Budgets and efficiency

• Call for tourism tax review

  An inquiry into cultural investment in cities has called for a UK-wide review of the benefits of a tourism tax.

  

• LGA faces financial headache

  Smith Square has acknowledged the financial challenges it faces as it freezes subscriptions while grappling with declining Government grants and a pension scheme deficit.

  

• Watchdog highlights councils' weak financial plans

  The number of public bodies in England with weak financial plans is ‘unacceptably high,’ the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

  

• Welsh Government gives £24m boost to councils

  Welsh councils will be handed an extra £23.6m in 2019/20 on the condition that they commit to regional working.

  

• Council hits back at 'illegitimate' loan claim

  Newham LBC has denied claims that decisions to enter into controversial high-interest loans were illegitimate.

  

• Finance settlement has 'gravest implications'

  Councils have dismissed today’s Welsh Government’s finance settlement as a ‘bread and butter budget’ in which town halls ‘get the crumbs again’.

  

• Welfare support has 'collapsed' for many in England

  One in six top-tier councils are not providing vital welfare services devolved to them just as the sector’s budget cuts hit hard.

  

• Cash-strapped county faces £94m funding gap

  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.

  

• LEPs told to improve ahead of EU funding changes

  Fresh concerns have emerged about local enterprise partnerships (LEP) as the Government considers whether to use them to funnel UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) cash.

  

• Budget gap doubles at Lewisham

  Lewisham LBC’s budget gap has more than doubled following an ‘unprecedented’ overspend.