Around three fifths of those who bought a home through the Help to Buy scheme would have been able to buy a property without the government’s help, according to the National Audit Office.
The mass devolution of social security benefits next year represents a “very significant fiscal risk” to the Scottish budget, according to the body responsible for Scotland’s economic forecasts.
Councils are concerned that a National Audit Office investigation into commercial property investment will criticise them, public finance experts have told PF.
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea made a series of multi-million pound property deals while cutting costs on Grenfell Tower’s refurbishments, research has found.
Public sector deficits were highest in devolved regions in the financial year ending in 2018, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
English councils could be forced to make draconian cuts to local services if Westminster does not pump extra cash into local government to avoid a £51.8bn black hole over the next six years.
Benjamin Franklin might have had it right about the only certainties in life but that doesn’t mean the tax system can’t be improved, says CIPFA’s Rob Whiteman.
Significant sums of public money are at risk as financial controls within councils come under increasing strain, according to the public spending watchdog for Scottish local government.
We don’t consider how policy decisions affect women disproportionately, but giving councils fiscal flexibility can help to ease the pain, writes Bethanie Roughley.
Kate Forbes is clear it is time to ensure there is money to invest in public services, even though this will not be an easy task. The Scottish finance minister talks to Kerry Lorimer.
The Scottish Government has defended its allocation of resources to councils to help them prepare for Brexit, saying it was up to local government to quantify the additional costs it faced.
Public finance professionals have a vital role to play in building trust and resilience, the Scottish Government public finance minister has told CIPFA members.
Northamptonshire County Council’s finances “remain fragile” due to a lack of robust reserves and require savings of £40m, its finance commissioner Brian Roberts has told PF.
Labour is right to identify outsourcing failures but its new policy risks creating more problems than it addresses, argues Institute for Government’s Tom Sasse.