Successfully managing debt in a pandemic
Talking about debt is never an easy subject to broach, especially during a global pandemic, when debts may be held by the vulnerable or those under significant financial strain.
finance
Spending Review shortened to one year
The Chancellor has decided to only conduct a one-year Spending Review in order to prioritise the response to COVID-19, and focus on immediate support to create jobs.
Certainty and resources to plan ahead
The final local government finance settlement for 2021/22, which was laid before Parliament in February, confirmed that councils will receive a share of £51.3 billion in funding (a 4.6 per cent increase in cash terms).
The finance settlement 2021
A funding increase for councils will be dependent on them increasing council tax bills.
Councils face imminent £2bn funding gap
Councils in England face a £2 billion funding gap in the current financial year and could be forced to cut services if the Government does not meet the cost of soaring COVID-19 spending, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.
A joint endeavour
With a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) under way, I have been writing to ministers on behalf of the LGA’s member councils.
Will warnings on council finances go unheeded?
Another week, another U-turn – this time, the botched A-level results saga. And a government that claims to be ‘levelling up’ has proved once again that this is just one more empty slogan to add to the pile.
Spending review 2020 kicks off
Securing the long-term sustainability of local services must be the top priority of the Government’s 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, the LGA has said.
Council investments ‘pose risk’
Some councils have exposed themselves to commercial investments that risk cuts in local services and a big bill for local taxpayers, according to the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee.
EU money ‘going unspent’
More than £730 million in vital EU cash – which could help local communities bounce back from COVID-19 – risks going unspent and being sent back to Brussels if the funding is not allocated by the Government before the end of the year, the LGA has warned.