Councils click into the future of planning
In town halls across the country, planning officers are racing to update their Local Plans — but this time, the process looks very different.
LGA: Council tax increases no substitute for fixing funding
04/02/2025 Council leaders have warned council tax increases place ‘more financial burden on households’ without fixing the long-term pressures facing local government. |
Tax hikes agreed for just six councils
03/02/2025 Councils facing financial woes have been told to scale back council tax rises, just weeks before they put their new budgets in place. |
4.3% boost for Welsh councils
12/12/2024 Councils will receive £6.1bn from the Welsh Government to spend on delivering key services, increasing core revenue funding by 4.3% next year, ministers have announced. |
EXCLUSIVE: Council chiefs told settlement will be 19 December
15/11/2024 Council chiefs have been told by Whitehall they may have to wait until less than a week before Christmas to receive the finance settlement, The MJ learns. |
CCN calls for rethink of social care funding
11/11/2024 The County Councils Network (CCN) has called on the Government to rethink its approach to distributing local authority funding next year. |
Welsh councils plead to plug growing gap
11/11/2024 An umbrella body is pushing for the Welsh Government to help plug a £559m funding gap so councils do not have to make ‘impossible decisions’. |
Think-tank calls for ‘whole place’ reform
12/09/2024 A new report has called for a ‘whole place’ reform of public services to improve local outcomes and support national missions. |
Waiting continues for multi-year settlement despite 'collapse' warnings
12/09/2024 Local government expects another one-year finance settlement despite warnings that failing to address an estimated £4bn black hole could ‘collapse' the sector. |
Hoare: We still want productivity plans
30/05/2024 Local government minister Simon Hoare has insisted he still wants councils to draw up unpopular productivity plans despite the election, The MJ understands. |
Finance settlement 'a continuation of the begging bowl culture'
08/02/2024 The local government finance settlement represents ‘a continuation of the begging bowl culture that continues on a never-ending loop’, shadow minister says. |
Gove sheds light on productivity plans
05/02/2024 Michael Gove has released further details of the Government's productivity plans, including a clampdown on consultants and diversity schemes. |
Culture spend down by £500m
01/02/2024 Analysis has uncovered an almost £500m reduction in councils’ spending on libraries, culture, heritage and tourism since the onset of austerity. |
Council financial crisis ‘out of control’
31/01/2024 MPs have issued a stark warning on the ‘very real’ prospect of more councils in England ‘effectively going bust’ if the Government does not address a £4bn funding gap. |
Council leaders cautiously welcome £600m boost
24/01/2024 Council leaders have welcomed the announcement of a £500m boost to social care budgets but caution they still face ‘difficult decisions’. |
Councils set to receive £500m boost
24/01/2024 The Government is expected to announce an extra £500m in funding as part of the 2024-25 local government finance settlement. |
Finance settlement ‘undermines levelling up’
22/01/2024 The local government finance settlement failed to distribute funding fairly, council bosses have argued. |
Councils lobby for extra support ahead of final finance settlement
12/01/2024 Councils have begun 2024 by urgently lobbying Whitehall over extra financial support amid widespread concern the provisional finance settlement falls far short of what’s needed. |
Council finances ‘worsened’ since finance settlement
08/01/2024 The financial position of local authorities in urban areas has ‘worsened’ since the finance settlement last month, warns local government campaign group. |
‘Very difficult year ahead’ for Welsh councils
19/12/2023 Council bosses say local authorities in Wales face a 'considerable' funding gap despite the devolved nation’s planned cuts in other departments to protect local services. |
Middlesbrough proposes job cuts as it warns of ‘tough choices’
14/12/2023 Middlesbrough Council has proposed axing 75 full-time equivalent posts and cutting social care costs as it scrambles to set a balanced budget for next year. |
Gove announces funding settlement
05/12/2023 Michael Gove has announced the local government finance policy statement, ensuring councils will receive a 3% minimum funding increase before council tax. |
EXCLUSIVE: Nightmare before Christmas?
26/10/2023 The provisional local government finance settlement will be published just before Christmas, council chiefs have been told. |
Northern Ireland’s councils demand ‘more respect’ from Government
30/05/2023 Northern Ireland’s councils have demanded ‘more respect’ from central Government but are wary of becoming dependent on a financial settlement. |
Council finances 'sustainable', MPs told
12/01/2023 No more councils are expected to issue any warnings that they cannot balance their books in the next few weeks, MPs have heard. |
District concern in wake of finance settlement
20/12/2022 Concern over funding for districts has been voiced following the announcement of the provisional local government finance settlement for 2023-24. |
‘Difficult decisions’ ahead despite £400m settlement boost
14/12/2022 Councils in Wales have warned ‘difficult decisions’ on spending remain despite receiving an 8% increase in funding from the Welsh government. |
Scots councils face four years of cuts
01/06/2022 Scottish councils face four years of cuts under Spending Review plans outlined by Scotland’s finance minister Kate Forbes. |
Counties' concern at care funding
17/12/2021 County councils have expressed concern at the level of central funding to rebalance care markets. |
Gove unveils £54bn finance settlement
16/12/2021 The provisional local government finance settlement for 2022-23 represents an additional £3.5bn or 4% increase in real terms compared to 2021-22. |
Council chiefs call for long-term funding to boost post-pandemic resilience
09/06/2021 County council leaders argue that local authorities need a long-term funding settlement to invest in organisational resilience. |
Sustainability of Scottish councils 'at risk' without long term financial certainty, watchdog warns
27/05/2021 The financial sustainability of Scottish councils is at risk without a longer-term settlement, the public spending watchdog has warned today. |
Councils’ core funding per resident set to drop below 2015-16 levels
21/12/2020 Local authorities’ core funding per resident will be lower next year than 2015-16 despite real-term council tax increases of 16%, financial experts calculate. |
|
Jenrick confirms £1.55bn boost for local government
17/12/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick today used the provisional finance settlement for 2021/22 to confirm the allocations for £1.55bn funding. |
|
Jenrick hails 'biggest multi-billion pound spending increase in a decade'
20/12/2019 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed what he describes as the ‘biggest multi-billion pound spending increase for councils in a decade’. |
|
Whitehall silence as Gwynne calls for provisional settlement
17/12/2019 Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has called on ministers to publish the provisional finance settlement immediately amid silence on its timing from Whitehall. |
|
Council services ‘declining’ due to £5bn funding gap, MPs say
21/08/2019 MPs have accused the Government of being ‘derelict in its duty’ by failing to set out a funding settlement that would ease the pressure on frontline services. |
|
Next PM has ‘100 days’ to save local government
15/07/2019 A think tank has called on the next Prime Minister to announce a one year emergency local government finance settlement during their first 100 days in office. |
|
Government in 'denial' over councils' finances, warn MPs
06/02/2019 Marsham Street has ‘an unacceptable lack of ambition’ for local government – with no aspiration for improving finances beyond merely ‘coping’, according to a scathing Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. |
|
Labour to vote against ‘unfair’ local government funding
05/02/2019 Labour have pledged to vote against the Local Government Funding Settlement, arguing it fails to recognise the ‘dire situation’ facing councils. |
|
Northamptonshire given permission for extra council tax increase
29/01/2019 Northamptonshire County Council has been given the freedom to increase council tax by 2% more than other local authorities without holding a referendum, it was announced today. |
|
Finance settlement: Government floats commercialisation crackdown
13/12/2018 Whitehall is considering a crackdown on councils that excessively borrow for commercial reasons as it continues to restrict council tax rises. |
|
Local government finance settlement delayed by Brexit debate
05/12/2018 Today's provisional local government finance settlement has been delayed – just weeks after Whitehall agreed to bring it forward and fix a date. |
|
Council leaders warn of ‘catastrophic collapse’ without cash injection
03/12/2018 Nearly 80 council leaders have called for an emergency cash injection to avoid the ‘catastrophic collapse’ of authorities. |
|
Welsh government should 'own funding cuts or reverse them’
28/11/2018 Welsh Conservatives have criticised Wales’ government and called on the administration to change next year’s controversial council financial settlement. |
|
MHCLG ‘not expecting another Northamptonshire situation’
26/11/2018 Local government finances are sustainable and the collapse of another authority is not expected, the ministry’s top civil servant has insisted. |
|
Local government financial settlement to be published on set dates
25/10/2018 The Government has agreed to ensure the provisional and final local government finance settlements are published on set dates each year. |
|
EXCLUSIVE: Future of new homes bonus cast in doubt
04/10/2018 The future of the £7bn New Homes Bonus is in doubt, after Treasury ministers revealed they believe the policy has failed. |
|
Government accused of allocating council funding by ‘political convenience’
24/09/2018 The Government has been accused of adjusting financial settlements in favour of the wealthiest authorities by a coalition of urban councils. |
|
Javid orders review after second council payment error
20/03/2018 The Government has ordered a review after being forced to admit a second mistake in as many months in the way it calculates council payments. |
|
Whitehall's local government finance cover-up is exposed
20/02/2018 Key Whitehall departments involved in attempt to bury changes to provisional finance settlement data. |
|
Call for Javid to resign after 'misleading' House of Commons
06/02/2018 Shadow local government secretary Andrew Gwynne has demanded the resignation of his counterpart Sajid Javid after the minister admitted he knew the data behind the provisional finance settlement was wrong. |
|
Javid finds extra £166m in final settlement
06/02/2018 Local government secretary Sajid Javid has found an additional £166m to ease spending pressures in social care and rural areas in the final 2018/19 settlement. |
|
Labour accuses Government of 'holding back' local government
29/01/2018 Labour MPs have urged ministers to provide ‘strategic vision’ for local government. |
|
Government knew local government provisional settlement was wrong
25/01/2018 Whitehall officials rushed out the provisional local government finance settlement days before Christmas despite knowing the figures it was based on were wrong, The MJ has learnt. |
|
EXCLUSIVE: Finance settlement 'shambles' after provisional data wrong
18/01/2018 The local government finance settlement has descended into a shambles after it emerged allocations in the provisional document were wrong, The MJ can exclusively reveal. |
|
Many councils remain at a tipping point
12/01/2018 Lord Porter looks back to the provisional finance settlement and ahead to the major financial challenges of the new year. |
|
Social care funding plea amid NHS crisis
04/01/2018 Social care directors have warned delays to operations and hospital admissions will continue without a long-term sustainable funding solution for their sector. |
|
Council tax increase limit raised by Javid
19/12/2017 Councils will be allowed to increase their core council tax by up to 3% in 2018/19 without a referendum, potentially raising an additional £250m. |
|
Scots Budget reveals plan to increase income tax bands
14/12/2017 The Scottish Government has unveiled a draft budget which raises income tax in a bid to raise an extra £164m to pay for public services. |
