All non-essential spending has stopped at Birmingham City Council as officials reckon with an expected £860m hit from historic equal pay issues and a faltering IT system implementation.
Significant issues in setting up the UK Health Security Agency created a “fundamental absence of governance arrangements and controls”, leaving £3.3bn of medical supplies unaccounted for and drawing...
The government’s growing debt burden and high interest costs are a key risk to public finances and must be managed carefully, the National Audit Office has said.
Poor funding settlements and a perceived lack of respect from the Scottish and central government have prompted Orkney Islands Council to explore new governance arrangements, including potentially...
The lack of funding for police forces to recruit support staff has left officers undertaking aspects of these roles instead, risking community policing and value for money, an expert has warned.
Councils will have to make cuts or raid reserves to meet rising costs amid a forecast £2bn funding shortfall this year, the Local Government Association has warned.
The shift to hybrid working and the need to cut running costs have prompted Hertfordshire County Council to propose transferring staff from its County Hall office.
More flexible council funding and the understanding that services will be run locally “by default” are the cornerstones of the Scottish Government’s new deal with its local authorities.
Plans to boost long-term recruitment into the NHS have been broadly welcomed, but could be at risk due to expensive temporary staffing arrangements, experts have said.
Long-delayed reforms to modernise courts in England and Wales have placed an “unacceptable” burden on staff and risk making already long case backlogs even longer, MPs have warned.
Cuts leading up to Covid-19 left Public Health England insufficiently funded to meet its new pandemic responsibilities, the body’s former chief executive has 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.
Long-term funding and better Home Office communication is needed to improve work to house asylum seekers in England, according to the officers leading local responses.
Weak financial controls and a “culture which is not focused upon compliance” contributed to Nottingham City Council’s unlawful spending of housing money, an independent report has concluded.
A further £760m hit to Birmingham City Council’s finances from a 2012 court ruling means the authority needs to “take all necessary steps” to cut spending and avoid issuing a Section 114 notice.