Is it right to spend public money on major sporting events, such as the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, at a time of financial austerity? Public Finance and Northern Trust recently hosted a debate...
Investing public money in major sports events has many benefits for the wider community, town hall chiefs agreed at a PF/Northern Trust Scottish dinner debate
The government’s plans for public spending cuts over the next five years are beginning to look ‘close to inconceivable’, with further tax rises or benefits cuts likely, the Institute for Fiscal...
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has announced that the government will provide an extra £120m of funding for flood defences following the heavy rainfall across England and Wales in...
A total of 85 councils in England have been allocated a share of a £250m fund aimed at ensuring weekly waste collections, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announced today.
Northern Ireland Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill has launched a grant to ensure people living in remote areas have access to safe and affordable drinking water
Voluntary and community groups in Northern Ireland have been urged to apply for a share of a £700,000 funding pot aimed at tackling rural poverty and social isolation.
Ministers should scrap proposals to relax planning restrictions on house extensions, loft conversions and conservatories, the Local Government Association has said.
Labour would keep the East Coast rail franchise in government hands to provide a ‘public sector comparator’ with private train operators, shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle has revealed.
The success of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has shown what public investment and planning can achieve, Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber has said
Further changes to planning rules could be introduced to ‘accelerate’ the development of new airport runways in the UK, the government has revealed. Announcing the launch of a commission
The government has been warned today that it is ‘missing a major trick’ by devolving economic powers to cities only rather than offering them to wider local government.
Councils’ efforts to protect vulnerable people from the effects of climate change, such as floods and droughts, are ‘losing momentum’, a report commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has...
Funding cuts are diminishing the public sector’s ability to respond to major incidents such as extreme weather or data loss, according to a survey of finance directors.
The growing costs of councils’ care and statutory responsibilities will wipe out any funding for other services within eight years unless Whitehall provides urgent cash, the Local Government...
The Bank of England will introduce two new stimulus packages to boost bank lending in response to the ‘heightened uncertainty’ over the state of the economy, governor Sir Mervyn King has revealed.
The Home Office has defended its decision to nominate Tom Winsor, the lawyer who undertook a controversial review of police pay, as the preferred candidate to become the next chief inspector of...
The £250m fund to help councils maintain or return to weekly waste collections is now open for business, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has announced.
Millions of struggling families will miss out on help from the government’s Green Deal energy efficiency scheme and could end up in fuel poverty, according to the Local Government Association.
