Some councils in England’s most affluent areas could see an increase in their funding from central government in today’s revenue support grant settlement, Public Finance has learnt
Housing minister Grant Shapps has given more details on his reforms to social housing, due to feature in the government’s forthcoming Decentralisation and Localism Bill
From the shires to the inner-cities, local authorities are coping with cutbacks by radically slimming down their role. So is this the new face of localism? Peter Hetherington reports from the council...
The severity of local government cuts announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review came as a shock to half of council finance directors, while almost all have denounced the front-loading, a survey...
The coalition government’s long-awaited Decentralisation and Localism Bill has been delayed again, prompting concerns over how councils will deal with front-loaded cuts next year
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has defended his decision to ring-fence council public health budgets, denying that the move is at odds with a wider government drive to remove local finance...
Plans to mutualise the Audit Commission's in-house audit practice are at risk of stalling because of waning support from government, Public Finance has learnt
The revaluation of council tax bands in Wales planned for 2015 has been cancelled, as the powers for setting the dates are to be transferred to the Welsh government
Councils have attacked Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles for suggesting that they could mitigate the effects of the recession by dipping into their reserves
There is a 'strong case' for the maximum pay in public bodies to be linked to that of the lowest earners, the interim report on public sector pay said today
Councils in London have published figures today showing that current proposals for the pupil premium for deprived children could make school funding less fair
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has called on local authorities to spend more of their reserves to cushion the impact of the recession, accusing some of 'turning town hall vaults into Fort Knox'.
Ministers have confirmed that they will delay cutting Housing Benefit for existing claimants, and will introduce incentives for private landlords to drop their prices.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has come under fire for his proposals to give councils a ‘critical new role’ in local education provision, outlined in yesterday’s white paper on education.
