The Taxpayers’ Alliance has been criticised by councils and CIPFA after the group published an examination of town hall finances that found authorities had liabilities of more than £180bn.
More than £21.2bn of public spending went on contracts to 20 large outsourcing firms in 2012 and 2013, an analysis of 38 million government transactions by the Institute for Government has found.
Greater transparency over the impact of government cuts on council funding is needed and ministers must stick to an agreed measure of local authority spending power, the chair of the House of Commons...
Government moves to increase the flexibility that councils have over spending Whitehall grants have made it more difficult to assess the value of town hall spending, the National Audit Office said...
More than £20m of funds to help people hit by government welfare changes, such as the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’, was unclaimed by councils in 2013/14, the Department for Work and Pensions has...
Public service inspectorates are seeking views on how they can work together to assess what local agencies are doing to help children and young people.
Councils have pledged to fill more than 3 million potholes to receive allocations from the government’s £168m Potholes Challenge Fund, the Department for Transport has announced.
The Audit Commission has called on councils to improve the quality of claims made for Whitehall grants or subsidies after finding one-third of all returns were qualified in 2012/13, including 78% of...
The role of Whitehall finance directors could be expanded to help improve transparency and decision-making, CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman has suggested.
Ethical standards should be incorporated into the contractual and monitoring arrangements for companies and charities delivering outsourced public services, the Committee on Standards in Public Life...
The management of three local authority-led Private Finance Initiative waste projects has been criticised by government auditors for a lack of clarity.
Comptroller and auditor general Amyas Morse received a knighthood in this year’s Birthday Honours, leading a distinguished list of public servants who were recognised.
The Local Government Association has called on the government to restore ‘stability’ to school governance by returning powers over school intervention to town halls.
Part-time workers in local government and schools are being ‘exploited’ by being made to work unpaid overtime to plug service gaps caused by job cuts, Unison has claimed.
Councils will have to put in place pre-approved planning permissions on brownfield sites deemed suitable for housing in a bid to remove obstacles to development, Chancellor George Osborne has said.
More than half of council leaders believe some local authorities will fail to deliver the essential services residents require within the next year as the impact of government spending cuts increases...
Almost all young people could be either in work or learning by the end of the decade if councils were allowed to lead on youth unemployment schemes, the Local Government Association has claimed.
Birmingham City Council is set to provide £200,000 in start-up costs for the municipal bonds agency planned by the Local Government Association, it has announced today.
The Audit Commission has urged councils to ensure they implement a strategic approach to asset and property management after finding £2.5bn of the local government estate could be put to better use.
Ofsted’s revised inspection criteria for children’s services is succeeding in shifting assessments on to the experiences of children, young people and families, according to an independent expert...
Plans to devolve funding for transport projects to local enterprise partnerships could mean that infrastructure in some parts of the England gets left behind, MPs have warned today.
