News round-up: Barking’s new lottery, spending cuts, Basingstoke’s property drive, Better Care Fund

Council creates local lottery
Barking and Dagenham Council is intending to launch a new online community lottery to help support local good causes. Tickets will cost just £1 with 60p going towards local causes, compared to just 28p in the pound for the National Lottery. The council is encouraging locals to submit their projects for inclusion.

Report spells out scale of council cuts
Council spending as a share of the national economy fell from 8.4% to 6.7% between 2010 and 2016, according to a new study. A report by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), also found spending on neighbourhood services fell by 13% during the period, with spending on social services increased by £2.2bn. Report author Peter Kenway said: “There is an urgent need for local councils and governments to recognise that neighbourhood services are a driver for local prosperity.”

Authority appoints advisor for £30m property drive
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has appointed property adviser Cushman & Wakefield to help them add £30m of assets to its property portfolio. Quoted in trade magazine Property Week, the council’s cabinet member for property and development, John Izett, said the council finances were under “severe pressure”. He said: “To counter this the council is identifying new and sustainable income streams including the acquisition of high quality property investments.”

Estate rationalisation programme saves councils millions
Councils had saved £7.7m in running costs through a government estate rationalisation strategy by January 2017, according to a spending watchdog. The National Audit Office said this week that the Government Property Unit forecasts benefits from its One Public Estate Programme by 2020 including capital receipts of £415m plus running cost savings of £415m.

Harrison rejoins Allenbridge
Pension fund adviser Allenbridge has welcomed John Harrison back as managing director of its advisory business. Harrison is currently independent investment adviser at the Surry Pension Fund. He was chief investment officer at the firm from 2005 to 2010. Harrison said: “With increasing complexity and growing concern about potential conflicts of interest, there has never been a greater need for independent advice in UK institutional investment.”

MPs slam Better Care Fund
The government’s Better Care Fund has proved to be “a complicated ruse to transfer money from health to local government to paper over the funding pressures on adult social care,” according to the Public Accounts Committee. A report published this week by the committee said that the fund failed to achieve any of its objectives and that witnesses to its inquiry “displayed an appallingly casual attitude to the targets that had been set for reducing emergency admissions and delayed transfers of care, both of which have actually increased”.

Newham appoints fund manager on two mandates
Three managers have been selected by the London Borough of Newham Pension Fund (Newham) to operate allocations to private debt. Permira and BlueBay Asset Management will run the European section of the private debt mandate, with Brightwood Capital managing the US component focused on the non-sponsored market. The council has also selected Robeco to manage its global high yield credit mandate.