Just a few months ago, amid efforts to decarbonise transport, the future looked bright for the bus and rail industry, but Covid-19 has obscured the route ahead, writes Peter White.
PF reveals the scale of the financial challenge posed to councils by Covid-19 and hears how finance chiefs are tackling budgets, given the lack of funding clarity.
£500m additional Covid-19-related funding from central government is not enough to prevent cuts to local authority budgets, according to the Special Interest Group of Municipal Authorities.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has been warned it could be forced into a section 114 notice in a CIPFA report which found a flawed process for setting reserve levels.
Liverpool City Council has submitted a £1.4bn post coronavirus recovery fund to the government, aimed to prevent a socio-economic crisis deeper than the 1980s recession.
The Centre for Public Scrutiny and CIPFA have released a new guide for local authorities in England to support effective financial scrutiny following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The National Audit Office has published new guidance to help audit and risk committees advise their organisations on financial management and reporting during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virtual working and the reallocation of workers to new roles has given Durham County Council’s staff a better understanding of how their council operates, according to John Hewitt, corporate director...
Ministers have been called to temporarily relax the borrowing rules for local authorities to cover-day-day spending, according to a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
CIPFA’s head of counter-fraud policy and strategy Laura Hough explains the take-home messages from MHCLG’s review into the risks of local government procurement fraud.
Bringing back outsourced services from the private sector could improve quality, increase reliability, and save money, according to a report from think-tank the Institute for Government.
England’s largest councils could be forced to make “large-scale reductions” in services in order to set legal budgets this year, according to a report from the County Councils Network.
Spelthorne Borough Council has been thrust into uncertainty after leader Ian Harvey and five other members decided to leave the Conservative Party and form a new political group.
Three councils in the North-West of England are to press on with the development of a community bank to help tackle financial inequality in the region, after the green light was given by the...
CIPFA has proposed a modification to its guidance for councils under budgetary pressure due to Covid-19, to give them the time and space to explore alternatives to freezing spending via section 114...
Cheshire West and Chester Council’s community-centred approach to planning and prioritising activity could offer a pathway to a ‘new normal’ for other local authorities, argues Natalie Abraham.
A number of local authorities in England are using data-mining tools to help identify vulnerable people in need of support, including those who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ralph Sangster, cabinet member for Resources and Performance at Hertfordshire County Council tells PF how the authority is coping with the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and what it...
Alfie Dallas, lead finance officer at Derry City and Strabane District Council, tells PF that communication was key to implementing his council’s decision to furlough 250 staff.
