A cross-party parliamentary group has been set up to lobby for progress on the Northern Powerhouse agenda, which was championed by George Osborne when he was chancellor.
Regulatory changes mean councils will need to look at potential gains and losses more prudently, and may mean higher reserves are needed, says CIPFA's Alison Scott.
The transport provider FirstGroup has announced plans to consolidate its pension scheme assets within the Local Government Pension Scheme, in the first move of its kind by a private sector employer.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation economist Dave Innes has marked Greg Clark’s homework and asks if the industrial strategy will create better, higher-paying jobs in every part of the UK.
Scotland’s councils are in danger of emptying their financial reserves before the decade’s end as they struggle to absorb continuing budget cuts, the Accounts Commission has warned.
CIPFA has called for urgent action on children’s social care as a survey out today revealed the duty has become the chief concern of upper tier council finance heads.
Councils need greater devolution and more funding, local government leaders said after the chancellor announced in the Budget London councils will pilot 100% business rate retention in 2018-19.
Housing Revenue Account borrowing caps will be lifted for local authorities in areas of “high affordability pressures” to build more homes, it was revealed in the Budget today.
Scrapping 201 district councils in England and giving the rest London-style powers could boost the economy by £31bn over five years, ResPublica has stated.
The chancellor will use this week’s Autumn Budget to set out how the government will build 300,000 homes a year, 100,000 more than currently built each year, it emerged over the weekend.
Funding for public services in rural communities is “outdated and chronically unfair” when compared to towns and cities, the County Councils Network has stated.
Scottish council leaders have demanded a revenue increase of £545m to achieve “adequate and fair funding” for local government in a Budget submission to the chancellor.
The Right to Buy scheme could “grind to a halt” because local authorities do not have the cash to replace sold homes, the Local Government Association has warned.
A probe into the competitiveness of pension investment consultancy firms could mean more regulation for organisations giving advice to local authorities but greater protection for clients.
