Concerns over additional borrowing have prompted Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to reduce the number of new homes it plans to build in a regeneration scheme.
Already-stretched councils have found it much more difficult to manage their support for Ukrainian refugees than they should have, because of the government’s uncertainty and lack of direction over...
The shift to hybrid working has left North Somerset Council’s primary office mostly empty, and the authority is considering demolishing the building to make way for a new housing development.
Iain Murray, director of public financial management at CIPFA reviews the key pinch points for local authorities 2022, and previews the key issues facing the sector next year.
Local authority reserves collectively rose again last year, as many councils diverted funding to build up their buffers in the absence of a long-term funding settlement, CIPFA has said.
Thurrock Council’s decision to issue a section 114 notice is a necessary step to ensuring exceptional government support, commissioners appointed to turn around the authority have said.
Ministers are set to raise the revenue support grant for local authorities in line with inflation next year, as part of the upcoming local government settlement.
The lack of sufficient data on how much local authorities received from government grants makes it impossible to scrutinise the success of funding, Clive Betts, chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and...
Disagreement over how to value Luton Borough Council’s subsidiary airport company means the authority’s 2018-19 accounts have not been signed off, and auditors are considering making a statutory...
Slough Borough Council will need to sell £100m of property in the next nine months if it is to repay much of its short-term debt without its interest rates effectively quadrupling.
The successful delivery of savings and tight spending controls have helped Peterborough City Council make significant progress towards long term financial stability, an independent panel has said.
Government-appointed commissioners for Sandwell Borough Council have praised reforms to improve governance and contract management following a critical auditors report.
External auditors for Spelthorne Borough Council have issued a rare public interest report amid concerns the authority’s historical commercial investment breached local government regulations.
Thurrock Council’s concentrated investment strategy was a failing that resulted in a £470m budget black hole, according to the official turnaround team.
Failed investments have put Thurrock Council in a grave financial position and facing a deficit of nearly half a billion pounds this year, the commissioners sent in to sort out the authority’s...
Reforming local taxation to include surcharges on out-of-town businesses could help to arrest decades of decline in Scottish town centres, MSPs have said.
The government’s approach of funding social care simply in order to relieve the NHS shows it has the wrong perspective on the importance of care services, peers have said.
Measures in the Autumn Statement favour councils in well-off areas that already raise lots of money from council tax, while those in deprived areas that already bore the brunt of austerity miss out,...
London’s Croydon Council cannot balance its 2023-24 budget without help from the government, its Section 151 officer has said as she issued the authority’s third Section 114 notice in 24 months.
