Local authorities have been warned that they will need to guarantee each others’ debts if a new local authority bond agency is to get the top credit rating needed to make the plans viable.
The government is likely to fail in its attempt to freeze the council tax across England for a second year after local authorities revealed concerns about the proposal.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles is seeking views on plans to give town halls the ability to remove council tax relief on empty and second homes.
Local government made the case for greater independence from Whitehall at all three party conferences as representatives wrestled with finding ways to alleviate the effects of spending cuts. Richard...
Local government staff will have to pay on average an extra 1.5 percentage points of their pay towards their pensions under changes being proposed by the Department for Communities and Local...
The audit work of the outgoing Audit Commission will be outsourced in ten lots grouped in four English regions and valued at around £89.4m, it has been announced.
Councils in England fear that the government schemes to cover the cost of the damage caused by the riots might leave them out of pocket, leading to uncertainty over what support they can offer those...
Although the previous government's Total Place scheme looks set to continue, albeit in a watered-down form, the route ahead is a challenging one. Lucy Phillips examines the obstacles that are...
Being the first elected chair of the Public Accounts Committee gives Margaret Hodge enhanced authority. But transforming the public sector into an efficient provider of public services is still a big...
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has defended his decision to abolish the Audit Commission to Public Finance and pledged that fees will not rise under the new auditing regime.
Work carried out by the Audit Commission's in-house audit practice is likely to be outsourced to the private sector from 2012/13, councils have been told today.
Dubbed the ‘discredited’ way to deliver public infrastructure by Chancellor George Osborne, the Private Finance Initiative has fallen far from favour. But with £200bn of infrastructure funding needed...
Attendance allowance should be 'renamed and rebranded' under a new social care system based on both individual and state contributions, the head of the independent commission examining care funding...
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has defended his controversial plans for increased competition in the National Health Service following attacks by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
VIDEO INTERVIEW: Andy Sawford, chief executive of the Local Government Information Unit, gives an analysis of the May 2011 local elections. He tells Public Finance what the results mean for council...