Income generation

• The top ten things for local government to be aware of in 2019

  2019 looks set to be a year of interesting challenges and opportunities for local government. Tiffany Cloynes and Clare Hardy offer their predictions for the year ahead.

  

• Ministers play down commercialisation 'crackdown'

  Ministers have played down the prospect of a widespread crackdown on councils that borrow for commercial reasons.

  

• Shopping for retail sites

  James Duncan explains why investing in retail sites could help councils diversify their income streams.

  

• Finance settlement: Government floats commercialisation crackdown

  Whitehall is considering a crackdown on councils that excessively borrow for commercial reasons as it continues to restrict council tax rises.

  

• Mayor agrees to buy airport in £40m deal

  Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) looks set to be brought back into public ownership as part of a £40m deal.

  

• Investing to earn strategy

  Robbie Blackhurst finds out how local authorities can follow the example of Liverpool City Council by adopting an ‘invest to earn’ strategy.

  

• Council-owned company to bring drone services in-house

  Oxford Direct Services is to become the first council-owned organisation to bring drone services in-house to save time and money.

  

• Assets: A new source of revenue

  A new report has outlined the three main risks councils face when investing in commercial property. Mark Whitehead reports.

  

• Shopping centres: buyer beware

  With councils spending record amounts on buying shopping centres, what risk is this exposing the sector to? Mark Whitehead investigates.

  

• Exclusive: Councils investing record amounts in shopping centres

  Councils are continuing to spend record amounts of money buying up shopping centres, the latest figures show.