Dan Bates: What we can learn from balance sheets
Balance sheet monitoring is vital to assessing financial resilience, argues LG Improve’s Dan Bates, as he picks out key results from the consultancy’s analysis of 2022/23 accounts. We can now[…]
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March 18, 2024
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Balance sheet monitoring is vital to assessing financial resilience, argues LG Improve’s Dan Bates, as he picks out key results from the consultancy’s analysis of 2022/23 accounts. We can now[…]
Published 2022/23 local authority draft accounts have shown a “significant” and “worrying” decrease in councils’ reserves, new data by consultant LGimprove has revealed. According to the analysis, based on the[…]
Dan Bates from LGImprove details the latest 2021/22 outlook for local authorities’ audited accounts and reveals that one in six local authorities have signed them off. As we approach another[…]
The 2022-23 settlement promises an extra £3.5bn. Michael Gove said the settlement represents a “real-terms increase from last year’s settlement and will make sure councils can improve vital frontline services”.[…]
Dan Bates considers the underlying changes required to avoid further s114 notices. I was interested to read a recent headline that claimed that a third of south east councils were[…]
Dan Bates argues deep seated problems are contributing to a rush for capitalisation directions. For some time now we have been reading that a number of councils are in discussion[…]
Dan Bates crosses his fingers for “no nasty surprises” in this week’s funding settlement but argues the “bigger prize” is post-Covid financial certainty. Thursday (17 December) should be the day[…]
Croydon is the latest local authority to issue a section 114 notice. Experts Dan Bates and Christian Wall look at the trends underlying the council’s woes. Christian Wall Croydon’s section[…]
Whitehall has offered another huge tranche of funding to councils but it may prove too little as Covid-19 reveals the vulnerability of local government funding structures. Financial resilience is already[…]
…our accounts review has revealed some staggering pension liabilities. As we all live longer and authorities have fewer staff paying into pension funds, larger annual payments to recover deficits may have a greater call on scarce resources.
Accounts have now closed but it’s hard to find the signs of financial resilience. Dan Bates reveals his observations on reserves and capital finance requirements. I’ve spent years doing local[…]