Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has called on councils to give at least three months’ notice of any funding cuts to charities in a bid to protect them from disproportionate reductions.
Away from the sound and fury of the controversial NHS changes, another revolution is quietly taking place – the transfer of public health to town halls. Noel Plumridge looks at what this will mean...
The abolition of the Audit Commission is going to change the shape of public sector audit forever but many questions are still unanswered. PF looks at what the future holds and talks exclusively to...
The tendering process to outsource millions of pounds worth of public sector audit contracts will aim to encourage new players to enter the market, Audit Commission bosses have told Public Finance
Giving local authorities control of Council Tax Benefit certainly fits in with ministers’ localism plans. But by combining it with a 10% grant cut, the coalition is also passing the buck for cutting...
Councils feel they are being transported back to the 1980s, as severe grant and budget cuts pile on the pressure to contract out services to save money. But they can gain or lose from the experience...
Councils have called for the government to speed up the introduction of new powers that will allow local authorities to charge fees to utility companies who dig up roads.
Scotland’s local authorities have poured scorn on the Scottish Government’s business case for merging the eight fire services into one, claiming it won’t save the money claimed and could cut up to 1,...
Councils in England fear that the government schemes to cover the cost of the damage caused by the riots might leave them out of pocket, leading to uncertainty over what support they can offer those...
Local government ministers' attempts to help councils rationalise their assets and join up services continue to be hampered by other Whitehall agencies, Public Finance has learnt.
On the surface, the government's planned Community Right to Buy seems to be an admirable example of localism. But it runs the real risk of turning into nothing more than extra red tape for councils,...
