Derbyshire councils to set up £18m reorganisation fund
£52m released to Scottish regions to boost jobs
Wandsworth uses Communities Act to fight funding cuts
Glasgow council under pressure to deliver new pay structure
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.
Think tank calls for social care to be stripped from council tax bills
02/09/2026 A think tank has urged the Government to remove social care costs from English council budgets. |
BCP Council warns of £27m budget gap amid rising care demand
24/08/2026 BCP Council has forecast a £27m budget gap for 2026/27, driven largely by rising demand for children's and adults' care, according to a finance report. |
Government launches review of pub and hotel business rates review
24/08/2026 The Government has launched a review into how pubs and hotels are valued for business rates, aiming to make the system fairer for high street businesses. |
Luton Council unveils £18m+ investment to strengthen communities
21/08/2026 An investment of almost £19m has been backed by Luton Council, as part of a drive to support neighbourhoods, jobs, and local people. |
Wandsworth Council considers council tax rise of up to 160%
19/08/2026 Wandsworth Council is considering a council tax increase of up to 160%, which could add around £800 to the average household bill. |
Council tax harmonisation warning
13/08/2026 Local authorities heading towards reorganisation face a lose-lose scenario on how to harmonise varying council tax bills, a finance director has warned. |
Dudley Council looking to reduce SEND ‘cost pressures’ amid £15.4m overspend
13/08/2026 Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is looking to cut the cost of supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) after recording a £15.4m overspend. |
Mayors warned over partnership working
03/08/2026 Mayoral strategic authorities need to improve their partnership working with investors to ensure they are brought into opportunities earlier, report warns. |
CIPFA report uncovers 'weak financial management' at Hillingdon
03/08/2026 Hillingdon LBC must change course to avoid relying on exceptional financial support (EFS) for years to come, a report has concluded. |
Hampshire nature scheme receives £160k funding support
31/07/2026 Hampshire County Council has bagged over £150k in funding to deliver a nature recovery project. |
Council to save interest after securing loan
30/07/2026 The National Wealth Fund has granted West Suffolk Council a £9m loan to help deliver a state-of-the-art manufacturing and engineering centre for start-ups. |
LGA: New £2m property tax could leave councils out of pocket
24/07/2026 Councils should not be used to administer a national tax on high-value properties, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Islington pension fund members back divestment proposals
20/07/2026 More than 80% of respondents to a consultation on Islington Council's Pension Fund backed proposals to end investments in companies linked to conflict. |
Welsh Government’s council funding formula relies on outdated data
16/07/2026 The way that the Welsh Government allocates funding to councils is partly out of date and does not always provide value for money, auditor finds. |
Reed acknowledges fair funding 'dramatic shifts' in councils' finances
15/07/2026 Local government secretary Steve Reed has conceded ‘dramatic shifts' in councils' finances resulting from the fair funding review should have been avoided. |
Minister in Pride in Place funding threat
13/07/2026 Devolution minister Nesil Caliskan has threatened to pause Pride in Place funding if accountable bodies delay or obstruct decisions on how to spend the cash. |
Funding pledge could shackle social care reform
07/07/2026 The prospects for social care reform under an Andy Burnham government could be constrained by his tax pledges, experts have warned. |
CIPFA prudential code changes aim for greater council transparency
06/07/2026 Changes to councils' financial reporting are being proposed in a bid to prevent a future collapse on the scale of Woking BC. |
Westminster CC warns of £100m funding loss
06/07/2026 Westminster City Council has warned it faces losing £100m in Government funding over the next four years as a result of the new ‘fairer funding’ formula. |
Council chiefs urge next PM to close £7bn funding gap
03/07/2026 The LGA is calling on the next PM to lay out a new path for local services that is not reliant on council tax rises and short-term fixes. |
Councils given green light to refund CIL errors
30/06/2026 Councils can now compensate homeowners who missed out on Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) exemptions due to clerical mistakes, housing minister confirms. |
Call for better council tax support following record-high arrears
25/06/2026 Council tax arrears have surpassed previous highs as they surge to £9.3bn in Britain, figures have found. |
MPs back Bill Butler as Local Audit Office chair
19/06/2026 The Housing, Communities and Local Government committee has endorsed Bill Butler as the Government's preferred candidate to chair the new Local Audit Office. |
Government accounts disclaimed again over local audit gaps
18/06/2026 The NAO has issued a disclaimed opinion on the Whole of Government Accounts for 2024-25, citing the ongoing local government accounting crisis. |
Former councillor rages at lack of accountability for Brum failures
16/06/2026 Officers and commissioners at Birmingham CC should be held to account for their ‘failures' at the under-intervention local authority, says former councillor. |
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. |
East Devon resident repays £25k in council tax fraud case
08/06/2026 An East Devon resident has repaid more than £25,000 in fraudulently claimed Council Tax Reduction, plus a £1,000 penalty. |
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. |
