finance
A positive finance settlement
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all first readers a belated happy new year, and I hope that you had an enjoyable and restful festive break.
The right powers to the right places
Everyone in local government knows people are hungry for more power over their own lives and more control over the places they live.
Long-term funding kicked into the grass
Days before Christmas, the Government published its provisional local government finance settlement, setting out the details about local government spending in the coming financial year.
Autumn Statement: ‘better than feared’
More money for social care and schools, a 7 per cent cap on social housing rent rises, and new devolution deals in Cornwall, Suffolk, Norfolk and the North East were among the announcements in last month’s Autumn Statement.
Cost pressures threaten local services
Councils will have no choice but to implement significant cuts to services unless the Government provides extra funding to meet demand and cost pressures, the LGA has warned.
On a cliff edge
Councils need financial certainty to maintain public services and help deliver growth
The cost of underfunded local services
Amid ongoing financial, economic and political uncertainty, the LGA continues to call strongly for a long-term government plan to put councils’ finances on a sustainable footing.
Public services at breaking point
Just weeks after taking power, Prime Minister Liz Truss and former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng made a remarkable impact – their disastrous kamikaze mini-Budget crashed the economy, causing market panic, and forcing the Bank of England to intervene.
Councils creaking under the strain
Before the mini-Budget, the LGA had calculated a £2.4 billion shortfall in our council budgets from next May.