Minister announces £20m museum boost
Experts' warning over Exceptional Financial Support
Council to investigate links to Israeli Government
Conservatives pledge to scrap business rates for high street shops
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.
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. |
Woking’s ‘historic debt’ to be reduced by Government
07/08/2025 Financial support will be delivered to help Woking BC repay its debt, the Government has said. |
Reform-led council calls for over £100m in savings
06/08/2025 Lancashire County Council needs to save over £100m to ensure financial stability, officers have cautioned. |
Council tax reforms could help meet fiscal targets
06/08/2025 Researchers have called for the whole council tax system to be replaced as one measure that could help the Chancellor meet her fiscal rules. |
Councils are ‘cautious’ about Procurement Act, survey reveals
29/07/2025 Almost 30% of council staff believe there is insufficient training to back the launch of the new Procurement Act, research reveals. |
Councils facing ‘skyrocketing’ service costs, says report
23/07/2025 Councils are expected to spend an estimated £139bn on the delivery of public services this year, says a report. |
Council audit backlog prevents national accounts sign off
18/07/2025 The National Audit Office has refused to approve the Government's accounts for the second year running due to the ‘severe backlogs’ in local authority audits. |
EXCLUSIVE: £8m Oflog 'waste'
17/07/2025 Ministers have been warned against imposing more top-down performance indicators after it emerged millions was spent before the watchdog was scrapped. |
Councils push back against Reform’s Doge unit
15/07/2025 Several local authorities have reportedly pushed back against efforts by Reform UK’s Elon Musk-style ‘Doge’ unit to access sensitive data. |
Reform's Kent finds 'millions of pounds' of savings
11/07/2025 Kent CC's Department for Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) has identified ‘millions of pounds worth of potential savings', leader Linden Kemkaran claims. |
Notting Hill Carnival receives vital funding boost
10/07/2025 Councils have delivered almost £1m of extra funding to enable Notting Hill Carnival to take place as planned this year. |
Ministerial envoys sent in to support indebted council
10/07/2025 Concerns about the levels of debt at Warrington Council have prompted the Government to send in four ministerial envoys. |
Affordable housing projects to receive £100m uplift
09/07/2025 Housebuilders are set to deliver a boost of £100m to affordable housing projects across the UK. |
Social care and public health leads council third-party spend
08/07/2025 Social care and public health led local government third-party spend in 2024, new figures have revealed. |
LGA: SEND transport costs likely to hit £2bn
02/07/2025 Council spending on home to school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is predicted to hit nearly £2bn this year. |
Council apologises for £1m ‘processing error’
01/07/2025 Southampton City Council has apologised after a ‘processing error’ led to nearly £1m in Direct Debit payments being taken early. |
Reform-led council plans to ‘scrutinise every penny’
30/06/2025 Reform UK council leader announces Lincolnshire County Council needs to rethink its service delivery to ensure sufficient savings. |
Council’s net debt rises by £233m
23/06/2025 Wirral Council’s net debt has risen by £233m in six months due in part to spending on Public Finance Initiatives (PFI). |
Government announces ‘fairer funding’ reforms
20/06/2025 Local government funding will be overhauled to support left behind places, while competitive bidding for funding will be scrapped, Government announced. |
Reform UK-led council to undertake ‘efficiency review’
16/06/2025 Nottinghamshire County Council, which is led by Reform UK, is set to carry out an ‘efficiency review’ in an attempt to find savings. |
