10 ways councils are making budgets go further
Discover 10 ways councils are stretching budgets further, from digital transformation and energy efficiency to community partnerships and data-driven decision-making.
Scottish councils demand £750m social care lifeline
24/10/2025 Scotland’s political leaders have been told they face a ‘defining moment’ for local services — with social care at the centre of a new call for action. |
EXCLUSIVE: Fair funding fightback
24/10/2025 An alliance of urban authorities is pressing the Government to change tack on the fair funding review. |
SEND Crisis: EHCP demand soars 250%, warns IPPR
22/10/2025 The UK’s system for supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is ‘no longer fit for purpose’, according to a new IPPR report. |
National Wealth Fund to transform sector support
22/10/2025 A Treasury body created to boost economic growth through private investment and public funding has promised to work more closely with the sector. |
Autumn Budget Insights: SEND reform needed to break vicious cycle
20/10/2025 Darcey Snape of the IFS warns that without urgent SEND reform, councils face growing deficits and families risk being let down. |
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). |
Autumn Budget Insights: The local government balancing act
16/10/2025 Jonathan Werran, chief executive of Localis, explores how the Chancellor’s fiscal choices could shape local growth and investment for years to come. |
Reorganisation and fair funding will 'throw cards up in the air' on budgets
16/10/2025 The impact of reorganisation and the fair funding review will ‘throw all the cards up in the air' for councils trying to hit budget, sector expert has warned. |
Government pledges £80m to support children’s hospices
15/10/2025 Children’s and young people’s hospices in England will receive £80m over the next three years. |
Pride in Place: Breathing new life into neglected communities
14/10/2025 Emma Lloyd, Anthony Collins, explores the new Pride in Place Programme, which will invest £5bn to help local authorities revitalise overlooked areas. |
Autumn Budget Insights: Can reorganisation and finance move in step?
10/10/2025 The Autumn Budget is a test of whether the Government can align fiscal policy with local government reorganisation (LGR), says Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU. |
Council adopts AI platform to support local funding scheme
09/10/2025 An AI-powered tool is being used by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to help allocate the region’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds. |
Government unveils £84m homelessness package
09/10/2025 Thousands of people facing homelessness will receive urgent help this winter thanks to a new £84m Government funding package announced on World Homeless Day. |
EXCLUSIVE: Food waste new burdens assessment still not completed
09/10/2025 Whitehall has yet to complete a new burdens assessment for introducing separate food waste collections with six months until the policy has to be implemented. |
Hillingdon Council warns of £2m bill from Chagos arrivals
09/10/2025 Hillingdon Council has raised concerns over the financial impact of recent arrivals from the Chagos Islands. |
West Midlands mayor launches £40m social housing fund
09/10/2025 Mayor Richard Parker has announced a £40m Social Housing Accelerator Fund to fast-track the delivery of 1,000 new social homes across the West Midlands. |
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. |
Councils face 10 house building hurdles, report says
06/10/2025 Rising costs, skills shortages, and complex regulation are among the key challenges faced by local authorities when it comes to delivering new houses. |
Fixing fragmented procurement to transform social housing
03/10/2025 Dan Germann, Durkan Regen, says by taking a longer-term approach to regenerating social housing, councils can maximise value from private sector partnerships. |
Cabinet backs ‘transformational’ new high school plans
30/09/2025 Northumberland County Council has approved the business case for a £50m high school development. |
£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. |
Planning recruitment at risk as apprenticeship funding cuts bite
25/09/2025 Thirty-three organisations across planning, housing, nature, and energy are urging the Government to provide £7m to recruit and train apprentice planners. |
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. |
‘Pride in Place’: Councils empowered to drive high street regeneration
25/09/2025 The Government has unveiled a new initiative aimed at giving communities more control over the regeneration of struggling high streets and neighbourhoods. |
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. |
Funding has ‘saved’ Birnbeck Pier restoration
19/09/2025 The restoration of Birnbeck pier is ‘full steam ahead’ after funding of over £5m is delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. |
Councils spend record £2.8bn on temporary housing
18/09/2025 The Government has released new figures showing that local councils in England spent £2.8bn on temporary accommodation for homeless households in 2024/25. |
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. |
‘Striking’ Ada Lovelace statue to be placed in Hinckley
12/09/2025 Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has confirmed plans to install an 8ft statue of famous mathematician and one of the world’s first computer programmers, Ada Lovelace. |
Billions spent on SEND – but is it paying off?
11/09/2025 Financial experts have warned there is almost no way to assess whether the billions spent on England’s SEND system represent value for money. |
Airport reopening ‘unanimously’ approved by leaders
10/09/2025 Funding of over £150m has been approved to support the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. |
Pier regeneration project ‘at jeopardy’ due to funding gap
09/09/2025 North Somerset Council has revealed that insufficient funding could see the Birnbeck Pier restoration project abandoned. |
Rural Somerset to benefit from EV infrastructure boost
04/09/2025 Somerset Council has been granted almost £4m to support the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charge points. |
Mayor voices support for airport reopening
02/09/2025 The mayor of South Yorkshire is advocating for the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport. |
Overstretched schools need clearer roles, says union
02/09/2025 Education staff are carrying disproportionate responsibilities, according to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). |
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. |
Underfunding, Not Demand, Is Breaking SEND
29/08/2025 Jack Lowman, Sense, says properly funding the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system is vital for disabled children to get the best start. |
One in 10 supported homes at risk
29/08/2025 50,000 specialist homes for people with support needs are at imminent risk of closure due to ongoing funding pressures, National Housing Federation warns. |
£600m boost secures holiday support for children
28/08/2025 Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s decision to invest £600m to extend the Holiday Activities and Food programme. |
Supported housing shortage costs NHS £71m, warns LGA
27/08/2025 Local government leaders have called on the Government to invest more in supported housing to help save the NHS £50m a year. |
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. |
Scottish Borders props up leisure services provider
22/08/2025 Scottish Borders Council has agreed to provide a £1m loan to its leisure services provider as it grapples with a budget shortfall. |
Dorset Council reveals lower homelessness rates
22/08/2025 Dorset Council’s temporary accommodation (TA) rates have dropped by over half following the launch of ‘successful prevention initiatives’. |
The Unfair Cost of ‘Fairer’ Funding for London
22/08/2025 Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea, warns that the Government’s fairer funding plans could force London councils into cutting services. |
Reform UK mayor accused of ‘breach of trust’
20/08/2025 One of Reform UK’s metro mayors has been accused of a ‘serious breach of trust’ after launching a new website promoting a ‘non-existent’ £1m community fund. |
Funding reforms ‘burden’ taxpayers, CCN warns
19/08/2025 Residents of county and rural regions will face ‘maximum council tax rises’ under the Government’s fair funding reforms, the County Councils Network (CCN) has warned. |
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. |
Reform-controlled council cuts Pride funding
18/08/2025 The Reform UK leadership of Durham County Council has been accused of ‘promoting division’ after it cut funding for next year's Pride event. |
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. |
Nearly £10m digital inclusion fund announced
13/08/2025 Local authorities across the UK could benefit from £9.5m of digital inclusion funding, the Government has announced. |
Councils need more funding and powers to save bus services, MPs say
13/08/2025 More funding and powers should be given to local authorities to better protect and improve declining local bus services, MPs have said. |
EXCLUSIVE: MHCLG tells councils not to use public funds to win unitary argument
12/08/2025 Senior Whitehall mandarins have reminded councils not to use public funds to persuade residents to back their favoured reorganisation proposal. |
Social care services in Wales receive £30m boost
12/08/2025 Local authorities across Wales are set to receive a £30m funding boost from the Welsh Government to strengthen community-based social care services. |
Child protection reforms get £18m boost
08/08/2025 The Government has announced an £18m funding boost to support the roll out of early intervention child protection reforms to councils in England. |
IFS: Fair Funding reforms set to create big ‘winners’ and ‘losers’
07/08/2025 Inner London is set to be the biggest loser ‘by far’ from the Government’s proposed Fair Funding reforms, a the Institute for Fiscal Studies has calculated. |
Local youth services to receive £88m boost
06/08/2025 The Government has launched a youth service support package backed by an £88m investment. |
'Serious issues' over Fair Funding formula
01/08/2025 A key part of the proposed Fair Funding formula must be removed due to ‘serious issues', London Councils has demanded. |
Suffolk CC to launch self-driving vehicle study
29/07/2025 Suffolk County Council has received over £70,000 to fund a study of driverless shuttle services. |
Sunderland invests over £700,000 to support people with learning disabilities
25/07/2025 Sunderland City Council is to allocate £724,000 to help people with learning difficulties or autism carry out adaptions to their homes when they are discharged from hospital. |
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. |
PM says 'lots of housing' exists across councils
22/07/2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed there is ‘lots of housing’ that can be used to provide temporary accommodation across local authorities. |
Councils benefit from £15m boost for nature schemes
18/07/2025 Councils are to receive £15m funding to enrich green areas in towns and cities. |
Councils urged to boost scarce holiday childcare spaces
17/07/2025 Only 9% of councils have sufficient holiday childcare places for at least 75% of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in their area, a survey has revealed. |
LGOF: Will it work?
16/07/2025 Dr Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU, discusses the Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF), the latest instalment in the history of local government accountability. |
Government deploys ‘innovation squads’ in £100m pilot
16/07/2025 Ten communities across England are set to be visited by ‘innovation squads’ as part of a £100m pilot to improve local services. |
Councils face pressure to cut back on prevention spending
15/07/2025 Overstretched budgets mean that care leaders have been forced to reduce spending on prevention by more than 10% this year, a new ADASS survey has revealed. |
Councils secure funding for EV charging scheme
14/07/2025 Local authorities are to benefit from a £25m scheme to enable cheaper electric vehicle (EV) charging for those without off-street parking. |
Mayor of London announces £600k high street boost
14/07/2025 The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a £600,000 investment to revitalise local high streets in the capital. |
Rollout of £500m fund to support young people
14/07/2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to announce the launch of the Better Futures Fund, a £500m initiative to help reduce youth poverty. |
Councils must support care-experienced young people, says report
11/07/2025 More funding is required to improve early intervention services for children’s social care, says Education Committee. |
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. |
Councils set to benefit from ‘bespoke’ housebuilding support
08/07/2025 A vanguard of 10 councils has been selected to co-design the new Council Housebuilding Support Service (CHoSS). |
Family Hubs to open in every council area
07/07/2025 The Government has announced a plan to open 1,000 Sure Start-inspired Family Hubs by 2028 to help deliver support to parents in every council area in England. |
LGA: Councils have £276bn of untapped potential
04/07/2025 Government support overcoming place-specific barriers to growth could help local authorities unleash £276bn of untapped economic potential, research suggests. |
Rayner: Over £1.5bn of funding pots to be merged
03/07/2025 Over £1.5bn worth of capital funding pots are to be merged to help free councils from ‘needless bureaucracy’, according to deputy PM Angela Rayner. |
NAO: Council capacity issues undermining bus services
27/06/2025 Financial pressures on councils have meant that local bus services have continued to decline despite Government intervention, new report by the NAO has found. |
Call for proactive social care to support pensioners
27/06/2025 Researchers have recommended proactive social care to support pensioners’ ‘right[s] to live and age well’. |
Councillor warns of ‘tidal wave’ of SEND demand
24/06/2025 West Sussex County Council has warned it is facing a ‘tidal wave of demand’ for services for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). |
School buildings to get £3bn maintenance boost
20/06/2025 Investment in the maintenance of school buildings is set to rise to almost £3bn per year as part of the Government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy. |
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. |
Notting Hill Carnival’s future in question
19/06/2025 The current levels of local government support are not enough to address safety concerns with the Notting Hill Carnival, leaked letter from organiser warns. |
Council confirms funding for school repairs and SEND services
16/06/2025 Kirklees Council has approved a £5.4m investment into local schools, funding repair projects and facilities for pupils with complex needs. |
Funding unlocked for 100,000 new local EV chargepoints
13/06/2025 Government has confirmed a funding boost to support the installation of 100,000 new local electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. |
Dudley town centres could receive major makeovers
12/06/2025 Dudley council chiefs will next week discuss multi-million-pound improvement proposals for town centre regeneration projects. |
Spending Review: Council leaders warn of tax rises and cuts
12/06/2025 Local authorities will be forced to increase council tax and make further cuts despite ‘positive’ funding commitments in Spending Review, council chiefs say. |
Spending Review: Deprived communities get local growth funding
11/06/2025 Deprived communities set to benefit from local growth funding, reveals Chancellor Reeves. |
Council chiefs demand funding to boost children’s play facilities
10/06/2025 The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for ‘long-term, consistent funding’ to help councils implement the national play strategy. |
The £37,000 SEND Problem
10/06/2025 Natalie Kenneison, COO at Imosphere, argues that the real SEND funding crisis isn’t just about budgets - it’s about the systems behind the decisions. |
Council chiefs call for boost to occupational therapist workforce
09/06/2025 Council leaders have called on the Government to invest in occupational therapists (OTs) to improve health, care, and prevention strategy outcomes. |
SEND system in urgent need of reform, says LGA
09/06/2025 A new report by the Local Government Association (LGA) has called for urgent reform of SEND services. |
Vital bus services plummet in rural areas
09/06/2025 Rural bus services have decreased by 18% since 2019 due to insufficient transport funding in county and rural areas, new research reveals. |
‘Urgent’ call for sustainable homecare funding
06/06/2025 New research reveals local authorities are ‘consistently failing to fund homecare’, with 27% of contracts falling below minimum wage. |
EXCLUSIVE: Ministry admits disabled grant delay
05/06/2025 Councils will not receive their 2025-26 Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding until late June, admits Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. |
London Councils: SEND funding ‘sums don’t add up’
05/06/2025 Sixteen of London’s 33 local authorities are at risk of bankruptcy due to SEND funding pressures, London Councils warns. |
Government announces allocation of £7.6m reorganisation fund
04/06/2025 The Government has revealed how much of the £7.6m grant to support the cost of local government reorganisation each region will receive. |
Fears for council funding as ‘unprotected’ departments face cuts
02/06/2025 Council leaders have told the Chancellor they ‘desperately need’ more funding in the Spending Review as financial experts warn ‘unprotected’ government departments could face cuts. |
Hillingdon considers asylum seeker funding legal action
30/05/2025 Hillingdon Council is considering legal action against the Government after the Home Office refused to provide extra funding to house asylum seekers. |
