Improved data monitoring and expert review teams will help the Office for Local Government spot and support councils that could be at risk of financial failure, the government has claimed.
Middlesbrough Council has become the latest authority to request additional government support to balance its 2024-25 budget and avoid a Section 114 notice.
Data collected by the Office for Local Government often lags behind that collected by councils and is currently not providing value for money, the Local Government Association has claimed.
Higher investment returns across the Local Government Pension Scheme should not lead to reductions in employer contributions, despite sector-wide financial constraints, the Scheme Advisory Board has...
Rising children’s care costs have contributed to a forecast £73m overspend this year and £104m funding gap next year, both of which Bradford Council said it will be unable to meet without exceptional...
A forecast £57m gap in 2025-26 has forced Hampshire County Council to look at making huge cuts – even ones that “do not necessarily make sense” – to ensure the authority passes the “commissioner test...
Some councils have been overstating their financial woes, levelling up secretary Michael Gove has claimed, as authorities deal with rising demand and high costs.
Councils will be unable to build new social and affordable homes to help address the housing crisis without political support from Westminster, an expert has said.
Improving the generosity of benefits and making a long-term commitment to boost social and affordable housing numbers are critical to fixing the temporary accommodation crisis, an expert has said.
The reliance on reserves to balance budgets and an “ambitious” medium-term savings strategy are significant risks to Brighton and Hove City Council’s financial viability, its external auditors have...
Hidden liabilities totalling billions of pounds could be awaiting local authorities who have not fixed discriminatory pay policies, a lawyer at the centre of Birmingham City Council’s case has said.
The statistics collected by the Office for Local Government “do not add value” beyond the current level of information gathered by councils, local leaders have said.
The lack of money put towards recruiting and training staff will hinder Welsh councils’ enforcement of post-Grenfell building safety reforms, the spending watchdog has said.
Rising service demand combined with high inflation and rising interest rates has made delivering a balanced budget “very difficult to achieve” without further government support, a councillor at...
Councils will have to make cuts or raid reserves to meet rising costs amid a forecast £2bn funding shortfall this year, the Local Government Association has warned.
The government wants to step up its intervention in the London Borough of Croydon because, despite the council's hard work, it is continuing to not meet its best value duty.
Councils will continue to struggle to afford housing for refugees without a funded central framework for responding to humanitarian crises, experts have said.
