The government is to seek advice from financial markets experts to identify ‘vital’ administrative savings in the management of town hall pensions, the local government minister has announced.
The Local Government Pension Scheme is undergoing a number of changes, including greater scrutiny of valuation assumptions. Chief finance officers need to ask the right questions to avoid any...
Council leaders have warned that little can be done to improve the quality of home care services unless their finances are put on a more sustainable footing
More than half of senior council leaders fear that local government does not have the time or resources to undertake the reforms demanded by Whitehall funding cuts, a poll has found.
Senior figures in the Department for Communities and Local Government have defended the government’s decision to top-slice the New Homes Bonus, saying reforms will ‘tie in’ councils to Local...
Many councils are struggling to improve their child protection services and need better leadership to bring about sustained improvement in performance, Ofsted has warned today.
The chair of the local government select committee has written to Prime Minister David Cameron asking him to justify his claim that councils face only a 2.3% cut in resources following June’s...
Every care home and adult social care service in England will be rated by Care Quality Commission inspectors by 2016, the new chief inspector of social care Andrea Sutcliffe said today.
Only people who have lived in an area for at least two years will be able to join a council’s social housing waiting list, according to Department for Communities and Local Government proposals...
The Greater Manchester Pension Fund is to be one of the investors in an £800m commercial development at Manchester Airport, Chancellor George Osborne has announced
The way councils commission home care is ‘unsustainable’, contributing to inadequate pay and conditions for care workers and threatening older people’s human rights, the equality watchdog has warned.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has announced a cap on the amount councils can charge people who have bought their homes under Right-to-Buy for repairs and improvements, after he accused some...
The powers of Scotland’s local spending watchdog, the Accounts Commission, should be reviewed to take account of councils’ increasing use of arms-length external organisations (Aleos), the commission...
The government has been urged to ban councils from commissioning 15-minute care visits after a Freedom of Information request found their use was increasing, despite concerns that necessary support...
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has launched a council-led commission looking at how to localise public services and reform town hall funding in Scotland.
Transport ministers have urged councils in England to stop using painted yellow lines to restrict parking and instead use signs to tell motorists where they can and cannot leave their cars.
Cuts to Housing Benefit as a result of the government’s welfare cap could leave councils in London with a £25m bill to provide extra support to homeless people, a report has warned today.
The chair of the Local Government Association has warned that Chancellor George Osborne’s plan to achieve a surplus in the public finances by the end of the next Parliament could be ‘very bad’ for...
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has called for Chancellor George Osborne to lift the ‘baleful effects’ of stamp duty on the capital by localising control over property taxes.
Local government secretary Eric Pickles has said he will consider reforming the way councils treat residents who have bought their council house leases under the Right To Buy, noting that some people...
