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.
Audit firms Mazars and Grant Thornton have been asked to implement quality action plans after the Financial Reporting Council was critical of audit quality.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Liverpool City Region is to launch a £10m emergency fund in a bid to protect hospitality and leisure businesses from the economic impact of new Covid-19 restrictions.
The Welsh spending watchdog has warned councils of a significant increase in risk from fraud due to Covid-19, after uncovering £8m of fraud or overpayment over the past two years.
The UK local authority sector could see a future downgrade to its credit rating if a sustained recession leads to further spending cuts, according to ratings agency Standard and Poor’s.
Spelthorne Borough Council has denied that its property investment strategy is unlawful after reports that auditors have raised material concerns over some of its purchases.
Councils in England are set receive to an additional £30m to fund measures including Covid-19 marshals, to ensure the public and businesses follow coronavirus rules.