Richard Harbord: a lack of New Year resolution
Uncertainty remains across the public sector, and is unlikely to be resolved any time soon. Those responsible for local government finance can expect another frustrating and testing year ahead. New[…]
Resources
Room151’s 10th Anniversary: A decade has seen systemic change to funding while core values are more important than ever
Andrew Hardingham marks the 10th anniversary of Room151 by looking back at a decade of local government finance. Firstly, a statement of the obvious: Every local authority section 151 officer[…]
Room151 launches Audit Committee Masterclass
“There’s never been a time when it’s been more important to be clear about governance and about the risks that our local authorities face.” So says Richard Harbord, former local[…]
Councils & carbon: COP26 an opportunity to confront climate change at a local level
As COP26 looms how have councils acted to tackle climate change and what do they need from the latest climate change summit? Mark Davies In the Netherlands by 1860 the[…]
What has been happening to the outlook for UK bank rate?
Sponsored article: Paul Mueller explores the possibility of a hike in the bank rate Market pricing* for the UK bank rate had, until recently, been relatively quiet for some time[…]
PFI, the end of LIBOR and the arrivel of SONIA
The deadline is looming. Neil Waller and Shivana Sood examine the implications of an interest rate switch. The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have advised that the[…]
Course aims to aid move from private sector to council accounting
Training event: Tackling the political context and peculiarites of local government accounting. Negotiating the move from private sector to local government accounting can be daunting. But, according to one expert,[…]
Loans: The legal checklist for supporting enterprise
Loans from local authorities to big companies recently made national newspaper headlines. They don’t happen without plenty of checks. Neil Waller and Paul McDermott offers a guide through the legalities.[…]
What’s the benefit of using the PSAA?
Conrad Hall examines the case for councils to undertake their own audit procurement instead of sticking with Public Sector Audit Appointments. To PSAA or not to PSAA: That is, if[…]
Richard Harbord: ‘Effective governance’ the key to commercial activity
In a recent report the think tank Localis wrote that council commercial activity has come to be viewed by many as “inherently risky”. Richard Harbord argues that councils have a[…]
