Call for better council tax support following record-high arrears
MPs back Bill Butler as Local Audit Office chair
Government accounts disclaimed again over local audit gaps
Former councillor rages at lack of accountability for Brum failures
Local government spends £3.4bn with 39 ‘strategic suppliers’
Public procurement experts Tussell find that local government spending with the Government’s ‘strategic suppliers’ has remained flat for five years.
40% of West Surrey revenue budget to be absorbed by servicing debt
11/06/2026 Some 40% of one of the new Surrey unitaries' net revenue budget will be absorbed by servicing debt, it has emerged. |
Government awards Somerset £50m to boost flood defences
09/06/2026 The Government has announced a £50m investment to strengthen flood resilience in Somerset, following one of the county's most severe flooding episodes. |
Call for fiscal devolution to be based on clear criteria
09/06/2026 Fiscal devolution must be based around local taxes or revenue rather than the existing grant system, a report has urged. |
Watchdog tells Scottish councils to raise ambition on transformation
20/05/2026 Scotland's councils need to significantly increase the pace and scale of their service transformation or risk facing greater costs later, watchdog warns. |
Reform UK councillors back down in row over airport loan
11/05/2026 Doncaster City Council is to borrow £57m to help reopen its airport after Reform UK councillors backed down from a direct confrontation with its leadership. |
High Court ruling worth 'millions' to councils
07/05/2026 Sunderland City Council and Middlesbrough Council have fended off a legal challenge that could have cost millions of pounds. |
Hundreds of millions could be forfeited to second home tax policy
05/05/2026 Councils could face a shortfall of over £380m due to second-home owners reclassifying their properties, research has revealed. |
£1.5m emergency boost to fight antisemitism after Golders Green attack
05/05/2026 Local authorities are set to receive an extra £1m to help tackle antisemitism, the Government has announced. |
Kent CC bids for over £100m to fix two major road schemes
01/05/2026 Kent County Council has submitted bids to the Government's Structures Fund seeking more than £100m to address critical issues on two key roads in the county. |
COSLA urges next Scottish Government to reinvest in local economic development
23/04/2026 COSLA is calling for a fundamental reset in how councils are funded and empowered to drive economic growth, ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. |
MPs launch fiscal devolution inquiry
22/04/2026 The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Local Government has announced an inquiry into fiscal devolution in England. |
Woking-owned Thameswey debt exceeds £600m
21/04/2026 Woking BC's wholly owned company racked up debts of more than £600m, according to its latest accounts. |
Council tax enforcement rules to be overhauled
15/04/2026 The Government has announced changes to council tax administration in England, giving households more time to settle arrears. |
Councils given over £40m to support Renters Rights duties rollout
14/04/2026 An investment of £41m has been delivered to help councils tackle rogue landlords. |
Council threatens legal action over £20m roads funding row
13/04/2026 North Yorkshire Council has threatened to take legal action against York and North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith over a dispute about highways funding. |
Local museums share £4m accessibility fund
10/04/2026 Twenty-four local museums have received a share of £4m from the Government to improve visitor access and enhance their collections. |
APSE: Half of councils facing street cleansing cuts
07/04/2026 Half of local authorities expect their street cleansing budgets to shrink over the next year, according to a new national survey. |
Social housing fund boost to support innovative pilots
02/04/2026 Twenty schemes across England aimed at supporting social housing tenants are set to each receive a share of a £2m fund from the Government. |
Several councils to benefit from £155k local food grants
01/04/2026 A number of local authorities will each receive £155,000 to bolster local food procurement, Defra has announced. |
Trafford Council gets interest-free loan from combined authority
31/03/2026 Trafford Council is set to receive an interest-free loan from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to address a multi-million-pound budget gap. |
Regions facing grant cut as fiscal overhaul takes shape
30/03/2026 The Treasury’s Northern growth strategy shed light on the overhaul of funding, which will initially target places with the ‘potential to benefit’. |
Council considers application for £8m coastal monitoring programme funding
26/03/2026 North Yorkshire Council is seeking approval for a funding bid of almost £8m to continue the Northeast Coastal Monitoring Programme. |
Call for ‘lifeline’ to help households in cost-of-living crisis
26/03/2026 Crisis support has been delivered every 30 seconds by Citizens Advice this year, research has revealed. |
Warrington Council faces £110m loss, envoys warn
25/03/2026 Warrington Council is facing a net loss of nearly £110m due to its investment strategy and faces a ‘significantly challenging period’, ministerial envoys say. |
Welsh councils receive £50m capital funding boost
24/03/2026 All 22 Welsh local authorities are to receive a share of £50m in additional capital funding this financial year, the Welsh Government has announced. |
Wales Auditor General raises alarm over council account delays
24/03/2026 Auditor General for Wales has written to all local government bodies raising concerns about increasing delays in the auditing of statutory accounts. |
Council cuts raise concerns over arts access
23/03/2026 A new report has warned that significant reductions in local authority arts funding across the UK could limit public access to cultural activities. |
Pride in Place: £319m announced for high street regeneration
23/03/2026 The Government has announced a £319m package aimed at regenerating high streets and improving community spaces, as part of its Pride in Place strategy. |
LGA: Housing finances improving, but budget pressures threaten housebuilding
19/03/2026 The overall financial outlook for social housing is improving, but significant challenges remain, a Local Government Association (LGA) survey reveals. |
Higher council spending linked to stronger climate action, report finds
18/03/2026 New research from Climate Emergency UK has found that councils with greater spending power are more effective at delivering climate action. |
Croydon pledge after SEND overspend
17/03/2026 Croydon LBC has pledged to tackle a raft of problems highlighted in a review into its £16.7m overspend on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
Car park operator collapses putting nearly 700 jobs at risk
17/03/2026 National Car Parks (NCP), one of the UK’s largest parking operators, has entered administration following financial pressures, putting 682 jobs at risk. |
Call for integrating council tax support into universal credit
10/03/2026 Council tax support for working-age households could be integrated into Universal Credit to simplify the system and incentivise work, says think tank. |
Report highlights £5.3bn in unspent developer funds held by councils
10/03/2026 MPs are set to be alerted to £5.3bn in unspent developer contributions currently held in local authority bank accounts, says Urban Mobility Partnership. |
Council agrees £3k+ spend on new mayoral chains
10/03/2026 Harrogate Town Council is to spend over £3,500 on a new set of mayoral chains. |
Havering urges Government to scrap loan interest
05/03/2026 Havering LBC is lobbying the Government to scrap the interest payments on its loans. |
Alarm sounded over Shetland Islands Council's £134m budget black hole
04/03/2026 Shetland Islands Council faces urgent pressure to address a projected £134.3m budget gap by 2029/30, auditors have warned. |
Council spends £220k sending council tax bills first class
04/03/2026 Somerset Council has spent an extra £220k sending out council tax bills by first class post after the Government delayed confirming the financial settlement. |
Councils face £4bn temporary accommodation black hole, LGA warns
04/03/2026 The gap between what councils pay for temporary accommodation and what the Government reimburses them could balloon to nearly £4bn by 2029/30, LGA warns. |
Spring Statement: OBR paints gloomy picture of council finances
03/03/2026 The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has painted a gloomy picture for the future of local government finances. |
£150,000 boost for public libraries in National Year of Reading
03/03/2026 The Government has announced a funding boost of up to £150,000 to support public libraries as part of the National Year of Reading 2026. |
Councils face ‘capacity crisis’ of unspent developer funds
02/03/2026 Roughly £9bn in unspent developer contributions is being held by councils, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) has found. |
Four in 10 of England’s councils to require bail outs
02/03/2026 Nearly 40% of English councils are likely or very likely to require exceptional financial support (EFS) within five years, according to the LGIU. |
Minister raises ‘significant concerns’ over Somerset Council finances
26/02/2026 Minister Alison McGovern has raised ‘significant concerns’ about Somerset Council’s financial position in a letter responding to its request for support. |
No agreement reached on Birmingham budget
26/02/2026 Members of Birmingham City Council have failed to reach agreement at the authority’s annual budget meeting. |
Exceptional Financial Support increases
24/02/2026 Some 37 local authorities will be issued with £1.9bn in exceptional financial support (EFS), allowing them to use capital funding to cover day-to-day costs. |
CIPFA warning over profit capping reforms
23/02/2026 Financial oversight and profit capping reforms to the children's residential care market may fail to reduce costs for local authorities, CIPFA has warned. |
Government unveils £4bn SEND package
23/02/2026 The Government has announced a £4bn investment to expand specialist support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
CCN: SEND transport costs could hit £3.4bn
18/02/2026 Councils have warned that the Government’s Schools White Paper must address spiralling special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) transport costs. |
Treasury control over transport is stalling regional growth, IPPR warns
18/02/2026 Centralised Treasury control over transport spending is constraining regional growth, according to new research from the Institute for Public Policy Research. |
