TfN submits £700m proposals for National Roads Fund
Councils save £100m through sector-led improvements
County council chiefs urge PM to ‘level up’ funding across country
Javid announces £600m housing infrastructure winners
Forced into aggressive debt collection?
With more households falling behind in council tax payments, are councils becoming too aggressive in the way they collect arrears? Neil Merrick investigates.
Council-owned solar farm generates £1.2m for frontline services
14/08/2019 One of the largest local authority owned solar farms in the UK has exceeded expectations and generated more than £1.5m of income in its third year – around £100,000 more than anticipated. |
Councils face more funding uncertainty
14/08/2019 ‘Indicative numbers’ for the amount councils will receive in 2020/21 will not be published before next month’s Spending Review, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has admitted after it missed a self-imposed deadline. |
High street retailers call for reform of ‘broken’ business rates
13/08/2019 Over 50 high street retailers have signed a letter calling on Chancellor Sajid Javid to reform the business rates system. |
Areas worst affected by violence awarded £35m
13/08/2019 The 18 areas most affected by serious violence have been awarded £35m by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. |
Government activates emergency funds for flood-hit councils
12/08/2019 The Government has activated an emergency fund for councils affected by flooding. |
Funding doubled for on-street electric car charging
12/08/2019 Local authorities will have access to an extra £2.5m to install chargepoints on residential streets. |
Chancellor announces fast-tracked Spending Review
09/08/2019 The Government will rush through a one-year Spending Round to help prepare for Brexit. |
Welsh councils warn of ‘financial tipping point’ due to cuts
08/08/2019 Six North Wales council leaders have written to the Welsh government warning them that without a change to the way local government is funded, there will be ‘substantial cuts’ to front line services. |
Three UK cities up for European Capital of Innovation 2019
07/08/2019 Three UK cities have made the shortlist for receiving the title of European Capital of Innovation 2019. |
Majority of top 1% of earners in South East, study reveals
06/08/2019 More than half of the top 1% of earners in this country live in London and the South East, new research has revealed. |
Two Black Country stations to reopen thanks to £10m grant
06/08/2019 Two stations are to be reopened in the Black Country thanks to a £10m Government grant after being closed for nearly half a century. |
Whitehall commits £20m to help councils prepare for Brexit
05/08/2019 Council chiefs have welcomed the Government’s announcement that £20m will be made available to help with Brexit preparations, but warned there are still ‘information gaps’ relating to the UK’s exit from the EU. |
Whitehall urged to develop £10bn ‘regeneration strategy’
02/08/2019 The Government should develop a £10bn ‘national regeneration strategy’ to help boost towns and cities across the North and Midlands, a new study says. |
Adult education budget devolved to six combined authorities
01/08/2019 Six mayoral combined authorities and the GLA will be responsible for the adult education budget in their areas from today, the Government has announced. |
Chancellor announces £2.1bn to prepare for ‘no-deal’ Brexit
01/08/2019 Sajid Javid has announced a £2.1bn cash boost in order to prepare the UK for a no-deal Brexit. |
Khan announces £1.1m sports funding to tackle crime
01/08/2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced £1.1m funding for sports groups as part of a drive to stop young people getting involved in crime and violence. |
Towns to receive £3.6bn to ‘level up’ power across England
29/07/2019 Local authority leaders have welcomed the prime minister’s announcement that 100 towns will receive £3.6bn in funding, but warned councils still face an £8bn funding gap. |
Combined authority asked to approve £6.6m museum grant
26/07/2019 A national children’s museum is set to get a boost after the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority is asked to approve a grant for up to £6.6m. |
Corbyn promises £3.5bn for tidal power scheme
26/07/2019 The Labour Party has announced plans to invest £3.5bn into the Mersey Tidal Power Project as part of a ‘green industrial revolution’ to give the North an economic boost. |
Counties publish five-point plan for local government
26/07/2019 Councils need an emergency cash injection targeted at areas most in need, the County Councils Network (CCN) has said today. |
Plans to hike business rates in the West Midlands dropped
24/07/2019 Businesses in the West Midlands will breath a sigh of relief after an announcement that a planned business rate hike is unlikely to go ahead. |
Welsh councils call for ‘clarity’ over post-Brexit funding
24/07/2019 Clarity over future funding arrangements is crucial to ensure support for rural communities in Wales after Brexit, councils have warned. |
Three projects secure funding to increase flood resilience
23/07/2019 Three projects will receive up to £700,000 each to research and test ways to make homes more flood resilient. |
Financial risk for children's services across London is 'unsustainable'
22/07/2019 Children’s services across London are facing an unsustainable level of financial risk, a new report commissioned by London Councils has warned. |
Neighbourhood services cut by £8.9bn
22/07/2019 Funding for neighbourhood services across Britain has fallen 27% over the last decade, according to new research. |
Rural councils call for end to 'systemic bias' in public finance
22/07/2019 The Government has been urged to end 'systemic bias' when allocating public funding by a new coalition of council chiefs and MPs. |
MPs call for £1bn funding boost to fix 'broken' education system
19/07/2019 The Government has been urged to invest £1bn for schools and colleges to fix the 'broken' education funding system by the Education Committee. |
Council chiefs warn SEN reforms will ‘break’ their budgets
19/07/2019 County council leaders have warned that reforms to expand special educational needs (SEN) services will ‘break’ their budgets. |
Report explores how public donations could protect future of parks
18/07/2019 Charitable donations could help protect the future of the UK’s parks and green spaces, a new report has found. |
Universal Credit draining council resources
15/07/2019 Universal Credit (UC) is draining resources from councils, a new survey has found. |
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. |
Council backs campaign for procurement reform
11/07/2019 Oxford City Council has become the first authority to back a fair tax campaign. |
Kent CC warns of ‘dire’ £14m SEND deficit
11/07/2019 Kent County Council has warned it is facing a 'dire' £14m financial deficit for the cost of special needs education provision. |
Brokenshire announces review of local finance audits
11/07/2019 A review of the way local authority finances are audited will focus on whether problems are being spotted early enough. |
Sheffield CC drops £1bn China deal
10/07/2019 Sheffield City Council is hoping to maintain business links with a Chinese construction firm despite a £1bn deal being dropped. |
‘Well-run’ council faces £15m budget gap
10/07/2019 A council claiming to be one of the best-managed in the country has warned it must have more Government money if it is to provide a 'decent level of services'. |
London councils call for delay of funding ‘overhaul’ until after Brexit
09/07/2019 A group of local authorities have called on the Government to delay the overhaul of how councils are funded until uncertainty over Brexit lifts. |
Court date set for councils' £2bn tax dispute with NHS trusts
08/07/2019 A court date has been set for the long-running legal dispute between councils and NHS trusts over rates relief. |
Funding cuts could have paid for eight million pothole repairs, council chiefs say
08/07/2019 Council leaders have called for more cash after calculating money cut from road funding budgets over the last decade could have fixed millions of potholes. |
Councils face losing £5.3bn EU funding in just 18 months
05/07/2019 More than £5bn in regional aid funding will run out in 18 months, councils leaders have warned. |
Council to refund hundreds of incorrect parking fines
04/07/2019 Hundreds of parking fines are to be repaid after a council discovered it had imposed them on motorists using free car parks. |
Crisis-hit Northants delivers balanced budget with £4.5m underspend
03/07/2019 Northamptonshire County Council yesterday announced it had delivered a balanced budget for this financial year with an underspend of £4.5m. |
Nearly £400m to be invested along the English and Scottish border
02/07/2019 Just under £395m is to be invested into five local authority areas on both sides of the border between England and Scotland, Whitehall and Holyrood say. |
One in three councils fear funding for legal duties will 'run out’
02/07/2019 A third of councils fear they will run out of funding to provide statutory services, such as adult social care, by the end of this Parliament, survey reveals. |
MPs call for five-year funding to tackle 'plague of potholes'
01/07/2019 Councils should receive a front-loaded, five-year funding settlement to repair local roads, MPs have argued today. |
Birmingham City Council and Amey reach £300m deal
01/07/2019 Birmingham City Council has reached an agreement with Amey which will allow the outsourcing company to buy its way out of its highways contract for £300m. |
Councils set to make £1bn profit from parking
01/07/2019 Local authorities in England are predicting that they will make £913m of profit from their parking activities this financial year, although the real figure might be nearer £1bn. |
Councils save over £1bn by sharing services, council chiefs say
26/06/2019 More than a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money has been saved by councils sharing services, the Local Government Association has calculated. |
EXCLUSIVE: Victory on variation
26/06/2019 The Treasury’s view of children’s services has been dealt a further blow after research linked 70% of spend variation to factors outside councils’ control. |
Post-Brexit free trade zones could ‘rebalance the economy’, think tank claims
25/06/2019 Whitehall should establish free trade zones in most deprived areas after Brexit in order to incentivise growth and rebalance the economy, think tank argues. |
The June issue of Local Government News contains the full details of all the winning schemes in the 2019 Street Design Awards. From Children's Play to Pedestrian Environment, find out who has been recognised for their innovation and use of best practice.
This issue also explores how local government pension funds can hedge currency risk, how councils can best address the shortfall in school places, and an update on the number of authorities banning the use of Roundup over safety fears.
