• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • LATIF
  • Conferences
  • Dashboard
  • Edit My Profile
  • Log In
  • Logout
  • Register
  • Edit this post

Room 151

  • 151 BRIEF

    What's New?

  • Slough welcomes commitment that Office for Local Government ‘will not be a burden’

    June 30, 2022

  • Homes England agrees strategic partnership with two authorities

    June 29, 2022

  • Soaring inflation and pay pressures to add £3.6bn to council budgets

    June 28, 2022

  • Underfunded social care reforms could ‘exacerbate workforce pressures’

    June 27, 2022

  • Nottingham City Council leader labels proposed intervention as ‘disappointing’

    June 27, 2022

  • Government preparing to intervene in Nottingham City Council

    June 23, 2022

  • Treasury
  • Technical
  • Funding
  • Resources
  • LGPS
  • Development
  • 151 News
  • Blogs
    • David Green
    • Agent 151
    • Dan Bates
    • Richard Harbord
    • Stephen Sheen
    • James Bevan
    • Steve Bishop
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • David Crum
    • Graham Liddell
    • Ian O’Donnell
    • Jackie Shute
  • Interviews
  • Briefs

Mandy Bretherton: Bleak winter for local government demands new skills in finance

0
  • by Guest
  • in Funding
  • — 17 Dec, 2014

Mandy Bretherton is Technical Manager at CIPFA, responsible for Treasury Management and Adult Social Care Panels.

By the end of 2014 less than 40% of the government’s fiscal consolidation plan had been achieved, placing major pressures on public services during the year as the government strove to continue reducing the deficit. This of course included local government which, as an unprotected area of spending, has seen central funding cut by over a third since 2010.

The continuation of the Council Tax freeze, in effect a crude and universal cap on an essential revenue stream, has continued to compound in 2014, increasing the erosion of the local tax base. Uncertainty over the level of business rate income has added to pressure on council treasuries, especially as the risk of appeals against rates was essentially devolved to local authorities and so presented something of a curve ball for councils.

These pressures when added to a pugilistic approach from government ministers on issues as diverse as parking charges to reserves management have seen many in the sector despairing of a more measured approach to local government funding from Whitehall. So far, the sector has met the financial challenges faced and should be congratulated on this, but the task in hand becomes much more difficult as time goes on.

Unfortunately the prospects for 2015 are no brighter with no let up from spending reductions. Further cuts are already planned including reducing central spending on local government between 2013/14 and 2015/16 from £16.6bn to £12.1bn. These planned cuts, coupled with the ongoing demand led pressures including adult and children’s social care, welfare reform and the uncertain implications of the Care Act, mean that the need for sound public financial management has never been more important.

It is also highly likely that any new government will introduce a spending review by the end of 2015, with more spending pain for local services almost certain.

Finance teams therefore need to continue to support this process by providing good financial information and advice to enable policy makers to make sound decisions and use public money wisely. If such advice is not forthcoming it’s possible that not only will we see the poor use of public money and inefficiency, but we may also see the failure of some services.

Outsourcing and other aspects of the private sector are also likely to play an increasing role in delivery over the next few years. Finance teams in 2015 and beyond will need a wide range of new skills to navigate this emerging public sector world. This would include improved commissioning, contract negotiation, financial modelling and greater partnership working as local government strives to find the efficiencies, savings and innovations to enable them to continue to deliver for communities.

Photo (cropped) by Nick Kidd

Share

You may also like...

  • Local government: from funding famine to balanced diet 4th Apr, 2022
  • Impact Awards: The winners are revealed 1st Jul, 2021
  • Hillier confirmed as keynote speaker for LATIF/FDs’ Summit 30th Jun, 2022
  • Finance chiefs may have to ’embrace the uncertainty’ in financial planning 11th Jun, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • 151 BRIEFS – WHAT’s NEW?

    • Homes England agrees strategic partnership with two authorities
    • Soaring inflation and pay pressures to add £3.6bn to council budgets
    • Underfunded social care reforms could ‘exacerbate workforce pressures’
    • Nottingham City Council leader labels proposed intervention as ‘disappointing’
    • Government preparing to intervene in Nottingham City Council
  • Room151’s LGPS Roundtables

    Biodiversity
    Valuations & Risk
    LGPS Women

  • Room151’s LGPS Roundtables

    Biodiversity
    LGPS Women
    Valuations & Risk
  • Latest tweets

    Room151 7 hours ago

    Hillier confirmed as keynote speaker for LATIF/FDs’ Summit: Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, has been confirmed as a keynote speaker for Room151’s combined Local Authority Treasurers Investment Forum (LATIF) and FDs Summit. The… dlvr.it/ST70F7 pic.twitter.com/hxV676Iley

    Room151 7 hours ago

    Councils’ funding at risk due to ‘undercounting’ in census data: Population estimates in London and Manchester may have been significantly underestimated in the 2021 census potentially threatening government funding for frontline services in these… dlvr.it/ST707J pic.twitter.com/VncIyaXa01

    Room151 2 days ago

    Gove at LGA: councils to receive two-year financial settlement: Michael Gove has announced that councils will receive a two-year financial settlement from next year to provide authorities with “financial certainty” and allow them to plan ahead. The… dlvr.it/ST0kSV pic.twitter.com/wxL3UM4sGO

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS valuations: the digital journey: Rob Bilton explains how technology is helping to deliver one of the most complex data exercises in the world of public sector pensions. The 2022 valuations for LGPS funds in[...] dlvr.it/ST0kMq pic.twitter.com/VxjSPC2Uvo

    Room151 6 days ago

    Conrad Hall: ‘more sophisticated’ regulation needed for local government: The chair of the CIPFA/LASAAC Code Board has questioned the sophistication of financial regulation in local government and the continuing focus of the Department for Levelling Up,… dlvr.it/SSnPBV pic.twitter.com/G5d7JCWF8c

    Room151 1 week ago

    Slough Council approves plans to restructure finance department: Slough Borough Council has approved plans to restructure its finance department to enhance capacity and capability and to address a “significant weakness” in the function. The local… dlvr.it/SSf8DG pic.twitter.com/l5lmyHmkBg

  • Register to become a Room151 user

  • Previous story Stephen Sheen: Audit and accounting crystal ball
  • Next story Richard Harbord: The difficult year ahead

© Copyright 2022 Room 151. Typegrid Theme by WPBandit.

0 shares