VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Union launches Fair Funding campaign to save council jobs
19/05/2025 Unite has launched a campaign calling for an overhaul of how local authorities are funded to prevent further bankruptcies and job and public service cuts. |
Debt hurdle remains for reorganisation plans
14/05/2025 Multi-billion pound debts remain a point of contention in reorganisation negotiations as the deadline passed for the first of the final plans to be submitted. |
Former Thurrock CFO issued with five-year ban
09/05/2025 In a historic first, the Financial Reporting Council has banned the former chief financial officer of Thurrock Council from working as a local government CFO. |
Deal suspends 'mass litigation' against councils
25/02/2025 A deal has been struck to suspend debt-ridden Thurrock Council's ‘mass litigation' against 23 other local authorities. |
Plea for Rayner to write off £5.7bn Surrey debt
13/02/2025 The Government should write off the £5.7bn of debt facing Surrey's districts to facilitate reorganisation, council leaders have urged. |
Croydon in fresh call for debt write off
12/02/2025 Croydon LBC is lobbying the Government to write off its debt despite suggestions a decision will not be made until the summer. |
Cash-strapped Croydon requests £136m boost
10/02/2025 Croydon Council has requested £136m exceptional financial support from the Government. |
Brighton to take on £51m debt from i360 tower
27/01/2025 Brighton and Hove City Council has agreed to take on £51m of debt from the i360 tower after the firm behind the attraction went into administration. |
Council leader calls for Woking BC debt ‘write off’
14/01/2025 The leader of Surrey County Council has urged the Government to ‘write off’ £1bn of Woking BC's debt to enable the creation of a unitary authority. |
Councils’ Best Value notices lifted
20/12/2024 Best Value notices issued to Runnymede and Eastleigh borough councils will not be renewed despite ongoing concern about their ‘significant’ debts. |
Brighton tower files for administration owing council £51m
28/11/2024 Brighton’s iconic seafront tower, Brighton i360, has filed for insolvency leaving its outstanding £51m debt to the city council unpaid. |
Woking's debt hits £2.1bn
21/11/2024 Woking BC's commissioners have revealed its ‘spiral of debt' has reached £2.1bn and further intervention is needed. |
Council apologises after council tax debt confusion
19/11/2024 Buckinghamshire Council has issued an apology after a man was threatened by bailiffs over unpaid council tax. |
Value of rental arrears jumps 70%
02/10/2024 The value of rental arrears owed to local authorities has increased by more than 70% in the last five years, new research has revealed. |
Martin Lewis: Councils collect unpaid tax like ‘worst loan sharks’
10/09/2024 Consumer finance expert Martin Lewis has criticised the ‘grotesque’ methods authorities use to recover council tax and urged the Government to change the law on debt collection. |
Warrington BC faces £29m overspend
03/09/2024 Warrington Borough Council could be facing a £29m overspend by the end of the financial year, the cabinet member for corporate finance has warned. |
Dorset councils owed £45m in council tax
27/08/2024 Dorset's two main councils are owed more than £45m in council tax arrears from the last three years, a new study has revealed. |
Number of fines referred to bailiffs up 67%
20/08/2024 The number of penalty charge notices (PCN) referred to enforcement agencies has jumped by two thirds this year, trade body says. |
Birmingham to lose £320m on athletes’ village sale
14/08/2024 Hundreds of homes designed to be part of an athletes’ village for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will be sold by the council at a loss of about £320m. |
Councils agree on how to split Northamptonshire's final balance
13/08/2024 The two local authorities formed after the demise of Northamptonshire CC have agreed on how to split their predecessor's £40m balance sheet. |
Councillors advised to write off £1.25m of debts
06/08/2024 Officers have recommended that Peterborough City Council writes off £1.25m of ‘irrecoverable’ debts. |
Unpaid council tax surges to £6bn
06/08/2024 Council tax arrears have soared to £6bn a year, a sign that the collection process is ‘failing local authorities and taxpayers alike’, according to a report published today. |
NHS debt to council climbs by £11m in a year
02/07/2024 The NHS owes Cambridgeshire County Council £13m for adult social care services, a report 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. |
Moody's withdraws Warrington's credit rating
17/06/2024 Indebted Warrington BC has had its credit rating withdrawn by Moody’s due to the lack of ‘sufficient, current audited financial information’ on the authority. |
Councils ‘too slow’ at resolving £40m dispute
12/06/2024 Two Northamptonshire councils have been 'too slow' to resolve a dispute over £40m of debt, an auditor has warned. |
Windsor and Maidenhead council issues bankruptcy warning
23/05/2024 The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has warned it could be facing effective bankruptcy if financial support is not agreed soon. |
Unpaid carers forced to repay DWP over £250m
20/05/2024 The Government requires unpaid carers to pay back more than £250m after thousands were unknowingly overpaid their allowance. |
Fresh Best Value Notice for South Cambs over four-day week
08/05/2024 The Government has issued a new Best Value Notice to South Cambridgeshire DC due to ‘ongoing concerns’ about the authority’s four-day working week. |
Council debt up by £52bn since 2010
02/05/2024 Local government debt has increased by 78% since 2010 as councils attempted to make up for cuts to Government funding, new research has revealed. |
Blow to council hopes for cash boost
23/04/2024 The prospect of extra cash for councils has faded further with the latest public finance figures showing the UK borrowed more than expected last month. |
Councils refer 600,000 people to bailiffs
17/04/2024 Local authorities referred almost 600,000 people to bailiffs last year due to failure to pay council tax, according to a freedom of information request. |
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. |
Thurrock boosted by £500m after sale
26/02/2024 Thurrock Council has received £510m in payments following the sale of Toucan Energy Holdings – the firm that triggered a section 114 notice when it collapsed. |
Isle of Wight debt accounts for 42% of annual budget
30/01/2024 Isle of Wight Council has insisted it borrows to invest in essential projects after revealing its debt amounts to 42% of the authority’s annual budget. |
Council referrals to bailiffs up 20%
24/01/2024 Referrals to bailiffs in England and Wales to recover council debts have risen by nearly 20%, a BBC investigation has found. |
Two councils issued Best Value notices
20/12/2023 Eastleigh and Runnymede borough councils have been issued Best Value notices over concerns about their debts. |
Councillors reject £1.5m debt write-off
04/12/2023 Councillors in Bolton have voted against plans to write off £1.5m worth of debt owed by the local authority's parking operator. |
Poorer households should not be chased for council tax debt, MPs say
01/12/2023 The Government should ensure local authorities are not ‘aggressively’ chasing council tax debt from those who can least afford it, MPs have said. |
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. |
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. |
Croydon improvement panel details exit strategy
17/10/2023 Croydon LBC’s Government-appointed improvement panel has outlined a timetable for withdrawing from the authority amid ‘strong progress’ in fixing its finances. |
Liverpool to write off £25m council tax debt
11/10/2023 Millions of pounds worth of unpaid council tax is set to be written off by Liverpool City Council as ‘irrecoverable’. |
Councils face record £3.5bn shortfall
28/09/2023 Research has uncovered a £3.5bn shortfall facing councils over the next financial year, revealing ‘true scale of the dire state of local government funding’. |
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. |
Millions of households struggle with rent payments
26/09/2023 Seven million households across the UK are struggling to keep up with their rent or mortgage payments, according to research published today by Which? |
Spelthorne confident of financial strength
15/09/2023 Spelthorne BC has struck a defiant note over its level of debt on the back of another Surrey council warning of potential bankruptcy. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government rejects sector's Oflog concerns
04/09/2023 The Government has rejected council concerns about key Oflog metrics that have been labelled ‘misleading and meaningless’. |
Time to ban the use of bailiffs
21/08/2023 Councils have the power to end the use of bailiffs for good. It’s time for them to show leadership, says Joe Cox, senior policy officer, Debt Justice. |
Woking staff face redundancy
10/08/2023 All Woking BC staff will go through redundancy consultations by the end of the year as the struggling local authority seeks to tackle its financial problems. |
Rent arrears surge
02/08/2023 Four in five council landlords have reported growing rent arrears over the past year, according to the findings of a new survey. |
Disadvantaged women in North East dying early
10/07/2023 Disadvantaged women in the North East are dying prematurely as public services are failing to meet their needs, according to a new report. |
Nearly 13 million adults facing ‘debt crisis’
03/07/2023 The number of households struggling under a heavy debt burden has increased by two thirds since 2017, a debt charity has warned. |
Warrington prepares for £3m increase in debt interest payments
15/06/2023 Debt-ridden Warrington BC has admitted it will be hit by a £3m bill to refinance a £110m Government loan. |
Preventing future Section 114 notices
13/06/2023 Joanne Pitt, Local Government Policy manager at CIPFA, reflects on Woking BC’s financial troubles and looks at the lessons for other councils. |
Cash-strapped Thurrock to hike charges
08/06/2023 Beleaguered Thurrock Council is set to increase charges for its services to help deal with its cash crisis. |
BREAKING: Woking's 'astonishing' financial crisis risks hitting Government borrowing
02/06/2023 Calamity-struck Woking BC may need to write off up to £1bn after a series of disastrous investments – a debt so big it would impact on Government borrowing. |
Croydon housing staff ballot for strike over job cuts
31/05/2023 Housing staff at cash-strapped Croydon Council are balloting for strike action today over concerns that a restructure could lead to 26 redundancies. |
Estimated 700,000 households miss housing payments
09/05/2023 An estimated 700,000 households missed a housing payment in the last month, according to consumer watchdog. |
Bailiffs breaking rules on ‘massive scale’, says charity
22/03/2023 Bailiffs are breaking the rules on a ‘massive scale’ and driving people deeper into poverty, charity warns. |
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. |
Liverpool council reports over £220m of outstanding debts
22/02/2023 Liverpool City Council has over £220m of outstanding debts that it does not expect to recover, a report by the interim chief finance officer has said. |
Woking Borough Council warns of possible S114
22/02/2023 Woking Borough Council has warned that it is ‘in the territory’ of effective bankruptcy as it struggles with over £2bn of debt. |
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’. |
Eurovision Song Contest host owes council over £7m
08/02/2023 ACC Liverpool Group, the company that runs the host venue for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, owes the city council £7.1m. |
Eastleigh finance review to start
07/02/2023 The Government has commissioned a review of Eastleigh BC’s finances to start this week after concerns over its debt levels. |
New regulatory body for bailiffs launched
30/11/2022 A new regulatory body for bailiffs was launched today as new figures reveal over a third of families fear the cost-of-living crisis will force them into debt. |
Croydon issues S114 notice
22/11/2022 Croydon Council has put a halt to all non-statutory spending as it tries to find £130m of savings in the next financial year. |
How Middlesbrough Council increased engagement rates by 59% of residents in Council Tax arrears
03/11/2022 Middlesbrough Council embarked on a six-month pilot with Voicescape to improve customer engagement over outstanding payments. |
MPs call for pause in benefit deductions to help struggling families
27/07/2022 MPs have urged the DWP to pause deductions from benefits to help families who are struggling to get by due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. |
Two million households miss payments
06/07/2022 An estimated two million or more households have missed a bill payment every month this year, consumer watchdog finds. |
Talks held over council's debt concern
05/07/2022 Woking BC has held ‘positive and constructive’ talks with the Government amid ministerial concerns about the sustainability of the authority’s debts. |
Charity calls for suspension of UC deductions
30/06/2022 Suspending deductions from UC for Government debt would help over a million low income households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, researchers say. |
People with mental health issues three times more likely to fall into council tax arrears, charity warns
11/11/2021 Councils have been urged to provide people with mental health problems with more support to prevent them from falling into council tax debt. |
Nearly 430,000 people missed a council tax payment last year
08/10/2021 Hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland have missed a council tax payment in the last year after running out of money before pay day, a new analysis finds. |
Slough approves asset fire sale
21/09/2021 Crisis-hit Slough Council has approved plans to flog around £600m worth of assets as it battles to get its finances under control. |
Breaking the technical debt cycle in local government
27/08/2021 Iouri Prokhorov argues that for effective digital transformation to take root and to tackle technical debt, local government organisations need to learn from previous mistakes and habits. |
Universal Credit cuts to force two million people into debt
26/08/2021 Government plans to cut Universal Credit this October could push 2.3 million people into the red, Citizens Advice warns. |
New toolkit to help councils support vulnerable people in debt
25/08/2021 Vulnerable people who owe councils money will receive better support from frontline workers following the launch of a new toolkit. |
How will the ECA affect debt collection protocol?
13/08/2021 Corclaim’s head of debt & asset recovery, Jayne Gardner, discusses the Enforcement Conduct Authority, and what this means for debt collection protocol. |
It’s time to stop counting on the courts to collect council tax arrears
04/08/2021 John Doyle calls on councils to rethink ineffective processes used to handle arrears and focus on communication, affordability, and vulnerability. |
Families facing 'tidal wave' of debt warns think tank
26/07/2021 A new partnership between bailiff companies and charities has been launched to help families facing a 'tidal wave' of debt due to the pandemic. |
Small businesses took on five times more debt during pandemic
16/07/2021 Independent businesses offer placemakers an opportunity to create a unique experience but need the support of central and local government, report says. |
Council tax debt rises to £4.4bn
24/06/2021 Council tax debt increased by £841m last year due to the pandemic reducing or delaying recovery action, official figures have shown. |
Northern cities and towns face a debt ‘avalanche’ warns think tank
23/06/2021 The withdrawal of COVID support this summer will hit people in the in the North and Midlands disproportionately hard and risks derailing the Government’s levelling up agenda, Centre for Cities has warned today. |
Calls to use Budget to tackle 'rent debt crisis'
18/02/2021 The chancellor has been warned that homelessness will increase if he fails to tackle the rent debt crisis in the upcoming Budget. |
Charity warns of council tax debt ‘explosion’
04/01/2021 Thousands of people in Scotland have racked up £6.8m in council tax arrears, a charity has warned. |
Councils told to prepare for 'breathing space moratorium' on council tax debt
16/12/2020 Councils have been reminded that households struggling to pay their council tax bills will be able to pause payments from next May. |
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Calls to pause enforcement of council tax arrears in Tier 3 areas
21/10/2020 Local authorities in Tier 3 areas should not be required to enforce the collection of council tax debts, argues Citizens Advice. |
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How to approach rental arrears in a COVID world
26/08/2020 Chris Walker explains how data science, behavioural insights and technology can help councils change the way they manage repayment arrangements. |
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Debt charity calls for ‘long overdue’ bailiff reform
25/08/2020 A charity has warned that the Government’s public health guidance for bailiffs leaves concerns about the impact of debt collection on households ‘unaddressed’. |
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Lockdown havoc on finance figures
21/08/2020 Public debt has bust the £2tn mark for the first time, up by £227.6bn over the same time last year as the lockdown wreaks havoc on the public finance figures. |
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Pre-crisis council tax arrears reached £3.6bn
19/08/2020 Local authorities were owed £3.6bn in unpaid council tax before the start of the pandemic, figures have shown. |
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Bailiff costs could add £158m to council tax debt, charity warns
14/07/2020 People in council tax debt could face an extra £158m in bailiff and court costs, research has warned today. |
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Rent arrears could see homelessness treble this year, campaigners warn
01/07/2020 Homelessness could treble this year due to financial impact of coronavirus, campaigners have warned today. |
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The new normal for public sector debt collection
24/06/2020 Richard Haymes asks what lessons will be learned after the crisis and how will policy, such as the FCA’s persistent debt and breathing space rules, be implemented in a post-coronavirus landscape. |
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Nearly two thirds of families on Universal Credit stuck in debt ‘nightmare’
18/06/2020 Two charities have called on the Government to increase the child element of UC by £20 to help struggling families ‘stay afloat’ during the Covid lockdown. |
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Councils call for tougher action on ruthless loan sharks
08/06/2020 Council leaders are calling for tougher sentences for loan sharks who are pushing vulnerable people further into debt. |
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Charities warn millions of people in council tax arrears due to Covid-19
21/05/2020 Over two million people have fallen behind on their council tax payments as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, debt charities have warned. |
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Government urged to fund council tax payment holidays for vulnerable households
01/05/2020 The Government should provide councils with extra funding to offer payment holidays for people struggling to pay their council bill, according to Citizens Advice. |
