A total of £1.2bn is owed to English councils in uncollected business rates, according to the latest value-for-money briefing from the Audit Commission.
There are signs of recovery all around, from GDP growth figures to rising house prices. So has the chancellor, as he claims, won the austerity debate, or is short-termism and poor policy-making...
There was a 21% rise in the number of council households in rent arrears in England in the three months to June, according to a survey of council housing bodies.
Ipswich has agreed a City Deal with the government. The deal, agreed today, aims to boost employment in the city by improving the skills of the workforce.
Councils have urged energy companies to work with them to deliver a government-mandated energy efficiency programme after finding the scheme is falling behind schedule
The benefit cap will struggle to fulfil its two main objectives of saving public money and encouraging people into work, the Chartered Institute of Housing said today as it published the results of...
Public sector borrowing for the current year looks set to undershoot the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts, according to public finance figures released today
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...
