Budget
Canada’s all-time high
Diary has just returned from a whistle-stop tour of Canada, where young hipster prime minister Justin Trudeau has embarked on the legalisation of the profitable cannabis trade.
What districts want
Ian Miller on what district councils would like to see from the Budget and local government finance settlement.
What happened to county devolution?
Cllr Paul Carter says the Government needs to devolve to two-tier areas as well as just cities.
Name and shame threat hangs over councils
Councils that fail to get business rates relief schemes in place by the beginning of next month could be named and shamed by the Government.
Olympic loan fears for council
Newham LBC is to work with various partners to improve the financial performance of the Olympic Stadium, as fears abound that the council may never recoup a £40m loan given for the stadium’s transformation.
‘Ignore’ Whitehall calls to raid reserves, says CIPFA
Councils have been urged to stand up to the communities secretary over their use of reserves and ‘ignore the inaccurate messages’ from his department.
Edinburgh predicts £5m overspend for 2017/18
Edinburgh City Council has been asked to ‘urgently’ identify ways it can mitigate a £5m overspend forecast for 2017/18.
Don't let the Government divide and rule health and care
NHS Providers' Saffron Cordery calls for unity between health and social care as the Government seeks to drive a wedge between the two sectors.
County call for targets rethink
Councils have called for the Government to rethink a threat to strip them of promised cash if they fail to meet ‘undeliverable and arbitrary’ targets.
Care directors 'disappointed' by funding threat
Adult social care directors have been left ‘very disappointed’ after the Government threatened to take away funding from areas that failed to reduce bed blocking.
Tensions rise as NHS fines 22 councils for bed-blocking
The NHS has fined at least 22 councils for bed-blocking and threatened 11 others with charges amid escalating tensions between health and care.
City deals among promises in DUP-Conservative deal
Fresh devolved powers for Northern Ireland form a key part of today’s £1bn deal between the minority Conservative government and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Hammond hints at easing of austerity
Chancellor Philip Hammond has hinted he could ease some of the financial pressures on local government brought about by prolonged austerity.
Rates relief guidance finalised
Whitehall guidance on its latest business rates relief plan has finally been delivered to councils, allowing town halls to adjust bills for many small businesses.
Corridors of Power
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has a dream in which he presents his third Budget in 2019…
Rural England Budget blow
Rural residents are paying an average of £87 more per head in council tax than their urban counterparts, new figures have suggested.
Health devo put on hold but not dropped
Plans for further health devolution in London have been put back again, but not been dropped, according to sources close to the deal.
Let’s get our voices heard
iMPOWER’s Jeremy Cooper says ‘solving’ the problem of delayed transfers is not as simple as merely throwing £1bn at it.
Johnson: Scotland could use debt as bargaining chip
Scotland could use its share of the national debt as a bargaining chip in the independence debate, according to the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Is social care making progress?
Dr Jonathan Carr-West looks at the major questions the Government’s upcoming green paper on social care funding will have to address.