Worcestershire warned over special educational needs spending
Councils lack confidence in Crisis and Resilience Fund
Fears over fair funding tax formula
London councils face ‘eye-watering’ £4bn funding gap
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.
Late change to fair funding review expected
29/10/2025 Urban councils are expecting a ‘perverse' late change to proposed funding reform they fear would cost them hundreds of millions of pounds. |
Woking to get £500m bailout as Surrey split in two
28/10/2025 Reorganisation frontrunner Surrey will have its 12 councils replaced by two unitaries, with £500m of Woking BC's debts written off, The MJ understands. |
Major consultation to reform council tax in Scotland launched
27/10/2025 The Scottish Government and COSLA have launched a major consultation on the future of council tax. |
DCN: Deprivation key determinant for spending
21/10/2025 Unitaries with a population over 350,000 tend to spend more per resident on services but are also more likely to run into financial difficulties, DCN shows |
‘Outdated and harmful’: Council bailiff use soars 30%
20/10/2025 The use of bailiffs by local authorities in England and Wales has surged by 30% in just two years, according to new analysis from Debt Justice. |
Reorganisation financial risk warning
20/10/2025 Local government reorganisation has been highlighted as a key concern by the Public Accounts Committee. |
Councillors to reimburse £110,000 allowance overpayments
17/10/2025 Oldham councillors have been overpaid in allowances by more than £100,000, a report has revealed. |
LGA: Costs pushing many to financial brink
17/10/2025 Emergency government bailout agreements for councils are at risk of becoming ‘normalised’ as costs outstrip available resources and push many to the financial brink, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned ahead of the Budget. |
SOLACE: Funding fails to offset the years of lost cash, claims president
16/10/2025 Central government funding for regeneration is positive but ‘can only go so far in offsetting the long years of lost funding', Solace president Robin Tuddenham has claimed. |
England’s councils face poorest finances since 2010
16/10/2025 Local authorities in England are set to be poorer by the end of this parliament than they were in 2010, according the Institute for Government (IfG). |
New unitaries in the south to cost over £12m
16/10/2025 The creation of new unitary authorities in the South of England is due to cost councils millions of pounds. |
Councils urged to use £127bn procurement spend to deliver more
15/10/2025 English councils are being urged to use their £127bn annual procurement spend to deliver wider economic, social, and environmental benefits. |
Labour MPs urge Chancellor to scrap ‘outdated’ council tax system
15/10/2025 Thirteen Labour MPs have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to abolish council tax, arguing that the current system is outdated and unfair. |
IFS calls for council tax reform ahead of Budget
10/10/2025 Finance experts have urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to use the upcoming Budget to reform council tax rather than rely on short-term revenue-raising measures. |
UNISON: Councils on the brink as £4bn shortfall looms
09/10/2025 Councils are facing a £4bn funding black hole next year, leaving the most vulnerable paying the price for years of underfunding, warns UNISON. |
Minister announces £20m museum boost
08/10/2025 Local museums across England are set to benefit from a share of a £20m Government fund designed to revitalise civic museums and enhance community engagement. |
Experts' warning over Exceptional Financial Support
07/10/2025 Council finance experts urged the Government to ensure Exceptional Financial Support remains temporary and does not become ‘embedded in the public sector'. |
Council to investigate links to Israeli Government
07/10/2025 Shetland Islands Council has proposed a motion to investigate its ‘financial holdings in companies linked to the Israeli Government’. |
Conservatives pledge to scrap business rates for high street shops
07/10/2025 The Conservatives have promised to abolish business rates for high street shops and pubs if they win the next general election. |
Reform council announces 'once-in-a-generation' budget review
06/10/2025 The Reform UK leader of Leicestershire CC has announced a ‘once-in-a-generation' external review of its £616m yearly budget. |
Spending on SEND support set to hit £21bn
02/10/2025 Spending on education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and child disability living allowance (CDLA) in England is set to reach £21bn by 2029. |
Glasgow launches £1m CMI for climate projects
02/10/2025 Glasgow City Council has unveiled a Community Municipal Investment (CMI), aiming to raise £1m to fund solar energy initiatives across the city. |
£20m secured to restore historic Southport Pier
29/09/2025 Sefton Council has welcomed confirmation that the Government will provide full funding, estimated at around £20m, to restore the historic Southport Pier. |
Audit delays leave Tees Valley accounts in limbo
25/09/2025 Tees Valley Combined Authority’s latest accounts will not receive a clean bill of health after delays linked to the previous year’s financial results. |
Shropshire 'a hair's breadth' from s114
25/09/2025 Shropshire Council will have to rely on Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) to stave off a section 114 notice, according to a corporate peer challenge. |
Bracknell Forest Council reveals ‘impossible’ funding gap
25/09/2025 Bracknell Forest Council could expect a budget gap of nearly £20m across the next three years. |
Councils hit by £266m temporary housing funding shortfall
25/09/2025 Councils face a soaring bill for temporary housing as the funding gap widens by 30% in a year, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Dorset hopes to recover potential contract fraud losses
23/09/2025 A council that sacked 11 interim officers over the potential mismanagement of a multi-million pound repairs contract hopes to recover at least £1m. |
Welsh councils warn of job losses without budget boost
22/09/2025 Welsh council leaders have warned of job losses, service cuts and council tax hikes unless next year’s budget brings extra funding. |
English councils report record £1.2bn parking surplus
18/09/2025 New figures from the MHCLG reveal that English councils made a record £1.189bn in profit from on-street and off-street parking in 2024/25. |
Reorganisation debt warning
16/09/2025 Ministers need to do more to ensure council debts are not a financial barrier to local government reorganisation, local authority leaders have warned. |
Cash flow warning over council tax change
15/09/2025 Plans to switch council tax billing from 10 to 12-month instalments could leave local authorities with cash flow problems, experts have warned. |
Council leader calls for vital funding reforms
15/09/2025 The leader of Barnsley Council has highlighted the urgency of delivering funding reforms to Red Wall areas. |
New unitary authorities could push up council tax, DCN warns
15/09/2025 Residents in new unitary authorities could pay increased council tax, the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has cautioned. |
Section 114 notice warning for Halton
12/09/2025 Halton BC may be forced to issue a section 114 notice if the council fails to bring its spending under control, senior councillors have been warned. |
Shropshire Council acts to avoid Section 114
05/09/2025 Shropshire Council is expected to declare a ‘financial emergency’ next week as it seeks to avoid effective bankruptcy. |
Millions at risk of council tax debt, report warns
02/09/2025 One in four UK adults fear they will be unable to pay their council tax over the next six months, new research from StepChange Debt Charity reveals. |
SEND transport costs reach record £2.26bn
01/09/2025 SEND transport costs hit a record high of £2.26bn in 2023-24, according to a new analysis of official data for England. |
Councils forgo over £50m second homes revenue
01/09/2025 The sale of second homes has seen up to £55m less council tax revenue generated for local authorities. |
Government skipped own cost review of council mergers
29/08/2025 The Government did not conduct its own assessment of the costs of local government reorganisation, the BBC has revealed. |
Report reveals ‘frustration’ over regeneration scheme faults
27/08/2025 A regeneration project in Birkenhead is due to exceed its budget by £12m, with a report outlining its ‘risks and implications’. |
Town halls forced to sell community assets as debts mount
26/08/2025 Local authorities across the UK are selling off public assets – such as schools and care homes – to try and reduce a collective debt of £122bn. |
Cuts have hit council financial information, report finds
22/08/2025 Councillors and members of the public are not being presented with accurate or easy to understand information about local authority budgets, report has found. |
London Councils: Funding reforms could be ‘devastating’ for capital
22/08/2025 The Government must consider London’s ‘high levels of deprivation’ in the Fair Funding Review 2.0, says the cross-party group representing the capital’s councils. |
Council warns of ‘most severe’ budget to date
21/08/2025 North Yorkshire Council has revealed it could be encountering its ‘most severe’ budget round yet. |
Audit costs have ‘risen dramatically’ among councils, research reveals
19/08/2025 The eradication of the Audit Commission has led to the worsening of council audit performance, academics have argued. |
Council debt costs over £4bn annually
19/08/2025 There has been a 60% increase in council debt over the last 10 years, figures have revealed. |
Over £300m Ukrainian refugee funding unspent
19/08/2025 More than £300m given to English councils to help house Ukrainian refugees still sits in council bank accounts, freedom of information (FOI) request reveals. |
LGA warning over fair funding transition
18/08/2025 The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned proposed fair funding transition arrangements will not protect councils from cuts. |
Councils bite back at food waste recycling rollout plan
14/08/2025 Councils will not be told how much money they will receive to roll out food waste recycling until months before the implementation date, Government admits. |
