Senior ministers have defended the allocation of regeneration funds, amid concerns that projects in the southeast and London received preferential treatment.
Inflation has left local authorities in Scotland with their “most difficult budget-setting context seen for many years” and could require millions of pounds of service provision being cut, the...
Already-stretched councils have found it much more difficult to manage their support for Ukrainian refugees than they should have, because of the government’s uncertainty and lack of direction over...
Local authority reserves collectively rose again last year, as many councils diverted funding to build up their buffers in the absence of a long-term funding settlement, CIPFA has said.
Children’s care leaders are concerned next week’s Autumn Statement could bring further austerity, forcing them to cut preventative services in a “false economy” leading to higher costs and worse...
Ministers must scrap the patchwork system of bidding pots for local government and consider allowing councils to raise their own taxes, a parliamentary committee has said.
The government’s flagship policy is at risk of failure without more targeted funding for schools, local authorities and public health, economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have said.
New prime minister Liz Truss has been urged by council leaders to stand by her pledge to allocate more funding to social care as inflation bears down on their authorities’ budgets.
Councils will not be able to fix recruitment and retention issues afflicting social care services if they do not have enough money to ensure staff are paid properly, MPs have warned.
The combined impact of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis will see a city council make “tough choices” on services as budget cuts of close to 20% loom.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove has confirmed councils in England will receive two-year funding settlements from next year to help them plan with “a greater degree of confidence”.
The government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda is reliant on detail on funding reforms omitted from last month’s white paper, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Collectively, councils were over-compensated by central government for the financial impact of Covid-19. But the withdrawal of support means tougher times lie ahead, says David Phillips from the...
In a 1,000-word open letter to new communities secretary Michael Gove, CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman says local government would welcome radical change to its functions and form in return for...
The government is assessing additional grants or further council tax flexibilities to help fund the burgeoning social care deficit, according to a report in the national press.
