151 BRIEF

  • Council reserves climb to £25.8bn

    Local authorities in England were held reserves of £25.8bn at the end of the last financial year.

    The Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing: 2018-19 Final Outturn released by the MHCLG revealed all council general fund revenue account reserves increased by £1.88bn from £23.9 bn to £25.8bn at 31 March 2019.

    The aggregate change within non-ringfenced reserves was an increase of £2bn.

    Much of this increase was driven by a net increase of £776m in the Greater London Authority’s revenue reserves, largely due to TfL refinancing rolling stock for the Elizabeth Line.

    Excluding the GLA, total net additions to non-ringfenced reserves was £1.2bn in 2018-19.

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  • Councils bear brunt of Scottish austerity

    Local government in Scotland has borne a disproportionate share the austerity era, according to new research.

    A report by the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI)  on Scotland’s Budget since 2010 found funding had been protected for services like policing and councils had not benefitted from new income tax raising powers because of the weaker Scottish tax base.

    It said: “Local government’s funding has been disproportionately cut since 2010. Spending has been re-profiled significantly.

    “Moves are afoot to allow some greater local autonomy, but these will generate meaningful resources to relatively few councils.”

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  • Northants beats the Treasury on PWLB borrowing

    Northamptonshire County Council  secured “very timely” borrowing from the Public Works Loans Board.

    The council revealed this week in its latest treasury management report that in August it had secured £110m for up to 50 years with principal repayable on maturity at an average of rate of 1.68%.

    It also secured £10m over 6.5 years with principal repayable on maturity at  a rate of 1.12%.

    The deals were done before the government raised the PWLB interest rate.  The loans will replace the majority of the council’s existing short-term loans from other Local Authorities.

    The report said: “Had the council delayed securing these long-term loans, the savings to be realised within the 2020/21 Budget and Medium Term Financial Plan beyond would not have been achievable and therefore this borrowing has proved very timely.”

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  • Funding is enough – for now says CIPFA

    Conservative pledges on public sector spending are enough for now – but more will be needed, according to CIPFA.

    CIPFA and the Institute for Government’s latest annual performance tracker concluded the one-year funding settlement is enough to maintain standards. But it warned an increase will be needed over the next five years.

    It warned the next government will have to spend an extra £1bn on adult social care just to keep pace with demand from an ageing population.

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  • Council tax support scheme facing £2m funding gap

    Waltham Forest Council’s scheme to help families on low income pay their council tax has a £2m shortfall.

    The Council Tax Support (CTS) scheme was started in April 2017, to subsidise council tax for poorer residents.

    It was predicted not to exceed a £13.4m government grant but the costs for 2019/20 and 2020/21 are at £15.6m and £15.5m each meaning the council must find £2m.

    A report to councillors said the extra costs would be “reflected in the calculation of the council tax” for the coming financial year.

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  • Flood-hit councils get Bellwin cash

    Councils hit by severe flooding will get emergency funding from the Bellwin scheme.

    The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed emergency costs for councils in Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire will be paid in full.

    This will cover emergency centres, staff overtime and other related costs.

    MHCLG’s Resilience and Emergency Division (RED) is supporting local authorities and local resilience forums as they work around the clock on the emergency response.

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    • 10 Nov, 2019

    CIPFA launches financial management code for local authorities

    The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), has launched its Financial Management (FM) Code, to drive improvement in financial management for councils across the United Kingdom

    The new code is the first from the institute in almost 15 years, and brings together many areas of local government financial management into a single document.

    Rob Whiteman, CIPFA chief executive, said: “Our ambition is to embed good financial management as an organisational responsibility. It is vital that, as a sector, we break down historically siloed ways of working and move towards a sense of collective responsibility when it comes to finance.”

    The FM Code is based on a set of standards and principles, including organisational leadership, transparency, assurance and sustainability, CIPFA said.

    Gareth Davies, comptroller & auditor general at the National Audit Office, said: “We welcome the new CIPFA FM Code which should help local bodies improve their standards of financial management and cope with the financial challenges they are facing.”

    Although the new code comes into effect from April 2020, in recognition of the pressures facing local authorities, 2021/22 will be the first full compliance year for the Code, allowing authorities a shadow year to work towards full implementation.

    CIPFA said it will be providing support and guidance over the next 12 months to aid this process.

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    • 7 Nov, 2019

    SEND transport bill set to reach £1.2bn

    Local government leaders have warned the cost of specialist school travel will reach £1.2bn within five years.

    The Local Government Association said the costs of providing transport in England – including taxis for children with special education needs – is unsustainable.

    Around 550,000 young people currently receive free home-to-school transport each year, of which around 145,000 are pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

    A joint report by the LGA and County Councils Network, reveals the cost to councils of providing home-to-school transport has increased by £66m over four years between 2014/15 and 2017/18.

    It projected a rise by a further £127m to reach £1.2bn a year by 2024.

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    • 7 Nov, 2019

    Glasgow in financial trouble, Unison warns

    Union leaders in Scotland have warned Glasgow City Council is facing a £152m budget black hole over the next three years.

    The union highlighted the council’s own financial forecast of a £51m shortfall next year, with a further £44m and £47m deficit identified for the following two years.

    Brian Smith, of trade union Unison, said the pressures were “on top of around £400m in cuts to jobs and services in the last decade.

    He said: “The people of Glasgow, the services which they rely on and the workers who provide them are not to blame for the austerity politics of successive national governments or the decisions of previous Glasgow administrations to continuously defend gender pay inequality.”

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    • 7 Nov, 2019

    North Wales investment deal edges closer

    A multi-million pound investment deal for North Wales has moved a step closer to sign-off.

    A heads of terms agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal has been signed by the UK Government, Welsh Government and the North Wales Economic Ambition Board.

    Both the UK and Welsh Governments have already committed £120m each with the private sector and other partners also contributing.

    The North Wales Economic Ambition Board, a collaboration between the six local authorities and regional partners, has estimated that the government investment has the potential to secure 4,000 jobs and more than £500m private sector investment over the next 15 years.

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