Children's centres in 'fight for survival' warn councils
Labour blasts 'savage' council cuts for poorer areas
Think tank suggests introduction of local income tax
Brokenshire announces £1m boost for homeless veterans
In competition with the PWLB
Christian Wall considers what alternative funding channels are available to local authorities beyond the Public Works Loan Board.
Interserve handed £660m of contracts before going into administration
18/03/2019 Construction and facilities giant Interserve was handed £660m of public sector contracts before it went into administration last week, experts have revealed. |
Councils receive over £9m to clean high streets
18/03/2019 Local authorities are to receive £9.75m to help them tidy up their local areas ahead of ‘National High Street Perfect Day’. |
Council chiefs criticise £10m ‘brand revamp’ of youth initiative
15/03/2019 Local authority leaders have criticised the Government’s decision to spend £10m on a ‘brand revamp’ of an underused youth initiative. |
Outsourcing giant faces ‘crunch vote’
15/03/2019 Construction outsourcing giant Interserve was today facing a crunch vote over a proposed rescue plan to save it going into administration. |
Councils fear Swansea construction giant could be 'Welsh Carillion'
15/03/2019 Swansea-based construction giant Dawnus was today on the brink of collapse and expected to call in administrators Grant Thornton. |
Welsh households to face biggest council tax rise in 15 years
14/03/2019 Council tax bills are set to increase by an average of 6.5% across Wales - the largest rise in 15 years - according to new figures. |
Welsh councils receive £1.2m for Brexit preparations
14/03/2019 Each local in Wales will receive £45,000 to help ramp up their work to prepare for Brexit. |
Spring Statement 2019: Chancellor pledges three-year spending review
13/03/2019 Chancellor Philip Hammond has pledged a ‘full three-year spending review’ for local government before the summer recess. |
Welsh council buys leisure park for £21m
12/03/2019 Monmouthshire County Council has purchased the freehold of Newport Leisure Park for £21m. |
Councils set for £1bn parking income
11/03/2019 Latest trends suggest councils in England could be set for a £1bn parking income by the end of the decade. |
Youth service funding essential to tackle ‘spate of violence’, council chiefs say
11/03/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to invest more in youth justice grants as part of the effort to tackle knife crime. |
Northants apologises for underpaying childminders
08/03/2019 Northamptonshire County Council has apologised ‘unreservedly’ for underpaying childminders and nurseries by thousands of pounds. |
MPs launch inquiry into local government finance
06/03/2019 A new inquiry into local government finance will take place ahead of this year's Spending Review. |
Council in funding bid to support £7.3m historical bridge restoration
05/03/2019 Northumberland County Council is preparing to make its second funding bid as part of its effort to restore one of the county’s historic bridges. |
Council tax bills to increase by an average of 4.5%
05/03/2019 Council tax bills are set to rise by 4.5% in England from April, the second highest increase in the last decade. |
Councils forced to sell off thousands of public spaces
04/03/2019 Councils have been forced to sell off more than 12,000 public spaces since 2014, new investigation reveals. |
Whitehall accused of bribing MPs with £1.6bn Brexit fund
04/03/2019 MPs have accused the PM of trying to buy their support ahead of a key Brexit vote with the announcement of a £1.6bn fund for deprived areas of the country. |
Councils to share £19.5m to unlock private housing for most vulnerable
01/03/2019 Councils are to share nearly £20m to help people at risk of homelessness to move into the private rented sector. |
Business rates appeals will cost councils over £1bn
01/03/2019 Councils in England predict that business rates appeal will cost them £1.1bn in 2019/20, new figures have revealed. |
Childcare funding ‘insufficient’, council chiefs warn
28/02/2019 Government funding for nursery school places often fails to cover the costs for those providing the care, local authority leaders have warned. |
Business rates ‘shakeup’ must be properly managed, warn experts
28/02/2019 Finance experts have called on the Government to explain how changes to the business rates retention system next year will work. |
Charities warn about ‘dangerous’ cuts to children’s services
26/02/2019 Thousands of children are at risk of falling into crisis due to ‘devastating and dangerous’ funding cuts in children’s services, five charities have warned today. |
Scottish Labour blasts new budget for £230m of council cuts
25/02/2019 Scottish Labour have criticised a new budget deal that looks set to cut hundreds of millions of pounds of core funding to local government. |
Council's projected overspend more than doubles
25/02/2019 Highland Council has warned of a £5.5m overspend this year, more than double the amount previously predicted. |
Whitehall announces nearly £10m fund to tackle gang culture
25/02/2019 Communities across England are to receive a share of a £9.5m fund aimed at helping families who are vulnerable to the effects of knife crime and gang culture, the communities secretary has announced. |
Superhead ordered to repay council over £1m stolen from his school
22/02/2019 A superhead has been ordered to pay back Brent Council £1.4m he received in illegal bonuses while he was head of a school in Wembley. |
Holyrood passes £42.5bn budget but warns of Brexit recession
22/02/2019 Holyrood has approved the 2019-20 budget which will see billions invested into public services — but warned Brexit could push Scotland into recession. |
Northamptonshire approves 4.99% council tax rise
22/02/2019 Northamptonshire County Council has taken advantage of special freedom to increase council tax by 4.99% without needing to hold a referendum. |
Counties call for full baseline reset of business rates in 2020
22/02/2019 County councillors have called for a review of the business rates system including the tax paid by large retailers. |
Sector fumes over lack of pre-Brexit briefing
21/02/2019 Councils have threatened to walk away from Government attempts to engage with them on Brexit amid growing frustrations about the response to their concerns. |
Council spending on asylum-seeking children doubles in four years
21/02/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to provide ‘vital’ funding to help them support unaccompanied children seeking asylum. |
Amey facing £200m Birmingham divorce bill
19/02/2019 Amey could be set to pay more than £200m to extricate itself from its troubled 25-year PFI contract with Birmingham after years of legal difficulties, according to reports. |
Local welfare cuts leave millions facing ‘financial exclusion’
19/02/2019 Local authority leaders have warned that millions of low-income households are ‘facing debt and financial exclusion’ due to Whitehall cuts. |
Malthouse announces £6m boost for community-led housing
18/02/2019 The Government has announced a multi-million pound funding boost for community groups looking to build affordable housing in their areas. |
Brokenshire announces £13m of ‘much-needed’ park funding
18/02/2019 Councils across the country are to benefit from a multi-million pound funding boost to ‘breathe new life’ into green spaces. |
Nearly all English councils to increase council tax
14/02/2019 Most councils plan on increasing council tax this year while slashing frontline services due to Government cuts, survey reveals. |
Whitehall must fund separate food waste collections, experts say
14/02/2019 Extra Government funding must be provided to speed up separate collections of food waste, the industry body has demanded. |
Infrastructure funding must be tied to ‘clean air agenda’, think tank says
14/02/2019 Ministers must use the forthcoming spending review to tie funding for vital public infrastructure to the 'clean air agenda', according to think tank Localis. |
Pothole compensation costs councils nearly £3m a year
13/02/2019 Councils paid £2.8m to drivers for damage caused by potholes in 2017/18, new figures have revealed. |
Whitehall announces £9m boost for garden communities
13/02/2019 The Government has today announced a £9m cash injection to help speed up the building of garden towns and villages across the country. |
MHCLG to make 'compelling case' for more funding
13/02/2019 Local government minister Rishi Sunak has vowed that his department will ‘make a compelling case’ for more funding ahead of this year’s Spending Review. |
Underfunding of bus scheme leaves elderly ‘isolated’
11/02/2019 Elderly and vulnerable people could be left isolated because the concessionary bus fares scheme is underfunded, local government leaders have warned. |
Edinburgh council votes in favour of ‘tourist tax’
08/02/2019 City of Edinburgh councillors have voted in favour for what could be the UK’s first ‘tourist tax’. |
Northamptonshire budget process a ‘rollercoaster’
07/02/2019 The chief executive of Northamptonshire CC said the council’s budget was prepared with the speed of a rollercoaster. |
Glasgow approves £500m equal pay deal
07/02/2019 Glasgow council’s long-running equal pay dispute has finally come to an end as councillors formally approve a multi-million pound compensation deal for claimants. |
Rochdale council worker jailed for £80,000 fraud
07/02/2019 A council worker has been jailed for defrauding Rochdale Borough Council of £80,000 - money that was then spent on prostitutes and cocaine. |
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. |
Nearly £1bn cut from Scottish authorities in past eight years
05/02/2019 Funding cuts are finally beginning to take their toll as Scottish councils can no longer protect services, according to report published today. |
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. |
Council considers selling off venues to fund equal pay settlement
04/02/2019 Glasgow city councillors are expected to rubber stamp a multi-million pound package this week to settle the long-running dispute over equal pay for women employees. |
The December issue of Local Government News looks at the consequences a council may face if it is unable to provide statutory services, the launch of Liverpool’s housing company and how councils can best manage roles in local authority companies.
It also has a special section on green building and energy efficiency including what funding is available to enable councils to deliver heat networks and how councils can pay for ‘smart buildings’.
