve educational outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), a report has found.

Councillors asked to sign off redundancy plans

24/07/2024

Proposals to save £12m a year by axing hundreds of job posts will be considered by councillors in Hertfordshire next week.

£1m boost to road patching in East Sussex

16/07/2024

East Sussex County Council has committed an extra £1m to road patching, but acknowledged it would cost more than £300m to bring all its roads up to scratch.

East Sussex could face £55m funding gap

10/07/2024

East Sussex County Council is already warning it could be left with a £55m deficit in its budget next year.

Shropshire could cut 540 job posts

09/07/2024

Shropshire Council could cut 540 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts in a bid to cut costs by becoming a smaller organisation.

Council to consider paying £47m extra for waste service

08/07/2024

Somerset Council will consider paying an extra £47m over six years for waste services after its contractor disclosed it was making significant losses in the area.

Islington identifies £1.8bn housing shortfall

05/07/2024

Islington Council is facing a deficit ‘in excess of’ £1.8bn in its housing revenue account (HRA) over the next 30 years.

Homelessness spending triples in eight years

02/07/2024

The proportion of councils’ total housing budget spent on homelessness and temporary accommodation has tripled since 2015, new analysis has revealed.

Middlesbrough aims to recover £67m in debts

26/06/2024

Middlesbrough Council is progressing ‘thousands more’ debt cases after stepping up efforts to recover more than £67m.

Leicester urged not to close half its family hubs

26/06/2024

Parents have launched a petition calling on Leicester City Council to drop plans to close six of its 12 children, young people and families centres.

Public advised to use ‘personal lighting’ amid streetlight cuts

26/06/2024

A council in the outer Hebrides has advised people to consider using ‘personal lighting’ after announcing it would switch off streetlights earlier.

IFS: Funding increases have not reversed austerity

10/06/2024

Councils in England have outspent cash boosts in recent years, leaving core funding 18% lower per person than at the start of the 2010s, think-tank reveals.  

North Yorkshire bans public questions at budget meetings

21/05/2024

Public participation will not be allowed at North Yorkshire’s budget meetings as part of a series of changes to the council’s constitution.

Somerset to save £8m with 201 redundancies

16/05/2024

Somerset Council has accepted 201 redundancy applications, which it said would save more than £8m a year.

Scottish councils’ debt is one-and-a-half times funding

08/04/2024

The debt of councils in Scotland is more than one-and-a-half times the latest local government funding settlement, the Scottish Conservatives have found.

Brum consults on £2.3m library cuts

05/04/2024

Cash-strapped Birmingham City Council has launched a consultation on how it will cut £2.3m from its library budget.

Homelessness inquiry launched by NAO

13/03/2024

The National Audit Office (NAO) has launched an inquiry into homelessness as the issue piles pressure on squeezed council budgets.

Shropshire Council staff offered voluntary redundancy

12/03/2024

Staff at Shropshire Council have been offered voluntary redundancy as part of the local authority's plans to lose 300 full time jobs.

Middlesbrough avoids ‘catastrophic’ s114 with approved budget

11/03/2024

Councillors in Middlesbrough have approved a budget with ‘savings and income generation plans’ worth £13.9m.

Sheriff of Nottingham suspended from Labour

07/03/2024

The only Nottingham City councillor to vote against budget cuts has been suspended from the Labour Party.

Watchdog warning over Moray's funding gap

07/03/2024

Moray Council must act quickly to shore up its finances, Audit Scotland has warned.

Majority of northern councils face ‘financial failure’ within five years

01/03/2024

More than half of councils in the north of England are at risk of ‘financial failure’ within the next five years, analysis has found.

Councils set for £2.5bn in exceptional financial support

29/02/2024

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has agreed to grant 19 local authorities ‘in principle’ capitalisation directions worth almost £2.5bn.

14 councils ‘likely’ to issue s114s next year

28/02/2024

More than half of councils are likely to issue a section 114 notice within the next parliament unless funding is reformed, senior local authority figures have warned.

Vote planned for first UK coastal tourism tax

19/02/2024

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole hoteliers will vote on the introduction of a tourist tax as the authority withdraws direct funding amid budget pressures.

Nottingham executive refuses to back budget cuts

14/02/2024

Executive members of cash-strapped Nottingham City Council have refused to recommend a report that sets out £20m in budget cuts.

Council financial crisis ‘out of control’

31/01/2024

MPs have issued a stark warning on the ‘very real’ prospect of more councils in England ‘effectively going bust’ if the Government does not address a £4bn funding gap.

DLUHC claims four-day week council saw spike in agency staff

30/01/2024

South Cambridgeshire DC’s controversial four-day week trial is under fresh scrutiny after data revealed a spike in agency work and opponents challenged costs.

Argyll and Bute considers 10% council tax hike

25/01/2024

Argyll and Bute Council are considering a council tax rise of 10% in order to tackle ‘enormous budget challenges’.

Clampdown threat to diversity programmes

24/01/2024

The Government is to clampdown on diversity programmes as part of a drive to ‘reduce wasteful expenditure’.

Southampton latest to request financial support

19/01/2024

Southampton City Council has begun the ‘sensible’ process of seeking Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) as it struggles to balance its budgets.

First North Yorkshire mayoral election to cost £2m

17/01/2024

The election of the first mayor of a new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority is set to cost £2.2m, a council report has revealed.

Scottish councils face ‘difficult decisions’ on cuts

16/01/2024

‘Intensifying pressures’ on Scottish local authorities mean they must make difficult decisions on service delivery to remain financially sustainable, a watchdog has said.

BCP warns of S114 risk over schools funding

15/01/2024

A growing deficit on its dedicated schools grant (DSG) could force Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council to issue a section 114 notice this year.

Leaderships posts left vacant to cut costs

11/01/2024

Senior leadership posts at Cheshire East Council are being temporarily left vacant as the authority faces ‘significant financial pressures’.

Council warns of S114 risk over HS2 costs

15/12/2023

Cheshire East Council has warned that it may have to issue a section 114 notice after spending £11m preparing for HS2, as it continues to press for compensation.

Swindon’s finances on a ‘cliff edge’

14/12/2023

Axing 80 jobs is one proposal among a raft of measures under consideration by Swindon Borough Council as it seeks to cover a £14m shortfall.

Middlesbrough proposes job cuts as it warns of ‘tough choices’

14/12/2023

Middlesbrough Council has proposed axing 75 full-time equivalent posts and cutting social care costs as it scrambles to set a balanced budget for next year.

Quarter of Scottish councils fear bankruptcy

13/12/2023

Nearly a quarter of Scottish councils fear they will be unable to balance their budget next year, new research shows.

Nottingham proposes cutting 550 jobs

13/12/2023

Nottingham City Council has proposed cutting 554 full-time equivalent posts in an attempt to tackle its financial shortfall.

Birmingham given a month to make £300m savings plan

07/12/2023

Commissioners have given Birmingham City Council until 7 January to set out a ‘credible plan’ for addressing a £300m budget gap over the next two years.

One in five councils report bankruptcy fears

06/12/2023

A poll of council leaders and chief executives has revealed that one in five think it likely that their chief finance officer will need to issue a Section 114.

Hull’s finances ‘reaching the end of the road’

17/11/2023

The leader of Hull City Council has warned the Government that it will not be able to set a balanced budget in 2025-26 without intervention.

Derbyshire denies facing ‘bankruptcy situation’

17/11/2023

Derbyshire County Council said ‘serious challenges’ lie ahead despite its progress in tackling its financial shortfall.

Brum commissioners warn council will need further help to agree lawful budget

09/11/2023

Commissioners at Birmingham City Council have warned it will struggle to agree a lawful budget next year without further help.

Somerset declares ‘financial emergency’

09/11/2023

Somerset Council has declared it is facing a ‘financial emergency’ and agreed that ‘urgent actions’ are required to tackle a £100m shortfall.

Council looks to address £100m ‘black hole’

01/11/2023

Somerset Council is considering measures, including reducing staffing and cutting services to statutory levels, to cover a £100m funding gap.

Call for Government write off of Croydon debt

01/11/2023

The Government should write off Croydon LBC’s £1.3bn of General Fund debt, a senior opposition councillor has urged.

DCN writes to Hunt over temporary accommodation pressures

01/11/2023

Following a summit attended by 158 councils, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has warned chancellor Jeremy Hunt about ‘unprecedented’ numbers of people turning to councils in the face of homelessness.

One in 10 county councils facing effective bankruptcy

01/11/2023

England’s county and unitary authorities are ‘running out of road’ to prevent insolvency, with one in 10 not sure they can balance their budget this year.

Emergency summit held amid temporary accommodation warnings

31/10/2023

More than 150 councils this week attended an emergency summit as the cost of temporary accommodation to local authorities increases rapidly.

S114 ‘almost inevitable’ for Leicester

30/10/2023

Leicester City Council is ‘rapidly running out of options’ to cut costs and faces financial crisis ahead of its 2025-26 budget, its mayor has warned Michael Gove.

EXCLUSIVE: Nightmare before Christmas?

26/10/2023

The provisional local government finance settlement will be published just before Christmas, council chiefs have been told.

Welsh councils face £750m shortfall

25/10/2023

Local government finances in Wales are on an ‘unsustainable path’, according to a report from Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre.

DCN in cuts warning

24/10/2023

Cultural services, community support and parks and green spaces are all at risk of cuts without a boost to the local government finance settlement, respondents to a District Councils’ Network (DCN) survey have warned.

Council to limit non-essential spending amid s114 threat

28/09/2023

Windsor & Maidenhead BC is to limit all non-essential spending as it raised the risk of a section 114.

Woking entered s114 territory in 2018

13/09/2023

Woking BC may have faced a section 114 notice at least four years before it declared effective bankruptcy, senior councillors have been told.

Brum braced for Government intervention

12/09/2023

Birmingham City Council is braced for a wide-ranging Government intervention to help rescue the authority’s bleak finances, and improve political and officer leadership.

Long-term solution sought to drainage board pressure

12/06/2023

Councils are seeking a ‘long-term solution’ as internal drainage boards (IDB) warn increasing energy costs will pile further pressure on council budgets.

EXCLUSIVE: Councils in dark over new funding stream

18/04/2023

More financial uncertainty is being piled onto councils over the distribution of a fresh funding stream, The MJ has been told.

Croydon approves 15% tax hike

09/03/2023

Croydon LBC has approved a 15% council tax increase as part of a 2023-24 budget that was originally rejected.

Council in £540m debt write off plea

17/02/2023

Croydon LBC has asked Government to write off £540m of its debt in 2023-24 to ‘restore financial sustainability’.

DLUHC: No more section 114 notices expected

10/01/2023

Whitehall officials are not expecting councils to issue further section 114 notices in the coming weeks, crediting the sector’s ‘positive’ settlement.

Brown to ask Government to bypass referendum limit

05/01/2023

The chief executive of troubled Slough Council is preparing to ask the Government for permission to increase council tax above the 5% legal limit.

Section 114 notice issued for Thurrock

20/12/2022

Thurrock Council’s interim director of finance, Jonathan Wilson, has issued a section 114 notice as the authority faces a £470m in-year funding gap.

Districts push for council tax flexibility

12/12/2022

Districts are pushing the Government to allow them to increase council tax by more than 3% or £5 without a referendum.

£470m in-year budget gap at Thurrock revealed

29/11/2022

Troubled Thurrock BC has revealed it has no way to fill its £470m in-year budget gap without a Government bailout.

Council offers all staff volutary redundancy

16/09/2022

Northumberland Council has offered all of its staff the option of voluntary redundancy as it attempts to rein in a predicted £12m budget overspend.

Council chiefs warn of 'disastrous' financial crisis

27/06/2022

More councils could be tipped into financial crisis while others face emergency cuts due to soaring inflation and living wage increases, the LGA warned today.

Counties in inflation funding call

14/06/2022

County councils have called for extra Government funding to cope with huge increases caused by inflation.

Nottingham expected to bring housing back under direct control after probes

27/04/2022

Nottingham City Council is expected to bring its housing back under direct control after two independent probes found ‘underlying issues around governance and finance’.

Slough given conditions for £300m bailout

08/03/2022

Slough Council will only be considered for a £307m Government bailout to cover its deficits if it proves it can turn itself around financially, the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has warned.

Cornwall plans to cut 400 jobs

03/12/2021

The cuts are part of plans to save £55m in order to balance the council’s budget in 2022-23.

LGA warning over soaring care costs

23/11/2021

Soaring adult and children’s care costs mean councils could ‘soon fail to support everyone they need to,’ town halls have warned.

Powys' savings off target

01/11/2021

Powys CC’s savings plans are 22% off target more than halfway through the financial year, senior councillors have been warned.

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