South Lanarkshire Council has been criticised for a ‘surprising and disappointing’ lack of openness and audit committee arrangements that ‘fall well short of established best...
The banks have been pulling out of the Private Finance Initiative and the contractors are struggling. As a scheme designed to transfer public sector risk becomes a growing liability, frantic efforts...
The Audit Commission has admitted to MPs that councils’ treasury management capability was not on its ‘risk radar’ until after the Icelandic banking fiasco that has swallowed up £...
Local authorities and central government have set up an emergency ‘Salt Cell’ to ensure there is enough gritting salt for roads, as the extreme winter weather continues
The deadline for final proposals on local government reorganisation in Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon has been put off until the summer because of legal wrangles
A CIPFA panel has called for radical changes to the Local Government Pension Scheme regulations after finding that tens of millions of pounds are being lost
An expected second round of heavy snowfall was set to renew pressure on public sector managers this week after they faced criticism over road, transport and school closures
Essex County Council is to bail out district councils that have lost money on the controversial concessionary bus fares scheme, which allows free travel on most buses in England by people who are...
A council-owned housing company that was heavily criticised by inspectors after a scandal over the allocation of homes has received a clean bill of health
Finance Secretary John Swinney has defended Scotland’s local government concordat against claims it is on the verge of collapse because of the impact of the recession on council budgets
Local authorities were not reckless when they invested a total of £1.03bn in Icelandic banks that later collapsed, the Local Government Association has told a parliamentary inquiry
The Local Government Association has appointed John Ransford as its chief executive to steer it out of its recent turmoil and lead it through to late 2010
Councils face the most severe capping round yet as ministers confirmed next year’s local government finance settlement but refused to specify a tax increase limits
The government has been forced to shelve plans allowing local authorities to impose a controversial ‘bin tax’ after councils effectively boycotted the idea
The Local Government Association has abandoned plans to restructure its group of companies – including the Improvement and Development Agency – into a single services organisation
Police chiefs are to hold talks with Audit Commission inspectors about the allocation of council homes in Nottingham before the council set up an arm’s-length management organisation
