Special needs provision in schools cut by over £1bn
Report calls for ‘fundamental review’ of council funding
Councils call for extra funding to stop UK being flooded with unsafe products
Council buys office to generate income
In competition with the PWLB
Christian Wall considers what alternative funding channels are available to local authorities beyond the Public Works Loan Board.
Council chiefs call for investment in services young people ‘need’
12/04/2019 Local government leaders have welcomed the Government’s proposed youth charter, but insist investment in local services is what young people ‘want and need’. |
Scottish councils lose over £120m due to ‘weak’ financial controls
11/04/2019 Systems to prevent public money being lost to mistakes and fraud in local government ‘may be under strain’, Audit Scotland has warned. |
Corbyn launches attack on fair funding review
11/04/2019 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has entered the debate over the fair funding review, claiming it ‘will make poorer areas even poorer’. |
Wales champions council tax discounts for mentally impaired
10/04/2019 A new initiative will make it easier for people with a severe mental impairment to receive a council tax discount. |
Council property firm records losses
10/04/2019 The property company run by Barking & Dagenham LBC has reported losses of almost £4m in its first year of operation. |
Council chiefs defend £100,000 plus pay cheques
09/04/2019 Local leaders have defended the generous remuneration packages paid to a minority of council employees arguing they are decided upon in a ‘transparent’ manner. |
Council pays £1.75m in compensation to recycling contractor
08/04/2019 Milton Keynes Council has reached a settlement with the contractor Viridor to cover what the local authority describes as the ‘historic costs’ of contamination in its recycling sacks. |
Homeownership schemes failing ‘less well off’
04/04/2019 The Government’s homeownership schemes are failing those on low and middle incomes, according to a provider of affordable rent to buy homes. |
Funding for SEND education ‘nowhere near enough’, think tank says
04/04/2019 Cuts to local government have resulted in funding for children with special educational needs dropping by 17% per pupil, a new study has revealed. |
Cash-strapped councils struggle to fulfil homelessness prevention duties
04/04/2019 Over two thirds of councils say they do not have sufficient funding to fulfil their statutory duty to prevent homelessness. |
Northants closes £65m funding gap in under a year
03/04/2019 Northamtonshire County Council has had its emergency section 114 notice lifted after wiping out a £65m funding gap in less than a year. |
Grayling launches £200m pothole fund
01/04/2019 Councils in England will be given a share of more than £200m for road maintenance and pothole repairs, transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced. |
Councils defend council tax hikes
27/03/2019 Councils have had ‘little choice’ but to raise council tax to protect local services, the Local Government Association has said, after the latest tax rises were revealed. |
Government announces nearly £400,000 to tackle FGM
27/03/2019 Communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced £375,000 of funding to tackle female genital mutilation (FGM). |
Birmingham CC receives third warning of ‘financial mismanagement’
26/03/2019 Birmingham City Council has defended its financial record after receiving its third auditor warning in four years. |
Report finds disparities in highways maintenance funding
26/03/2019 An increase in local authority highways maintenance budgets is helping to stem the decline in local roads, a new report has found. |
Government announces £46m to tackle rough sleeping
25/03/2019 The communities secretary has announced that £46m will be made available to help councils get people off the streets and into accommodation. |
Whitehall announces £36m to develop coastal communities
25/03/2019 Around 70 coastal projects have been awarded a total of £36m by the Government as part of an effort to attract tourists and create jobs. |
Children's centres in 'fight for survival' warn councils
22/03/2019 Councils have reduced the amount of money they are spending on Sure Start children’s centres by a quarter in the past four years, new figures have revealed. |
Councils chosen to share £25m clean bus funding
22/03/2019 A £25m fund to upgrade buses with technologies that reduce harmful emissions will be shared by 14 local authorities. |
Labour blasts 'savage' council cuts for poorer areas
21/03/2019 Local government cuts are hitting the North of England and the most deprived areas the hardest, the Labour Party has warned ahead of the upcoming local elections. |
Think tank suggests introduction of local income tax
21/03/2019 Local income tax would be the best option for fiscal devolution if the Government wanted to hand more powers to local authorities, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) argued today. |
Brokenshire announces £1m boost for homeless veterans
20/03/2019 The Government has announced that local areas will be receiving a boost of £1m to help ensure vulnerable veterans do not end up sleeping rough. |
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. |
The March issue of Local Government News explores alternative funding channels that are available to councils beyond the Public Works Loan Board, what hurdles merging councils face in coming together, and how local government is handling GDPR.
This issue also has a special highways and street lighting section exploring how councils can use lighting to embark on their smart city journey and using IoT technology to weather the storm.
