The Municipal Bonds Agency – aimed at providing cheap borrowing to local authorities – faces doubts over its future after racking up pre-tax losses of £650,000 last year.
Eight struggling local authorities will be subject to financial healthchecks by CIPFA as they await approval on £72.5m of government support, ministers have announced.
An investment company set up to buy commercial property on behalf of two councils has suffered cumulative losses of more than £12.5m since it launched four years ago.
Uttlesford District Council is applying for a credit rating to allow it access to a greater range of borrowing to fund its multi-million programme of out-of-borough commercial investments.
Leicestershire County Council will ask its schools to transfer £2m of funding to help meet a burgeoning special educational needs deficit, which presents a “significant risk” to the authority.
More than 85% of police forces in the UK have signed up to the latest iteration of a programme encouraging financial excellence in financial reporting.
Peterborough City Council’s external auditors have raised serious concerns about the financial situation of the authority, which has become reliant on additional government support.
Somerset County Council has approved plans to develop a £70m strategic partnership to provide 10 children care and foster homes, in a bid to reduce reliance on private operators.
Government figures released today show a sharp rise in business rate and council tax arrears - PF speaks to local authority finance officers about the factors behind the figures.
Leicestershire County Council is set to reject a £15m road grant from regeneration quango Homes England amid concerns over financing the costs of additional local infrastructure.
Local authorities commercial investment needs a change focus, to help unlock latent potential in region, says Jonathan Werran, chief executive of think tank Localis.
The coronavirus pandemic and tighter government lending rules led to a 41% real-terms contraction in councils' payments for land and buildings last year, according to provisional outturn figures.
A proposed liability benchmark to help local authorities manage their debt needs could save the sector tens of millions of pounds, according to an industry expert.
Proposed reforms by local audit administrator Public Sector Audit Appointments will fail to bring smaller companies into the sector, according to a senior partner at a 60-strong accountancy firm.
Amendments to international reporting standards to include a wider range of impacts must go well beyond environmental sustainability, according to CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman.
The UK Municipal Bond Agency has confirmed that it hopes to launch at least one bond on behalf of a pool of local authorities in September or October, more than a year after the first authorities...
