Sunak announces launch of UK Infrastructure Bank
Councils can issue traffic fines from December
Ministers 'knew early years was underfunded' argues charity
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award gets £3.4m boost
Sharpening the commercial edge
The case for well-managed council commercial activity is one that needs to be defended if we want a mature and sustainable local state, argues Jonathan Werran.
MHCLG uses social impact investment to fund homes for rough sleepers
11/06/2021 A three-year social investment pilot will help fund over 200 homes for rough sleepers across England. |
Council chiefs call for long-term funding to boost post-pandemic resilience
09/06/2021 County council leaders argue that local authorities need a long-term funding settlement to invest in organisational resilience. |
Over £600m awarded to 26 new Town Deals
08/06/2021 The Government has announced the latest round of towns deals, which will see 26 towns across England share over £600m. |
Free school meals for an extra 90,000 primary pupils in Scotland
07/06/2021 Local authorities in Scotland will be given nearly £50m in new funding to provide free school meals for 90,000 primary pupils. |
Areas chosen to share Safer Streets Fund
04/06/2021 The Government has announced the 40 areas that will share more than £18m to make streets safer and crack down on neighbourhood crime. |
MHCLG is 'too optimistic' about councils' cash, says watchdog
04/06/2021 The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is overly optimistic about councils’ financial resilience after the pandemic, MPs have warned. |
Eight in 10 councils forced to overspend on children’s social care
03/06/2021 More than eight in 10 councils were forced to overspend on children's social care budgets last year due to soaring demand, new research has shown. |
Local government pension fund makes divestment threat
02/06/2021 Scotland’s largest local government pension fund will drop investments in fossil fuel firms that fail to act on the climate emergency. |
Government publishes next phase of school catch-up plan
02/06/2021 The Government has pledged to provide up to 100 million hours of free tuition for children and young people across England. |
Health spending rises by record quarter
01/06/2021 Spending on taxpayer-funded health services rose by a record 25% to £220bn last year as the NHS battled with pandemic costs, according to latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). |
Council tax collection deficit hits £500m
27/05/2021 Councils will need ‘additional help from taxpayers’ to balance their books, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy has warned. |
Sustainability of Scottish councils 'at risk' without long term financial certainty, watchdog warns
27/05/2021 The financial sustainability of Scottish councils is at risk without a longer-term settlement, the public spending watchdog has warned today. |
Pension fund joins ‘national conversation’ on retirement planning
25/05/2021 West Midlands Pension Fund (WMPF) has become the first fund in the Local Government Pension Scheme to join an initiative that’s starting a ‘national conversation’ about retirement planning. |
Ofgem announces £300m investment in charging infrastructure
24/05/2021 Ofgem today announced that it is investing £300m in new infrastructure to support the roll out of 1,800 ultra-rapid charging points at motorway service areas. |
Road funding will be cut by more than a fifth this year, warn council chiefs
24/05/2021 Councils have warned they face a £400m reduction in local road maintenance budgets this year. |
Schools to lose £118m for poorer pupils, council chiefs warn
21/05/2021 Funding changes this year could see schools in England lose £118m for disadvantaged pupils, council leaders have warned today. |
Report makes case for Annual Proportional Property Tax system
20/05/2021 A think tank has argued council tax and stamp duty should be scrapped and replaced with an Annual Proportional Property Tax (APPT). |
Councils charged triple the recommended mark-up on IT products
19/05/2021 Councils are paying more than three times the recommended mark-up on technology products, a new study has revealed. |
London repairs backlog hits 'staggering' £1bn
19/05/2021 The cost of the road maintenance backlog on London’s roads has now passed £1bn, according to the fourth annual ‘State of the City’ report from the London Technical Advisers Group (LoTAG). |
COVID crisis exposed council underfunding, says watchdog
19/05/2021 The COVID crisis exposed existing weaknesses in public services, including the underfunding of local government and the neglect of social care, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. |
Swindon wins again on Eastern Village infrastructure cash
17/05/2021 Swindon BC has scooped another tranche of roads cash for the New Eastern Villages development, with the DfT allocating a further £11.6m to supporting works. |
Multi-million funding boost to tackle inequalities in accessing sport
13/05/2021 An extra £20m will be invested by Sport England to tackle inequalities in accessing sport and physical activities. |
Urban Tree Fund re-opens for third phase
13/05/2021 The Urban Tree Challenge Fund has re-opened for applications to enable 44,000 large trees to be planted in towns and cities. |
‘Wholesale improvements’ required at Slough
10/05/2021 External auditors have issued a scathing report on financial management at Slough BC. |
New £26m fund to help councils migrate to Local Land Charges Register
10/05/2021 The Treasury has created a new £26m fund to help councils migrate their local land charges service to HM Land Registry. |
Lambeth to reimburse £27m of water bills
06/05/2021 The decision follows years of legal wrangling over charges collected on behalf of Thames Water. |
Local councils complain about poor banking services
30/04/2021 The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has warned it has received a groundswell of complaints about poor banking services across England. |
One in three head teachers warn funding for poorer pupils is plugging budget gaps
29/04/2021 A third of head teachers are using funding meant to support disadvantaged pupils to plug general budget gaps, a new survey has revealed. |
Local authority pension group’s fund secures £50m investment
28/04/2021 A fund set up by pension groups in London, including Local Pensions Partnership Investments, to invest in real estate has secured a £50m investment bringing its total capital to £150m. |
Birmingham CC spends nearly £200m in local economy
26/04/2021 Birmingham City Council has spent £194,619,328 in its surrounding areas as part of an effort to improve the social value of its commissioning and procurement. |
Bids open for Self and Custom Build Land Release Fund
19/04/2021 Council are being urged to bid for a share of the £75m Brownfield Land Release Fund. |
Welsh councils face £178m funding gap next year
19/04/2021 Welsh local authorities will face a funding gap of £178m next year due to post-pandemic pressures, a new report has found. |
Crowdfunding platform launches offer to roll out EV chargers in Greater Manchester
19/04/2021 Crowdfunding platform Abundance Investment Ltd has launched an offer to fund the roll out of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure throughout the Greater Manchester area. |
Scale of council deficits due to pandemic is revealed
14/04/2021 Councils are facing a budget deficit of nearly £1.2bn by the end of the financial year due to the impact of COVID-19, research has revealed. |
Charity warns of 'astonishing' level of underclaimed council tax support
14/04/2021 Older people on low incomes in Scotland missed out on £88m in Council Tax Reduction support last year, a charity has warned. |
Think tank calls for reform of 'regressive' council tax in Scotland
12/04/2021 Council tax in Scotland should be increased to the same levels as the rest of the UK, a think tank has argued today. |
Councils urged to bid for £15m traffic signals cash
09/04/2021 The Department for Transport (DfT) is urging English local authorities outside London to submit expressions of interest for a share of £15m of new funding to repair and upgrade their traffic signals. |
Redcar receives £3.7m towards cost of cyber-attack
08/04/2021 The Government has agreed to pay Redcar and Cleveland BC £3.7m in ‘exceptional financial support’ following last year’s ransomware attack. |
£31m Hong Kong integration fund launched
08/04/2021 Funding of £30.7m will be provided to councils to support new arrivals from Hong Kong. |
Public health funding frozen or cut for 100 councils
06/04/2021 Spending per capita has fallen for 31 authorities and frozen for a further 69 after new spending commitments are taken into account. |
Family services offered share of £4m to support conflict resolution
06/04/2021 Local authorities are now able to bid for a share of a £3.87m funding pot to help family services resolve conflicts between parents. |
Pre-paid card firms supplying councils acted ‘as a cartel’, regulator says
01/04/2021 Three out of five firms that issue councils with pre-paid cards have admitted to breaching competition rules and agreed to pay penalties totalling over £32m. |
Councils taking ‘too long’ to pay support grants to businesses
01/04/2021 The Government has written to the leaders of 314 councils in England urging them to pay out grants money to local businesses more quickly. |
Council tax revaluation would help level up, says IFS
31/03/2021 A new council tax revaluation would boost the Government’s levelling up agenda, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said. |
Government announces £2.4m to support charities during pandemic
31/03/2021 The Government has announced £2.4m of funding for thirteen charities that help autistic people, disabled people and those with a learning disability. |
Government 'rules out' COVID-19 business rates appeals
26/03/2021 Local authorities will be allocated a £1.5bn funding pot to help businesses adversely affected by COVID-19. |
Croydon council ends section 114 thanks to £120m bailout
26/03/2021 Croydon Council has announced that it is now able to end its ban on non-essential spending thanks to a £120m Government bailout. |
Levelling up funding is 'poorly targeted' report warns
25/03/2021 There are 6.5 million people living in deprived local authorities that will not be helped by the Government's levelling up funding, new analysis has revealed. |
Welsh councils get £12m to improve local roads
24/03/2021 The Welsh Government has announced an extra £12m for local authorities to 'fix potholes and improve roads, pavements and active travel routes' across the country. |
Councils call for public health funding boost
23/03/2021 The Government should increase the public health grant to at least £3.9bn by 2024/25 to reduce health inequalities and protect from future outbreaks, local leaders have argued. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
