An appeal for ministers to write off £16bn of council debt as part of major changes to the housing finance system has failed, town hall representatives have admitted.
A Bill giving councils more power over local public spending, viewed by ministers as vital to the success of the flagship Total Place initiative, could be derailed by a single opposition MP.
Councils are challenging their inspectors to reduce the financial burden of their work, warning that the current system cannot be sustained in a period of fiscal restraint
MPs have called for a change in the law to ensure better oversight of local authority investments in the wake of the Icelandic banking collapse, which left £1bn of public money at risk
The money councils spend on producing periodicals and other newspaper-type communications for local residents is not being wasted, according to the Audit Commission
Councils in London have renewed their calls for greater independence after a report showed they could save 15% of their total budget if they were given more powers over local spending
The pressure is on for public bodies to share services in order to make efficiency savings. But there are considerable risks as well as rewards in taking this approach. Paul Jackson offers ten top...
Collaboration between councils and other public bodies will help protect frontline services from the worst effects of the recession, according to a CIPFA report
Multiple layers of expensive bureaucracy stand between central and local government, reducing accountability and efficient provision of services. It’s time to put these quangos on the bonfire and...
Councils will be given a settlement of £76.2bn for the coming financial year, a rise of 4%, the Department for Communities and Local Government has confirmed
Ministers are giving tacit backing to a Private Members’ Bill that could significantly extend the powers of councils to oversee local services and utilities
A deal might not have come out of Copenhagen, but the public sector still faces scrutiny of its CO2 emissions. Many larger public bodies are covered by the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which comes...
The chair of the Audit Commission is to launch a defence of the regulator’s new local government inspection regime, arguing it is an essential tool in making services more accountable
