Hampshire County Council has warned it is on the brink of joining the ranks of authorities facing financial collapse, with a Section 114 notice next year looking increasingly likely.
Teenagers whose youth clubs closed amid austerity went on to perform less well at school and were more likely to become involved in criminal activity, new research has suggested.
New controls aimed at pruning Whitehall’s consultancy bill by over £1bn should herald a cultural change in how consultants are procured across the public sector, the government has said.
Major Local Government Pension Scheme consolidation is on the cards as part of a radical shake-up of the pensions market aimed at generating long-term investment.
It is arguably an “abdication of responsibility” to not have a local plan in place setting out the communities’ needs, according to England’s former chief planner Steve Quartermain.
The Scottish Government has been accused of failing to take a strategic approach to public finances, with delays in publishing key documents giving the impression of ministerial inertia.
A history of “potentially unlawful” lending, underpinned by “wholly inadequate” governance arrangements, may have contributed to the financial collapse of Woking Borough Council, according to an...
More than four in five councils are expected to overspend their adult social care budgets this year, according to a new survey which reveals the “growing and urgent” strain under which services are...
MPs will look into the challenges faced by children living in temporary accommodation as the homelessness crisis puts council budgets under increasing strain.
The £25bn injection for the NHS announced in the Budget will not lead to an overnight transformation in the quality of healthcare, sector leaders have cautioned.
Councils have welcomed the extra £1.3bn earmarked for local government in the Budget, but warned that without greater certainty over funding in the longer term, the outlook for local services remains...
Owen Mapley has said the new government’s first Budget “will reassure some public service leaders and worry others”, and warned that there is lots more to do to get the sector fighting fit.
Rachel Reeves repeatedly blamed the economic and fiscal situation Labour took over after the general election for the “difficult decisions” made in her first Budget as chancellor.
Growing pressure means nearly half of England’s upper-tier councils will struggle to balance their budgets within two years and are likely to need government support, a survey of chief executives has...
Councils should make the most of the Procurement Act as an “opportunity for a more strategic, socially minded” approach to public procurement when it comes into force next year, a think-tank has...
