Budgets
Wrexham faces £2.3m budget gap
Savings across most services have been outstripped by overspends in social care.
Place based budgets should be implemented at a town level
In his article in a paper offering views ahead of the levelling up White Paper from economic development professionals, Daniel Harper says there’s no such thing as a solution for all towns.
Balancing the books in an uncertain world
The need to take difficult decisions and prudent financial management underpin Buckinghamshire Council’s 2022-23 budget proposals, say Rachael Shimmin and Richard Ambrose.
Wirral faces £27m budget gap
The council said it was time to ‘make the changes that have been put off for too many years’ following heavy criticism from external reviews of its finances.
Investigation launched into unlawful finances
Nottingham City Council has ordered an independent investigation to resolve ‘unanswered questions’ over its breach of accounting laws.
Scottish settlement ‘worst seen’ by leaders
Council leaders in Scotland are demanding a meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over funding for next year.
Welsh councils win £750m funding boost
The Welsh Government has included a £743m increase in funding for councils in its latest budget.
Slough deficit to top £300m
The forecast figure stood at £174m when Slough issued a Section 114 notice earlier this year.
Presenting simple and clear messages on our finances is crucial
Describing the impact of actions on our finances in an intelligible and engaging way should be built into our training and development for all of our staff, says Adele Taylor.
Councils warn of 'damaging cuts'
Councils in Wales have warned of ‘damaging cuts to local services’ without an increase in funding.
Empowering engagement: The future of Council Tax collection post-pandemic
Stephen Johnson looks at some steps councils can take to help build a next-generation service to effectively collect revenue and recover debt, whilst supporting wellbeing.
Cornwall plans to cut 400 jobs
The cuts are part of plans to save millions of pounds in order to balance the council’s budget in 2022-23.
Spinning plates to balance budgets
How do we reduce budgets that have been baked into service provision forever to pay for a step change in direction, asks Tracie Langley.
Thurrock job cuts not enough to balance books
Cutting one in four jobs will not be enough to cover the budget gap at Thurrock BC, officers have concluded.
Liverpool to spend £12m to fund improvements
Liverpool City Council has approved nearly £12m in funding for improvement, following its intervention.
‘Tough decisions’ for Peterborough
Peterborough City Council faces ‘tough decisions’ to get a grip on its finances, according to a peer challenge report.
Notts CC will need to borrow £70m in the next year as 'debt approaches £600m'
Nottinghamshire CC will need to borrow £70m in the next year if it is to balance its books as debt ‘approaches £600m’.
Bexley withdraws capitalisation request
The council said ‘sound financial planning’ meant it would not need the extra funds to balance its books.
Time to pull the belts in and batten down the hatches – again
Tracie Langley says her task of signing off that a budget is robust has to be based on a significant confidence that savings are deliverable, which is becoming tougher when costs are increasing 'without any relationship to the consumer price index'.
Officers told to be ‘adventurous’ to close budget gap
Dorset Council’s officers have been tasked with finding ‘new ways of operating’ in a bid to close a budget gap.
