Warrington Borough Council is to face an investigation after figures revealed it is £1.8bn in debt – five and a half times its total service expenditure – but the authority insists its commercial...
Robustly analysing climate risks will be critical if local government pension scheme funds are to withstand intensifying regulatory pressure, local authorities have been told.
Proposed capital flexibility could see councils explore more risky debt-backed projects at a time when capacity challenges have weakened local oversight, a senior finance officer has warned.
The continued rise in construction costs and high interest rates have forced some councils to halt their capital projects, and some are unlikely to be restarted, a treasury advisor has told PF.
The potential for an auditor intervention over the accounting for a £70m loan has forced Plymouth City Council to apply for exceptional government support.
Declining reserve and cash balances have restricted the use of internal borrowing and left authorities open to greater financing risks, experts have said.
Financial woes at the London Borough of Croydon could worsen if it cannot write off more than half of billion pounds of maturing loans, as high interest rates look set to add millions to its costs.
Woking was lent millions of pounds of public money just two days before the government published a damning review into its finances and sent in commissioners, leading to accusations of a “lack of any...
A damning independent report on Thurrock Council’s investments highlights the risk of these strategies and the negative impact on services, CIPFA has warned.
A huge drop in the value of Spelthorne Borough Council’s commercial investments has been revealed in its draft statement of accounts for 2022-23, but the income they generate is “holding up well”.
The council’s additional minimum revenue provision this year – after being under-calculated for more than a decade – is nearly six times its core funding.
Persistent inflation has led to the Bank of England raising its bank rate for the twelfth time in a row, but commentators have warned that the economy could suffer as a result.
A local authority can borrow for commercial return, as long as it primarily benefits those people in the authority’s area, writes CIPFA’s Mark Williams.
The reliance on falling commercial income to fill funding gaps at Woking Borough Council has placed the authority’s finances at an “immediate risk”, according to an internal report.
Trafford Council has removed a multi-million-pound loan facility for the development of an office campus after the company failed to draw down the finance.
