151 BRIEF

  • Merseyside Pension Fund invests in social outcomes fund

    Merseyside Pension Fund and another unnamed Local Government Pension Scheme fund have invested in a social outcomes fund.

    In a statement, fund manager Bridges Fund Management said that it has close the fund with commitments of £35m.

    Social outcomes contracts are structured so that providers are paid for improvements in social outcomes, rather than directly for services provided.

    Mila Lukic, head of social outcomes contracts at Bridges, said: “The new generation of social outcomes contracts are more about promoting greater flexibility and innovation in the delivery of existing services, using a data-driven approach that helps us better understand how to improve outcomes at scale for some of the most vulnerable people in the country.”

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  • Court dismisses legal challenge to Birmingham sprinklers spending

    Birmingham City Council has defeated a court challenge to its decision to spend £19m to fit water sprinklers to a housing block in the city.

    The claimant, Robin Clarke said that the sprinklers were a waste of money and the council had not investigated in detail whether they were necessary.

    However, a High Court judge ruled that the council had not broken the law in making the decision and dismissed an application for judicial review.

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  • MPs criticise progress on LEP accountability

    Local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) have improved their governance and transparency but have a long way to go, according to a group of MPs.

    In a report, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said that it remained concerned that LEP boards are not representative of their local areas and business communities.

    It said that local scrutiny and accountability arrangements are not strong enough considering the significant sums of public funding that LEPs manage.

    Meg Hillier, chair of the committee, said: “LEPs have underspent their funding allocation by over a £1 billion in the past three years, raising questions about their capacity to deliver complex projects.

    “The committee has previously raised concerns about the transparency and governance of LEPs and more action is needed to ensure they are held properly accountable for spending.

    “LEPs are supposed to be an engine room of local economic growth but they have been dogged by a lack of local accountability and there is little evidence that they have levered in the promised private sector funds.”

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  • Nottingham approves 250 home buy-back plan

    Nottingham City Council is set to buy back more than 250 former council houses.

    The four-year scheme will include some newly-built homes, as well as houses and flats that have previously been bought by tenants through the Right To Buy scheme.

    The plan will include using a legal clause that forces Right to Buy sellers to give first offer to the council if the property was sold off within the last 10 years.

    The council says this will help achieve its target of 1,000 new council or social homes to rent by 2023.

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  • High streets set for revamp with £675m funding

    High streets in 50 areas across the country are set for a revamp after getting a share of a £675m grant.

    The second phase of the Future High Streets Fund save grants of up to £150,000 awarded to projects to cover the costs of initial planning.

    Projects include improving transport and converting unwanted retail units into housing.

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  • Road repair cuts leave £9bn hole

    Town hall leaders called on the government to use this year’s Spending Review to deliver a long-term funding plan to ‘save our roads’.

    LGA figures show that the amount of money councils have been able to spend on routine road maintenance has fallen from £1.1bn in 2009/10 to around £701m in 2017/18 – a 37% reduction.

    Councils having lost 60p out of every £1 in central government funding between 2010 and 2020 and the LGA claims fixing the backlog of potholes will cost more than £9bn and take a decade to complete.

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  • Brexit funding loss is £5.3bn say council leaders

    Councils in England could lose £5.3bn in funding when Britain leaves the EU, council leaders have warned.

    The LGA called on the government to set out a firm plan to replace the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF) 2014-2020 programme when it comes to an end in December next year.

    Council leaders warned a consultation promised in July 2018 had still not happened and they are unable to plug the £5.3bn gap.

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  • Hancock reveals delays to social care reform

    The long-delayed social care green paper is being held up by partisan politics, the health secretary has claimed.

    Matt Hancock said plans to bring local authorities and the NHS closer together were struggling to get cross-party support and that reforms must be a top priority in the Comprehensive Spending Review.

    The health secretary’s comments to council leaders at a conference, as reported on the Public Finance website, included a call for health and wellbeing boards to be used as the main vehicle for reform.

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  • London boroughs call for LHA increase

    Ministers have been urged to increase housing allowances by councils across the capital.

    London Councils, which represents the 33 London boroughs, said reform is needed so that claimants can afford at least the lowest 30 per cent of local market rents.

    The group published research showing almost half (45%) of the almost 200,000 low-income London households claiming Local Housing Allowance for private sector properties do not receive enough housing benefit to cover their rent – leaving a shortfall of £50.71 per week.

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  • Brent to ponder £50m further education college loan

    London Borough of Brent is set to approve a loan of £50m to a further education provider to help it build a new facility at Wembley Park.

    The council’s cabinet will next week consider the request for bridging finance to allow the project to proceed.

    The new facility will enable the growth of provision that will support digital technologies, arts, media, and creative industries.

    A report by officers said: “United Colleges has not been able to secure funding from commercial sources because it is seeking a loan agreement further in advance than standard terms.”

     

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