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10 Nov 20
A 25% increase in audit fee variation rates for 2020-2021 is being proposed by the Public Sector Audit Appointments, following recommendations from the Redmond Review.
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9 Nov 20
Councils in England are set to receive an additional £170m in government funding following a government U-turn over additional support for low-income families this winter.
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9 Nov 20
Capital receipts for councils in England dropped by more than 30% last year to £2.8bn, the lowest level in the last five years, according to government statistics.
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6 Nov 20
Manchester City Council is set to fundamentally review its size and structure, warning that efficiency savings cannot not cover a forecast £135m funding gap next year.
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4 Nov 20
Thurrock Council has taken out a £125m loan with a maturity of just two years from the Public Works Loan Board.
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4 Nov 20
Ipswich Borough Council has approved plans to use all but £50,000 of its usable reserves above its legal buffer by March 2024, to help offset future Covid-19 pressures.
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3 Nov 20
Following the pricing of a £250m bond by the London Borough of Sutton, PF speaks to David Whelan, managing director of public sector treasury at Link Group, which advised on the deal.
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3 Nov 20
A bond totalling £250m, set to be issued by a London council has been priced at 1.7% – below the rate available from the Public Works Loan Board.
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2 Nov 20
The government has launched a 'rapid review' into governance at Nottingham City Council, its second review of this kind announced in under a week.
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30 Oct 20
Audit firms Mazars and Grant Thornton have been asked to implement quality action plans after the Financial Reporting Council was critical of audit quality.
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30 Oct 20
A London council is set to launch a private placement bond through a digital platform to refinance debt and help fund its capital programme for the next four years.
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30 Oct 20
London Borough of Newham is to loan a further £4m to its own development company, after a leisure centre operator pulled out of a development project due to Covid-19.
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29 Oct 20
Councils face a massive rise in business rates appeals, which have reached around 1,000 a day as a result of Covid-19, according to real estate firm Colliers.
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29 Oct 20
The government has announced a rapid review into governance at the London Borough following the publication of a “damning” public interest report.
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28 Oct 20
Councillors at Spelthorne Borough Council have voted to give themselves more control over the authority’s property investment decisions.
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27 Oct 20
Worthing Borough Council is set to approve a housing scheme joint venture with housing association Vivid, which would see the council invest £12.5m.
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26 Oct 20
London Borough of Croydon has been accused of "corporate blindness” over its financial position in a rare public interest report compiled by audit firm Grant Thornton.
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23 Oct 20
Levels of reserves for councils in England dropped by £900m in 2019-2020 to £23.7bn, according to outturn figures published by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
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22 Oct 20
Councils in England are set to receive £100m to help keep local authority run leisure centres open through the winter.
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20 Oct 20
Lancashire County Council has confirmed it plans to issue its third bond through the UK Municipal Bonds Agency.
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20 Oct 20
Mid Ulster District Council has won a VAT case which could see councils in Northern Ireland receive up to £50m in rebates on admission charges to their leisure facilities.
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19 Oct 20
CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman has claimed that Plymouth City Council acted outside its legal powers by agreeing an interest rates swap deal.
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18 Oct 20
Ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the UK’s credit rating for the third time in eight years, citing factors including a deterioration in the quality of the government’s fiscal decision-making.
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16 Oct 20
Plymouth City Council’s interest rate swap deal shows councils’ continued appetite for borrowing. David Moore examines the deal and other options available to authorities.
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16 Oct 20
Reading Borough Council is to its delay planned commercial investment strategy, valued at £180m over the next three years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.