The policy of selling off local authority homes at a discount under Right to Buy has represented a £326bn blow to council balance sheets, according to new analysis.
Eleven officers at Dorset Council have been sacked after auditors found significant governance failures and lapses in financial controls in the operation of a building works programme.
Plans to restructure Walsall Council’s senior ranks, which went before council members this week, will see the number of senior posts at the authority reduced from 62 to 58.
The government would have “no strong case” to deny local areas the power to introduce a tourism tax as part of its sweeping plans for English devolution, according to a leading think-tank.
The leaders of Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council have put their names to a letter urging Whitehall to work on a devolution agreement that would see the introduction of a...
Strategic authorities being rolled out as part of the government’s plans for English devolution should be legally obliged to involve residents in decision-making, according to a leading think-tank.
Max Caller, the veteran troubleshooter brought in to tackle the financial crisis at Birmingham City Council, has announced his retirement. The former Lincolnshire County Council chief executive Tony...
The link between taxation and council services is broken, fuelling dissatisfaction and undermining trust in local democracy, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.
The mayors of two of England’s most popular tourist cities have written to deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to request she convene a round table discussion on the subject of tourist levies – and...
The lack of audited English council accounts has caused the head of the National Audit Office to disclaim his opinion on the Whole of Government Accounts for the second successive year.
A record number of families are living in temporary accommodation as the supply of social housing dries up and support for lower-income households declines, according to new research.
Councils grappling with record overspends in adult social care have been forced to cut prevention spending by over a tenth in the past year, according to new research.
Nottingham City Council has said it is on track to balance its books without government bailouts after new budget figures showed a brightening financial picture.
England’s county councils could get over £4bn in revenue if given devolved taxation powers over housing, income and tourism in a suggested sweeping departure from the current system.
Multi-year, cross-departmental funding commitments will be a critical part of new place-based approaches if the over-centralisation and culture clashes of the past are to be avoided, a think-tank has...
Four ministerial envoys have been sent into Warrington Borough Council after a failed commercial investment strategy left it reeling with debts of £1.8bn – five times its total service expenditure.
Government proposals to tackle inequality and discrimination in the Local Government Pension Scheme may not be delivered if they place unrealistic burdens on already overstretched authorities, a...
Greater fiscal devolution to fund local priorities is backed by the public, with support being particularly strong for taxes that would fund transport improvements, according to a new poll.
A new reporting regime will see councils monitored on 15 priority outcomes in order to “radically simplify” how the sector’s performance is measured, Angela Rayner announced alongside greater...
English councils hold the key to unlocking potential growth of £276bn if they are allowed genuine stewardship of their local economies, according to a study.
The government’s employment support shake-up must take complex regional variations in capacity and need into account if it is to avoid making England’s North-South divide even worse, think-tank...
