Northern Ireland’s public services incurred the biggest spending per head in the UK in 2016-17, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.
Families rely more on food banks over the summer holidays because children do not have access to free school meals, according to an anti-poverty charity.
The value of local government outsourcing contracts in the UK dropped considerably in the first half of this year compared to same period in 2017, analysis has revealed.
Northamptonshire Council has proposed “radical service reductions” in areas including care for vulnerable people as a response to its second 114 notice.
The cost of the Scottish Government’s flagship free personal care policy has topped £500m for the first time, reflecting the trend towards looking after older people in their own homes.
Local authority borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board has reached a seven-year high as cash-strapped councils increasingly invest in capital projects.
Councils and other government bodies are “over-zealous” and “uncompromising” in the way they pursue financially vulnerable people over unpaid debt, MPs have said.
The third phase of business rate retention pilots will go ahead with just a 75% retention and the ‘no detriment’ clause scrapped, the government has announced.
With questions being asked about the future of the Public Works Loan Board, PF takes a look at some of the other ways local authorities can raise funds.
The role of local government is changing. Commercialisation is now a necessary response to funding cuts and a new freedom to take risks, says Zurich’s Andrew Jepp
CIPFA’s proposed resilience index for English local authorities will be a “blunt instrument” that will do little to alleviate financial pressure, county chiefs have claimed.
