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26 Jan 21
Covid-19 financial pressures for local authorities in England totalled £10.8bn during 2020, as forecast pressures for 2020-21 rose to £12.5bn, according to latest returns submitted to government.
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25 Jan 21
Two-thirds of councils in England say additional ring-fenced funding from central government is needed to run safe local elections in May.
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22 Jan 21
MPs have warned that the financial sustainability of some local authorities presents a “significant risk” to the government's finances, and urged the swift implementation of the Redmond review into...
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18 Jan 21
Councils in England are set to receive an additional £120m in adult social care funding from central government to help boost staffing levels in care homes.
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15 Jan 21
The UK’s economy shrank by 2.6% in November, as a result of the second English lockdown, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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12 Jan 21
Labour leader Keir Starmer has called on the government to back local authorities and prevent council tax rises to ease pressure on families.
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11 Jan 21
The Treasury has confirmed that its Dormant Assets Scheme is to be expanded to cover accounts in insurance, pensions, investment, wealth management and securities sectors.
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11 Jan 21
Somerset County Council is to write to the prime minister Boris Johnson refuting claims by a county MP that the authority incorrectly used Covid-19 grant funding to balance its books.
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8 Jan 21
Increased funding for the NHS and Department of Health & Social Care is welcome, but is not enough to cover the impact of Covid-19 or transformation plans, explains NHS Providers policy adviser...
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7 Jan 21
The value of government contracts put out to tender last year fell 8% to £101bn, despite large Covid-19 deals, according to government contracts analysis firm Tussell.
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7 Jan 21
The UK’s economy could take until 2024 to reach pre-Covid-19 levels, economists at PwC have warned.
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5 Jan 21
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a grant funding package worth up to £4.6bn to be allocated by councils, to help keep businesses in Britain afloat following the third national lockdown.
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21 Dec 20
The Welsh Government has proposed a one percentage point increase in its residential land transaction tax, the successor to stamp duty land tax, to help “support housing priorities”.
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21 Dec 20
This year has been one of the most demanding for the public sector in living memory. PF lists the ten biggest stories from the past 12 months.
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21 Dec 20
Core funding for councils in England is set to be 3% lower in real terms per head next year than in 2015-2016, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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15 Dec 20
At the end of a traumatic year, PF asks local government figures whether government has done enough to shield the sector from the financial impact of Covid-19.
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11 Dec 20
The NHS Test and Trace Service is expected to cost £22bn this year, despite struggling to meet targets on testing and contracting tracing, the National Audit Office has said.
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10 Dec 20
UK GDP growth slowed to 0.4% in October prior to introduction of a second national lockdown, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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8 Dec 20
As many as one in 20 local authorities in England risk financial failure as a result of a disruptive European Union Exit, according to a leaked government report.
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4 Dec 20
More than half of local authority audit opinions for 2019-20 missed the extended 30 November deadline, according to oversight body Public Sector Audit Appointments.
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3 Dec 20
Local authorities’ spending on buying property has fallen more than half following the outbreak of Covid-19, according to statistics from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
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3 Dec 20
Two experts give their views on whether local authorities should be worried about future of city centres following Covid-19.
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1 Dec 20
The Department for Transport paid out £309m more to railway operators than it received from income in 2019-2020, according to the National Audit Office.
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30 Nov 20
The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have a long-lasting impact on governance and financial management in public bodies – Sarah Sheen looks at the issues.
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27 Nov 20
City of Edinburgh Council’s use of its general fund reserves is unsustainable and will be unable to cover future economic shocks, Audit Scotland has warned.