Finance
Wirral assurance panel ‘no longer required’
Wirral MBC’s Independent Assurance Panel (IAP) has officially stood down after declaring it was ‘no longer required’.
Watchdog tells Falkirk to confront 'difficult decisions'
Falkirk Council faces ‘difficult decisions’ to bridge a budget gap of tens of millions, according to Audit Scotland.
Councils hit with new productivity demands
Ministers have demanded councils improve their productivity in the same week as the Government quietly published a report revealing Whitehall makes the sector less efficient.
We need to measure prevention spend
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy will seek to answer how much are we currently spending on prevention, says chief executive Rob Whiteman.
The will to win in Wilts
Wiltshire Council was the setting for the latest round of the Local Government Challenge, which focused on ways to support residents through the cost of living crisis. Viola Owembabazi reports.
Struggles continue for scandal-hit council contractor
A council contractor previously at the centre of a residential care abuse scandal has continued to struggle since it closed the sites.
Oflog should be handed audit oversight, MPs told
The Office for Local Government (Oflog) should be handed oversight of England’s broken audit regime – a role earmarked for the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) - accounting experts have told MPs.
Putting finance on the devolution to-do list
Seeking real fiscal autonomy for local government at times feels as elusive as the end of a rainbow, says Alison Griffin.
Transforming social housing: The task ahead for council teams
Now that the new social housing regulatory regime is in place, housing teams are embracing the challenge as an opportunity for positive change despite the immense pressure councils face, says Caroline Green.
Government ignores sugar levy calls
The Government has ignored Local Government Association (LGA) calls for the sugar levy to be spent by councils to tackle physical inactivity.
Ministers to make more changes to debt rules
Ministers are poised to impose immediate further changes to local government debt rules – including stricter in-year reporting of unpaid loan repayments due to town halls.
Reform author pushes back on devo criticisms
The author of a report that proposed devolving NHS England’s £168bn budget and most services to local government has hit back at criticisms.
Councils hold back cash plans on fixing potholes
One in seven eligible English highway authorities have failed to detail their plans for the Government’s £300m of redirected HS2 road resurfacing cash.
Bridging the budget gap
We haven’t even closed down the 2023-24 accounts yet and we are already starting to plan our 2025-26 medium-term financial strategy, says Tracie Langley.
How to build a healthy economy
Social care, often seen as a millstone for councils facing financial challenges, has been turned into an opportunity by Stockton-on-Tees BC to create inclusive growth and tackle health inequalities all at once, writes Heather Jameson.
Transparency calls over monitoring officer departure
Salford City Council’s opposition leader has called for transparency over a settlement agreement The MJ understands was paid to its departing monitoring officer.
Grant Thornton fined over pension audit
Grant Thornton has been fined by the Financial Reporting Council for ‘failures’ in its audit of an unnamed local authority’s pension fund.
Association in tax havens crackdown
Council directors have praised the Children’s Homes Association (CHA) for tightening its membership criteria to crack down on firms based in tax havens.
Government shelves rollout of council powers
The Department for Transport (DfT) has shelved the further rollout of powers for English councils to enforce moving traffic violations like dangerous driving outside schools.
'Simply not enough money in sector,' says outgoing leader
The outgoing leader of Nottingham City Council has said there ‘simply isn’t enough money’ in local government to ‘run the services our citizens depend on’.