A senior minister has warned that plans for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to create additional revenues must keep to the “spirit and intent” of local government guidance.
The collapse of Bolsover District Council’s preferred building contractor has led to the authority setting up a wholly owned company to continue its development ambitions.
A coastal council in the south of England has paused its plans to sell valuable beach huts amid discussions with the government over £54m of financing flexibilities, it has emerged.
A West Midlands council is looking to commercialise its management of parks, theatres and museums in a bid to reduce the burden they place on its revenue budget.
A housing subsidiary to which Cambridgeshire County Council has loaned £114m is at risk of failing to deliver on its business case, according to an independent report.
Spelthorne Borough Council has received 90% of its March quarter rent due on its commercial assets, despite the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Local authority investment in commercial property has increased fourteen-fold over three years as councils seek alternative sources of revenue amid cuts leaving them open to risk, the spending...
Councils could be subject to greater regulation if the sector continues to make controversial commercial property investments, CIPFA’s chief executive has warned.
Councils are still being called on to do more with less but the move towards investment in commercial property may not be an appropriate response, says CIPFA’s Don Peebles.
Councils’ spending power could rise to £46.4bn next year, a real-terms increase, local government secretary James Brokenshire revealed as he published the provisional settlement today.
Amid huge uncertainty about funding services beyond 2020, councils are turning to commercial property as an income stream, but are they managing the risks? Rachel Willcox reports.
CIPFA is to work on fresh guidance over concerns councils in England are putting public funds at “unnecessary or unquantified risk” when borrowing to invest in commercial property.
Greater fiscal devolution, commercialisation and students paying council tax were all mooted solutions to squeezed local government funding, at a Conservative Party conference fringe session...
The role of local government is changing. Commercialisation is now a necessary response to funding cuts and a new freedom to take risks, says Zurich’s Andrew Jepp
