No agreement reached on Birmingham budget
Exceptional Financial Support increases
CIPFA warning over profit capping reforms
Government unveils £4bn SEND package
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.
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. |
Finance settlement raises ‘serious concerns’ for rural areas
17/02/2026 The body championing rural services warns the Government’s final local government finance settlement raises ‘serious concerns’ for rural communities. |
Call for sustainable funding to support SEND spending
12/02/2026 Council spending on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has surged by more than £5bn in real terms over six years. |
Scottish councils struggle to close budget gaps
10/02/2026 Councils in Scotland are struggling to balance their books following the announcement of the Budget. |
Councils' unaudited accounts remain 'a cautionary tale', NAO chief will say
10/02/2026 Backlogs of unaudited accounts mean English local government ‘remains a cautionary tale', the head of the public spending watchdog will say today. |
Compensation for business rates funding flaw
09/02/2026 Councils affected by controversial changes to funding will be compensated, ministers have announced. |
Reform UK budget defeated
09/02/2026 A budget proposing a 3.89% council tax increase by Warwickshire CC's minority Reform UK administration has been defeated by rival parties. |
Worcestershire CC issues bankruptcy warning
09/02/2026 Reform UK-run Worcestershire CC could be forced to declare effective bankruptcy if the Government does not provide it with extra support, leader warns. |
Scottish council leaders raise Local Growth Fund concerns
06/02/2026 Council leaders in Scotland have voiced strong concerns over the UK Government’s approach to the new Local Growth Fund. |
City council requests £15m exceptional financial support
06/02/2026 Brighton & Hove City Council has requested £15m of exceptional financial support (EFS) from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. |
Cross-party talks after Bedford budget rejected
05/02/2026 The leader of Bedford BC's Conservative minority administration has pledged to ‘keep working with other parties' after its ‘sound' budget was rejected. |
Birmingham City Council no longer ‘bankrupt’, says leader
04/02/2026 Birmingham City Council is no longer 'bankrupt', says the local authority’s leader. |
London schools face loosing £45m as pupil numbers plunge
03/02/2026 Falling pupil numbers in London risk undermining school standards and forcing cuts to staff and programmes, according to a new London Councils report. |
Scottish councils face £1bn budget gap
29/01/2026 The cost of delivering services in Scotland is rising faster than available funding which ‘risks the financial sustainability’ of councils, auditors warn. |
Auditor urges Welsh councils to improve capital plans
29/01/2026 It is not always clear how capital plans are helping councils in Wales to deliver their priorities, auditors have concluded. |
£30m coastal resilience funding announced
28/01/2026 Councils are set to benefit from a £30m Government package aimed at helping communities adapt to accelerating coastal erosion and climate impacts. |
Welsh Government funding boost for councils
23/01/2026 The Welsh Government has confirmed it will make £112.8m in additional funding available to local government in its final budget for 2026-27. |
County councils warn of service cuts and redundancies
23/01/2026 Millions of people in England’s county areas could see cuts to services as Government funding is set to cover just 2p of every £1 in rising costs, CCN warns. |
Trafford bid for £20m EFS
16/01/2026 Trafford Council is to ask Whitehall for more than £20m in exceptional financial support (EFS) after its deficit increased by £24m under the fair funding review. |
Business rates surge puts hundreds of pubs at risk
13/01/2026 Up to six hospitality venues could close each day in 2026 if no intervention is introduced to address upcoming business rates increases, researchers reveal. |
Districts remain in dark on funding
12/01/2026 Funding certainty lingers on for finance chiefs in district councils, despite the publication of the provisional local government finance settlement. |
MHCLG faces delays in resolving local audit crisis
12/01/2026 Resolving the crisis in local audit is taking longer than expected, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has admitted. |
'High probability' section 114 warning for Starmer
09/01/2026 North Somerset Council's leader has warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer there is a ‘high probability' of the authority issuing a section 114 notice this year. |
Scottish regions awarded £140m to drive local growth
08/01/2026 Five Scottish regions are to receive £140m of Government funding to support local growth initiatives. |
Reform-led Derbyshire council eyes 5% council tax hike
06/01/2026 Reform-led Derbyshire County Council is considering a council tax increase of up to 5% as it seeks to close a significant budget gap. |
Real-terms funding cuts for almost half of councils
18/12/2025 Almost half of councils will see funding fall in real terms under the local government finance settlement, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). |
Government announces funding boost for most deprived councils
18/12/2025 The Government has revealed details of its multi-year funding deal for local government that aims to shift funding to England’s most deprived areas. |
Public Health Grant 'must keep pace with inflation', LGA chair says
18/12/2025 Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor, chair of the LGA’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, has welcomed a multi-year funding settlement for the Public Health Grant but warned it must keep pace with inflation and rising demand to deliver on prevention and reduce pressure on health and social care. |
Tax referendum cap lifted for six councils
17/12/2025 The council tax referendum cap will be temporarily removed for six authorities, the Government has announced today as part of the provisional local government finance settlement. |
Dudley Council secures £200k in debt recovery action
15/12/2025 Dudley Council has won back over £200,000 following a successful debt recovery case. |
Council faces £2m deficit due to ‘continuing housing crisis’
09/12/2025 Worthing Borough Council says pressure meeting a ‘continuing housing crisis’ in the area means it is facing a £2.1m budget deficit this year, forcing it to ask the Government for emergency financial support. |
Further evidence emerges around councils’ early years underspend
08/12/2025 Further evidence has emerged that councils are either holding back or diverting money that is earmarked for the early years sector. |
Auditor sounds alarm over Shropshire finances
01/12/2025 Shropshire Council has been issued with a rare statutory recommendation by its external auditor. |
Doncaster gives green light to £57m airport loan
28/11/2025 City of Doncaster Council has approved a £57m borrowing measure to help reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport. |
Rental arrears owed to councils soar 55% in six years
25/11/2025 Rental arrears owed to local authorities have climbed by 55% since 2019, according to a new analysis. |
WLGA: Provisional funding settlement ‘does not come close’
25/11/2025 Council leaders across Wales have warned that the provisional 2026-27 local government settlement ‘does not come close’ to matching financial pressures. |
Fair funding review labelled a 'sham'
21/11/2025 The fair funding review has been labelled a ‘sham’ by rural councils following its publication today. |
‘Postcode lottery’ in rent support has cut tenants’ incomes, warns IFS
21/11/2025 Renters impacted by frozen local housing allowance (LHA) rates have seen a decrease in their disposable income by nearly £1,500 per year, researchers say. |
Districts take hit in fair funding review
20/11/2025 District councils have been told their finances will take a hit as the fair funding review is published today. |
Reed lobbies Treasury over fiscal devolution
13/11/2025 Local government secretary Steve Reed has made the case to the Treasury for devolving fiscal powers ahead of the Budget. |
Worcestershire warned over special educational needs spending
11/11/2025 Worcestershire CC has been handed a financial warning by auditors concerned its spending on children with special educational needs is ‘out of control'. |
Councils lack confidence in Crisis and Resilience Fund
31/10/2025 A report has confirmed that 98% of councils do not think the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) will fulfil local needs. |
Fears over fair funding tax formula
30/10/2025 Proposals around council tax in the fair funding review could actually have a detrimental impact on more deprived areas of England, councils have warned. |
London councils face ‘eye-watering’ £4bn funding gap
30/10/2025 London’s town halls are warning of 'inevitable' service cuts and growing financial crisis as new analysis reveals a £4bn funding gap. |
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. |
