Stephen Fitzgerald looks back at the year and finds that heading finance is becoming strategic while the headlines made by flooding and child protection reveal the diversity and challenges of running local government.[…]
Frank Wilson’s year was mixed with the General Election, business rates appeals and uncertainty over the New Homes Bonus undermining confidence for 2016. In trying to sum up 2015 I am[…]
George Graham of Lancashire’s pension fund reviews his year working on a partnership, attempting to buy Eurostar and a wind farm acquisition. When I applied for my current job as[…]
A parliamentary committee set up to investigate Lender Option Borrower Option (LOBO) loans taken out by local authorities may not now publish its conclusions, Room151.co.uk has learnt. In July, the[…]
London boroughs are to collaborate on a new project to sift through large quantities of a data in a bid to fight fraud. The London Counter Fraud Hub has the backing[…]
Two councils have been ordered by the information watchdog to reveal details of contracts signed with banks for Lender Option Borrower Option (LOBO) loans. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ruled[…]
Bournemouth Borough Council has scrapped its “Bank of Bournemouth” initiative, less than 18 months after it was created. The council set up its Community Finance Initiative in July 2013, and[…]
Next year ‘could see first failed council’ 2016 could see the first council move into special measures on financial grounds, according to accountancy firm Grant Thornton. A report into the[…]
At our “all staff” briefing this week, we discussed that the European Central Bank was expected to drive Euroland interest rates even further into negative territory when its policy-making committee met[…]
I am having some trouble understanding the government’s apparent obsession with local authority reserves. In the Spending Review speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that authorities will be “encouraged”[…]
