Council overspends £100k due to ‘poor financial management’
Recycling and refuse top public’s spending priority list
Cities offered over £875,000 to support innovative climate change solutions
Homelessness crisis costs London councils £200m a year, report reveals
Councils vs network operators?
The Electronic Communications Code reduces red tape, but in doing so it cuts the potential revenue property owners stand to make and risks pitting local authorities against operators. Zoe Wright reports.
Whitehall announces £250m of culture spending
14/10/2019 The Government has announced £250m of funding for cultural projects, libraries, museums and the creative industries after a decade of cuts. |
Cost of B&Bs for homeless people rockets
14/10/2019 Councils are being forced to spend more than £90m a year on placing homeless people in bed and breakfasts, council chiefs have warned. |
New financial management code launched
11/10/2019 A new Financial Management Code has been launched to drive improvement in financial management for councils across the UK. |
Council pension scheme invests in green fund
11/10/2019 A council pension scheme has become one of the first to invest in a new ‘green’ fund which supports low carbon technology. |
Hike in PWLB rate will cost councils £70m a year
11/10/2019 The 1% increase to the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) rate will cost councils £70m a year, town hall chiefs have warned. |
Launch of first pooled LGPS property fund
10/10/2019 A new fund that pools the property assets of three public sector pension schemes has been launched. |
Public call for more investment in housing benefit
10/10/2019 Three quarters of the public believe that housing benefit should increase in line with rents, according to a new poll published to mark World Homeless Day. |
Councils agree to £1m payment to struggling tourism firm
09/10/2019 Council leaders in Yorkshire have agreed to give an embattled tourism agency £1m because closing it down ‘could cost more than £3m’. |
Spending on youth services cut 73% in decade
08/10/2019 A new analysis from the Labour Party has revealed that public spending on youth services in England has been reduced by £1bn – or 73% – since 2010. |
Millions struggling to pay council tax and household bills, study finds
08/10/2019 Nearly 1.6 million people are falling behind on their council tax payments, new research has revealed. |
Towns ‘starved’ of investment, think tank says
08/10/2019 A think tank has warned that towns are ‘starved of the investment they badly need’ as most foreign direct investment goes to the major cities. |
Councils urged to apply for funding from £2m air quality pot
04/10/2019 The Government has today announced the latest round of funding to help local authorities improve air quality across England. |
Council angered by Hampshire CC’s decision to charge for contaminated recycling
03/10/2019 A local authority in Hampshire is seeking legal advice after the county council announced that it would bill local councils for contaminated recycling. |
Climate change targets ‘unlikely to be met’ without funding, council chiefs say
03/10/2019 National climate change targets are ‘unlikely to be met’ unless local authorities are given long-term funding and more powers, council chiefs say. |
Mayor announces £90,000 to help homeless veterans
02/10/2019 Homeless veterans in Yorkshire are set to receive more support as the mayor of the Sheffield City Region announces £90,000 for a local homelessness charity. |
New road schemes get funding boost
01/10/2019 The Government has announced £100m investment in 18 road schemes to improve safety, reduce traffic congestion and speed up journeys to work. |
Councils being charged 'shocking' markup on IT products
30/09/2019 Councils are paying almost four times the recommended mark-up on technology products, new analysis has revealed. |
Four in five schools will be worse off next year, research finds
30/09/2019 Funding for schools is dwindling in real terms despite the recent announcement of extra cash, according to campaigners. |
Javid announces £4.3bn Brexit 'funding guarantee'
30/09/2019 Chancellor Sajid Javid has outlined plans to distribute £4.3bn if the UK leaves the EU without a Brexit deal. |
Welsh councils to receive over £400,000 for electric charge points
26/09/2019 Nine local authorities in Wales are set to receive hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding from Whitehall to install electric vehicle charge points. |
Core Cities' £28bn Shared Prosperity Fund warning
26/09/2019 The proposed UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) must be worth at least £28bn over seven years if the UK is to deliver its devolved policy objectives, a leading sector body has warned. |
Youth service spending set to hit ‘lowest point in a generation’
25/09/2019 The young persons charity YMCA has warned that spending on local youth services is at ‘breaking point’ with a nearly 70% decrease in funding in a decade. |
Council chiefs say they ‘desperately’ need certainty on post-Brexit funding
24/09/2019 Local authority leaders have called on the Government to ‘urgently publish’ its plans for a scheme to replace Brussels funding when the UK leaves the European Union. |
Thomas Cook collapse could cost councils £12m a year
24/09/2019 The collapse of Thomas Cook could see councils lose around £12m a year in business rates, new estimates have suggested. |
New online tool to help councils calculate carbon footprint launched
23/09/2019 Climate scientists have developed an online tool that can help local authorities calculate their carbon budget and cut down on emissions. |
Whitehall announces £10m boost for coastal communities
20/09/2019 More multi-million pound projects to boost coastal communities have been given the go-ahead. |
Market to close after trading for nearly 800 years
18/09/2019 Rochdale’s outdoor market and indoor food hall are to close next month because they are ‘no longer financially viable’, according to the local council. |
Call for views on the financial reporting of local authorities
18/09/2019 The Government has called on council workers to give their views to a review on the quality of the financial reporting of local authorities in England. |
Councils urged to apply for £120,000 local road fund
17/09/2019 Local authorities are today being urged to apply for a new grant fund aimed at improving the safety of local roads. |
Treasury 'wasting money' in funding of local government
17/09/2019 The Treasury is wasting money in its funding of local government and needs to have a more place-based focus, according to a report from the respected Institute for Government (IfG) think-tank. |
Councils consider launch of new regional community bank
13/09/2019 Liverpool City Council is working with Wirral and Preston councils to help drive forward a plan to create an ‘ethical, council-led’ regional community bank. |
Cash-strapped councils struggling to support SEND children, auditors warn
11/09/2019 Auditors have warned that councils are coming under growing financial pressure as the demand for supporting school pupils with the greatest needs rises. |
High streets see ‘record decline’ in shops as 16 close each day
11/09/2019 High streets have been hit hard this year with a record decline in store numbers being recorded for the first half of 2019. |
Whitehall announces over £60m in flood defence funding
11/09/2019 Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers has announced £62m of funding to help protect communities from floods. |
Councils sent 2.6 million debts to bailiffs in just one year, charity reveals
11/09/2019 Councils have substantially increased their use of bailiffs to collect debts over the last two years, a surge driven by a rise in parking debt referrals. |
Housing fraud costs councils £16m each year
10/09/2019 People who claim to live alone in order to get a council tax discount cost the local government sector nearly £16m a year, a new study has found. |
Whitehall announces £400m for rapid charging points
10/09/2019 The Government has launched a £400m fund to help develop rapid charging infrastructure points for electric vehicles. |
Burnham announces £6m for homelessness scheme
09/09/2019 Mayor Andy Burnham has announced a £6m funding package for the second phase of Greater Manchester’s A Bed Every Night scheme. |
Local government faces £25bn funding shortfall by 2025
09/09/2019 Local councils will face a £25bn funding gap by 2025 as funding reforms will shrink grants to almost zero, a new report has argued. |
100 places chosen to develop new town deals
06/09/2019 Towns across England have been invited to develop proposals for new multi-million pound Town Deals. |
Fair Funding Review delayed until next year
05/09/2019 The Fair Funding Review and 75% business rate retention will be delayed until 2020-21. |
Spending Round 2019: Chancellor pledges £1.5bn 'down payment' for social care
04/09/2019 Councils will have access to £1.5bn of new funding for social care next year, the chancellor has announced. |
Spending Round 19: Javid promises an 'infrastructure revolution'
04/09/2019 Chancellor Sajid Javid used his first Sending Round to call for an 'infrastructure revolution' and promise a national strategy by 'the autumn'. |
Spending Round 19: Schools receive £7.1bn funding boost
04/09/2019 School spending will increase by £7.1bn by 2022-23, the chancellor confirmed today. |
Chancellor needs an extra £5bn to cover spending promises, says IFS
03/09/2019 The chancellor will need to find an extra £5bn of spending next year to meet the government's recent pledges, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned. |
Office for Veterans’ Affairs given £5m funding boost
03/09/2019 The Government has announced a £5m fund boost to help support military veterans. |
Cities make business case for air quality funding
02/09/2019 Leaders of cities with illegal levels of air pollution are calling for the Government to boost spending on air quality, arguing that a fund of £1.5bn could generate up to £6.5bn in returns. |
Charity calls for investment in housing benefit to prevent homelessness
02/09/2019 Restoring the Local Housing Allowance benefit to cover the full cost of rents could stop more than 6,000 households being pushed into homelessness, according to campaigners. |
Johnson outlines £14bn for schools over three years
02/09/2019 Schools across England are set to receive a £14bn cash boost over the next three years, including £700m for children with special educational needs. |
Health charity warns of ‘systematic failure’ in adult social care
30/08/2019 The Government must spend an extra £7.5bn a year by 2023/24 to stabilise and reform adult social care in England, a new report has argued. |
This issue of Local Government News explores how councils can tackle modern slavery and trafficking in their supply chains, finds out more about Cambridge's first cohousing scheme and the launch of a new project to build a shared service pattern library for local government.
This issue also contains a special focus on children's services and how councils are protecting children following local safeguarding children boards being abolished.
