FINANCE

Spending watchdog raises concerns over integration joint boards

Councils in Scotland are having to prop up integration joint boards (IJBs), the spending watchdog has warned.

Councils in Scotland are having to prop up integration joint boards (IJBs), the spending watchdog has warned.

In its annual report into local government finances, the Accounts Commission said most of the bodies created to manage local health and social care services were unable to deliver services within their budgets and needed extra money from health boards and councils.

The report also found that while councils received £500m more from the Scottish Government in 2019/20, around 40% of this was ring-fenced for expanding early learning and childcare.

Interim chair of the Accounts Commission, Elma Murray, said: 'COVID-19 has fundamentally affected local government services, increasing their reliance on working with their partners and communities.

'The financial impact of the pandemic on our public services is extreme and creates increased uncertainty of how those services will be provided in the future.'

FINANCE

Ready to be bold

By Kevin Hollinrake | 02 July 2025

The Conservatives will deliver the stability of multi-year funding settlements and the party is ready to make the sensible, sustainable changes needed for t...

FINANCE

Citizen engagement: a new paradigm for local government

By Jason Lowther | 01 July 2025

Citizen engagement is sometimes treated as something at the margins of decision-making, but a new INLOGOV report launched today at the LGA Conference argues ...

FINANCE

Forging the future

By Martin Ford | 25 June 2025

With the sector in crisis and the need for radical change, fundamental questions are being asked about what local government is for. Martin Ford reports.

FINANCE

Spending Review: The implications for economic development and growth

By Nigel Wilcock | 12 June 2025

The importance of economic development within the Spending Review to managing the delivery of programmes continues to show why the profession will need to be...

Popular articles by Laura Sharman