Renewables at no upfront cost?
Rebecca Lawson explains why local authorities are embracing community energy.
Calls for 'genuine devolution' by incoming Government
18/11/2019 The chairman of the County Councils Network has called on any new government to implement 'genuine devolution'. |
Core Cities' £28bn Shared Prosperity Fund warning
26/09/2019 The proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) must be worth at least £28bn over seven years if the UK is to deliver its devolved policy objectives, a leading sector body has warned. |
Social care services to be decommissioned unless funding confirmed
30/08/2019 County leaders have warned councils will soon start to decommission services unless social care funding is confirmed by Whitehall. |
County council chiefs urge PM to ‘level up’ funding across country
19/08/2019 More than 30 leaders of England’s county councils have called on the new Government to ‘level up’ investment in all parts of the country. |
Drop ‘metro mayor’ devolution requirement, PM told
29/07/2019 County council leaders have called on Boris Johnson to ensure there is no mayoral requirement for a ‘full’ devolution deal. |
Counties publish five-point plan for local government
26/07/2019 Councils need an emergency cash injection targeted at areas most in need, the County Councils Network (CCN) has said today. |
Council chiefs warn SEN reforms will ‘break’ their budgets
19/07/2019 County council leaders have warned that reforms to expand special educational needs (SEN) services will ‘break’ their budgets. |
Councils urged to celebrate historic counties
17/07/2019 New guidance to help local authorities celebrate historic counties and boost community pride has been launched by the Government. |
County council chiefs warn of ‘fragile nature’ of care system
29/05/2019 Councils will need to spend £6.1bn per year more in 2025 on adult social care services compared to what they were spending a decade ago, figures reveal. |
Corbyn launches attack on fair funding review
11/04/2019 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has entered the debate over the fair funding review, claiming it ‘will make poorer areas even poorer’. |
Councils defend council tax hikes
27/03/2019 Councils have had ‘little choice’ but to raise council tax to protect local services, the Local Government Association has said, after the latest tax rises were revealed. |
Counties urge Whitehall to ‘look again’ at social care funding formula
22/02/2019 County councils have voiced concerns over the Government’s proposed formula for funding adult social care saying they fear it fails to recognise the demand for services in shire areas. |
Counties call for full baseline reset of business rates in 2020
22/02/2019 County councillors have called for a review of the business rates system including the tax paid by large retailers. |
Counties hit by housing ‘affordability crisis’
21/02/2019 County council leaders have warned that the ‘affordability crisis’ has hit shires as figures reveal that rural house prices are now 10 times higher than average annual earnings. |
Council spending on cultural services slashed by £400m
28/01/2019 Council spending on cultural resources such as museums, libraries, and the arts has been reduced by almost £400m over the last eight years of austerity, new research has revealed. |
Councils spending £75m more on transporting SEND pupils to school
20/11/2018 County councils spent £323.3m on transporting young people to school last year, figures have revealed. |
Cost of caring for adults with learning disabilities could increase by almost £2bn by 2025
19/11/2018 A rise in the number of adults with severe learning disabilities will cost councils an extra £2bn by 2025, figures released today have revealed. |
Unfair council funding is holding back social mobility in counties, MPs warn
31/10/2018 Social mobility in rural English counties is being held back by an outdated and unfair method of funding councils, according to a new report. |
Council cuts to reach £1bn warn counties
20/09/2018 English county council spending and cuts to frontline services will amount to £1bn in the next financial year, research has found. |
Councils overspend £800m on care services
23/08/2018 Councils in England have overspent £816m on children's care services in 2017/18, according to official figures. |
Union blasts Somerset CC for ‘financial incompetence’
10/08/2018 A union has accused Somerset County Council of ‘financial incompetence’ after the authority proposed staff take two days of unpaid leave. |
Basic ‘core offer’ of local services could become norm, county councillors warn
09/08/2018 County councils are warning the basic ‘core offer’ of local services could become the norm unless the Government provides councils with additional resources. |
Un-costed care cap would be ‘catastrophic’, county council chiefs warn
27/07/2018 The introduction of an un-costed cap on social care would have ‘catastrophic’ consequences for local services, county council leaders have warned. |
Counties call for pre-spending review cash injection
27/06/2018 Nearly one in five county council leaders are ‘not confident’ they can deliver a balanced budget nest year without extra funding, a new survey has revealed. |
Call for counties to have greater role in planning
20/06/2018 County councils should have a larger role in planning to help meet the housing crisis, according to the findings of two reports published today. |
Free school transport schemes at risk in county areas
24/05/2018 County councils have warned they are struggling to fund free school transport schemes as it costs ten times more in county areas than neighbouring cities. |
Counties call for urgent action to tackle overspends on special education
14/05/2018 County councils have warned they are in the ‘unsustainable’ position of having to shift schools money towards supporting children with special educational needs to meet statutory duties. |
Rural counties suffer from low broadband speeds
06/04/2018 A new study has revealed that over two-thirds of England’s counties have lower than average broadband speeds. |
Javid backs single unitary council in Buckinghamshire
12/03/2018 Local government secretary Sajid Javid has backed a single unitary council for Buckinghamshire. |
Reorganisation in counties must be based on evidence
28/02/2018 Reorganisation may be part of the future of local government in two–tier counties, but it will only deliver long-term sustainability if it is built around evidence, not short-term fixes, argues James Maker. |
Counties call for strategic planning reforms to tackle rising house prices
16/02/2018 County councils have called for strategic planning reforms after figures showed house prices in England’s counties rose at triple the rate of London last year. |
Where next for Northants?
15/02/2018 Simon Edwards looks at where next for Northamptonshire CC after it became the first authority in two decades to issue a S114 notice. |
Javid finds extra £166m in final settlement
06/02/2018 Local government secretary Sajid Javid has found an additional £166m to ease spending pressures in social care and rural areas in the final 2018/19 settlement. |
Most counties to increase council tax by extra 1%
25/01/2018 County council leaders have warned that the government's decision to allow them to raise council tax by 1% will only offset a tenth of the amount already being cut from their budgets. |
Boom in elderly population stretching counties to 'breaking point'
17/01/2018 An 'unprecedented' rise in the number of elderly people in rural county areas is pushing counties to breaking point, council leaders warn. |
Industrial Strategy snubs councils
27/11/2017 Business secretary Greg Clark has snubbed councils and empowered local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) in the Government’s long-awaited Industrial Strategy. |
‘Non-mayoral combined authorities’ a possibility, Javid says
21/11/2017 Sajid Javid has raised the possibility of ‘non-mayoral combined authorities’ in rural areas as part of a new devolution framework. |
Counties warn funding for public services is ‘outdated and unfair’
20/11/2017 County councils are receiving almost 50% less funding for public services per person compared to their neighbours in England’s largest cities, research has revealed today. |
This issue of Local Government News explores what impact the increase to the Public Works Loan Board rate have on councils’ capital schemes and why adopting AI will not just improve customer service response times for councils.
This issue also finds out how local government pension funds are backing infrastructure projects and calls on local government to get better value from its technology spend.
