Local authorities are to share a £300m pot for discretionary business rate reliefs to help firms facing higher bills due to next month’s revaluation of the levy, chancellor Philip Hammond...
Next week’s Budget is unlikely to bring much comfort to local government. The sector must seize the initiative, redefining its objectives and the financial freedoms needed to deliver
Small business have urged chancellor Philip Hammond to use next month’s Budget to provide them with transition support amid mounting concerns about the impact of April’s business rate...
There needs to be clarity on how reforms to take small firms out of business rates will affect councils. There is a risk the link between economic growth and increased local revenues will be broken.
George Osborne is right that economic storm clouds are gathering. But changes to productivity forecasts show they aren’t in Asia or Europe: they are on our own horizon.
George Osborne’s Budget set a good direction on devolution and prevention through the sugar tax, but there are too many surprises and uncertainties for top marks.
The Budget received the traditional mixed reception in Scotland, though with a broad welcome for the help given to the struggling North Sea oil & gas sector.
Chancellor George Osborne has breached two of his three fiscal targets, with objectives on debt and welfare spending missed, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The Treasury has given the green light to plans set out by the National Infrastructure Commission for a High Speed 3 rail network in the North of England.
Small businesses are to be exempt from business rates from next April in a move that will reduce the revenue raised – which is 50% retained by councils – by £6.7bn over the next...
Prime minister David Cameron has announced a help-to-save scheme that could see the government top up 3.5 million low-income people’s savings by £1,200.
Councils have urged George Osborne to impose no further cuts on local government in this week’s Budget statement following warnings from the chancellor that public spending might be cut further.
A £2.3bn deficit across the NHS in the first nine months of the financial year illustrates the pressure the health service is under. Next week’s Budget may shed more light on what the long-term...
George Osborne’s decision to spread the government’s £12bn welfare cuts over four years has pushed back the year the public finances will reach a surplus to 2019/20, the Institute...
George Osborne’s statement included no details on tax rises or how to improve public sector efficiency, but the next government will likely need both to meet fiscal targets.
The government has pledged that reforms to the system of business rates initiated by George Osborne in the Autumn Statement will not impact on the finances of local authorities.
The chancellor's pensions revolution is a disastrous mistake. Millions of pensioners will suffer lower retirement incomes as a result of the Budget announcement, and it could have huge unforeseen...