Arts council announces £160m of ‘emergency funding’
Councils given direction on using £500m Hardship Fund
Charities struggle to deliver public sector contracts as they lose £4bn
Local roads backlog exceeds £11bn, survey warns
Leaving nothing to chance
The ‘levelling-up’ Budget is era-defining and ambitious in scope – but we will have to wait until the summer Spending Review to understand the blueprint, says Localis’s Jonathan Werran.
Councils to be fully funded for coronavirus costs
18/03/2020 Councils in England will be fully funded for implementing measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, the chancellor has confirmed. |
Emergency funding to help rough sleepers self-isolate
18/03/2020 Councils will be reimbursed the cost of helping homeless people self-isolate to prevent the spread of coronavirus. |
Budget 2020: Sunak reveals spending spree for first budget
11/03/2020 New chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a Budget to end austerity, boost productivity and tackle the problems created by coronavirus. |
Budget 2020: Mayoral authorities win big in transport
11/03/2020 The Government has unveiled £4.2bn for urban transport as part of its spring budget giveaways. |
Budget: £27bn for national roads and £2.5bn for potholes
11/03/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) will spend over £27bn between 2020 and 2025 and pledged an extra £2.5bn for local road maintenance in the Budget. |
Budget 2020: Flood-hit areas to share £200m defence fund
11/03/2020 The money will go to 25 areas based on criteria including repeated flooding. |
Over £30bn annual investment needed to reach net zero by 2050
09/03/2020 An estimated £33bn of investment is needed every year for the next three decades if the Government is to meet its carbon emissions target of net zero by 2050. |
Home Office extends funding for EU Settlement Scheme
09/03/2020 Local authorities will be allowed to bid for a share of £8m to help vulnerable people apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. |
Council tax to rise by 3.7% on average
06/03/2020 The average council tax bill is set to increase by 3.7% in 2020/21, new analysis has revealed. |
Councils face £6.5bn funding gap by 2025
06/03/2020 Local services are facing a £6.5bn funding gap over the next five years, town hall chiefs have warned today. |
Councils and teachers call for over £5bn of extra school funding
05/03/2020 Local authorities, parents and teachers have joined forces to call on the Government to increase school funding by £5.5bn. |
Devolve power to mayor’s office to deliver ‘green investment’ for London, report says
04/03/2020 A study has called for the devolution of power to mayor of London’s office and the creation of a ‘taskforce’ to deliver investment London needs to decarbonise. |
Councils report 'huge overspends' on social care
04/03/2020 More than eight out of ten councils overspent on children's social care last year, with nearly half (47%) spending more than their adult social care budget, new figures have shown. |
North of Tyne mayor announces nearly £20m funding package to ‘boost’ business
03/03/2020 The mayor of North of Tyne has announced a £19.75m funding package to support business growth and innovation. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘chronic need’ for bridge repair funding
02/03/2020 Local leaders have said there is a ‘chronic need’ for investment in local roads in response to a report on the number of substandard road bridges in Britain. |
Council votes for climate change referendum
02/03/2020 Warwick DC has voted to hold a referendum on a 34.2% rise in its share of council tax to fund a climate emergency action programme. |
Councils awarded share of £93m fund to repair potholes
02/03/2020 Local authorities are to be awarded a share of a multi-million pound funding pot to repair roads and bridges, the Government has announced. |
Council chiefs warn social care company debts are putting children's care ‘at risk’
27/02/2020 Six of the 10 largest independent groups of providers of children’s care had more debts and liabilities than tangible assets last year, council leaders say. |
PM announces extra £236m to tackle rough sleeping
27/02/2020 The Government has announced an extra £236m to help get rough sleepers off the street and will lead an ‘urgent review’ into what forces people to sleep rough. |
Councils spend average of £2 per head on cycling infrastructure, study reveals
26/02/2020 Local authorities have spent on average just £2 per head of population per year on cycling infrastructure over the last ten years, new research reveals. |
Minimum ‘basic’ income trial reports mixed results
26/02/2020 A pilot scheme assessing the impact of a minimum ‘basic’ income on poverty and inequality improves well-being but financial insecurities remain. |
Jenrick announces over £49bn funding package for councils
25/02/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed a multi-million pound funding package for councils in what the Government says is the ‘biggest real-terms increase in spending power in a decade’. |
Financial pressures ‘biggest concern’ of school leaders
24/02/2020 A majority of school leaders who responded to Ofsted inspectors have warned that financial pressures are their ‘biggest concern’. |
Public back local tourism taxes
24/02/2020 More than half of residents think councils should have the power to set a tourism levy, according to a new survey. |
Councils overspent £3bn on children's social care in five years
21/02/2020 Demand and funding pressures have forced councils to overspend on children’s social care budgets by more than £3bn in the past five years, new analysis has revealed. |
70,000 homes ‘at risk’ of having no flood insurance
21/02/2020 A think tank has warned that there are around 70,000 homes that are at risk of having no flood insurance because they are built in high-risk flooding zones. |
Councils face £19bn funding gap by 2025
21/02/2020 Councils will face a funding shortfall of £19.1bn over the next five years despite planning council tax increases, new research has shown. |
Government announces financial support for flood-hit areas
19/02/2020 The Government has announced councils in areas affected by recent flooding will receive grants to cover the cost of council tax and business rates reliefs. |
Affordable housing in Wales to receive a £24m ‘boost’
18/02/2020 The Welsh government has announced that £24m is to be invested into building more affordable homes in Wales. |
Scottish councils warn budget will 'devastate communities'
18/02/2020 Councils in Scotland have warned that efforts to tackle child poverty, climate change or deliver inclusive growth are at risk under the draft budget. |
Extending support for refugees could save millions, research finds
18/02/2020 Helping new refugees for longer could help save the public purse millions of pounds every year, new research has revealed today. |
Funding boost to end ‘postcode lottery’ of domestic abuse support
17/02/2020 Councils across England will share £16.6m funding to help provide services and support to survivors of domestic abuse. |
Government activates emergency fund in the wake of Storm Dennis
17/02/2020 Local government secretary Robert Jenrick today activated the Government’s emergency financial assistance scheme for areas affected by Storm Dennis. |
Barnet Council to appoint new pension fund
12/02/2020 Barnet Council’s policy and resources committee are set to approve the appointment of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund to administer its pension scheme. |
Short-term approach to funding urban transport networks ‘inefficient’
12/02/2020 A transport group has warned that the ‘excessive reliance’ on short-term competition funding for transforming urban transport networks is ‘inefficient’. |
Over 50,000 trees to be planted in urban areas
10/02/2020 More than 50,000 trees are to be planted in urban communities following the allocation of the first round of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund. |
Councils warn about 'hidden cuts' in Scottish Budget
06/02/2020 Council leaders have complained about ‘hidden cuts’ in a Scottish Budget that will deliver £11.3bn for council services in 2020/21. |
Glasgow CC ‘successfully delivered’ £500m in equal pay claims, watchdog says
06/02/2020 Glasgow City Council has successfully delivered a project to finance £500m in equal pay claims, Scotland’s local authority watchdog says. |
Plans outlined for Britain’s first all-electric bus town
06/02/2020 One local authority is set to receive £50m to become Britain’s first all-electric bus town. |
Cuts force most councils to increase council tax and charges
05/02/2020 The majority of councils are planning on raising council tax and charging for services in 2020/21 in order to make ends meet, new research has revealed. |
More than 200 local councils fail to publish audited accounts on time
05/02/2020 A third of town and community councils in Wales failed to publish their audited accounts on time, a report has warned today. |
Kier takes over interim Birmingham contract
04/02/2020 Kier has been brought in to manage the 15-month interim highway services contract in Birmingham after Amey's failed PFI deal in the city. |
Temporary accommodation industry worth £1.1bn
04/02/2020 An investigation has revealed that councils are spending £1.1bn on temporary accommodation every year, with 86% going to private landlords or companies. |
Funding per pupil to ‘increase’, PM says
30/01/2020 Councils will be required by law to make sure every school receives the full amount of the minimum levels of funding pledged for each pupil, PM announces. |
Auditors call for ‘clarity’ of privately financed contracts
29/01/2020 Auditors in Scotland have called for ‘more clarity’ when it comes to financing public infrastructure projects. |
Councils sent back to drawing board on SEND
28/01/2020 Councils have been sent back to the drawing board after a quango ripped apart their plans to recover massive special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) deficits. |
Seven out of 10 councils overspend on homelessness
28/01/2020 Seven out of 10 English councils overspent their homelessness budgets in 2018/19 by a combined total of nearly £115m, Local Government Association (LGA) analysis has found. |
Rough sleeping programme gets £115m funding boost
28/01/2020 Funding for the Rough Sleeping Initiative will be increased by 30% this year to enable councils to deliver up to 6,000 new bed spaces. |
Poorer areas to lose 'hundreds of millions' under proposed changes
27/01/2020 Former ‘red wall’ areas are to lose millions of pounds under the fair funding review, analysis by LGA Labour Group has found. |
Funding doubles for residential charge points
21/01/2020 Funding for on-street charge points has been doubled to help end the ‘postcode lottery’ for the uptake of electric vehicles. |
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.
