A shortfall in digital and procurement expertise across government has led to taxpayers’ money being wasted and progress on transformation losing pace, according to the National Audit Office.
The government faces a warning that its plans for greater consolidation of LGPS assets risk weakening returns, as well potentially creating conflicts of interest and undermining democratic...
The crisis in support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) risks creating a “lost generation” as well as posing an existential financial threat for local authorities,...
Rural and coastal authorities are grappling with a major demographic divergence which has seen the widening of the age gap between the country’s youngest and oldest populations, according to new...
Local authorities must learn from failings that allowed a £1m fraud to go undetected for almost two decades, Scotland’s public spending watchdog has said.
Wirral Council is seeking an emergency government bailout after auditors warned that a deficit of over £26m and scant reserves place the authority in a “critical” financial situation.
Soaring costs for special needs provision are set to wipe out any potential for school savings on the back of declining pupil numbers, according to a report.
Councils with ideas for approaching their finances “more flexibly” this year should feel able to speak with the government, secretary of state Angela Rayner has said, vowing to work collaboratively...
Bus provision was cut between 2011 and 2023 at a rate 10 times higher in the most deprived areas of England compared with the least deprived, according to the IPPR North think-tank.
The government has set up a cross-party review of adult social care to propose ways to transform the sector, which has faced years of failed or unpopular proposals, and deal with one of the UK’s most...
The UK spending watchdog has raised concerns about the Government Property Agency’s accounting, leading to it qualifying its opinion on the Cabinet Office’s accounts for 2023-24.
Local government funding is threatening essential services because of its “chronic short termism and complexity” , according to CIPFA’s chief executive.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has warned that a Section 114 notice is “almost inevitable” as it prepares residents for a council tax hike of up to a quarter.
Nottingham City Council operates “significantly beyond its means” and is currently “far from sustainable” six months after government-appointed commissioners were sent into the troubled authority.
Urgent action is needed to tackle a crisis in adult social care brought on by decades of inaction and short-term fixes, the government has been warned.
