Launch of £16.5m youth COVID-19 support fund
Spending Review: Sunak recycles money for green transport
Sunak unveils a Spending Review for jobs, public services and infrastructure
Spending Review: UKSPF to reach £1.5bn a year
How local authorities can make money from energy
Stephen Stead explains how councils can use their existing assets to generate new revenue streams.
Spending Review: Infrastructure gets pride of place
25/11/2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak used to the 2020 Spending Review to launch a new strategy for UK infrastructure, supported by an infrastructure bank and a place-based 'levelling up' fund. |
Councils warn about 'significant' overspends on children’s services
24/11/2020 The number of vulnerable young people referred to councils’ children’s services increased by 15% in the first three months after the first lockdown, figures have shown. |
Croydon publishes financial renewal plans
24/11/2020 Croydon LBC has warned that it may have to stop some services and reduce the number of staff it employs in order to live ‘within its means’ over the next three years. |
Over half of councils face financial failure without spending review funding increase
23/11/2020 Half of English councils will be at risk of financial failure if the spending review just provides a ‘rollover’ of funding levels from this year for 2021/22, new analysis has warned today. |
Leisure centre collapse warning
20/11/2020 Under-pressure leisure centres will go under without further rescue funding on top of the £100m already pledged by the Government, district councils have warned. |
Local government 'must have parity' with NHS on pay
20/11/2020 The chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board says the hard work of the sector during the pandemic must be recognised as the chancellor moves to put a squeeze on public sector salaries. |
Funding boost to support rape and domestic abuse victims
18/11/2020 Nearly £11m in new funding to support domestic abuse and rape victims this winter has been announced. |
Government announces ‘additional’ £40m of green funding
16/11/2020 The Government has announced that more areas are to be designated national parks and a second round of funding will be available to support the delivery of green jobs. |
DfT warns of conditions on £175m active travel cash
13/11/2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced councils' allocations for the £175m second tranche of the Active Travel Fund. |
Councils invited to bid for £20,000 to tackle pandemic-related housing issues
12/11/2020 Local authorities have been invited to bid for extra support to help them tackle the impact of COVID-19 on the housing crisis. |
County councils warn of insolvency risk without frontline cuts
12/11/2020 Only a fifth of England's largest councils are confident they can deliver a balanced budget next year without dramatic reduction to services, a new survey has revealed. |
£500m bus partnership fund open to bids
11/11/2020 The Scottish Government's £500m Bus Partnership Fund to deliver bus priority infrastructure has opened for applications. |
Council chiefs call for culture funding to support people during lockdown
11/11/2020 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to invest more in culture, sport and leisure activities as a new report reveals councils spend over £2bn a year on these areas. |
Allocation of £3.6bn towns fund appears 'politically motivated', watchdog warns
11/11/2020 The Government has been accused of 'political bias' when allocating funding from its £3.6bn Towns Fund by the public spending watchdog. |
Croydon issues Section 114 notice
10/11/2020 Crisis-hit Croydon LBC has issued a Section 114 notice after extra spending controls proved not to be enough. |
Latest round of funding for heritage sites announced
09/11/2020 The major share of a £1.57bn fund dedicated to supporting the recovery of cultural assets has been awarded outside of London, according to the Government. |
Councils welcome £170m COVID winter grant scheme
09/11/2020 A new £170m COVID winter grant scheme will be distributed to councils to stop children going hungry during the second wave of the pandemic. |
Councils call for devolution of National Citizen Service funding
06/11/2020 Only one in six eligible young people are taking part in the National Citizen Service (NCS), leading to calls for the Government to devolve its funding to local youth services instead. |
MP calls for changes to highways funding formula
05/11/2020 A Conservative MP has called for reforms to the maintenance funding formula for highway authorities in England to take into account road condition, traffic volumes and the council's own contributions. |
Charity offers ‘up to £200,000’ to support innovative road safety technology
05/11/2020 Local authorities are now able to apply for grants to fund projects that explore how technology can reduce road offending and improve road safety. |
Homes England funding rule undermines ‘levelling-up agenda’
02/11/2020 A disproportionate amount of Government funding for housing is being given to the UK’s most affluent areas, a property consultancy firm has calculated. |
Calls to invest £240m in early years provision
30/10/2020 A quarter of early years providers in the most deprived local authorities could close by Christmas without additional funding, a new survey has revealed. |
Scots union calls for urgent meeting to address funding
30/10/2020 Unison Scotland has called for an urgent meeting with Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes in a bit to address the growing finance crisis. |
Record number of people claiming council tax discount
30/10/2020 Councils are facing costs of £586m due to the record number of people claiming council tax support this year, new analysis has shown. |
Funding allocated for thousands of new homes for rough sleepers
29/10/2020 More than 3,300 new long-term homes for rough sleepers will be delivered by the end of March 2021, the Government has pledged. |
Khan calls for further devolution of adult education funding
28/10/2020 The mayor of London has urged the Government to devolve adult education funding to the capital or risk undermining its long-term recovery from the pandemic. |
Think tank calls for a 'family stimulus' boost
28/10/2020 A 'family stimulus' would help support hard-hit families through the pandemic, a new report has said. |
Council apologises following ‘serious’ issues with its financial situation
27/10/2020 Croydon Council has apologised after a report uncovered ‘serious concerns’ about it’s financial decision making and governance over a number of years. |
MPs launch inquiry into local government finance
27/10/2020 An inquiry examining what approach Whitehall should take to funding local government as part of upcoming spending review has been launched by MPs. |
Councils forced to ‘prop up’ bus operators during pandemic
26/10/2020 Local authority leaders have accused the Department for Transport of forcing councils to keep private bus companies afloat at the expense of local taxpayers. |
Charity blasts cost of 'shoddy and expensive' temporary accommodation
23/10/2020 Councils in England spent £1.2bn on providing temporary accommodation for homeless households in 2019/20, figures have revealed. |
Chancellor announces new support package for businesses
22/10/2020 The chancellor Rishi Sunak has increased support for workers and jobs hit by tougher COVID-19 restrictions following a barrage of protests from businesses, particularly those in Tier 2 areas. |
Jenrick announces allocations for £1bn council funding
22/10/2020 Local government secretary, Robert Jenrick, has confirmed allocations for individual councils from the £1bn of extra funding announced by the prime minister earlier this month. |
Local children’s services struggling to support most vulnerable, charities warn
21/10/2020 Five leading children’s charities have called on the Treasury to invest more in local children’s services which are struggling to cope with the double impact of a decade of austerity and a pandemic. |
Coronavirus leads to scrapping of three-year Spending Review
21/10/2020 Plans to create a three-year settlement for public spending have been abandoned as latest figures show the havoc coronavirus is wreaking on the public finances. |
Streamline local government under plans to save £30bn a year, think tank argues
21/10/2020 Streamlining local government and selling off high-value council properties could save billions every year, according to a think tank. |
Report calls for extra investment in women's centres
20/10/2020 The Government has been urged to invest more funding in women's centres to help reduce the number of women in prison, in a new report published today. |
Household recycling 'soared' during pandemic
19/10/2020 Some councils saw household recycling soar by 100% during the COVID-19 pandemic, council leaders have revealed. |
Report calls for fundamental reform to local government funding
15/10/2020 The handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the ‘dysfunctional relationship’ between central and local government, a report has argued today. |
Councils call for urgent reversal of early intervention cuts
15/10/2020 The Government must ‘urgently’ reverse the £1.7bn early intervention funding cuts in order to avoid families falling into crisis, councils have warned today. |
Council raises £1m through UK's first local government green bond
14/10/2020 The UK's first local government green bond has reached its target of raising £1m for West Berkshire District council five days early. |
Councils secure £10m to help homeless people this winter
13/10/2020 Councils will receive a new £10m Cold Weather Fund to help rough sleepers stay safe this winter. |
PM pledges extra £1bn for local government amid three-tier system
12/10/2020 Boris Johnson has announced a further £1bn in funding for local government as the country heads into the second wave of COVID-19. |
Heritage organisations get £103m recovery fund
09/10/2020 The first round of funding from the Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund has been awarded to 445 heritage organisations. |
Councils given £30m for coronavirus enforcement
07/10/2020 Councils will be given half of a £60m cash pot to help them enforce coronavirus restrictions. |
Councils receive extra funding to prepare for new domestic abuse duty
06/10/2020 Councils have been awarded an extra £6m to help prepare for the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill next April. |
Fragmented council funding risks to value for money, report warns
05/10/2020 The increasing fragmentation in council funding ‘undermines central government’s understanding of service delivery’ and ‘risks impeding value for money,’ a report has warned. |
Watchdog warns passenger numbers and funding has dropped for local bus services
02/10/2020 The number of bus journeys taken in England outside of London has fallen by 10% over the past decade, a new report has revealed. |
Council leaders call for £10bn spending review investment
01/10/2020 The Government should provide local councils with an extra £10.1bn in core funding to help protect local services, the Local Government Association (LGA) has argued. |
Government announces £2m to encourage children to cycle and walk
28/09/2020 The Government has announced it will be making £2m available to help encourage children to walk or cycle to school. |
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.
