Panellists at Public Finance Live agreed something needs to change to speed up audit opinions being issued on council accounts, but were unsure whether giving auditors a statutory deadline is the...
Using data more effectively can enable public bodies to better assess the shared outcomes of projects and reduce the cost of service delivery, delegates at Public Finance Live were told.
Brighton and Hove City Council will perform six-monthly “cash sweeps” of the company running a local landmark, in order to repay the millions the authority lent it to help get the attraction running.
CIPFA chief economist Jeffrey Matsu explains how the new Local Government Finance Model, produced by the institute alongside the IFS and District Councils’ Network, can help authorities plan their...
An East Anglian council has claimed the government “short-changed” the authority with the level of support promised through its post-Brexit development fund, meaning “careful planning” is needed to...
Crisis-hit Nottingham City Council has come out against government plans to appoint a commissioner to oversee the authority following unlawful spending, saying it has made “solid progress” on...
The Northern Irish spending watchdog has found that a council’s agreements relating to two pieces of land were unlawful, with auditors saying the deals point to a culture of “bypassing best practice...
An authority that borrowed almost £8m to construct a new building for post-Brexit border checks has urged the government to reimburse its costs after new controls were delayed, meaning the facility...
The lowest-paid workers at a city council could receive pay rises of over 9% this year as part of plans drawn up to help staff through the cost-of-living crisis.
The London Borough of Croydon has pledged to carry out a deep dive into its finances to get a greater understanding of the risks it faces as it attempts to improve its long-term stability.
Internal auditors for a city council in south-west England have found that officers are failing to follow regulations on regularly filing declarations on conflicts of interest.
The bodies responsible for coordinating local care services in Scotland face significant financial challenges due to rising demand and a lack of certainty over funding, the national watchdog has...
Councils in England will need to tighten their budgets and prioritise spending on core services as inflation piles pressure on resources, a Treasury minister has 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.
A London council has agreed a multi-million-pound settlement following a legal dispute over cladding fitted during refurbishments to a private finance initiative housing estate.
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”.
Rising prices and wages have been tipped to cost councils an additional £3.6bn in two years’ time, putting pressure on authority budgets and risking the need for them to cut services.
Nottingham City Council has called the government’s announcement it could step in to run some of the authority’s services “clearly disappointing”, saying it is already making improvements by itself.
The forecast increase to the national living wage could mean councils have to cut services if they do not receive more funding from the government, sector leaders have warned.
