The government’s new-home pledge and prioritising of social housing is welcome news, but councils are facing a dire situation with massive housing revenue account deficits.
Better scrutiny arrangements have meant the expired Best Value notice issued to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority last year will not be renewed.
Simplifying local authority accounts could ease the audit crisis, but they must still retain meaning, writes CIPFA’s director of public financial management Iain Murray.
Action by councils to tackle climate change is being thwarted by lack of resources and a “fragmented, short-term funding landscape”, according to the government’s statutory adviser on achieving net...
The cost of running libraries remains a “significant challenge” despite income from the service rising by almost a fifth over the past financial year, CIPFA has said.
Auditors have issued a statutory recommendation to Cumberland Council to address the capacity challenges in its finance team, to help complete years of outstanding work relating to the three former...
More than half of councils with education remits face Section 114 notices when the temporary fix keeping high-needs spending deficits off their main balance sheets expires next year, according to new...
A record number of councils asked the government for exceptional financial support for 2025-26, and 30 requests have been approved – but CIPFA has expressed serious worries about the system.
Local authorities are continuing to press for millions of pounds of council debt to be written off as part of plans for local government reorganisation despite the government’s insistence that there...
Scotland’s councils still face a £96m shortfall from increased employer national insurance contributions despite new funding from the Scottish Government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities...
Guildford Borough Council has set a balanced budget in a sign that finances have stabilised after long-running risks to its governance and financial sustainability.
Six new areas are set to become mayoral strategic authorities by next May as part of plans for sweeping changes of the local government map in England.
Scottish councils have been warned that their increasing reliance on reserves to deal with the “severe financial pressures” they face is no longer sustainable.
