Councils have warned that they will remain under “severe financial pressure” despite a more generous than expected settlement that will see core spending power rise by 2.6% from next year.
No region will have Treasury guidance “wielded against them”, the chancellor has promised as she unveiled a major shake-up of the rules governing the allocation of public investment.
Prolonged uncertainty in the wake of the Spending Review over the handling of mounting high needs deficits is causing “massive concerns” among local authorities, the government has been told.
More than £10bn of investment in rail infrastructure in the Spending Review will help rebalance the economy away from London and the South-East, experts have said.
Health spending will increase by billions of pounds following Rachel Reeves’s first multi-year Spending Review as chancellor, but at a cost to other departments.
Pressure to increase health and defence spending will make cuts to other public services hard to avoid in the Spending Review, according to a leading think-tank.
The deadline to pool assets under the Local Government Pension Scheme may be unrealistic, while concerns over potential conflicts of interest under the new arrangements have not been fully addressed...
Councils may be able to borrow or make flexible use of capital receipts to foot the bill for local government reorganisation, the government has confirmed.
Manchester City Council and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund have joined together in a partnership that aims to deliver affordable homes across the city.
Civil servants who used artificial intelligence for routine administrative tasks freed up the equivalent of two working weeks a year, a government trial has shown.
Pandemic-era contracts for unsuitable personal protective equipment cost the government £1.4bn, of which £762m is unlikely to ever be recovered, according to an interim report commissioned by...
“Threats and ultimatums” issued in a bid to root out wasteful council spending would jeopardise the relationship between officers and members on which local government relies, the chief...
The government faces a warning that the Spending Review will “make or break” council budgets with three-fifths of counties and rural unitaries fearing they will be unable to balance the books next...
The Scottish Government faces “significant pressures” on spending despite modest funding growth since its last budget, according to the nation’s economic forecaster.
The UK economy is to grow slightly faster than expected this year, but the government has been urged to consider a shake-up of the fiscal framework that would see its performance against its own...
Asset pooling under the Local Government Pension scheme must be completed by next March, with “limited flexibility” for funds still thrashing out new arrangements, the government has confirmed.
The government will face difficult trade-offs if it attempts to protect schools and colleges from pending education cuts, with some areas being “squeezed out entirely”, a leading think-tank has...
A government-backed trial with 25 councils is testing whether an artificial intelligence tool can cut administration tasks by speeding up note-taking, saving time and resources.
The government is delaying publication of its child poverty strategy until the autumn as it considers scrapping the controversial two-child benefit cap.
The Public and Commercial Services Union will hold a national ballot on strike action by mid-September if there is no progress on its demands for pay and job security.
