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.
English councils face £9.3bn deficit by 2026-27
25/10/2024 New analysis has uncovered a £9.3bn funding shortfall facing councils in England by 2026-27. |
Councils urged to use new law to drive social prosperity
11/10/2024 Local authorities should make use of new procurement laws to promote community prosperity, a think-tank has argued. |
‘People will be angry’: Council must find £11m to avoid S114
11/09/2024 North Somerset must take ‘radical’ action to avoid issuing a Section 114 notice, the authority has said in a stark warning. |
Public libraries in ‘crisis’ amid cuts
03/09/2024 More than 180 council-run libraries in the UK have either closed or been handed to volunteer groups since 2016, analysis by the BBC has revealed. |
Waverley to consult on ‘voluntary council tax’
30/08/2024 Waverley Borough Council is set to consider asking some residents to pay a ‘voluntary council tax’ to fund discretionary services. |
Sheffield faces £34m overspend
27/08/2024 Sheffield City Council is set to overspend by £34.3m this year amid ‘significant’ financial challenges, a report has revealed. |
Eastbourne warns of ‘extensive’ service cuts
14/08/2024 Eastbourne Borough Council has warned that rising costs of homelessness services have left it facing ‘extensive’ cuts to services. |
East Sussex could face £55m funding gap
10/07/2024 East Sussex County Council is already warning it could be left with a £55m deficit in its budget next year. |
Service cuts likely, think-tank warns
21/06/2024 Councils could be forced to cut back service provision if cost and demand pressures continue to grow, researchers have warned. |
Council bosses call on next government to deliver ‘fundamental reform’
30/05/2024 Local services could reach ‘breaking point’ if the next government fails to deliver long-term funding and ‘fundamental reform’, a cross-party group of council leaders has argued. |
Oxford’s workforce issues a ‘significant risk’
10/04/2024 High staff turnover and difficulty recruiting at Oxford City Council could affect staff morale, wellbeing and absence and ultimately impact service delivery, a report has found. |
Cyber attack disruption to last weeks
18/03/2024 Leicester City Council expects disruption caused by a recent Cyber attack on the authority to continue until the end of the month. |
14 councils ‘likely’ to issue s114s next year
28/02/2024 More than half of councils are likely to issue a section 114 notice within the next parliament unless funding is reformed, senior local authority figures have warned. |
Warning over suicide prevention fund end
19/02/2024 The Local Government Association (LGA) is urging the Government to extend funding for suicide prevention projects in the Spring Budget. |
Nottingham executive refuses to back budget cuts
14/02/2024 Executive members of cash-strapped Nottingham City Council have refused to recommend a report that sets out £20m in budget cuts. |
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. |
Scottish councils face ‘difficult decisions’ on cuts
16/01/2024 ‘Intensifying pressures’ on Scottish local authorities mean they must make difficult decisions on service delivery to remain financially sustainable, a watchdog has said. |
Quarter of Scottish councils fear bankruptcy
13/12/2023 Nearly a quarter of Scottish councils fear they will be unable to balance their budget next year, new research shows. |
Nottingham proposes cutting 550 jobs
13/12/2023 Nottingham City Council has proposed cutting 554 full-time equivalent posts in an attempt to tackle its financial shortfall. |
One in five councils report bankruptcy fears
06/12/2023 A poll of council leaders and chief executives has revealed that one in five think it likely that their chief finance officer will need to issue a Section 114. |
Council looks to address £100m ‘black hole’
01/11/2023 Somerset Council is considering measures, including reducing staffing and cutting services to statutory levels, to cover a £100m funding gap. |
Liverpool looks to significantly improve services
22/09/2023 Liverpool City Council has set out a four-year plan to significantly improve the quality of services in the face of ‘complex’ issues. |
Councils face £3bn funding gap, LGA warns
04/07/2023 Councils in England face a funding gap of almost £3bn over the next two years just to maintain services at their current level, the LGA reveals. |
Cash-strapped Thurrock to hike charges
08/06/2023 Beleaguered Thurrock Council is set to increase charges for its services to help deal with its cash crisis. |
Over 50% of councils set to cut spending on services
07/03/2023 Half of councils are planning to cut spending on services, increase commercial investments or spend their reserves to make ends meet this year, poll reveals. |
Council chiefs warn against ‘devastating’ cuts
27/10/2022 Further cuts to local government funding will mean that councils will only be able to offer the ‘bare minimum’ of local services, county council leaders warn. |
Council warns of 20% cuts to cope with financial crisis
30/06/2022 Oxford City Council has said that they are facing ‘tough choices’ over the coming months due to the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. |
Council sets up ‘arms-length’ business to deliver key services
03/12/2021 East Suffolk Council is to create a Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo) to help it deliver key council services. |
Power of local government eroded over decades, report concludes
16/04/2021 Local authorities have seen a ‘steady erosion’ of their autonomy by central Government over the last four decades, a new report has concluded. |
Birmingham CC and Capita ‘dissolve’ long-standing partnership
02/08/2019 Birmingham City Council has announced that its 13 year joint venture with Capita has been ‘largely ended’, reportedly saving taxpayers £44m. |
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Councils invited to join design technique scheme
04/06/2019 Councils are being invited to join a scheme to help them use design techniques to improve the services they offer. |
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Council funding system ‘unsustainable’, financial experts warn
29/05/2019 Spending on local services has fallen over the last decade and the funding available to councils will become ‘inadequate’, according to financial experts. |
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Can investing in property pay for services?
23/05/2019 Investing in property to help pay for services is an idea whose time may have passed, says Mark Whitehead |
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Oxfordshire councils to extend joint working arrangements
16/04/2019 Two councils are considering extending their working partnership in a move they hope will trigger a ‘broader conversation’ on local government organisation. |
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Union calls on Brent councillors to bring cleaning services in-house
11/01/2019 The union GMB have thrown their support behind recommendations for Brent Council to bring their cleaning services back in-house. |
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Council revenues unlikely to ‘keep pace’ with demand on services
20/12/2018 Revenues from business rates and council tax will not keep pace with rising costs and demands for services, financial experts have warned. |
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English councils undergoing harshest spending cuts
09/10/2018 English councils have been hit twice as hard by spending cuts compared to their Scottish and Welsh counterparts, according to a study published today. |
