The cost of fraud is far higher than previous estimates, and procurement accounts for most of this. With cuts to internal audit and procurement teams focused on savings, local authorities need all...
George Osborne’s plan to devolve business rates revenue to local authorities may fail because it does not provide enough incentive to poorer areas, an analysis has found.
Manchester’s city leaders are eager to show local people that devolution is making a difference by improving services. However, without quick results and a reasonably strong local economy, the...
Brexit would damage the economic and political interests of the entire Commonwealth and hinder international initiatives requiring global cooperation, the chief of the Commonwealth Local Government...
Current government plans to boost the economies of cities across the north of England are “piecemeal, partial and parochial” and a new plan is needed to reinvigorate the Northern Powerhouse, a report...
The government’s pledge to provide 30 hours of free childcare for working families next year may not be met because of lack of capacity in the provider market, the Public Accounts Committee has...
Grant Thornton has today issued a public interest report on Derby City Council in response to governance failings, including mismanagement of a major project in response to equal pay legislation.
Public sector employment has seen two quarter-on-quarter increases for the first time since 2008 according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics.
Debt servicing costs are increasing across local government, and now account for at least 9.9% of revenue expenditure in a quarter of single-tier and county councils, according to the National Audit...
Scotland’s seven cities have presented Holyrood with a shopping list of powers, including fiscal responsibilities, which they say are needed to compete with English and other cities that are getting...
Ministers have been warned that it will be “difficult” to create a council finance system to both incentivise growth and protect authorities with high levels of need once business rates...
Westminster City Council has claimed to have produced the earliest ever set of public sector accounts after getting its books for 2015/16 to external auditors on 9 April, only nine days after the...
Louise Casey, who leads the Department for Communities and Local Government’s work on troubled families, has been created a dame in the latest round of honours.
Nearly 20 local authorities are set to approve the UK Municipal Bonds Agency’s regulations by the end of July, clearing the way for its landmark first issue to take place in the autumn.
The aims of the government’s devolution drive have multiplied, while the limits of centralised public finances are being exposed. More transparent ways of doing decentralisation are needed
IPPR North has called for a review of how transport projects are funded across the north of England in order to recognise the role of small and medium sized cities and towns in the government’s...
Supported accommodation must be exempt from the impending housing benefit cap in order to protect the most vulnerable and save piling additional pressures on councils and the NHS, the Local...
Labour has called for greater clarity on the impact of business rates localisation on council funding to allay fears about “back door cuts” under the plan.
Personal budgets for social care may result in worse outcomes for recipients as local authorities’ drive for savings is prioritised over good results for users, the Public Accounts Committee...
Councils and other planning authorities need to act more decisively when taking enforcement action against planning breaches in order to maintain control of the built environment, the local...
Inclusive growth could help the poorest benefit more from economic expansion. This will require a state that invests in new infrastructure and backs local initiatives to support communities
