Reducing borrowing restrictions and removing limits on reserve use will give the Scottish Government more flexibility to respond to challenges arising from forecasting mistakes.
Proposals to increase council tax rates in Scotland will impact the highest value properties and make the levy less regressive, ministers and local leaders have 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...
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.
A “failure of management oversight and gross incompetence” within Renfrewshire Council contributed to the construction of a school as much as three times too small, an independent review has found.
Local councils need ‘radical change’ to keep delivering for the people of Scotland, according to a recent report from the Accounts Commission. So, what about adopting a rights-based approach to...
Plans to sharply lower the level of child poverty in Scotland will fail without significant investment from the Scottish government, experts have warned.
The Scottish government has succeeded in expanding subsidised early learning and childcare places, but the sector faces risks from budget, workforce and market pressures, Audit Scotland has warned.
The Scottish government will fail to capitalise on early progress to reduce criminal backlogs without additional funding and improvements to the workforce, the national watchdog has said.
Rising demand and an over-reliance on reserves have put the financial sustainability of Scottish care boards at risk without significant reforms, the national watchdog has warned.
Scottish council leaders have claimed the latest local government pay offer is fair and recognises the importance of the workforce, despite opposition from unions.
Scotland spent less than it might have done in the first two years of Covid-19, and the nation’s spending watchdog has urged public bodies to use the lessons learned from the pandemic to help plan...
Delaying its controversial flagship social care policy gives the Scottish Government time to engage with councils over the reforms, local leaders have said.
The Scottish Government will be unable to meet its net zero ambitions without reforms to departmental governance and oversight, an influential think-tank has warned.
Scottish Government proposals for increasing taxes on higher earners to fund more generous benefits are more progressive than the rest of the UK, but are at risk of being avoided, the Institute for...
